Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

The clues...
Requests for help should normally include the clue itself, the number of letters in the answer and details of any you already have. Any additional information or special instructions, common in Listener puzzles, should also be included.
Hints only, please, no answers.

The theme...

Help towards the theme may also be sought here. The 'help' should be just a nudge, a pointer in the right direction - something useful, and definitely not anything that would spoil the puzzle for other solvers. Any posts which, even inadvertently, reveal too much of the theme are likely to be removed.

The Listener is a unique puzzle and should be treated with respect.

Interesting puzzle, with some unorthodox clueing and an unambiguous ending. Cheers, Vainglorious

You and I have *very* different definitions of 'unambiguous', dodgepot! Grid filled, all the extra letters and it still feels like a 'guess what I'm thinking' ending to me.

Am I right in interpreting the instructions as applying to four rows and ten other cells, i.e. a pair of letters in each of five rows?

Yes, that is correct. As long as you have identified the work, it all falls quickly into place

What I meant by “unambiguous”, twelvetree, was that once you have the solution you know it’s correct. If you are in any doubt, as is almost always the case with the Listener, you are probably wrong.

Well there's the rub Jordan, I haven't. A single name and a two word phrase that isn't very searchable is not helping me. I assume neither sandy places nor rodents feature in it?

No sandy places or rodents.

If you have the extra letters, searching the last three words is enough to get the source, from which the instruction gives an unambiguous final grid.

Another highly entertaining puzzle. I hope no-one says this was too easy for a Listener, as compiling a finished grid with so much thematic material in it is nothing short of brilliant.

Argh! The golden rule of Listeners - if you're stuck and the message makes no sense, check _everything_.

I had one letter wrong, the one from 25d (I had 'hardliner' = RAD, which I wasn't happy with). So I had a two word source and a surname for the author, hence the sand/rodents. What a difference a letter makes.

A sadder and a wiser man, he rose the morrow morn....

I agree that the endgame should be unambiguous. However, to confirm:

1. My letter pair adjustments were handled differently in one particular row than in the other four.
2. Pretty sure we submit a full grid, not just the affected parts. Visually, I think it might have been more attractive with the latter approach, but not a big deal.

Sound right? A lovely, challenging puzzle. Thanks.