Listener No 4211 One Shot at a Time, by Artix

[Ruthrobin]

What a cracker Artix! The Friday club is very quiet and that is no surprise as this was a massive challenge but what a masterly compilation. Brilliant, thanks (and sorry, AB friends - I hope I have got the number right this week).

[borealis]

In a bunker on the first for some time, followed by a couple of bogeys, a lot of rough, and ended up off track completely (f!) but one of the best rounds I've ever pursued. Thank you very much, Artix.

Tenflags, I agree that “Spiral” = 4189 is good, but I have some others in contention this year:
4176 Lear
4195 Turing
4197 bogof
4203 August
4207 Loco
Anyone any thoughts here? I also tend to leave it a couple of weeks before I can compare, after the pdm euphoria dies away!

[midazolam]

There are 11 more puzzles to go this year, so it is a little early to start speculating. However, one cannot forget Kea.

[jim360]

I have a special place for 4203 because it was my first Friday club, but 4199 Scattered has such a brilliant endgame that it has to be at least in the top 3 so far this year. I'd say #1 - but who knows what else lies round the corner?

[tenflags]

Quite right of Midazolam to point out there are more to go this year and it was not my intention to start a review of the year and I should have qualified my statement with "so far..."

If you do have a list of fav's so far Borealis then I would add 4187 Dysart and Hedge-sparrow would have to go with Kea for the co-operation but they may be the same person of course ?

I also take the point about reflection .. and having done so for a day or so I think this is the best of the year "so far" for me.. because apart from weighing up all the elements of; quality of clues, clever construction, toughness and so on... ultimately I found this the most "enjoyable" puzzle to process through in solving. For me at the end of the day it's not about how clever the setter is or isn't - it's about giving the solver the best experience. This ticked all the boxes.

[Cruncher]

Gosh - just took a look at the crosswordsolver forum where various people are obviously looking for assistance with this one. Complete answers being posted with happy abandon. Felt rather shocked. Makes us lot look like the very model of discretion

[olichant]

Cruncher: I quite agree. As part of my "research" (!) to try to get up to speed with these puzzles - they really are stupidly addictive - I was browsing through some previous AnswerBank threads to get a flavour for the sorts of challenges that might come up. I have to say, it now seems a very different, friendlier, and better-all-round sort of place.

Can I put in an honourable mention for Painless? Lovely theme, very nicely integrated into the radial.

[borealis]

Tenflags says “...I found this the most "enjoyable" puzzle to process through in solving....” I agree entirely - good way of doing it, I think. For my own amusement, I give puzzles “marks” a bit like judging Gymnastics. Mark out of 10 for difficulty, then mark out of 10 for enjoyment.

I’m only using the enjoyment numbers to pick out which are “best” for me (8 or more in my list!). I’ve forgotten their puzzle numbers, but I loved Kea’s Cherry tree, and Shackleton’s Sine Qua Non, so I use these as 10 for enjoyment. Scattered got a 7 - wonderful puzzle, great technically but lacked the thematic humour that I like. That sounds very critical, but there have actually been at least 20 puzzles this year (so far!) that I would rate highly.

So, tenflags and jim360, I remember both Painless (Rupert Brooke) and 4187 (Haruki) well, but neither make the top few.... And 11 to go, and Midazolam says. A vintage year? I wonder if there’s scope for a not-all-correct solvers Pewter Bowl to compliment the Ascot Gold Cup???

[IainGrace]

Still with only two out of eleven Par Fours solved, we have definitely given up. Well done to those who have cracked this.

[teuchter2]

Not much progress while I was away, but no BRB. Finally finished yesterday and I thought it was one of the best. I might have got further if I had remembered the instructions about the message in the last letters, but failed to see this again. I soon got it polished off after that.

[sunny-dave]

Absolute cracker - still catching up after my hols, but managed this in one (long) afternoon today.

The wordplay for c (lower) is irritatingly eluding me - not a problem since all letters are checked in some way or other. No doubt inspiration will eventually strike.

One of my favourites this year I think.