Listener 4126 Arthurian Legend by Corvettes

[dr b]

Wow. Absolutely brilliant. I tried to rotate the rings mentally, but got out the scissors after a few minutes. Then half my letters were upside down, so I printed out a new grid and re-filled it. An incredible feat of construction, I thought. Difficult but lots of fun.

[Mysterons]

... but don't forget one of these could be misprinted in the wordplay.

[contendo]

Finally got there with a little help (Thanks, Clamzy). A real work of art. I nominate 2R as the best clue of the year.

[cruciverbali]

Perhaps 3R beats it on surface reading ?

[ichkeria]

"Of course a lot of solvers use the grid printed in the Saturday Times and so don't have the option of printing off another one. As there wasn't the customary warning to use pencil initially, scissors and tape/glue will be unavoidable for many (I've tried it with my copy and it worked very well) - presumably the vetters were happy with the wording of the preamble !!"

Given that the preamble says "rotate the contents of" I would have thought that a big enough hint that one should use a pencil initially. Then all you need do is write out the contents of the relevant rings, rub out the original, and pencil them in again. No need for re-printing, or cutting and pasting ...

[mullingar]

With reference to radial 31. I'm almost sure I know which word to enter and what the misprint is but I'm looking at the clue and can't see a definition. Still got the rotation to attempt and the quote to find but I've got the dedicatee
. Feel like it might just fall into place when the tumblers click

[turast]

When I saw this on Saturday, I was nearly frightened off by the format. Saved it and started yesterday. I'm glad I did, because some of the clues are exquisite. I'm completely in awe of solvers who say they can guess the theme and the dedicatee before thay even start solving. Although I have about 2/3 of the radials and 2/3 of the arcs, only have 1 definite misprint, so no Idea of the theme. 30r is given in full by the wordplay, but only the first 4 letters are in my BRB. I hope I'm right to believe that it involves a vague knowledge of a plural formation in another language and that I have the correct 3 letter interpretation of "go". No idea of the Mass. authoress. Is it also a book title? Still cringing at my repeated rejection of the answer to 7r, because of a failure to spot the definition + ? . I think 1 a might be misprint, but not sure. I'm hoping the donkey work I've put in on it will pay off, and that it might involve another 22a with the same profession. It appears from the comments here that I need to have an intimate knowledge of the names of all those involved in the compilation of the Listener, which I do not. Was one of them called Arthur? Is there a recent anniversary I've missed. All very vexing, but also very, very addictive, engrossing and entertaining, so worthwhile even if I get nowhere near the PDM(s).

[Clamzy]

mullingar see posts at bottom of previous page and top of this one. For the definition look at the last two words.

[contendo]

Turast - If you google what you think 13r should be from the wordplay together with Massachusetts authoress you should get confirmation. Googling should also get you 30r. Your donkey work should pay off, but there is no 22a.

[turast]

Thanks Contendo. I meant 44 arcs, of course. I was wittering on about a supposed inspiration for one of David Bowie's hits. I think I now have all the arcs except 32. There are one or two in which I don't fully understand the wordplay e.g. 33, but I suspect these are some misprints which I haven't yet twigged. I have no idea why some other posters seemed to know all about somebody called Grimshaw. Still need many radials. 2,3,4,5,13 (Will try Google), 20,21,31 to 41. Do not get the wordplay for 16, although I'm certain I have the right word. Will plough on.

[cruciverbali]

It's a homophone turast - you need to check less common definitions.

[Alan7777]

This is only the second Listener Crossword I have attempted and I would like to finish it. I have completed the grid (except for 1a where what I think is the answer isn't in my old Chambers) and have the misprinted letters but I cannot identify the dedicatee nor see anything meaningful when I do the rotations.

Some of the comments seem to imply that previous experience of Listener Crosswords might be beneficial. Is that the case or do I just have to persevere?

[cruciverbali]

You will need 1 across to complete the thematic word Alan - a knowledge of 'Who's Who' in crosswords is certainly useful for this one.

[Mysterons]

The cognoscenti won't need it, but others may find this link of help:

http://bestforpuzzles.com/people/a.html

[trux]

One last thought (as the AB century looms like K O'Brien's did) : I originally thought the quotation was going to be a version of "Whomsoever wants to be king must first take the ----sword" (from Arthur's hand) ... which would have been very fitting to would-be future setters and an equally suitable tribute to the great man himself....ho hum, onwards ... bring on 4pm (UK time) !

[logophile]

I am sure ichkeria's submission technique is the correct one - we are clearly intended to have the thematic word running down through cells 1 and 31- by rotating the rings I had aligned the left-hand edges of the cells to be highlighted, which whilst looking neater does actually involve rotating 5 rings ! I wonder if this would have been marked incorrect - have moved the inner ring one (half) cell to the left just in case !

[abns]

Did anyone else notice that 16A is ambiguous and could equally well have been a misprint clue (although obviously wasn't given the rest of the grid)?

[ichkeria]

I'm not saying the approach I suggested (which incidentally I did not use as I did in fact use a new grid) is correct. Just less messy and quicker. I daresay any legible, correct solution is acceptable. If you literally rotate the rings you have to cut them out and then stick them back together again. You also have the issue of many of the letters being sideways or upside down, which I wouldn't have thought was ideal when looking for messages.

[JackDeCrow]

just couldn't leave this great crossword stranded on 99!