Listener 4048: Rules of Construction by Poat

[midazolam]

With the thought that I failed on Poat's last 2 listeners, I knew we would be in for some tough clues.

Excellent construction, clues (although i havent worked the wordplay out on a couple yet) and a finish that ties everything together. Thanks Poat

[AHearer]

Yes, midazolam, a hard but very pleasing puzzle. If I'd seen the wood through the trees earlier it would have given me a much easier ride, but it took a while for the penny to drop.

[kayakamina]

I agree with both comments. I struggled, but, fortunately having slept on it , had my PDM this morning.

Thanks Poat.

[thebuzz999]

I agree with you both - an especially lovely final step...I found 25a, 8d and 28d particularly vexing, but eventually I understood Poat's trickiness.

[turnerjmw]

I found this extremely tough, and until the PDM thought I'd never finish, but undeniably a very clever construction.

[starwalker]

I also found this to be hard going, not least because of a couple of early errors. Certainly the hardest Listener that Poat has set.
But thanks Poat (and yes I do mean it !)

[perseverer]

Agreed - definitely not easy. My penny did not drop till very late on but rewarding when it did. Certainly would simplify things if you spotted what was going on at an earlier stage. Still some wordplay to resolve!

[cluelessJoe]

Wow, just seen what's happening on this one and came here to see if I was being unduly slow. Still some tidying up to do - as for Perseverer, a deal of retro-susssing of wordplay ... but clearly even a wicked one like this did not hold the usual suspects up for too long.
I never had (serious) problems on a Poat offering before, but this one had me worried for a while until that moment at which time a lot of late headway could be made.

[Clamzy]

A Monday instead of the usual Sunday finish for me indicates how difficult this was. Like others above I have some wordplay to resolve, but thanks to Poat for a superb puzzle.

[emcee]

As you say, cluelessJoe, THAT moment is the critical point! Up until this critical point, I found the clues very difficult to solve (probably the hardest set of clues for some while). I still have 3 clues needing the wordplay sorted before I'm totally happy.

Excellent crossword, thanks Poat.

[Cruncher]

I can well see why this guy is a Scrabble World Champion contender. Great grid construction. Still assembling the wordplay for some of the answers. Definitely the most challenging clueing so far this year

[jamesah]

I took a long time to see what was happening as well. Resolving the ambiguities led me to the solution eventually. A brilliant construction- I wonder what is the maximum length of words that can be arranged in this way.

[Philoctetes]

I would guess from the dearth of posts here that most are in my position. Finally got the answers to clues, some dubious, and no PDM. Ten extra words mean nothing as a group of definitions for five other words. Head spinning.

[perseverer]

Philoctetes - If you have enough of the grid filled, careful scrutiny of it should lead to the PDM. (I know that sounds like stating the obvious.)

Time to check the calculator battery, and collect some scrap paper for this week's offering!

[Philoctetes]

Read this, thought "I must clear up my grid entry" and spotted the construction! On to the missing element!

[Clamzy]

As philoctetes mentions, there's a dearth of posts this week so please forgive this off topic item but I just couldn't resist.
It is widely reported in today's papers that Midazolam was found in Michael Jackson:-)

[bobbycollins]

POAT 1-0 bobbycollins

[Ottorino]

As one who often catches the last post on Wednesday for my entry, I'm dazzled by all of you speed solvers. Try the Magpie magazine if you need a challenge. Edited by, among others,Pieman and Mr. Magoo and with many of the Listener setters, it gives 6 tough puzzles per month with on average, 4 of them harder and often better than most Listeners. There's a free issue at www.piemag.com but not for the faint-hearted. I'm 23 out of 42 year to date as opposed to one Listener incorrect.

[Speravi]

I endorse Ottorino's plug for Magpie (and would point out that one puzzle a month is numerical, by masters such as Oyler). I believe that I'm one off being all correct for the Listener this year, but it's a rare month when I manage to complete more than one or two of the Magpie's offerings.

[midazolam]

Clamzy - you definitely put a smile on my face tonight. The history of that pseudonym goes back a long way, not that I have ever used such a drug.

[cluelessJoe]

Well spotted Clamzy - and to think (phew!) that I almost used Propofol as my AnswerBank id before opting for 'cluelessJoe' (which of course is a modulus 33 anagram of Janis Joplin as most of you will have obviously have spotted by now).
bobbycollins .. surely it's not even time for a half-time team talk, so every chance of a late equaliser. Granted it's a struggle, but even for one who detests jumbles as much as I do, I have to concede it was well worth the effort sticking with this partucular one to the end. (though I did eventually quit trying to retro-fit the wordplay on two 'solved' clues)
Looking forward to opening up the old spreadsheet this coming weekend - I think that this quarterly challenge is sadly one of the few occasions (40 years on) when a couple of maths A-levels might prove to be marginally useful.