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. Please also give any special instructions or additional information, fairly common in Listener puzzles. HINTS only should be given - no answers, pleae.

THE THEME
Requests may be made here for GENTLE NUDGES only towards the theme. 'Gentle Nudges' is, of course, hard to define - but it's worth a try, aiming to be helpful without revealing too much. The theme itself should not be disclosed, under any circumstances.

Early finishes should avoid any allusions - jocular or otherwise - to the theme.

The Listener is a unique puzzle. Please treat it with the respect it deserves.

Not a new theme, and I foresee a few gripes, but a pleasant treatment of it. Thanks, Aedites

I think this puzzle gave me more pleasure than any I can remember. It's a story which always moves me, and today it had the same effect. Thank you, Aedites - it's not always the hardest puzzles which give the most joy.

Bit of a favourite topic of mine as well. Nice puzzle - tricky enough to be a challenge and a nice quick endgame (for me anyway). Couple of clues I can't fully parse but I'll leave questions on them til later in the weekend.

Now back to last week's challenge. Two clues left to solve and not the faintest idea what's going on.

Another disappointing, dull offering - it probably leaps off the page for the usual suspects but there's no logical way in for the rest of us (luckily, a stab in the dark using the shorter name paid off).
Just how much on this subject are we expected to swallow?

Thank you Aedites. Fortunately, we have the right background to appreciate the work of the 2 characters. Drxx and Quisling are right, it will cause a few gripes.

Being relatively new to The Listener, and not having been previously acquainted with the thematic material, my experience didn’t suffer from the apparent potential overfamiliarity.

I really enjoyed this—probably in part because it was my fastest Listener solve time to date (still nothing particularly impressive compared to present company I suspect). The endgame was fun to puzzle out and some of my overcomplicated theories about what the “thematic locations” meant were utterly incorrect, so it unfolded in a few stages for me.

This is proving to be rather annoying. I have the hint from the 11 letters and I also have the two names - so I therefore know the theme. I am, however, currently stumped by 3 clues, one of which is hopefully one of the six answers entered thematically - but as yet, haven't a scooby as to what to do. Only 2 hours into this so, for me, the PDM is likely to be some distant time in the future!!!

Hmmm - if you’re stumped by three clues only, does that mean you’ve entered at least some thematically?

Only the slightest of comments - but the title was perhaps a little obvious and immediately led to the theme (or thereabouts) before a single clue was solved. Perhaps a four-letter vehicle - perhaps with a jaunty exclamation mark - might have been more ‘Listener-y?’

Indeed, hw7. I actually guessed the theme from the penultimate sentence of the preamble. Interestingly, your title was exactly the one used last time the theme appeared (I won’t name the year)