Listener No 4586 Square Deal? By Tiburon

[NickorWan]

A lovely puzzle, thanks, Tiburon. I do like a bit of cut and paste when we are neatly guided to the final arrangement as here.

Season's best to all.

[12barblues]

Well, at least it’s not a wren! Always amazed at such constructions. Thank you Tiburon, not quite as daunting as the preamble suggested. Season’s greetings to all.

[olichant]

Really lovely puzzle. I fluffed the endgame a number of times before getting what I was looking for.

[Cruncher]

Very pretty. Always a delight to get my Pritt stick out at this time of year

[contendo]

How come I have a non-word at 17A, dictated by the four crossing down lights?

[PhilipW]

Yes, a lovely puzzle - thanks Tiburon. Contendo - I could see no problem with 17A so it may be worth your checking it

[sunny-dave]

Excellent - just excellent

Some (very) hard clues, a tricky (but satisfying) gridfill and absolutely no if/buts about the missing or misprinted letters - all beautifully precise.

The Blue Peter moment with scissors and sticky-backed-plastic was scary - but even that I got right first time due to the accuracy of the instructions.

Thanks Tiburon - a Christmas Gem.

[sunny-dave]

... and, if I may bend our self-imposed purdah here, in the spirit of the season - a small hint to Contendo :

17 ac includes a '2 letter cell' and the orientation of the divider is crucial.

Merry Christmas everyone and hopes for another year of Happy Listenering in 2020.

Dave x

[contendo]

Thanks for the hint Sunny-Dave. The strange thing is that two of my down lights crossing 17A have two-letter cells, but neither of them is in 17A. The other two lights have misprinted definitions.

[pushmi-pullyu]

Thank you from me too Sunny Dave: I was in the same spot as Contendo.

[Hagen]

I'm not too keen on cut-and-paste, and I'll confess I didn't go the full distance with this once I had a full grid and worked out what was required, but that reflects on my preferences rather than the puzzle itself. Hats off to Tiburon for an impressive construction.