Listener No 4182 Breach of Contract by Ron

[Ruthrobin]

I've just got the theme and title and am, as usual, thoroughly enjoying this puzzle. The three different types of clue were a challenge to start with but it all works out very nicely. Many thanks for the entertainment, Ron.

[Alekhine]

Late coming to this as Mrs Alekhine and I were at the am-dram on Friday.

We thrilled at the exploits of the Village Players in "The Umpire Strikes Back" ... a cricket-based love story of inter-galactic war. "Not another?" we hear you cry.

The puzzle was very enjoyable and beautifully constructed. A bit like the am-dram really ...

[magichour]

Quite a long way to go in terms of clues left to solve, but have got the title, scenario and theme, with an idea how the thematic treatment of some answers works. Enjoyed the PDMs that came with getting the title and like this one so far.

[magichour]

All done now. Thoroughly enjoyed - I agree with all the positive comments regarding the theme, construction and cluing.

[the_heisman]

What a great crossword. Amazing feat of construction. Thanks Ron. And it was well within the limits of my tolerance for sauciness.

[Philoctetes]

What! No colours! No grid-staring! Simply a well-constructed puzzle where everything is relevant, clues nicely varied, and a logical sequence of PDMs OK, not too hard clue-wise, but a much better Listener than som we have had recently

[ArchieLeach]

Yes, a weekend finish despite the family's best efforts. Made up (somewhat) for finding out I had a silly slip in the solution to 4179. Liked 13ac, perhaps a word to try to use in conversation one day.

A good puzzle but again, if I can manage a Sunday finish, not one of the hardest. Maybe next week...

[Charpy]

Late start due to weekend away. Very enjoyable puzzle with some properly devious, but accurate, cluing. Thanks Ron - whoever you are!

[Rogue-Elfe]

To think I almost gave up on this one!
Very very glad I didn't. It was an absolutely beautiful theme. Had tremendous difficulty with 3d, and only Qat came to my aid. Should have thought of using it sooner, to be honest. Excellent puzzle, thanks a lot.

[Rogue-Elfe]

Re last week, Sinecure:
I don't think anything too bad will happen if I reveal my address on here - it seems other members have done so. I would be most grateful indeed if a copy of last weeks grid could be sent to felgorean (at sign) yahoo.com
Thanks in advance.

[Alan7777]

Archie, I too made a silly mistake in 4179 by misspelling 'weirdo'. Any normal crossword and I wouldn't have been able to do this but .......

Am enjoying this week's and have everything except some of the last down clues.

[dead-eye]

Congratulations to David Waters, who won a prize for 4179. Nice to see a fellow islander on the winners list.

[WessexGirl]

All done except for unchecked cell in 34d. Have the corrected definition and the first half of the wordplay, but cannot see how the second half of the wordplay leads to the missing letter (which I think could be one of two). Is anyone able to hint without giving anything away?

[perseverer]

WessexGirl - assuming you have Chambers, look up your 2 possible letters ..........

[contendo]

Just got my stats for last year (not bad for Monday morning). Can I really have failed on 14 out of 53? No improvement there then. However I note there was an average of 376 correct submissions compared with 429 on 2010, so they must be getting harder.

[WessexGirl]

Thanks Perseverer. I had done exactly that, first thing this morning, bleary-eyed, and missed it!

[AndrewG-S]

Great puzzle, use of the thematic elements and hidden material was great. Got my stats too - pretty poor and I tried so hard. At least I submitted all I suppose.

[aldanna]

I also nearly gave up on this, finding it quite difficult. However, such was the enthusiasm here I got it back out of the "failed" folder, and have now finished. Some really good cluing, I felt, and a very clever structure.

[Alan7777]

Very clever and very enjoyable. The last two steps were confirming the wordplay for 22a and 25d.

[IainGrace]

Away for a few days so not devoted a lot of time to this yet. Solved a number of clues and got the theme. Heartened to see there is more pleasure ahead.

[Whenland]

Not so easy for us but great fun and finally finished over coffee this morning, Thank you Ron!