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 towards the theme may also be sought here. Ideally, the help given should be fairly gentle in nature - just a nudge, a pointer in the right direction, and certainly not anything that spoils the puzzle for others. Any posts which, even inadvertently, reveal too much of the theme are likely to be removed.

In general...
There are many regulars on the Listener threads, but newcomers are always welcome.
Unsolicited hints or mentions of the theme will be removed.
The Listener is a unique puzzle and should be treated with respect.

This is what I'd call 'circular' - well, almost - but there's precious little of it.

Back to the Easy Listener style already?

As always, I will say that I couldn't set a decent puzzle, and Hypnos has done some good work here. But I want more of a challenge, please.

Generally an easy grid fill, except for being unable to parse 22ac and 26d, and 24d baffles me, having 5 consonants so far.

The message seems to be a mixture of the usual commands and some gibberish. I await enlightenment

Dylan, what looks like gibberish turns out to be an initial and a surname.
In 24d, the river is not Russian, but nearby. The entry uses the Russian spelling for a longer name.

Dylan, 22a involves a food that we Americans refer to as a pie sometimes. The fourth note loses a letter. For 26d iris contributes the last two letters, but from a three-letter word.

I have a full grid, but the first 3 and last 7 extra letters from the down clues are causing me severe problems.

Just managed to parse 23d, but the last 9 extra letters in my down clues are gibberish.

I haven't seen the puzzle as I am crossing the Andes by frog but these apparent streams of gibberish occasionally turn out to be someones initials and surname. Worth a try

It would have been a considerable help if I had entered the correct extra letter in 26d. Got the theme, got the 2 non-words in the grid and the name associated with the theme, just need to find a main characters name now.