Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

Back to the seven letters centred on the central cell, these reflect the author of a relevant paper from the Journal of the British Astronomical Association, 1985, vol 95, part 6 pp 260-261, and of which the setter is surely aware.

Having followed the Magpie E Grade March issue discussion about things not being mentioned in the preamble being fair game, after posting at the weekend I remembered the phrase which describes a little hidden gem buried in a puzzle, program, DVD or whatever as an inside joke to anyone picking it up... which is - of course - an Easter Egg.

So unless it really is an amazing coincidence - and as the setter's around, they may be able to confirm this - there's a lovely, thematic present hiding in plain sight.

While the setter may well have been aware of what you refer to, it would surely have been pushing way beyond the bounds of fairness to expect the solver to discover it, even with the use of the internet.

As you say (and I am delighted that solvers saw it) this was a little Easter egg that luckily appeared while I was working on the puzzle's symmetry and was irresistible. It would have remained my private little Easter egg had attention not been drawn to it, and, as you say, it would have been totally unfair to expect solvers to find it and also highlight it. However, the article on Wiki does discuss the validity of the entire theme of the crossword and the date it appeared. (To say more would break the Forum rules.)

Those who've completed the puzzle might be interested in an alternative working of the theme at Inquisitor 1433 and its solving blog on 15^2. And I completely agree with what's been said about the need to encourage newer solvers, and would add that the Listener setting guide makes reference to "elegance, not difficulty per se" when discussing acceptability of submissions. Here you have an example.

In response to Ifor. I've included in my 'setter's blog' that will appear after the solution does, an apology to Ifor who was the official tester of this puzzle and who told me that the theme had already appeared as an IQ - by Ifor - I hadn't solved it and hadn't realized. Fortunately the treatment was rather different and, as you know, Ifor's cluing is always relatively tough - would keep you going maybe till Wednesday.

I am just started trying to solve barred crosswords because they scare me with the Instructions, so if someone is kind enough to do a fairly easy solve Listener and it attracts new solvers great, I think I could put it this way. What is easy for some is hard for others, if there was a way to give an example of what is required for the harder puzzles that would be great, I do not wish to offend anyone with this comment but I have really enjoyed this puzzler and will try more, I have had success with Azed and EV.

Thank you, TIA

Worworcrossol

I'd just like to add my thanks and appreciation to Chalicea for a wonderful puzzle. As for the Easter egg in the middle - talk about cherry on top, absolutely brilliant:-)

Thank you Brendan.

Worworcrossol -
welcome to the Listener - as you may have gathered, it's one of the more daunting of the "barred" cryptic crosswords - but it sounds as though you're getting on OK - you've had some relatively easy ones to begin with in the last few weeks, and may soon find a more challenging one (I hope); confidence will come with experience - and don't be put off if you're totally baffled at times.
The Chambers Dictionary app on your smartphone is essential;
and Bradford's Crossword Dictionary (paperback book) is very helpful indeed - both are available online for about £10 each.

This Forum can be very helpful too - but don't expect explicit answers.

Good luck!

Mrs Bradford’s Dictionary is also available in a searchable Kindle version. Handy to have alongside the Chamber’s app on your phone or tablet.