Listener No 4163 Aversions by Brock

[Ruthrobin]

Am I honestly the first of the Friday Club? What a fine, interesting set of clues. We guessed the theme quite early, which helped. Brock has produced another excellent challenge. Thank you Brock!

[AndrewG-S]

Strange I opened AB to expect a slew of Friday nighters. An enjoyable solve with a theme which I have been expecting. Thanks Brock

[Zabadak]

Good to be back to something both interesting and doable after last week - on truly familiar territory as my college held a relevant collection. Currently nursing what appears to be a slow and muddy mind, I decided not to go near the candle flame last week, and I'm happy to wait until solution day to find out what I've missed. I'm sure it was wonderful/frustrating/maddening etc. Even took this one in gentle stages, and in better nick would have finished sooner, I think, but not without amusement and certainly not unimpressed by all the thematics fitted in. I found Wiki was as useful as the cited reference which I don't possess anyway. Regards to all and thanks to Brock.

[TheBear69]

Agreed; nice and gentle after last week (still struggling to find that clash!) Brock came up with a really clever idea for a theme. I'm not sure why the age of the subject is required to be written in numerals, but that's ok with me...

[dr b]

Nice workout for a busy Friday. Still need to go back and figure out how the asterisked clues all tie together - but there's no real need to, either.

[Walterloo]

My kind of Listener. Even after I got the theme and filled a lot of the grid by using my copy of the 'reference' it was still a challenge. Some really good clues here and I still have to understand some wordplay but the theme - to me - was amusing. Good fun.

[AHearer]

Great fun: a very neat idea, with some excellent clues. Many thanks, Brock.

[starwalker]

A welcome return to a "fun" puzzle. Still a couple of theme items to sort out. Thanks Brock.

[dr b]

A little googling sorted out the asterisks quickly enough. Amusing and interesting.

[silversolver]

Yes, good fun with some clues that made me smile (especially 23d and 35d). Also nice to get back to one that was manageable within a few hours. Now back to last week's and trying to find that clash...

[tilbee]

Some welcome respite after last week's challenge. Expecting a letdown after 4162, but an interesting theme and enjoyable.

[jockie]

I'm new to this site, so bear with me if I fail to follow the proper etiquette. What on earth is happening at 27D? I can see no relation between any of the 20 or so possibilities for the final letter and any definition or wordplay. Clearly I'm being stupid at the last hurdle (but last week's gave no huge problems). Am I trying to be too subtle?

[tilbee]

Jockie -firstly welcome to the site. If you check each of the possibilities in turn in Chambers you should find an obscure (for me) definition that fits the bill.

[trux]

Greetings from the East! Just printed this off - and pleased to report that I managed Mash with an old exercise book (admittedly I did use about 20 pages of it before I finishedit)... This hopefully will be more approachable. I like the tone of the comments so far ... Bestest

[pushmi-pullyu]

Like TheBear and silversolver I am still struggling with last week's, so very grateful for something a bit less challenging. A very satisfying puzzle.

[contendo]

Does anyone else have a problem with the final letter of 5D? I also have problems with relating two or three of the asterisked answers to the reference. Meanwhile, back to Mash...

[Mesnilpat]

Greetings from the slow lane. I've only just started this one but the brain cells are already feeling less addled than last week. Half the grid done, hopefully the rest will be as enjoyable. Then back to Mash? Maybe.

[BlackHugh]

contendo - I cannot see any problem with 5d. I haven't got all the asterisks yet but, like others, I will also be going back to Mash

[JackDeCrow]

Got the basics of this one fairly quickly, but have only just found a Wikipedia page which fully reveals the cleverness of it. Not one to be underestimated - congratulations Brock!

[Zabadak]

5D isn't a problem if you check the preamble and trust the wordplay.