Listener 4325, Christmas Break By Poat

[AHearer]

The theme has had a lot of exposure recently, but that does not detract from this delightful treatment by Poat. All comes together in a most pleasing way.

[olichant]

I agree. A very fitting treatment. Happy Christmas to everyone.

[jim360]

One of the luckiest random guesses in history has revealed the theme and the hidden words, and now I just have a few gaps to fill in. Nice one, Poat.

[sunny-dave]

Excellent - just the job for this week - beautifully clued, nicely constructed and lots of thematics.

Thanks Poat.


Merry Christmas to everyone

Dave xx

[doctormatt]

Very nice, and appropriate theme. Just one (irrelevant to construction) I'm really not sure about...

[Pasquin]

It took me longer than I would have wished to get the theme, but that didn't get in the way of enjoying the puzzle. I had always thought that there was only one such occasion, so I've learned something. Thanks, Poat.

[emcee]

Loved the theme, loved the puzzle.

Many thanks, Poat and a Merry Xmas to everyone.

[upsetter]

Got the theme before solving a clue, but that did not detract at all from the difficulty of this satisfying Listener

[starwalker]

A rather predictable theme, nicely handled and still retaining a level of diffiulty. Thanks Poat, and a Merry Christmas to all.

[Ruthrobin]

I loved the way there was a whole sequence of p.d.m.s still leaving some thematic aspects to be worked out - and a grid so full of thematic material. Lovely stuff! Thanks, Poat.

[perseverer]

Yes, plenty of thematic material, some tricky wordplays, and the odd whimsical definition.

[s_pugh]

Found this quite tricky until I spotted the theme, which enabled a lot of back-solving. Although the wordplay works I found the definition a little weak for 15ac. But that’s my only grumble, as the whole was generally unambiguous. Thanks Poat.

[tilbee]

Agreed, excellent puzzle with a lot of thematic content. Took a little while to tidy up the last few answers and justify wordplays working backwards from the theme. Was also sidetracked for a short time by a seasonal cartoon ! A very Merry Christmas to all who contribute to, or just peruse, this site.

[Scorpius]

I agree with s_pugh about 15a, which for me is an &lit that doesn't quite come off. That and 3d were my last solves and although I'd earlier considered the answer for 15 I was not convinced until I determined what letter was needed to complete the left-hand column. It's years since I read the book, but I don't think the Chambers definition, with it's important six-letter adjective, is an accurate description of the incident.

Minor quibble out of the way, I thought it was an excellent puzzle with lots of fine clues, great fun to solve. Unlike some, the theme wasn't obvious to me at the start. In fact it wasn't obvious until I spotted a likely expression from the rejects. Until then I was thinking cartoons.

On an editorial matter, this is the second time recently that a Scrabble dictionary has been given as a reference. In the case of an unfamiliar word that is not a variant of a Chambers word one needs to check the meaning, so a dictionary, not a Scrabble list, is essential, however straightforward the wordplay. I checked my answer to 30d on the internet and found it appears in at least three dictionaries, so why isn't one of those given as the non-standard reference? Seems bizarre to me.

[aldanna]

I have an almost full grid but had no idea about the theme until Himself, looking over my shoulder at the screen as I read these posts, said ...... I shall now return to the grid with renewed hope. Happy Christmas to all!

[Staurologist]

I managed to finish this enjoyable puzzle this morning while it was all quiet in the house. I agree with Scorpius about both Proust and the Scrabble dictionary, which shouldn't be a legitimate reference text. Scrabblers are not interested in the meanings of words, only in the fact that particular strings of letters are legal in the game. 30 across is not in fact a proper word, but an error based on the mistaken impression that the true word is a plural. There is, however, a quotation in in OED that includes it.

[Cagey]

That was enjoyable. If everyone uses 30a as a common word in the plural surely it becomes a proper word and should be included as such.

[sunny-dave]

Can I point members of the Listenerati to last Saturday's Inquisitor in the Indie.

An excellent puzzle from Nimrod.

[ does anyone know if there is an online/printable version of the Inquisitors? I only see them on the odd occasions when I treat myself to a full Saturday Indie rather than just an 'i' ]

[contendo]

I haven't been doing too well on the Listener lately and this one just about stretched me to the limit of my capabilities (and was all the more enjoyable for that). There were some lovely clues. 14A really made me chuckle. I still don't understand 35A, where the wordplay seems to result in too long an entry. I agree that the 30A/30D entries were not acceptable. Having two entries not in Chambers sharing a letter is surely not on.
Cagey, the point is that the correct singular looks like a plural.

[AndrewG-S]

Happy Christmas everyone and I wish you all the best for an all correct new year!

[IainGrace]

Happy festive season to all. Just in the last stages of this one. Agree that the Inquisitor puzzles have been of high quality lately.