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A very good puzzle, perhaps one of the best this year. Interesting in both theme and construction.

I've entered 3 (first word is the definition), knowing that an R and I need to be removed, but still cannot see how the wordplay works.

I'm not sure why 15 needs to have 'pollarded'. The other two thematic clues for section B, 13D and 18, don't refer to the thematic process.

And I don't know what connection 32 has with 26 and 31D, which are clearly linked.

It took me a long time to get going on this one, mostly because A is by far the hardest of the four quadrants. (In fact, the three thematic answers and entries in that quadrant were the very last things I solved!)

The wordplay for 3 has me stumped as well.

The extra word "pollarded" is necessary for correctly entering 15, 13D, and 18.

Although 32 isn't as famous as 26 and 31D, all three are US r----s.

Meursault - I read 3 as an anagram of (ri)sen + in + t + r.
I'm glad that we have had a rest from those puzzles that rely on "the wordplay leads to the answer plus a letter not entered in the (13 x13) grid........". This was one of my favourites this year because it had an unusual grid and was original in its conception.

Thanks for your responses. So in 3, 'wipeout' indicates the anagram, and both tide and rip need to be subject to the clause 'at first.' I just about see that now...

I've failed to find 32 as a US r...r, though it is an English one. My comment about the thematic answers of section B still stands, really. What indicates that the tops of 13D or 18 should be removed ? So why is an indication required for 15 ?

Now I've found 32, in Massachusetts, a tributary of a tributary of the Connecticut...I believe Xanthippe struggled to make the full complement of thematic answers in this quadrant.

Meursault - your answer is in the first line of the preamble.

..... first sentence rather than line.....

I've been travelling in Australia, Brunei and Singapore for the past three weeks, and came back with a heavy cold. Fortunately, my sister had saved the Listener 4406, 4407 and 4408 puzzles for me, so I had something to do while recovering.

Listener 4409 was very enjoyable. I actually did quadrant C first, then quadrants A and B more or less in parallel, which gave enough information to search for the long quotation. Quadrant D was by this stage a relative "walk in the park".

One query: I note that all the thematic answers are to down clues. This makes sense in quadrants B and D, given the necessary treatments, but doesn't seem necessary in quadrants A and C. Have I missed something, or is this just a coincidence?

Just coincidence, I think, Wintonian.

Gem94, now I see : 'pollarded' is shared by all the thematic B clues, and there is no need for repetition.

Is 32 supposed to overlap with 28 so that the last two letters of 28 form the first two of 32? Or is that a printing error? Also there are spaces for two 3-letter words in the C grid without any clues to go with them. I'm assuming there's a reason for that which I haven't discovered yet.