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 additional information or special instructions should also be included.
Hints only, please, no answers.

The theme...
Requests may be made here for help towards the theme. The aim is to give a nudge, a pointer in the right direction - and not anything too revealing, not anything which could spoil the puzzle for others. Any queries or replies which, even inadvertently, reveal too much of the theme are likely to be removed.

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

Wow. Never read a preamble that has left me both so excited and daunted at the same time. Holy moly.

The copy I printed out is already on the recycling pile.

This is just crazy, I don't even know where to begin!

I have one letter (a vowel of course!) of one answer entered so far. I’m not sure if this is going to be a gripping challenge on wildly exposed rock with limited protection or an unrewarding and painful slog up a damp chimney with an abundance of hand jams in rough granite… But for now I am abandoning over-extended metaphors from my previous life and going out to the preview of an International Photography Exhibition in which I am absurdly proud to say that my wife’s work is included.

I haven't wasted any ink!

Off to the archive for a more approachable puzzle. I'm back in 2007 so far.

I didn't even print it out, Will37. The preamble made me feel stupid.

I was daunted by the preamble but have persevered and it currently seems to me that it won’t be ridiculously difficult like it first appeared.

After 90 minutes I had 20 clues solved ... and 90 minutes later I have 20 clues solved. I can (lightly) pencil in a dozen or so letters. I hope that after another 90 minutes my tally may have increased, but I'm not hopeful. It's unusual to find a set of clues where a third or so are immediate, another third yield slowly and the last third are impenetrable. Or maybe it's me. Soldier on!

Also 90 minutes in, 15 clues solved, 20 letters entered, one new 3 letter code deduced, absolutely loving it. Urge people not to be put off by the preamble.