Listener 4179: O Gather Twelve by Augeas

[Zabadak]

Back to the relatively easy ones then, though I think the final step's a bit of a swine if the subject's not all that familiar. One of those with a reasonably straightforward grid fill (with one slightly ambiguous answer that could throw you off the whole track) and then at least the potential for staring into space for a while waiting the proverbial descent of the small change.
Best wishes to all, thanks to Augeas for working it all out, and the best of British to our noble scorer when he comes to check the rather random looking results.

[teuchter2]

Have now got my missing two answers complete. Not being a Celtic supporter I had got the supposed nationality of my 'Mary' completely wrong, and I had forgotten about this Roman favourite! There is one theme I can think of that is appropriate for the 4th Sunday in Lent, but we are not there yet, so obviously it is a theme I am not familiar with. Hopefully I will yet get there.

[bobbycollins]

I have just got the four word theme by messing with the title. Wiki explains it but I don't grasp the relevance of the grid entries for the clashes. Pretty dull fare I'm afraid, but the construction must have been tricky.

[Tarraco2]

Oh dear. Got the theme in the middle of the night on Frday for what good it has done us. We are still left with the Roman favourite to sort out - grrrr!

[sunny-dave]

Well the grid was easy enough, the theme was unknown to me but eventually succumbed to some determined analysis and googling.

Not a favourite though ...

[Cruncher]

Still stuck on the final step after a rather dull slog through the gridfill and concerned that different spellings for 31dn create ambiguity. And I'm missing one specific combination of clashes so also don't have a complete group. So still some way to go and limited enthusiasm beyond the perennial mirage of the all-correct

[magichour]

Cruncher - 31d is unambiguous, assuming you have understood the wordplay and clashes.

[contendo]

A frustrating crossword. I filled the grid and resolved the clashes some time ago but am stuck on the theme. There seem to be some pretty heavy hints in the grid (or there were before the clashes were resolved) but googling in the field has not yielded anything so far. Nor has messing with the title, as Bobbycollins suggests. I liked 5 down.

[Tarraco2]

We would swop the Theme for 20d (if it were permitted!)

[Cruncher]

Thanks Contendo - misread my BRB

[trux]

Not back from Barcelona until late last night so only tackled this today - and I really rather enjoyed it. Succinct clues (as they kinda had to be, given constraints), pretty approachable ; fairly easy to spot pattern emerging - and then good logical step to theme using title. 100% clarity in preamble (which is not always the case) leading to 100% unambiguous finish (even if I hate double- and triple-checking all the resultant dog's dinner). Many thanks to Augeas and not even entered for the Z cup.

[pushmi-pullyu]

Okay, got there now, but with only a muted feeling of satisfaction.

[BlackHugh]

I've also just got it. But I found it rather fun - admittedly there was a mismatch between the difficulty of the grid and working out the theme - and I did start down many wrong tracks. But it was a great PDM when finally there.

[fancydan]

Tarraco if you want a gentle hint e-mail [email protected]

[Tarraco2]

Thanks fancydan - I've emailed you.

[JackDeCrow]

Wow. Finally stumbled across the theme after two days of relatively random internet trawling. I'd have to agree that is pretty tough if, like me, you've not heard of the theme in question. But then, it's always nice to learn something new, so thanks to Augeas for that! And well done to anyone who actually worked out the theme from the title without having heard of it before!

[Cruncher]

Took a jog along the river and yet another permutation of googling words to get this. All makes sense now. Tad obscure

[Mesnilpat]

Grandparenting duties have meant only scant time for this week's puzzle - am still pondering the theme, obviously something that is not familiar to me. Hoping that the penny will drop soon.

[tilbee]

Surprised at the difficulties some experienced solvers have experienced in determining the theme. One key word immediately jumped out at me, and this together with the cryptic representation in the title immediately gave me something I could google.

[magichour]

Well done to anyone who has worked out the theme. Still googling (since Saturday), but so far no PDM here, and increasing frustration. But learning a lot about subjects which probably have nothing to do with it, so the time is not being entirely wasted!

[perseverer]

magichour - if you want a hint email me at [email protected]