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. Any special instructions or additional information should also be included.
NB - HINTS only should be given, no answers.

THE THEME
Requests may be made here for GENTLE NUDGES towards the theme. 'Gentle nudges' is hard to define, of course, but aim to give enough to help, without revealing more than is necessary. Please do not reveal the theme under any circumstances.

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

The Listener is a unique puzzle and should be treated with respect.

A well worked idea but thrown away right from the start - a novel gimmick was badly needed here.

That's a bit hard, drax. The penny didn't drop for me until I'd solved over 3/4 of the clues, and even then I had to go to my book to look up the correct colouring. It gets high marks in my book - not particularly hard, but a clever design. The title is an added joy.

I could have guessed the exact final grid before I'd solved a single clue, cockie - and I'm not exaggerating. The cleverness of everything else couldn't make up for that disappontment.

That must be because the arrangement of the cells triggered your specialist memory, I guess. But only a vanishingly small number of solvers will have that layout readily in their memory. I find the final requirement impossible to render properly, given the fact that paper is the colour it is.

Certain phrases have become rather too predictable and far too much can be given away far too soon - there was nothing esoteric in how I jumped to the endgame
I think this particular theme sends the editors into a panic and they invariably feel the need to spoonfeed us. There was a time when Listener puzzles were less user-friendly (to me there seems to be something like grade inflation whenever one of these comes along).

Still being a relative newcomer to the Listener, I’m doing my bit to valiantly inflate the average solving time in this thread. Barely made a dent in this grid so far, and not a clue what the theme will end up being!

Could anyone supply a link to the puzzle today please? Unable to get a copy of the paper today. Thanks.

I have a full grid, but I don't have much faith that it is correct as I have no idea of

a) How 10 clues (mostly down ones) parse
b) What the misprints are in those clues
c) What the hint is although I think I know how the grid must be modified

Most frustrating!!!

theragman - email me at rsatcormanserdotcom and I'll sort it for you.