Listener Crossword 4056

[starwalker]

This weeks offering is ROC by Loda.

Thanks to my scattergun approach to clue solving, I spoiled this puzzle for myself by getting the theme after only three clues, and the nature of the curved lines followed straight after. Still, there were one or two tricky clues and a couple that would not be out of place in Private Eye. All in all I felt that this was a typical Listener and enjoyable for that very reason.

[daagg]

Phew, I've finally finished - 2 in 2 weeks now, though this one seemed to be a lot harder than last week's puzzle. Would anyone like to say how these two rank in difficulty with other Listener puzzles?

[Mysterons]

With a puzzle like this, if you can find the quotation early on, the remaining clues become a lot easier to solve. Though these certainly weren't the easiest puzzles this year, they were towards that end of The Listener spectrum I'd say, but just the sort of puzzles where a sneaky unch can catch you out !

[andrewvc12]

Hi Turnerjmw, All I can say is that I think that is the worst clue I have come across in nearly 20 years of doing the Listener. Andrew

[kwyjibo]

I'd say that the theme was easier to find than in most Listeners but the clueing and wordplay was generally more difficult than average.

[cluelessJoe]

I'm inclined to agree with you Andrew .. I found a few of the clues quite cleverly tricky, and odd ones like 17d excruciatingly bad. As Kwyjbo said, a quickly unearthed theme, but generally more difficult clueing. Some of the surfaces made very uneasy reading, not helped by the need to incorporate so many misprints. .. and well done daagg, I think you did pretty well to negotiate some of these at such an early stage in your solving career!

[robinruth]

Daag, I've been doing them for about a year and this was among the more difficult ones in that year - probably one of the ten hardest in terms of wordplay, because of the double challenge of finding a thematic element to remove as well as solving the clue. Certainly more difficult for us newcomers (while last week's would rate among the ten easiest) - though I can see how Mysterons, with more experience of wordplay, would find this relatively easy. (But there have been some we couldn't even begin - where the words almost had to be solved in order and entered in a 'maze')

[Mysterons]

Speaking of dodgy clues, was there a typo in 16 down ('lifestyle' for 'lifecycle') ?

[x_word_fan]

Thanks cruciverbali - I had wasted a lot of time looking at lists of 4 letter thematic words - it wasn't there!
I haven't heard of the shortened form of the more usual 7 letter word.

[nigel2]

Clues solved but any hints on how to spot the five-letter words?

[cluelessJoe]

Nigel - you are going to draw curved lines through them, so try linking letters in arc shapes .. also, there are 5 showingh mirror symmetry, so one is going to symmetrically straddle one of the centre lines.

[Mysterons]

I was going to suggest a suitable airline logo, but strangely the closest I could find is actually a car badge (M????)

[robinruth]

Nigel, think of how children draw the theme item, and attempt to do that in four quarters, then put one in the middle and read the letters you have to remove!

[Deviant]

It's often fascinating with the Listener how I appear to end up with a finished grid that is obviously completely different to everyone else! Either that, or it's like looking at those magic eye puzzles. I can't see any thematic shaped words no matter how hard I look. Are the words to be removed thematic as well?

[Mysterons]

Yes they are Deviant, although a couple of them are a little unusual - try looking for a more obvious candidate to start with (and check that M?z?? badge !)

[turnerjmw]

Hi andrewvc12, I don't disagree, though I've only been doing them a short time. My suggestion may well not be the right one - Im certainly not dogmatic about it - but I haven't seen anything better

[robinruth]

Deviant, yes, in order to follow Mysteron's advice, you should search the bottom half of the grid!

[JackDeCrow]

Took me a long time to find them as well - but I was looking for hamburgers, not cars!

[7lattens]

Struggling with 11D - any suggestions !!!

[jamesah]

Very enjoyable although I too found the last stage tricky. Any significance to the title being in capital letters? I can't see much connection to the Royal Observer Corps!

[x_word_fan]

7lattens

First 2 words are the definition.
Without meaning outside of.
Fresh implying anag of.

Are the 5 letter words all in the same (horizontal?) orientation