Listener 4173 Bias by Zag

[starwalker]

Well, that was an interesting workout and an area about which I previously knew absolutely nothing. Thanks for that Zag.

[dr b]

Indeed, good fun, and nice to see a "gimmick" other than misprints or extra/missing letters for a change. Grid fill made quite a bit easier because the wordplay gives the grid entry. Nice one.

[vetuste_ennemi]

I thought this might be a bit more crowded. Fun, yes, but I can't remember an easier Listener.

[Walterloo]

A nice, pleasant, interesting solve after a long, hard week. Different and rewarding. Thanks Zag.

[Alekhine]

Didn't really think much of this. My quickest ever.

[Zabadak]

Easier Listeners there have surely been in very recent memory - 4171 springs readily to mind. I did this in part, though, while watching Mastermind. Sure. the cluing's not too tricky, though in several cases where the letter order remains random, fitting everything in has led to a very messy grid.
But like a good Listener, this has introduced me to a subject not-so-cunningly hidden in the grid that I was shamefully unaware of.
Enjoyable, and what a wealth of thematic material! Cheers Zag!

[Ruthrobin]

I am surprised by all these remarks that this was so easy. I have the theme and an almost full grid but have found the device really challenging - the toughest for a while.

[perseverer]

Would tend to agree that this is on the easier side. I'm another who had never heard of the thematic material. I see Zag has 4 previous Listeners, some numerical in part, but none since 2002.

[logophile]

Tend to agree this one is rather easy, with the occasional loose clue - for example 11a has a missing 'it' before the definition.

[logophile]

Sorry, that should be 11 down.

[AHearer]

Fun, with a nice new trick, but not too difficult. I was glad to see that the theme was laid out in full in the BRB, to settle my uncertainty about the penultimate letter in the first across theme word.

[silversolver]

Didn't quite make the Friday Club this week but that was because I didn't start until late last night. I also found this fairly straightforward but fun (and a new theme for me too...). Made slightly harder because some clues had more than one potential entry until other clues were solved. Thought the definition for 32a was stretching things a bit.

[contendo]

Almost there, but haven't got the 10-letter phrase or the final connection between the theme words yet. I thought this was an interesting variant on the usual run of Listeners.
Does anyone out there use Googlechrome? If so do you have my problem when printing the Listener crossword of the right-hand edge and bottom three lines disappearing from the print?

[sunny-dave]

Very enjoyable - just wish I'd immediately looked for the theme in the BRB instead of being lazy and using wiki - the BRB version instantly removed my vague unhappiness with the penultimate letter of the third across theme word.

[perseverer]

Silversolver - answer to 32a exactly fits BRB?

[silversolver]

Oops, yes. Thanks, perseverer (and the wordplay to that one made me smile)

[tilbee]

I see that my prediction from two weeks ago is already incorrect - for me the easiest of the year to date. Still as aready posted, quite fun and an introduction to a new subject.

[contendo]

Finally got there via the internet and then the BRB. Sunny-dave, I think you mean antepenultimate.

[Philoctetes]

@contendo. I use Chrome and find just that. I have taken to printing in landscape, which takes an extra page, but makes the letters bigger (so I can actually read them) and has the grid on its own page too. Now to get started!

[tilbee]

Think it is the penultimate letter which is given an alternative spelling when checking the theme on Wikipedia. Required letter is however confirmed in BRB.

[contendo]

Thanks Philoctetes - yes, that works.