Listener No 4369: Golf... By Xanthippe

[AHearer]

The grid fill was not as hard as I had expected, as spotting the treatment of the holes was a great help. I'm sure I'll have mucked up the last step, however, as i'm in the "good walk ruined" camp. I'm off to look for an app -- there must be an aid for golfers on the web somewhere that I can use as a check. Xanthippe must be congratulated for cramming so much thematic material into the clues: I'm sure there are solvers out there who will have enjoyed that more than I did. Fun, nevertheless.

[crosswhit99]

Yes, I'm with Mark Twain too when it comes to golf, but this was a fun puzzle and I'm off to the nineteenth now ;-)
Thanks Xanthippe !

[lyrabelacqua]

Done and dusted, and fully concur with the plaudits for Xanthippe's skill with thematic material. An excellent Listener which did not involve excessive grid-staring, but still had a nice PDM on the hole entries. Many thanks.

[British_Olympics]

Fairly straightforward once I'd given up trying to work out why 'Elspeth' might be an 'inspired teacher' ! Nice one Xanthippe.

(I used to have a pair of golf socks, then I got a hole in one)

[jim360]

The clues were well-constructed, lovely to see so many thematic references scattered through them. The gridfill has been a bit of a pain, though. Still, as my first-ever round of 18 holes I'll take it.

[IainGrace]

Still working on it but agree about the pleasing number of thematic clues. Have the golfing knowledge and find this much more congenial than the last couple - but that's just personal preference of course (pun unintended).

[upsetter]

We enjoyed this - a rare example of the title being untrue.

[s_pugh]

I think I’m in the same boat as AHearer – full grid but I fear I'll have thrown it all away by messing up the endgame as I don’t play the game and so don’t really understand this particular scoring method. To my mind that makes this puzzle a tad unfair on any non-golfers of which I’m sure there must be more than a few. Thanks Xanthippe but I think the endgame was an unnecessary add-on.

[perseverer]

Are they making allowance for my handicap - can't read the preamble porperly!

[perseverer]

........ Or type/spell

[aldanna]

A joint effort - I solved the clues, Himself fitted them in, but we did enjoy this one. I didn't know it was Mark Twain, but that's my view too. Very cleverly constructed; I can't help wondering where you begin on something like this.

[UglyUncle]

This seemed at first as if it would be impenetrably difficult, but in spite of the heart-sink moment after reading the preamble I decided to make a start. I'm glad I did. It's a real tour de force by Xanthippe, as others have already said. I'm pretty confident that I have the correct result: simple arithmetic, and thank goodness we didn't have to use the method hinted at in the clue beginning 'Cakes ...'.

[starwalker]

Highly enjoyable. Brought back memories of the Solitaire puzzles. Thanks Xanthippe.

[emcee]

I really enjoyed this one too. Proves that a Listener doesn't have to be mind-bending to be up there with the best.

[icynorth]

I've been struggling for a while with the grid-staring on this one. If it's the line I'm currently following, it's very obscure.

[contendo]

Got there in the end. A beautifully constructed puzzle, but I do wish setters wouldn't make the whole thing dependent on interpretation of an ambiguous sentence in the preamble. I only interpreted it correctly after a heavy hint or two from an old stalwart on this thread. After that all flowed smoothly.

[freiheid]

Well, as one who was rapped over the knuckles on this site previously for making an oblique reference to one answer, I am surprised that the original post gives away an extremely large hint to solving this puzzle, and that others have also referred to Mark Twain's quote. Or have the strict criteria been relaxed? Just out of interest. (I was toying with Elspeth too, but felt sure that Ernie had to make an appearance somewhere)

[olichant]

Well, it took me a while to unpick the endgame, but I got there in the end. What a lovely puzzle. I loved the thematic clues, and the way it was possible to piece together the grid and resolve the holes was original and really enjoyable.

Freiheid - I kind of agree...

Happy Monday to everyone who gathers here!

[icynorth]

Seriously overthought that one - spent a long time looking for thematic words to resolve ambiguities. Weirdly, I spotted three excellent ones, and one survives in the correct grid. If these were intentional red herrings, then I take off my visor to the setter.

Desperately need to make myself a large cup of tea and to not think about golf for a long while. Now, where's that caddy? Aaaaaagh!

[logophile]

Hope nobody minds me chipping in and putting down my thoughts, but it did take me a while to see what Xanthippe was driving at here. I was handicapped by being one over the eight all weekend, starting to flag last night and still feeling rough and decidedly under par this morning. I think the endgame is probably a fair way to round off the puzzle and I just need to iron out the final score now. Milk, no sugar please icynorth :-)

[jim360]

Should have aimed for 18 golf-related puns at least.