Listener 4750 - I Want You By Twin

[upsetter]

A clever puzzle but we found the thematic stuff a bit grating.

Thanks twin.

[AHearer]

I hate to disagree with such a distinguished poster, but I would challenge upsetter to cite a puzzle with richer inclusion of thematic material. It may not appeal to upsetter, but the skill with which it was included was impressive.

[Canary42]

Although I'm a twin, without a link I've no idea what you're talking about.

[douglas9401]

Sometimes you just have to sigh.

[emcee]

Decent enough puzzle but what a strange request! I'm not sure whether I'll bother to submit.

Thanks Twin.

[Philoctetes]

I agree with Upsetter. The construction is terrific, and the vast amount of thematic material is indeed impressive. However, the downside is that the surface of the clues is like a limestone pavement - manageable, but none too pleasant to walk on

[Cruncher]

And there I was worrying about how to parse some of the word plays...

[upsetter]

@AHearer - we meant no disrespect to Twin.
This was a well constructed puzzle brimming with thematic material with a neat if puzzling dénouement.
It's just that we felt that the Nobel prize was ill deserved.

[Dim16]

I admire the ingenuity of how all the thematic material was included, and I enjoyed solving the clues (bar a couple).

No idea how to carry out the instruction, mind.

Thanks Twin.

[perseverer]

Not difficult to spot what the theme was, (to say the least) though I did wonder if there was some sort of bluff going on. Another amazing construction.

I don't submit so I don't have to worry about carrying out the replacement. Would have been frightening anyway.

[olichant]

What a cracker. Ambitious constraint for the clues, executed superbly. A joy - thanks, Twin.

[AHearer]

Upsetter, if it's just about the Nobel then I'm with you. Incidentally, I'm also with you if it's about the original presentation of the thematic material as well as its appearance in the clues!

[sunny-dave]

Not a favourite - a decent puzzle, but I kept coming back to "Just because you *can* squeeze this much material into a set of clues, doesn't always make it a good idea" - the level of contrivance just got a bit irksome at times.

Thanks though, Twin - a good challenge for a greyish afternoon.

[HawkCrossword]

Twin certainly enjoys giving himself a hard time with the clues! I wouldn't know where to start with a puzzle like this. To include one or more titles in every single clue is an astonishing achievement, but there were many of them that were new to me. It all made for an enjoyably different challenge, thanks Twin!

I can see a practical difficulty with the submission. Oh well, it's John Green's problem, I suppose.

[borealis]

Very imaginative use of the thematic material in tough but fair cluing. Finding the instructions should have been straightforward but I found myself making mistakes - reminded me of some numericals! Overall, I liked this a lot. Please can we have an exhibition of the (anonymous) submissions?

[HawkCrossword]

This puzzle has made me think about what it is that makes a thematic clue difficult. With the more conventional clues, We get into a rhythm with how we process them. We read the clue, knowing that the idea in the surface is deceptive. We learn to actively strip this out when we read the clue again literally. When we've solved the clue, we erase that idea and move on to the next clue.

A conventional clue set has different ideas in each successive clue. One may be about gardening, say, the next on dog breeding, then politics, etc. With thematic clues, there's just a single idea, in this case Bob Dylan's music, which reinforces itself each time we read a new clue. It becomes very difficult to strip this out after solving a clue, and approach the next clue with a fresh perspective. It's making our brain work in a very different way, and that's where the fatigue comes in.

It's a shame, as that can cloud our opinion of the quality of the clues, where these were top-class.