Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

Quisling: many thanks for that. Since posting, I have filled the grid, which together with your contributions, answers my original query.
Thanks again.

I think the fact that this forum has gone to 15 pages somewhat supports the comments I was making earlier. I have calmed down and buckled down now and I will be sending in an entry, but with great expectations of a "fail"
My methodology eventually was
1. Write in all NORMAL solutions (group 1) with the grid in the usual orientation (title at top)
2. Turn the grid upside down and write in the ROTATIONS (group 4)
3. Turn the grid the right way up and set a mirror along the top (or bottom) edge and write in NS flips (group 2)
4. Keeping the grid the right way up, set a mirror to the left (or right) of the grid and write in the EW flips (group group 3)
5. Print off another blank grid to fair copy my grid AGAIN in order to clarify letters which didn't work because my mirror writing aint much cop.
6. TO DOUBLE CHECK Prepare a set of letters by writing out the alphabet in heavy duty felt tipped pen so that the letters leeched through onto the back and then physically carry out the flipping and rotationg on each letter of each word in the 4 groups.
7. Amend my letter Us, Ys and Ks, because the symmetry idea doesn't work if you write those letters in a certain way.

I'll get my coat.

Why does symmetry matter for the letter U, turast? There are only 2 in the grid, and both are EW flips and unchecked. As long as it’s reversed you can write it however you like

Could someone help with the parsing of the 6th clue in Gp (2) - 'legs are attached etc..'

I have a completed grid and I feel I have the correct answer, but cannot see why.

Also many thanks to all the contributors. I have attempted the flips & rotations, and found it confusing. So now I will 'begin again'. Two days of flipping & rotating.....

Think cricket after ballet!

gem94, thanks.
I will ponder your response (which has made me chuckle).

What a slog this is. Hopefully someone still has last week's. Haven't read the thread as still trying to solve largely unaided, but judging my number of replies others found this as tough as me.

So, after 8 hours I have cold solved 28 out of 40 (I think - is smeik right - had smoke originally but couldn't see 'family' link - can only think packing means anagram or reverse??) and one possible (dantist?). No impression at all made on grid yet.

Think I have the hidden messages (rotation?) and I think 2 gets 1 and 4 gets 3. The only misprint I have so far is b to d in group 3, which given I think 3 gets 2 or 4 isn't very helpful. It says the misprint indicates the group and the misprint is d, so that suggest group 3 gets group 4. I had previously guessed group 2.

I can't get the grid to work at all if flip means reverse, so I am currently working on the assumption that flip doesn't mean reverse?

On the verge of giving up, but may press on if my current guesses are correct. So could someone confirm or correct:

1. Dantist and smeik are correct?
2. Group 2 message is rotation?
3. Flip does not mean straight reverse.

Thanks

Correct on all counts. I found that using a mirror helped enormously in checking that entries were correctly entered. A N/S flip is turning the word on its head, I think. The entry for some words appear very strange when inverted but I think that is what is required. Hope that helps.
I'm having problems with Listener 4482. Entering letters for the numbers in clue order results in gobbledygook. I think my grid fill is correct but my interpretation of the instruction is awry. Any help welcome.

Sounds like you’re almost there smellyharry. It certainly was a slog but worth it in the end. If you’ve got 28 of the clues you could probably start putting a few in to help you get the last few. Make sure you’ve got a couple of spare copies of the grid though. Once you’ve got the words in, you’ll need to re-enter them according to the prescribed transformations. (Look at the misprints you’ve got and think how you’d transform one to the other).

UncleW. Re 4482. I totally misinterpreted the preamble initially and thought I had to insert a number corresponding to one of the letters in the clue. But then I hit an impossibility mathematically. Much head scratching and repeated reading of the preamble brought me to the realisation that it could be any of the numbers 1 to 11. Obviously 10 and 11 were the easiest to identify. I then started to consider how to enter answers to spot potential clashes and so identify further insertions. I was lucky to spot some words appearing relatively early, took a bit of a punt and it worked out.

Finally got there, phew. Very, very clever puzzle, spoiled a bit for me by too much cold solving of difficult clues before you can get into the grid, and no way into the grid at all until you solve the three misprints. Given I only had one misprint til very late it made any entry into the grid impossible even though I had 80% of clues solved.

I have two more drunk letters than murky, but I think it must be my Us, which I’m guessing he didn’t count. Column 10 definitely has an m, s, u and n which is one more than murky suggested.

Finally 2 clues I can’t parse if anyone is still out there - Hittite and coni (I assume it’s coni?).

Thanks