Listener 4068

[starwalker]

This week's offering is "364 263 by Xanthippe"
A straightforward grid fill which now leaves me with the problem of following the instructions, whilst not being an owner of the required medium. Oh well, worse things have happened before.

[teuchter2]

I quite enjoyed this one - another moment of success after my 'Active Nation' cup tie and there's still time to do the ironing. Will next week's offering be more testing I wonder?

[Ruthrobin]

Easylistener - since you know that the grid has 180 degree symmetry (that's the normal kind) you can work out, by looking at word lengths, which words go across and down the centre of the grid. I'm giving nothing away if I say that, in this case, it's the longer words. Fit those four long words in and the rest will begin to slot into place fairly easily. Welcome and good luck.

[easylistener]

Many thanks Daagg for your advice. Unfortunately no headway yet. And thanks too for Ruthrobin's advice which led to a flurry of activity but still no great success. Do I assume all listener puzzles fill the grid (ie. no blanks)? I have solved the code, column word, extra word, shape and phrase but still stuck on clues! Any help on the Bristle clue? ... and thanks for welcoming me ... I hope I can keep up!

[easterfool]

Welcome easylistener: You can't always assume that there will be no blanks, but on the whole and in this particular case that is correct. I remember the first Listener that I saw that had blanks to be left empty - I failed on it, because I thought that it wasn't allowed. Listeners are a class of their own - just enjoy those wonderful times when it all falls into place.

Now "Bristles": difficult to help without giving too much away, which isn't allowed as you will have realised. I Hope that you have got it that this is an answer which has lost a letter to the left - so you know one of the letters. Think Latin, for the (plural) definition and the main part of the cryptic part of the clue.

[daagg]

easylistener, the definition for the first across clue is the last 2 words. There is a fairly obvious answer of the correct length (no extra letter in this answer), and I spent quite a long time assuming that must be the answer without understanding the word play. After I had finished the grid, I managed to untangle the wordplay, but it didn't help before that. If you have some of the first down answers, it is reasonable to hypothesise that some of their first letters will intersect with the first across clue.

[jacinth]

Cor! A Sunday finish! New Year's resolution still being observed. Ground to a halt after blind-solving about a third, but things quickly fell into place when I tried placing some of the answers. I suppose Xanthippe laid things out fairly straightforwardly for someone using a trial-and-error approach. I'm no longer an owner of the apparatus - glad to see I'm not the only one left!

Regarding school closures, my alma mater in the West Country (in the late seventies) had no hesitation in announcing a day off for fog, let alone snow!

[cluelessJoe]

... back off topic and on winter / school closures / health, safety and no-win-no-fee, is it not staggering that 2500 of those locked out of school were allowed to attend the scouts' winter camp this weekend, somewhere in the freezing wilds of Essex? Well done to all - and a special salute to the lad who remarked that 'there's no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing'.
Now back to my seat in front of the wood-burner!

[easylistener]

Big thanks to Daagg and Ruthrobin for valiant attempts to help a rookie. I did make some progress but must admit defeat this time, I'm afraid. But I will study the published solution and train my brain. By the end of the year I may be able to say, "that was an easy listener" but until then I remain a learner! Thanks anyway.

[JackDeCrow]

For some reason when I printed this one off, the last across clue came out completely blank, but the (6) did appear. Was really looking forward to a clever PDM on that one. Only when I got to the point where there could only be one answer did I go back to the Times web-site and discover there was a clue after all! Strangely disappointing. But quite enjoyed the overall theme on this one. Still can't find a completely satisfactory explanation for the first down clue in Chambers.

[Philoctetes]

Easylistener,
Don't be put off by the speed merchants here. There are a good 11 days to solve each puzzle - use them! When i started, I found it a triumph to complete before the next one appeared, and often had to be considering two at once. Gradually i have whittled it back and can usually finish by Tuesday following publication (though my weekends are very busy!). Stick at it

[JackDeCrow]

Philoctetes is right - still reasonably rare for me to be completely finished by Sunday night. My wife actually suggested yesterday that I could wait until Sunday to print them off, so as not to spend the whole weekend staring at them and use up work time instead!
While I agree with the latter half of the sentiment, I think it could be a big ask!

[catstail]

Don't worry Easylistener. I am sure you have done more than me! Like you I enjoyed rentokil, as well as the recent mathematical puzzle. Last week's defeated me although I got some of the clues. This defeats me +++. I have one or two possible answers and am plodding away. It is the tantalizing glimpse of the brainteaser after the clues that keeps me going. I need some major inspiration to make headway though. Like you will look forward to seeing the published answer.

[shelouse]

Easylistener - and others - if you have either Bradfords or the Chambers Crossword Dictionary, they would have given you considerable help, for example with the Bristle clue. Either would give you quite a leg up in the solving process - my performance improved leaps and bounds after the acquisition of the latter.

Quite a nice puzzle, but not one to rave about. I struggled with the Judge clue, having otherwise finished the puzzle - even with the missing letter known, I couldn't get it. A night's sleep and then saw it immediately. There is no need to possess a bottom row - any ordinary one will show you what you need.

[Clamzy]

Jack - that one had me baffled for a long time too. The first word in the clue is a verb and with the base(e) dropped leads to the grid entry. However the definition is at the other end and is a 6 letter word including the extra letter. In Chambers it may be under a 10 letter word as this is a shortened version using the first six.
Hope that helps.

[JackDeCrow]

Doh! Thanks Clamzy. Would you believe after all of that I had forgotten to allow for the extra letter? Even though that 6 letter word kept popping up when I searched for the 5 letter one on Google! Makes so much more sense now. Feeling relieved but really quite stupid!

[danielmason]

I thought that after following the instructions, the letters in the cells involved would spell something. They don't, do they?

[Deviant]

Pleasantly surprised by how easy the fill was, given my phobia of grids with no numbers. Decoding the requirement was the least brain-taxing step ever in a Listener crossword, because I do own one with the required ability.

Not too sure about the results of the requirements - is the first part supposed to lead to a representation of the item in question, because it doesn't look like mine? Is the phrase a reference to Cockney Rhyming Slang because it's not something a northerner would ever apply to this particular version?

I don't see the point in this last step - what does it add to the puzzle?

[Eril]

Daniel - assuming that you mean the single letter removed from each column (and ditto for each row) then they are meant to spell something, in the column (row) order.

[Eril]

...however, if you mean the letters that end up going into the cells that have been vacated, then no (but an interesting idea for another Listener puzzle, maybe)

[Eril]

Deviant - decode the title...