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, common in Listener puzzles, should also be included.
Hints only, please, no answers.

The theme...
Help with the theme may also be sought here. The 'help' should be just a nudge, a pointer in the right direction - enough to assist a struggling solver, not enough to spoil the puzzle for others.
Any posts 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.

Cancel all appointments for the week and prepare the darkened room and hot towels. Sabre's back.

4 hours in and I have a complete grid apart from the 8 special ones. The four (not the twelves) are identified, but I have no idea how to solve their clues, nor two of the 12s. I assume that the coding of the 12s will unveil who we're talking about, but right now all is still darkness. KBO.

Thanks, smellyharry. Appointments kept, Sabre cancelled.

Well... I have more entries than I thought I would get from a Sabre, but that's probably a bad thing and means the rest is even harder.

For the first time that I can recall I actually abandoned the Listener after a fruitless hour of moving letter pairs around. I asked someone who solved it for the 4 word phrase, and I'm glad I did because I could have moved letter pairs around for 100 years and not come up with it. But, this is a work you either know or you don't.

So, if you are familiar with the work where the fictitious creature appears, you have a shot, otherwise I do not see a way to come up with the encoding scheme. A tip of the hat to those who finish this one.

It is difficult buddy but wouldn’t say impossible.

You have quite a few letter potential letter strings from the encodings, although it did probably take me an hour until one particular word jumped out as a potential option that rang bells

Two hours more and no further forward. I would welcome a gentle push towards the second across 12-letter one and the second down 12-letter one. The first two are so straightforward, which gave me false hope that the other two might drop ... but not so far. I haven't made any headway with the other 4, though I might have solved the whale one. (Only "might", mind you.) But I can't see any way of getting from that to the grid. No doubt all will be clear when the phrase has presented itself.

Cockie, the second down one is 12 letters "at sea". I'm pretty much where you are. Let's see if a beer helps.

I don't have a filled grid yet. I have two of the 12-letter answers and two of the other answers that need to be modified. No clue yet how to do that. But my main concern is that I appear to have a clash where the two 12-letter entries cross in the NW corner. Does that mean one of my answers is wrong, or is the letter substitution not consistent? My answers certainly seem right.