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. Please also include any additional information or special instructions, common in Listener puzzles.
Hints only, please, no answers.

The theme...
Help towards the theme may also be sought here. The help should be of the Goldilocks variety - not too big, not too small, just right for helping a struggling solver. Aim to give a pointer, a nudge in the right direction - and not something that would spoil the puzzle for others.
Any posts which, even inadvertently, reveal too much are likely to be removed.

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

Neat puzzle. Always impressive when letter removals leave real words.

Agreed RHSL. The BRB gives 100% certainty of the theme word, but for the life of me I cannot parse 17a.

in 17 , rules (4) and diminish (4) constrain write (3). Perhaps.

Jordan, that is correct. I was fixated with the first four letters of the answer being defined by the first two words of the clue. Heigh-ho!

Thanks for that, Jordan.
I've soved 18 clues and hit a brick wall.
I'm currently struggling with 21a and 26a. I've solved both of them to my satisfaction but 22d begins with two vowels which don't look like they will yield a real word. After your help with 17, it seems like I probably have the wrong solution for 21a. I have the same removed letter at 21a and 26a. Is this incorrect?
Can you give me a nudge with 'open up' in 14d... and possibly some hint at 1a?

22D doesn’t start with two vowels.

Open up is in BRB - three-letter word - tenth definition.

Thanks, hw7.
It's the 11th defn in the BRB app. I had that as a possibility but, as it didn't seem feasible, I did not 'open up' my mind to the possibility that it was right...
As for 21a, as always with this sort of crossword where you remove a letter from the CLUE in one set and from the ANSWER in another set, my brain can't keep up with what i'm doing when switching! 21a and 14d hunkydory now.

Sunshine in the garden, a cuppa and an elegantly structured puzzle, difficult enough to be testing but not to cause despair. It all fell out very neatly. Thank you, Serpent!

JA, I must admit I was despairing for a while until I got the nudges above to put me right. Now I'm on a roll! (Hoping that doesn't jinx things for me.)