Listener Crossword No. 4650 Two Names By Deuce

[emcee]

No thread started according to my search.

More straightforward than last week's puzzle -- but that wouldn't be difficult.

I thought the clues were quite easy and the first name is clear enough. The second name I'm not so sure about...

Thanks, Deuce.

[sunny-dave]

All done and dusted - as Carte Blanches go the gridfill wasn't too hard (albeit I'd solved all but about five clues before really having a stab at it).

The second person wasn't easy to find, and the clue was all but useless, but a lucky spot and a bit of googling ended the grid stare.

Thanks Deuce - plenty of time for 'shouting at the rugby' this weekend now.

[Hagen]

I loved this up to and including working out the first thematic name. Then I spent well over twice as long on the second name as the rest of the puzzle. The “hint” was about as helpful as an answer from Microsoft support, and I’ll be amazed if anyone actually works out the name from it rather than the other way round.

Unless you’re familiar with the details of the theme, the last step may well be a tiresome hold-up which spoils what in every other respect is an excellent puzzle. I was impressed by how well many of the extra words were disguised, requiring a lift and separate to find them.

Very nice, then, but could have done without the final grid stare.

[Philoctetes]

I agree with everything Hagen has written. A nice puzzle rather spoiled by the final step

[HawkCrossword]

Thanks Deuce!

I was impressed by how much material you packed into the grid, but I didn't need the hints at all. The extra words really only served to make the clues slightly more difficult. I'd have been inclined to hide some of the preamble instructions in there instead, to force people to solve them for a purpose.

[perseverer]

Have to say that after a fruitless grid stare, a little bit of thought on the two extra word hints, and Google and Wiki, got me the second name very easily.

[Jboh]

I seem to have been very lucky. I understood the second hint, googled the name, and found it in the grid, all within less than ten minutes

[Cruncher]

Slightly surprised at the comments above. Once I figured out the name in the top row, and read the source material from the hints, it seemed a pretty obvious google to find the second name, and easy enough to track it down once I knew what I was looking for. I enjoy the jigsaw of carte blanches and thought this was a very accessible one.

[borealis]

Interesting divergence of opinion here. I'm midway; easy start, nice jigsaw, and top row success as soon at a couple of the unclued entries were found. But my misinterpretation of the first hint meant far more grid searching than needed; in retrospect agree with Cruncher! Thanks, deuce.

[Hagen]

I'm glad that others had less trouble than I did with the second name. I must have spent over two hours looking up the names of various associates, supporters and family of the thematic character and trying to find them in the grid. Somehow I missed the relevant name and/or (mea culpa) didn't twig the method of concealment until far too late. I concede I was being unfair when I said previously that only those familiar with the details of the theme could have got it, but I maintain that, to me at least, the second hint was no help at all. I even spent some time trying to solve it as a cryptic clue!

[Scorpius]

I largely agree with Hagen and Philoctetes. Like Hagen I spent some time researching associates or thematic precursors, (though not as long as two hours) before arriving at what was for me a slightly disappointing finale. I say disappointing because it seems a bit of trivia that doesn't really expanded my limited knowledge of the subject.

HawkCrossword says he didn't need the hints. Maybe so, but they do serve a purpose. The first is thematically relevant because of its application to the principal name; the second is a related hint to what solvers should look for, though I did not see it's precise meaning, so wasted time grid staring and irrelevant research.