Mynot Listener 4290 All Write

[Ruthrobin]

This seemed very daunting at first with so much going on but turned into a happy romp once the device became clear, and especially when the quotation emerged. Thank you MynoT

[trux]

Agreed ... not too taxing and a slightly controversial theme to play with. The pedants may well fest upon this. Can't say that this was my favourite and theme is becoming a bit well-worn, but nonetheless thanks must go to MynoT for another enjoyable solve.

[AHearer]

Yes, quite fun, and as Ruthrobin says not nearly as difficult as at first appeared. I did have to lean on the quotation to tidy up the northeast and southeast corners. Another enjoyable puzzle from MynoT.

[Speravi]

I do concur with Ruthrobin - the preamble made it seem that it might turn out to be very difficult, but, with the title suggesting the treatment(s) and gentle cluing, it turned into an enjoyable and comfortable solve. Thanks to Mynot.

[emcee]

Phew! A fair amount of work in that. Plenty now to be checked and then double checked before submitting it.

It certainly became much easier when I saw the second half of the quotation and was able to deduce the rest.

Thanks, Mynot. An enjoyable puzzle which needed a great deal of care.

[jim360]

Think I've sussed the theme just based on the title. Only solved two clues so far. We'll soon see if I'm on the right lines.

[doctormatt]

Very enjoyable! Clever ambiguity in one of the answers too!

[sunny-dave]

Very cute - spotting all the thematically treated clues/entries was not trivial at all.

The best of the three Listeners I've done since teatime yesterday - and now the weekend is free to get some miles onto the new Kawasaki.

Time for a glass of malt I think :)

[Ruthrobin]

That's some solving, Sunny Dave - does it count as a triple Friday Club? Take care on the Kawasaki!

[olichant]

I must be being very dozy - am totally stumped. Here's hoping that a breakfast hot cross bun will help.

[upsetter]

Sussed the theme early doors but still quite tough to complete.

[jim360]

Not nearly such a happy romp for me. The device was clear from the outset, but the initial uncertainty in many cases over what letter to enter in the the perimeter made this very slow and, for me at least, not particularly enjoyable progress. Thanks anyway MynoT, an impressive construction.

[starwalker]

Despite the theme being clear from the outset, I still struggled with some of the clues. Thanks MynoT, for a pleasant solve.

[contendo]

I'm impressed by the way setters keep coming up with original treatments of the crossword's basic format - at least this was original to me. Not sure what Trux finds controversial about it, but then I don't understand the relevance of the (mis)quotation. Perhaps I'm being even thicker than usual.
I seem to have ended up with 4 more thematically treated entries than thematically treated clues, so either I'm going to have to do some untreating or I need to scrutinize the clues more closely.

[contendo]

Ah! All is well. It was a miscount.

[IainGrace]

Cracked it by solving most of the SE corner, then guessing the run of letters and thence the quote. Don't think it's undue pedantry to say that 32 across stretches the theme and doesn't really work.

[Contrarian]

Contendo,

I presume that trux means that there will not always be total consensus about what counts as an 'equivalent' here.

Iangrace, I can't see anything wrong with 32ac.

[tilbee]

Agree with some others that not as daunting as first appears it may be, and managed (with a bit of judicious guesswork) to complete this on the train yesterday with no access to BRB or other references. A very enjoyable distraction from GWR so thanks to MynoT.

32a seems fine to me IanGrace.

[the_heisman]

I like the thematic treatment of "Iaingrace" in the previous posts. Theme became clear early on and looks like a pleasant enough stroll to the end.

[trux]

Just to be clear: my only concern was that some people are very picky about exact "equivalence" in this sort of theme. Perhaps I'm over-sensitive because, as a sometime setter, I seem to get into battles on the topic! Happy Easter to one and all.

[Ruthrobin]

Yes, Trux and I set jointly and I am the cause of the conflicts on this issue - indeed, Contrarian, that is the cause of the issues. Clearly, Chambers is the authority we have to kowtow to in such cases and I think MynoT and the editors have been very careful about that in this event. My fussing occurs when there are blatant departures from Chambers in this respect - in the Grauniad, Telegraph or even The Times sometimes.