Listener 4268 Check This Out By Charybdis

[Warden]

Enjoying this so far. I have a full grid but, as yet, don't understand the instruction. Think I'll leave it till tomorrow, as inspiration often comes after a break.

[bobbycollins]

Nothing at all unfair about a classic Listener. Becoming competent at this level involves a learning curve, as in any field of expertise.

[trux]

Thoroughly enjoyed dong this on an OBB train between Salzburg and Vienna (where bizarrely you can pay to upgrade FROM First Class TO Business Class....). Each piece fits sweetly into place and, if read carefully enough, the preamble does say it all (or at least leads you sufficiently to be unambiguously sure you've got right through to the end). Many thanks, Charybdis. Am now trying to get the image out of my head....

[emcee]

Only started this late last night.

A welcome return for Charybdis. Always full of thematic material, this puzzle is no exception. (I still think the 'Dawn Chorus' puzzle was brilliant and his best).

Really enjoyed it. And no ambiguity about what to do at the final hurdle.

Thanks Charybdis. More of your Listener puzzles more often please!

[teuchter2]

I think I'm almost there, but not sure how to perform the final instruction. Decapitation seems possible with the insertion of a suitable element. Do the clues still have to make sense though? As I have a nagging doubt about a couple of the other clues involved I probably need to have another think. I haven't finished last week's yet, nor looked at the relevant thread.

[Deviant]

Delicious!

There's an awful lot left unsaid here and it would nigh on impossible to Listener newbies, but I did enjoy the last step enormously.

[fallster]

I enjoyed this one. A number of things to figure out, but clues were there.

[Whenland]

Great fun. Got the quotation fairly early which helped then, like others, stuck for a while on how to implement the appropriate instruction without ignoring part of the preamble, but all done now. Very clever! Thank you Charybdis!

[Staurologist]

Excellent. Great clues and delightful surprises, as predicted in the preamble. And re-reading the original novel gave extra pleasure. So many of the author's similes have this kind of bite. I did a wild dance of joy when I saw what had to be done.

[Postigod]

Awesome. This puzzle was so full of pennies dropping, I had quite a headache by the end! I identified the simile quite early on which was helpful, as I was really struggling to get into some (many) of the clues. It was only when the first word of the surprise fell into place that I really picked up steam on the grid fill, only for me to hit the metaphorical buffers again when it got to fixing the problem. Finally all clicked into place on the way home from work tonight.

Huge admiration for the construction of this puzzle - definitely one of my favourites this year.

[Scree]

This shows the benefit of catching a cold! I'd almost given up on 4267 (only a few clues left to solve but unsure of some misprints, something amiss with the 5 clues though I had two titles, one title seemed to be of a film not a piece of music...)

Went to work Monday but left early feeling rough. Looked at 4268 on bus home, spotted feature of Group I clues, made good progress.

Knowing I'd be staying home Tuesday, I found the patience to return to 4267 Monday evening and completed the thematic description. This explained a lot, including what was going on on row two. Surprised myself by actually finishing the puzzle ready to post the next morning. Only then saw the other half of what to do to the five clues.

Tuesday, plenty of time, breezed through 4268 until I reached the final instruction. Baffled. Had a look at this site and realised it might be worth looking for the relevant quotation. This pulled everything together and I was able to admire the construction - an easier puzzle than 4267 but elegant and satisfying.

Posted it today, did the weekend's Azed, but I'll have to go back to work tomorrow as I've run out of crosswords!

[Scree]

That should read "completed the facetious description". That was the breakthrough. My excuse for typing a different word altogether is that I've got a cold...

[IainGrace]

Been on hols. Did most of 4266 on the plane but didn't finish it, and didn't attempt 4267 in the circs. Cracked 4268 early on by guessing the author of the simile from the tone of it (wrongly) but Google then serendipitously told us who the true author was (with whom our guess is often confused). Spooky. Not quite got to endgame yet.

[IainGrace]

Finished. Yes, absolutely finished. Superb construction.