Listener 4119 Mass Production by Hedge-Sparrow

[Ruthrobin]

Good to have a circular one for a change. I am thoroughly enjoying this - right up my street, though some of the products are elusive - not surprisingly!

[pushmi-pullyu]

Now only one letter short of a complete grid.

[x_word_fan]

Like many others guessed the theme (and hence ring 1) immediately from the title which made it much easier than it would otherwise have been. I wondered if the setter had been trying to make something thematic in ring 6 but couldn't quite get there?

[contendo]

Scrabblesolver seems to have been removed from the net, presumably for copyright reasons. Quinapalus seems to be an alternative for solving anagrams including unknown letters but I find it a bit cumbersome (trying to be too all-embracing). Any other suggestions?

[tristram37]

Contendo why on earth don't you get TEA from Ross Beresford? You have to pay for it but by gosh it's worth it! <http://www.crosswordman.com/tea.html>. It does so much more than solve anagrams,

Tristram 37

[cluelessJoe]

In common with a few other posters, an early punt at the theme helped enormously. It's a subject of which I know next to nothing, but I must have tripped over enough references in the past to retain a few key words in the grey cells, and even know the centre-circle entry nice and early. The grid fill was ultimately a slog - all those awful jumbles: sadly these circulars need them or they would be nigh-impossible to construct.

[jabone]

Contendo someone on this site posted this some time ago http://cfaj.freeshell.org/wordfinder/ which is useful for anagrams plus or minus a letter.

[contendo]

Thanks Tristram37 & Jabone, I'll try them both.
Finished this one at last but yes, it was something of a slog. Solving Ring 1 was a great help, and I did chuckle at Ring 5.

[tilbee]

Having assumed there was no crossword last week, I missed out on 4118. Can anyone advise where I can still get one ?

[dr b]

tilbee, email me at bbetker (at) yahoo.com and I can send you a copy.

[aldanna]

Thank you, Tilbee. I did as you suggested and just one answer put me on the right track. The annoying thing is that my first idea was very close, so I could almost have been one of the clever people at the top. However, on a mass=dough basis I wandered off into breadmaking, though I must admit it was difficult to imagine drb reading about breadmaking as a hobby. Anyway, nearly finished now, just a few scribbles to sort out.

[dr b]

aldanna, I will have you know that I find all bread-themed literature to be of the utmost interest - Catcher in the Rye, The Scarlet Pumpernickel, Wheat the Butler Saw, Naan but the Brave.....

[tilbee]

Thanks Aldanna. I guess your first solution was the one where the prefix and suffix (?) became immediately clear. Won't say any more in case I get in trouble with the hinit police.

[trux]

drB : have you tried other media ?
You should perhaps try the film of The Incredible Lightness of Baking (starring Juliette Brioche), or other films such as Hellzapopadom', or maybe, on TV, The Bready Bunch ... (enough, surely, Ed.)

[Ruthrobin]

I can thoroughly recommend 'Where Bagels Dare','Lord of the Pies', 'Follet's 'The Millers of the Earth', Dickens' 'Bake House' and Wilkie Collins, 'The Woman in Sliced White' (Ed. I said 'enough!')

[borealis]

How intriguing, the different approaches even within the group of solvers contributing here. For me, a guess at the theme and the two middle words, then a dozen non-jumbled clues, then ring 5 was clear. That led to a lot more clues, ring 1, and then ring 3. The last half-dozen answers came from back solving. Only one ring 3 clue used - when some of you started with them! Thanks, H-S; great fun to have a puzzle that can be tackled from many angles.

[bobbycollins]

You cannot imagine just how pleased I am with myself to have finished that - I know even less than cluelessjoe about the subject (ie: less than nothing).I used to nod off at school.

I forget just how I wormed my way in, possibly one of the short answers in ring three. I actually found it easier than usual with Listener radials to get going on the grid - the six letter entries generally gave themselves away.

The only slice of luck for me is, as I have mentioned previously, the fact that my boy is studying the subject at Durham and had been trying to explain what the institution was up to over the recent holiday. The explanation didn't register but the country did.

Now for a few weel-earned snifters.

[bobbycollins]

weel really!!!

[pushmi-pullyu]

The last clue just popped into my head out of nowhere half way down the motorway. I love it when that happens.

[tenflags]

On the assumption that the usual suspects have 'moved' onto this weeks threads - I hope others won't mind a reasonably quick response from me following the last thread;

Thanks Bobbycollins - I have not yet had a go at EV and AZED primarily as they do not seem to be available online (free anyway). I have been lucky enough to win and be runner up on a couple of Spectators and Mephistos. Thanks Mysterons I did pick up on the late DA's guide, and thanks for the welcome Easterfool et al.

I have found folks on here to be very nice, friendly and helpful. I myself have almost given up on trying to help as invariably others beat to it when there is one that I can assist with - although I have met my objective of assisting more than I have asked.

I remain in awe of the speed and knowledge of you folks and my issue remains a catch-22 one; It takes me a lot of time / hours to do these ones, which I cannot always justify, although one needs to do more of course to get quicker. I have stopped doing, dare I say, the more ordinary ones to give me more time but still it's a problem.

I shall continue to try to have a go as they are so satisfying when completed but I might have to avoid the real toughies or brut's as you folk call them. Cheers.

[bobbycollins]

tenflags.

Congrats on the Speccie & Mephisto successes.

AZED is avaialable for free at

http://www.guardian.co.uk/crosswords