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I did think that it was an enjoyable solve and fair once I had twigged what we had actually done to the grid. It is a shame that there is more than one version of the quote and that WISH wasn’t spotted otherwise it would have been a good puzzle. I can’t claim that either held me up though as I found the right quote straightaway via Google and didn’t notice WISH until I had finished.

Agreed - a nice idea badly let down by all the possible options for the quotation (and the inclusion of WISH in the final grid). Can anyone confirm that the required version is 28 letters long and that it commences at the bottom left hand corner and goes up to the top, across, and down the right hand side (presumably resembling a doorway)?

That is the one that I have gone for, ThePost. It looks right as you suggest.

A propos, does anyone see a reason why the solution should not be draped around the grid, rather than in it, thus creating several non-words, even if they are not explicitly forbidden? Seems much more elegant to me, proves one has every letter correct plus the quote, even if it's unconventional to enter outside. I don't really see how they can discount any method when the instructions are so ambiguous and incomplete.

A neater solution, greedy kite. Or just highlighting the affected cells and writing plain text anywhere. I think the setter missed several opportunities to create a masterpiece out of this theme. I'd like to have seen 9 concentric circles, with key words starting in each circle as radials (limbo, lust, gluttony etc.). In addition, from the 9th circle the 4 letter word we're not mentioning could be omitted, leaving an empty core...

Just another thought! "Ye who enter here" could refer to us, the solvers entering the solution in the grid. Therefore should we abandon/delete WISH as instructed? Is it that devious? I think that it maybe. I cannot believe that the setter AND the crossword editor both missed the fact that WISH appears in the grid. In fact, it is beginning to look very clever! Any thoughts?

I did briefly wonder whether to apply the quotation to itself, but that would leave a chunk out of the doorway so decided against.

I can’t believe that The Listener would expect us to remove ‘hope’ in eight cases without leaving blank cells and in one case leaving blank cells. I think too that if we were expected to follow the instruction given by the quote as an endgame that would be made clear. And would you also remove AIM diagonally? So I am afraid that I am inclined to think that it is an oversight.

Greedy kite, I think you've hit on yet another viable solution since the preamble does not necessarily preclude rearranging the letters elsewhere rather than replacing the perimeter letters. However, why drape the quote around the grid? The "thematically appropriate position" according to the original text is on top of the grid. That phrase has been puzzling me for some time because trailing around the perimeter is definitely not "thematically appropriate."

It's yet another aspect of the puzzle that has not been thought through, it seems to me.

Of course, normally if a Listener puzzle requires writing outside the grid, that is clearly signalled, but a newcomer to the Listener is not to know that, so could well choose to be faithful to the thematic text and write the quotation above the grid.

I haven't read the original text, so I'm hoping that the description in ODQ4 onwards of the relevant words appearing 'at the entrance' will be good enough to justify the treatment that the setter seems to require.

In any case, the grid as printed (in the newspaper) precludes greedy kite's suggestion.

Speaking of treatments, I don't think the diagonal AIM has to be omitted from the final grid, but in the version I've submitted there are two omissions, not one.