Listener No 4439: Where Falls The Axe By Hedge-Sparrow

[AHearer]

Another delightfully crafted puzzle by Hedge-sparrow. It wasn't until I had the theme that I could fill the outline of the top left corner and thereby start to fill what was up to then a blank space. Enjoyable end-game, and I'm pretty well with Hedge-sparrow on the matter. Many thanks, Hedge-sparrow, I really enjoyed that.

[olichant]

I thought this was brilliant. I'm glad you had trouble with the top left corner, AHearer - it took a long time to fall for me.

[olichant]

Sorry, I meant to say "heartened", not "glad"!

I really enjoyed this set of clues.

[AHearer]

A nice distinction, Olichant -- though I wouldn't have taken offence at the first version!

[trux]

The ingenious grid and some of the tricksy clues made this into quite a challenge but endgame fell into place very nicely and all loose ends of all the various elements could be neatly tied up. I hope most of us will be on his side, too; as am I. Many thanks to H-S for a good work-out.

[Encota]

Very clever - thanks again Hedge-sparrow for another superb construction! I'm looking forward to blogging on this one!!

[Ruthrobin]

We've found it very tough, really struggling in that top corner - there was so much going on. It is a relief to have got there. Thanks to Hedge-sparrow.

[Flocker14]

Thank you so much H-S for a superb evening's entertainment. Tough, beautifully constructed and a very neat, satisfying endgame

[Hagen]

I too struggled with the top left corner, which I found much harder than the rest. I appreciated the neat and unambiguous endgame, especially as no grid staring was involved. I'm not sure about how much setters' personal opinions (even if I agree with them) should contribute to a theme, but this was nicely handled so fair play.

I'd still prefer a smaller font on AB so we can see more posts on a page...

[starwalker]

Another one who struggled with the top corner, but now all nicely wrapped up. Many thanks Hedge-sparrow.

[doctormatt]

Superb: I loved this one! Just the right difficulty for me and so ingenious! Thanks

[Scorpius]

Unlike others I had little problem with the NW corner apart from one entry; it was the SW corner that was the last to be completed in my case. Nobody's commented on the clues - a very good set with smooth surfaces. Decent clues should be at the heart of any puzzle, requiring an investment of time and effort on the part of the setter, which Hedge-sparrow is always prepared give.

[upsetter]

Another first-rate Listener - we particularly appreciated the way that the wordplay led us directly to the scrambled entries.

[pushmi-pullyu]

What a lovely puzzle.

[HappyUncle]

Lovely! There were indeed some tough clues, but all were fair and some (e.g. 42 and 6) were wonderfully ingenious. As Scorpius says, it takes a lot of hard work to come up with something so elegant.

[icynorth]

I do enjoy a puzzle which gives you plenty to do at the end. I agree this was beautifully crafted, and wholeheartedly support the political stance of hedge sparrows everywhere!

[sunny-dave]

A thing of joy and pleasure (unlike the vile, useless theme) - nice clues and loads of stuff to find and do.

Thanks Hedge-sparrow, one of my favourites of the year so far.

[British_Olympics]

Perhaps the link word in 42 should be 'make' rather than 'making' ?