LISTENER CROSSWORD 4022 At arms length by Hotspur

[Clamzy]

Maybe all our prominent members are resting after last week's exertions, so I'll kick off this week's thread. Haven't had more than a glance at it yet and am not too familiar with this setter.

[bobbycollins]

Thanks, Clamzy.

Last week's thread was a cracker with many interesting contributions. I was delighted to see the views of those who are just dipping their toes into the Listener, and how this board helps and encourages them on their way.

[kayakamina]

Do you have a link to this week's puzzle ?

[robinruth]

After last week's agony (sadly we are still struggling!) We have been waiting avidly for the thread to begin. We newcomers are finding this one so much 'easier' and have almost completed the grid filling - found the title and author - but now have the final stage to discover.
Whatever the Listener police say, for us it remains a really valuable experience to hear how others handle the Listener and to pick up solving tips. We echoed last week's 'Hear hear' comment and do hope Apache4D will continue to contribute.

[Clamzy]

kayakamina -Sorry I don't have a link. I believe that the Times closed that particular door a few week's ago, and now we have to wait until Saturday and buy the paper. Maybe there are some subscribers among us?

[kayakamina]

Thanks Clamzy.

It looks as if I'll have to go out and buy the paper or just wait for tomorrow's EV and Azed.

Cheers.

[AHearer]

A much easier grid to fill than last week's, and it so happened that the order in which I solved the clues made the author stand out fairly early on, with an immediate leap to the title. I've still got to sort out the highlighting, though.

[Monkmonk]

What significance is there to the title?

[midazolam]

i think this is hotspur's debut, Clamzy. Nice puzzle with 1 across having be perplexed for awhile as i had the more obvious misprint.

"Two sets of words incorporate the idea in the work's title" still has be perplexed. There seems to be 4 obvious names as complete entries and several others as parts of entries, but they do not make an obvious set. There is an obvious surname which i am not sure if it has significance.

will have to take another look tomorrow now.

K - I can send you a copy if you would like [email protected]

[Scorpius]

I cannot say I'm particularly fond of setters who deliberately mislead with ambiguous misprints (though inadvertent ones inevitably occur). The ambiguity in 1a is clearly deliberate, and there are ambiguities elsewhere, though perhaps not so blatant. Moreover, some of the definitions, presumably chosen to provide the necessary misprint, strike me as somewhat loose.

[BobHWW]

Not too happy with this first puzzle from Hotspur for a long time. Although I have a submissible solution complete with requisite highlighting, I don't feel at all 100% confident with it. Also very surprised that the mistake at 3D got past all the Listener scrutiny.

[AHearer]

BobHWW, I have problems with the highlighting too, but I thought 3D was fine -- or do you have something against the blessing of civil ceremonies?

[PuzledBadger]

I think he (or she) means it should have been specified as (two words.)

[AHearer]

Oh yes, PuzledBadger, I see what BobHWW means now.

[jabone]

It's not often (in fact could possibly be the first time ever) that I complete before you do Midazolam, but there are the correct number of names, with two more which could be deliberate red herrings. Feeling slightly smug!

[Scorpius]

I think 3dn is OK; the answer is one word. However, I think there are several other problems with the clueing (including a completely inaccurate definition). Members of the first set to be highlighted seem completely arbitrary, all but two are generically inappropriate and there are more than the number required, so the highlighting appears to be ambiguous. As to the rendezvous, the only one I�ve found that�s remotely appropriate appears in several places, slightly jumbled. I hope the published solution turns out to be more elegant than the one I have.

[jabone]

Scorpius, I think there is a general Listener rule of thumb, that if you are not sure that your answer is correct, it isn't.

[robinruth]

We, the newcomers, are still worried about the highlighting- we have to agree with Jabone that we might not be right in some of our solutions - we have a dilemma about why an early h would be a misprint and particularly, whether we have chosen the wrong end of that clue as our definition part.
We are also dubious about how to split our potential members of the two sets (red herrings?) and a relatively dubious rendez-vous.

[robinruth]

My 'early h' is early in the grid - central in the clues - oops!

[Walterloo]

Well, I would like to get to the highlighting stage in order to form an opinion of it, too!
I have a completed grid, and a potential first set of members from grid entries with a common link (the second word of the literary work formed by the misprints) if my thinking is right. Two grid entries are (second word of the literary work) from different sources. I have found, though not in a straight line, the (last word of the title)'s of these, and they share three letters, is this where they rendezvous? Am I going along the right path?

[Walterloo]

. . . and, as sometimes happens after posting one's doubts of the final step, one finishes the puzzle in a blinding rush, and the rendezvous explains the title of the puzzle. Thank goodness for Wikipedia.

I have to say though I quite liked this one. Maybe that's something to do with the fact I'm still relishing in the warm glow from finishing it, but I thought 3dn was fair enough and other clues (15a and 52a) were pretty good. Some of the wordplay is still puzzling and the link between the answer and it's adjusted definition in 18a is unclear, though.

But it's good to see more new solvers appearing on this thread.