listener 3975: The cause of much pain by samuel

[midazolam]

in case anyone wants to comment on a rather elegant crossword instead of bickering here is a new thread

[cruciverbali]

Thanks midazolam - I agree that kind of bickering has no place here. An elegant puzzle, as you say. I do just wonder whether the preamble should have read 'always creating and leaving behind real words' ?

[cruciverbali]

Thanks midazolam - I agree that kind of bickering has no place here. An elegant puzzle, as you say. I do just wonder whether the preamble should have read 'always creating and leaving behind real words' ?

[midazolam]

yes looking back over the clues every moved letter created and left a real word so i think you are correct cruciverbalist

for future reference my email is: [email protected]

[midazolam]

in response to scorpius' entry elsewhere: i think you are meant to be left with nonsensical answers as that is the point of getting the theme - anyone correct me if i am wrong

[Gazco]

Well done for starting a new thread!

All that irrelevance aside, I'm very impressed with this puzzle so far. Really enjoyed the clues and, having stared blankly at the finished grid for a while, I had a moment and think I know what the overall theme is, what generally needs to happen and what will eventually need to be highlighted. Am unsure on the exact nature of the movements though.

[midazolam]

do exactly what the extra letters say and dont forget to read the preamble - it says the 6th entry is slightly different.

[cluelessJoe]

Wow ... well done those of you who beat me to it.
I had to wrestle with this one a bit, then having finished took a look over here - what on earth happened on that original thread? Very good move jumping ship and starting a fresh bicker-free one.
A thorouhly enjoyable puzzle ... I must say, if it had ended up with a grid full of still-sensible words after all that shifting, it would surely have ranked one of the most elegant puzzles ever crafted!
Stick with it Gazco, seems you're very nearly there .. and if you have an idea of what needs to be finally highlighted, the location of a few odd letters in the pre-move contents of the grid may also give you an inkling as to what moves where.

[mad max]

found shifting words etc very frustrating ( haven't got a very logical mind ) but got there in the end

[Mr Crossy]

Hello everyone. I'm not sure whether I've finished the puzzle or not � like others, I'm uncomfortable about the gibberish still in my grid. So far, I have identified a single word to highlight, but I wonder if it is enough.

[Mysterons]

A single word is enough, provided you are serious about it.

[Mr Crossy]

Thank you, Mysterons. I'll stop looking for something that's not there, then. If Samuel winds up having the last laugh, well, that's crossies for you.

Btw very nice to meet you all, hope you don't mind me barging in here.

[Mysterons]

Not at all, it's nice to meet you too Mr Crossy !

(What a polite thread !)

[Cruncher]

Gosh they are getting frightfully steamed up over on the other side.

Stared at the completed grid for a while and then it all fell into place (sic). Very nice. Particularly enjoyed the N on the bottom row.

[Scorpius]

Thank goodness for a bit of sanity and civilised debate here. Having finished the puzzle at the weekend I did wonder about some of the resulting entries, but I guess cluelessJoe is right - a grid in which real words resulted after all those movements would be impossible to achieve (BTW, thanks for your comment on the other thread, cluelessJoe). It might be possible with an assymetric grid, but I wouldn't like to try.
In the course of making the movements (and deciding exactly where to place them) I noticed that a key name began to emerge, which sidetracked me briefly.
A good puzzle - novel theme, some lovely clues and discoveries to be made at the end, thus sustaining ones interest throughout.

[Gazco]

Well, I thought I knew what was going on here (and am still fairly sure I know how this needs to finish ultimately), but the movement of answers has frustratingly got the better of me. Am not even convinced I know which 5 words to move now. Hey ho, am new to this game, so am moe than happy to concede defeat.

[gribble]

Gazco after moving the 'things' that go up (words in columns) you will see an eleven letter thematic word in bottom half of grid

[andrewvc12]

Got there at last! I can only agree on how clever it was. 22ac took my fancy; it took me a long time to realise what the definition meant. Just to set my mind at rest, is the unchecked letter in 21ac L. I think it must be from the definition but can't see it from the wordplay.
Thanks, Andrew

[gribble]

andrewvc12,
This is the one clue I did not fully understand the wordplay of either but it must be an L

[Rapparee]

gribble,

If you look up the word po-faced in Chambers you may understand the wordplay more clearly.

[gribble]

Thanks Rapparee, why I didn't look up those first two letters ill never know. I always like to fully understand the clues if I can