Listener No. 4377: Russian Roulette By Rasputin

[fyellin]

A very entertaining and well-constructed puzzle. Hard to believe how much the setter fit into such a small space.

One minor quibble. The thematic subject of the puzzle, as described by its Wikipedia article, seems to be incorrect. The setter seems to have used the Wikipedia description. If you follow the reference in the article, it shows something every-so-slightly different. I believe the reference is authoritative.

[EAChaplin]

I may have misunderstood but isn't the thematic set an odd number? In which case it would be difficult to shade a half. Thanks to Rasputin for another excellent puzzle.

[upsetter]

From what I can see half of the area and half of the set are both satisfied.
I may have made a mistake - but the half shading is because of theme.

[upsetter]

I retract my last bleat because I see I made a mistake in my fair copy.

[icynorth]

Most impressive, thank you Rasputin!

I guessed the construction from a recent puzzle in another publication, and then everything fell into place. In one entry I couldn't work out which of the three spellings to use, but the endgame handily erased that problem.

Finally, I'm impressed that the underlying grid is symmetrical. It's surely the mark of a perfectionist to insist on this even when it's deleted.

[Scorpius]

Fyellin, the preamble is ambiguously worded, it's true, but I would have a problem shading half the thematic set.

[Scorpius]

Icynorth, I'm not sure that I agree with your point about symmetry. On the whole I prefer symmetry, but I don't think any less of a grid that isn't symmetrical if that is done to solve constructional problems. In this case there aren't any bars to delete because they are not there, so to my mind it makes absolutely no difference whether the grid is symmetrical or not. It would have made a difference if there was no numbering because symmetry would have made it easier for the solver to fill the grid.

Symmetry of lack thereof is entirely the setter's choice, of course, but I wonder if an asymmetrical grid might have helped to achieve a better average word length, which is below the recommendation in Editors' Notes for Setters, and to avoid consecutive clashes in very short words. Those struck me as the main drawbacks of an otherwise superb puzzle, certainly one of the best this year.

[Philoctetes]

I do think three-letter answers with one letter unchecked and other(s) subjected to clashes are less than fair. I always suspect that, when a setter says bars need not be added, it is trying to hide constructional problems. That said, it does all come out in the wash. One clue left, 25d - does the answer appear in the BRB at all?

[olichant]

Philoctetes - yes (well, it's in the most recent BRB app version, at least - it's not in my 1994 hard copy, which I really should probably think about replacing).

[olichant]

Incidentally, on the unching/clashing issue - my last clue in was a three-letter entry with two clashes (took me ages to get it). My initial thought was that this was a little mean - but then, at that stage, there was of course quite enough other information that strongly suggested how the clashes had to be resolved. And, in fact, I found that to be a nice mini-PDM in itself.

[perseverer]

25d answer is in BRB 2011, in the iPad app, and presumably in 2014, but not in the CD ROM, (based on 2003?)

[Philoctetes]

Thanks - as ever I confirmed it just after posting. It was not in either of the BRBs I had to hand (they breed like rabbits in this house) nor the CD-ROM, and did not appear in Quinaplus or Chambers Word Wizard. So I was becoming convinced I had made a mistake.

[NickorWan]

I don’t post here or the other place as a rule, but I always enjoy reading what you have to say. I just wanted to echo Olichant’s last post regarding the clashes. For me this is one of those cases where it actually seemed the right thing to do as resolving them formed part of the endgame. A lovely puzzle I thought and, as others have said, one of the best of the year. Merry Christmas everyone.

[fyellin]

Slightly off topic. I see that in 2010, the Listener took Christmas off. Will I be spending this Friday seeing Star Wars or struggling over a puzzle?

[perseverer]

Since the Listener is technically published in Saturday's paper, there should be a puzzle this week, but whether or not it will be made available online on Friday remains to be seen. December 25th 2010 was a Saturday.

...... And for addicts, with next year being a leap year we should be ok!

[Ruthrobin]

Since these on-line versions are set up well in advance (like our Listen With Others blogs - I write them the day the BigL appears or the following morning if the puzzle takes a while to solve, but schedule them for 16.00 on the day the solution appears on-line) I should imagine the Friday version, like the newspaper Saturday one, is already in the system. Hope so, anyway, as those of us who live overseas have no other access. I couldn't bear Rebecca, Star Wars or Gone With the Wind.

[olichant]

And there was me looking forward to an - err - "festive" Star Wars themed Listener. You never know...

[IainGrace]

Started early and finished late. Thought we might have joined the Friday Night Club, having made great initial inroads but distracted by other December things. Just finished. Excellent puzzle. Even allowing for computer technology, how does one create such a wonderful thing?

[AHearer]

For some reason, I never got around to commenting on this delightful puzzle. Looking at the previous postings, perhaps the discussion of potential posters was a bit near to the knuckle in terms of this group's self-imposed restrictions, but who could resist it? The whole puzzle was great fun, and I really liked the way the clashes were used.