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.
Hints only, please, no answers.

The theme...

Help towards the theme may also be sought here. 'Gentle nudges' is hard to define, but aim to give a pointer, a little steer in the right direction, without revealing anything that would spoil the puzzle for other solvers. The theme element is pivotal, so it'd be rotten to reveal too much.

Any queries or answers which, even inadvertently,, reveal too much are likely to be removed.
The Listener is a unique puzzle and deserves to be treated with respect.

I think this thread has the wrong title! 4768 surely??

Thanks, Polyn - the sun was in my eyes as I was typing! I am hoping Norah (Admin) will change it to the correct numbers.

Forgive me, this is entirely off-topic. I have only just printed this week’s Listener as we had our annual pilgrimage to the Isle of May today. A cracking day for it: wall to wall sunshine and the sea like a millpond. The impact of the avian flu pandemic on the bird populations is obvious - although there are still plenty of birds to see. Passing the Bass Rock on the way out, it was clear that the gannet population there has also suffered significant reduction; but there is evidence that some birds have had the disease and recovered. An odd side effect is that in those birds that have recovered the normally ice-blue iris of their eyes has turned black.

The most obvious change on the May, though, is the complete absence of terns. Normally any visit to the island from late May to early July is fraught with the efforts of the feisty wee beasts to trepan you as you pass by their ground based nests. For reasons not established no terns have (just - only just - possibly, “yet”) returned to the May from their epic migrations.

Malone, duly changed😂

Thanks, Norah.

PS My dislike of numerical Listeners had no part to play in my numerical error!

Sorry to hear bird flu is affecting seabirds and their numbers in Scotland - here in the Peak District (well inland) we're seeing more seabirds than ever.
Last week a pair of curlews flew alongside us high up on the Snake pass - quite a rare and lovely sight for these parts.

Now to the crossword - I think the preamble might be just a little generous, because I got the theme very early. My only worry is the, ''as few turns as possible'' requirement, and how rigorously the message from the dropped words is to be interpreted. I've not been too picky but I think others might well be.

@jack - there was a report on the gannets of Bass Rock on the series of Springwatch which has just finished.

Perhaps it's as few terns as possible! I make it three, on the third, fourth and sixth letters of the thematic phrase.

Thought that was a lot of fun with plenty of thematic stuff and learnt at least two new things

Thanks Artix