Listener No. 4443: Not The Rockies By Kruger

[AHearer]

I admit, I made heavy weather of that. The problem was that I didn't get 1d for ages -- not, in fact, until I had cold-solved most of the clues, sorted out the guidance, and got some way through a jigsaw-type grid fill. I enjoyed the whole thing, though, so many thanks to Kruger.

[trux]

Agreed - once I got 1dn, everything speeded up. Gridfill then started to help and one began to admire the beauty of the construction. Enjoyed the clues, and it all hanged together in the end most satisfactorily. Many thanks to Kruger for much enjoyment.

[trux]

Fully understand: once I had 1dn, everything speeded up very quickly and one could start to admire the beauty of the construction. Much enjoyed many aspects of the clueing too, so big thanks to Kruger for an enjoyable and most satisfying puzzle.

[trux]

(oops - sorry if I answered twice - it looked like first attempt had not been posted...)

[Ruthrobin]

We enjoyed this thoroughly and did get 1d fairly early on but had a tremendous struggle fitting in the last few clues, long after we had understood what we were doing. Thanks for the challenge, Kruger.

[Hagen]

To start with this was like peeling off an obstinate sticky label - tiny bits of progress that didn't seem to diminish the task ahead. And that was despite getting 1 down and the NW corner quite quickly. Things fell into place as I got more of the (often tough) clues, and what initially seemed like the worst sort of slog turned into a very entertaining puzzle. I didn't find the generated message much help because I had filled most of the grid before it made any sense!

I'm always grateful for an endgame that's unambiguous and doesn't require mind-reading, and that's what we had here. Three non-GWIT puzzles in a row - we're on a roll!

[s_pugh]

I was very lucky in parsing 1d very early on (especially as I didn't know that particular definition), and found that even after solving only a small number of clues it was possible to start filling the grid using a little bit of logic. Some tough (but fair) clues, all in most enjoyable and again no ambiguity or vacant grid-staring for a non-existent *** hare ;¬) Great fun Kruger.

[perseverer]

My education continues - I have learned that the name formed from the circled letters does not refer to what I thought it did!

[HappyUncle]

This took me an age to complete - some of the clues had a touch of Sabre's style about them - but I was happy to persist, as Kruger's puzzles are always scrupulously fair and lead to a pleasing endgame.

If I've understood Perseverer's comment, it seems to me that many people use the thematic name followed by another word to signify the theme, not realising that the word alone was the original (and significantly different) usage.

[upsetter]

1D was easy after the event.
The great thing was that there were at least two plausible synonyms, albeit not actually 12 letters.

[icynorth]

A fine puzzle, I agree, thanks Kruger!

Now for your 'Ecological' Inquisitor puzzle ...

[sunny-dave]

Lovely (and hard) puzzle.

I did cold solve 1d first & then all the 4 and 5 letter entries - which gave me some entry points to get going on the rest - but the solving was hard and the fitting was still not trivial at all.

I think at least one AnswerBanker (joggerjayne) would quibble quite a bit about the circled name being representative of the theme ...

Thanks Kruger - a good one.

[emcee]

Great puzzle. I cold solved most and was able to deduce 1d from the answers entered. 1d very much a kickself, although I've never come across that definition before.

Some nice (tough) clues meant I could savour this puzzle rather than blast it off in a few hours.

[Philoctetes]

Definitely a good one! At one point I was thinking
I'd never finish, but stuck at it. The low point came when I had one answer to enter and convinced myself it was in the same zone as its partner. You have to be clever to do these, right?

[Encota]

Just back from Amsterdam and slowly catching up - only finished at lunchtime today. A very good puzzle with, as many others have said, some tough clues. I loved how one could deduce the location of the answers much more straightforwardly than it first appeared. Thanks Kruger!

[starwalker]

Very little to add. 1D certainly made life easier. Many thanks Kruger.

[olichant]

Posting just a little bit prematurely here because (after a long, difficult but enjoyable solve) I have everything but a few entries and a couple of stray wordplays which I'll now try to resolve. Glad that most people didn't find it a walk in the park! Some really good, tough clues - thanks, Kruger.