Listener 3972

[cruciverbali]

This week's puzzle is Unusual by Mr Lemon

[midazolam]

thanks c

probably the easiest listener i have ever done - good for beginners as lots of anagrams

if killer is published this weekend we will all be scratching around for crosswords to do

[cruciverbali]

I agree midazolam, the only unusual thing about this one was its level of difficulty. Even the theme wasn't hard to spot. It looks like Inquisitor will have my undivided attention today - let's hope it's more demanding as I strongly suspect the Killer may be in custody tonight !

[alice50]

Well I'm stuck - having solved all clues and gotten the "bird guide" message, what then?

[jabone]

I hope all you do is write the bird in the grid.

[midazolam]

you have to determine which set of letters respond to common and which respond to unusual

[Gazco]

Without explicitly giving the answer, please can somebody give me a nudge on 12A. I know the extra letter indicated by the wordplay, but can't work out the wordplay/definition.

[cruciverbali]

Bird = Wren

[Gazco]

Lovely, thanks

[andrewvc12]

Like Alice50, I've filled the grid and got the "guide" but still can't see what to do inspite of Midazolam's hint.
Andrewvc12.
PS I thought last week's "Franglais" was much easier.

[andrewvc12]

OK I've found the bird (I have actually seen it!) but is it unusual or commonplace. That part of the preamble doesn't make sense to me.
Andrewvc12

[midazolam]

if you have found it then take away these letters and look very hard at the remaining letters - something(s) will pop out at you. it is quite straightforward then to determine which letters correspond to the unusual and which the commonplace.

hope that helps

[andrewvc12]

Thanks Midazolam for trying to help. All I can see when I remove the bird are a string of, to me anyway, meaningless letters. I think I shall just have to wait for the published answer now in order to find out what I missed.
Best wishes, Andrew

[gribble]

adrewvc12
the other letters make three common or garden ...........

[Patch49]

I agree with Andrew - I just have gibberish left over. Just hope my multicoloured rarity is right.

[gribble]

the other letters are three anagrams, you don't need them, it just confirms correct answer

[cruciverbali]

This site may help

[andrewvc12]

Yes, I've got it now! But two of them are probably rarer in Britain now than the unusual one is in Europe.
Thanks all, Andrew

[jabone]

I've been fretting about not understanding the 'commonplace', so thanks gribble.

[Astarte]

Hi, I'm a bit of a beginner, but I didn't find this one as easy as last week's Franglais. I suppose I finished about 3/4 of the clues.

It must just be a question of practice? I suppose you were all beginners once?

I thought the Carte Blanche one was quite good. Again, I didn't finish but got quite close. Hopefully practice will include my strike rate. Anyway, interested to find you all here.