Crossword Help Forum
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Murky, I think I'm with you.
For the 'certain thematic word' to be wholly in a straight line requires 1 Down to be a plural version not in Chambers. However I suspect that this is what is required.

Thank you so much, buzzb. That's a great help.

Hi DJA, I think you're absolutely right. If there are things that a human being should feel the need to coerce another to do, there are so many more things which come before not giving answers to a puzzle. This was a good puzzle, and by no means will I diminish it, but yet just a puzzle...and QED, I can see on the forum now that so many people have had fun with it, sometimes with a bit of help...perhaps it's time for me to say something I rarely do - thanks Elgin.

Totally agree Meursault. The other aspect of a forum like this (touching on an earlier thread) is that by providing hints / nudges (which I'm sure most would rather see and indeed receive than outright answers) it encourages new Listener fans. At the end of the day it is a 'hard core' puzzle so it does take some getting acquainted with.

Where's the fun in an easy puzzle? Half the fun of the Listener is admiring the skill of the setter.

Oh and of course learning new things!

As should be clear from all of my posts on this thread, I personally have no issue with giving help where its been asked, though I think it is much better to be somewhat oblique rather than just revealing an answer.

What I do object to is the revealing of information that has not been requested. For example, look back at posts #17 & #19 in this thread. s_pugh stated that he had cold solved all of the clues. Assuming that to be the case, he certainly had most, if not all, of the starred letters filled in. No one had asked for help on the starred letters. So for you to not only reveal them but also to put them in order is, to me, objectionable. You explicitly revealed ~8% of the cells; that's a lot.

Of course there are much, much worse things than revealing answers to a crossword. So? That does not excuse it. There are many things worse than littering, but people will rightly object if one litters.

I'm glad that you're still learning, buzzb. Sure, we agree on at least one thing, there are more things to get worked up about than just a crossword. If so much righteous indignation were channelled in a good direction, I'm sure it would be a better world today. And shouldn't we celebrate that we have both gained enjoyment from the same pursuit ? You can criticise me for being too ready to help and I can criticise you for being parsimonious. And, if you look carefully, you'll find that I was asking a question that had been asked...but frankly, even if you have a difficulty with that, it doesn't matter (as we've both observed).

Sorry to interrupt, but I think my query got lost in the traffic about the 'dropped characters' - is someone able to confirm please if anything is to be entered outside the grid? Sorry again to be a pain!

Askival, nothing is to be entered outside the grid. Now, let the spat continue!

Hi Askival, (next door to Ainshval ?) really there is no need to put letters outside the grid. The irony is that I applaud the information given by buzzb...