Listener 4506 Multiple Deletions By Ifor

[s_pugh]

After last week's Sabre I was expecting something simple - wrong! Was head scratching and cold solving for ages until I rumbled the verse and then had the huge PDM. Thought the 18 opposing pairs were by far the toughest. Thanks Ifor.

[Hagen]

I'm glad to have salvaged some honour after last week's abject surrender. This puzzle was far from easy, but once I had traced the verse everything fell neatly into place. Kudos to Ifor for implementing the theme in such a way that there was no room for ambiguity. Very satisfying last step, too.

As so often these days, I wonder if I would have got anywhere at all with this were it not for t'interwebs!

[tnap]

Thanks Ifor; I liked this one. The bottom left hand corner and a few of the letters deleted from clues led to the verse which aided solving considerably. Confirming a few of the answers to paired clues was a bit more problematic. I'm still not entirely sure about 2 of the answers, but the grid-fill is unambiguous.

[kdgs2]

I found this the hardest so far this year - progress was extremely slow until I had about three-quarters of the clues solved. I still can't quite parse 14d or 33a, but that can wait until tomorrow. My favourite clue was 19a, very cleverly done. Thanks Ifor for a proper challenge.

[sunny-dave]

A very clever piece of construction - and none to easy to grind out the grid entries even once I knew what was going on.

I agree about the t'internet being essential - both for finding the verse and for finding entries that would fit (many thanks to Quinapalus for the flexibility of the Word Matcher).

Thanks Ifor - a good workout

[Flocker14]

Agree about the Word Matcher (the bit marked Find all words/Squeezebox); that, BRB, (red) Bradford and the Internet are my key tools for solving the tough ones. Was suitably mortified not to know the original verse and have amended this. I never quite got to grips with the opposing pairs but have arrived at a solution which I hope is right (often fatal with xwords I've found!) and will go with that. Hugely enjoyable, though, and a most worthy addition to what's already been a vintage year.

[Liathach]

Hardest so far for me, and it took me ages to get the verse; I spent some time thinking about teapots. I thought the opposing pairs were the easiest, however, and towards the end I relied on TEA to track down the missing letters.

[starwalker]

I too was expecting an easier ride this week. Still, this puzzle never gave the impression of being beyond reach and the PDM meant an easier finish than I had expected. Thanks Ifor.

[olichant]

Glad it's not just me to find this tough. All done bar one wordplay. I thought the idea and implementation were excellent, and the letters below the grid were a fine PDM. I'm not sure I'd have got there without Quinapalus - or at least, it would have taken me even longer. One or two of the clues made me raise an eyebrow, but that's probably just tiredness; I'll have a look at them again in the cold light of day. In any event, what a clever puzzle (and some interesting words, to boot).

[Encota]

A great puzzle - many thanks Ifor! I've even tried writing my Listen With Others blog 'appropriately', ready for publication on the 29th ...

[emcee]

Tough but satisfying, including the letters needed to be written beneath the grid.

Now back to Sabre: all clues done but finding it a problem to knit things together.

Thanks, Ifor, a great puzzle.

[icynorth]

A great puzzle, indeed - many thanks, Ifor.

This had everything - an amazing and unambiguous grid, some fascinating and unusual long words, and some remarkable clues, despite the multiple constraints (too many to mention, but 16D was a favourite). The verse was a beautiful thing to discover, too, but I'll remember it most for the prolonged and contorted way I had to think to solve those clues. They should prescribe these puzzles to stave off Alzhemers.

[Philoctetes]

Finished - but I have no idea how. How did the idea of what is going on pop into my head? There was no clue in the preamble. Once the verse was found, it confirmed the idea - but that was late on for me. A bit too much GWIT for my taste. But, nonetheless, fantastic