listener 3969: Carte Blanche by Homer

[midazolam]

This weeks Listener is out - i wonder where we start....

[cruciverbali]

Thanks midazolam - this looks like a great challenge.

[mad max]

looks impossible to me, don't think I will get very far on this one!

[cruciverbali]

Don't despair Max - concentrate on the four clues to 13-letter entries and you will soon be on a roll !

[midazolam]

yes i agree that this the most appropriate way to start

and a very lateral thinking theme this week, although i feel the only way to highlight the theme is with two different size cells - anyone agree?

an excellent crossword from homer

[midazolam]

dont worry i am being thick - this crossword has just got even better - made my weekend

[cruciverbali]

After a deal of thought I decided this one should be read on an angle (shades of Solitaire from 4 week's ago ?)

[bathtub]

I'm determined to give this one a go. I've never got properly stuck into a Listener puzzle before, let alone completed one, and I'm telling myself this is really no different to many Araucarias and Azeds I've done in the past - it's just an odd shape. Oh well, here goes...

[midazolam]

i have never done either of those crosswords, the clues are no harder than this weeks ev or spectator, but i think i it will be a lot harder without chambers

we have had several crosswords concerned with this theme recently

[cruciverbali]

I quite agree midazolam - a tough EV is far more challenging than an easy Listener, and this week's clues are at the 'easy' end of the Listener spectrum. That said, the style of clueing is different to Azed/Mephisto/Blocked puzzles, though the vocabulary is typical of barred puzzles, and access to Chambers (at least the Online Word Wizard) is a must.

[jabone]

Midazolam or Cruciverbalist - I'm happy with the theme (I think) and can see what cells should be highlighted (I think), but can only make the title 14 letters. Do either of you have the same problem? Experience tells me that I must be wrong.

[jabone]

Whoops! Penny has dropped. Had gone one step too far. Sorry.

[midazolam]

i can tell what you had done - i am glad they put 15 letters in the preamble as either three word answer could have been written in the box

[cluelessJoe]

Nice one - and well done again you guys - I'm still trailing you all by a full day (though in defence I suppose I didn't get my paper until Saturday lunchtime). And how refreshing to see a thread in which all seem to be solving their own problems without recourse to spoilers. It's heartening to see capabilities emerging without any cause for irritating the die-hard old brigade "Listenerites" as QM would term them. Long may you run!

[Gazco]

Agreed. I was wary of reading this thread just in case too much info was given.

Have solved many an Araucaria and the odd Azed jigsaw puzzle, but this is the first time I�ve ever done a carte blanche. I spent most of yesterday on this and thought I was making good progress. Am frustratingly a few clues short and can�t quite complete the grid. Am going to start over today I think, just in case I�ve made a mistake.

Having also completed grids and then failed to spot the theme in the past, I�m hoping that the penny-drop doesn�t elude me on this one. I suspect I have one of the two superfluous words, but have no idea where this is heading at present!

[failedagain]

Yes, it must be more satisfying to work out the answer for yourself without being helped. I guess the two people who asked for help had just got into the habit of it - asking for help (within 24 hours of publication) before properly thinking about the puzzle.

[Gazco]

OK then....

All clues solved? Check.
Grid filled? Check
Theme determined? Check
Cells highlighted? Erm.........

This has been a significant test of my Listener abilities so far, arguably the most time I've devoted to a single puzzle since I began last year, so I'm determined to finish it. But I'll be damned if I can spot anything to be highlighted in the final grid. I've got my supspicions about what I might be looking for, but the penny is yet to drop. I wonder how much more time I can waste at work staring at the grid!

[midazolam]

this may help

[midazolam]

oh and "failed again" - people like you just annoy me - i would change your name if i was you cos you just sound like a bad loser

[cluelessJoe]

Good work Gazco - I'd only add that I normally highlight Listener grids using a yellow magic marker, but this week I elected to highlight them in red.

[cruciverbali]

Sorry, I meant to say 'red on an angle'