“Tuds” we say. “Is this really a debut or a combination of experienced setters? Surely no-one begins their setting career with a Listener?”
Chalicea
Listener 4855: Just the Job by Hedgehog
It’s that time of the quarter again, when as word not number people our main instinct is to take cover; but the Blog Must Go On, so here’s our attempt.
Listener 4854 Pickle by Skylark
It was good to see Skylark again, one of the very few lady setters. Literary themes are one of her specialities and we were going to be hunting for a book title in … Read more >>
Listener No 4853 Twisted Sister by Ifor
Grids with no bars (and a bar pattern that is not symmetrical and must not be shown) and clues giving no word lengths are somewhat daunting. There’s an intriguing device that is going … Read more >>
Listener No 4852 Genius by Degen
It seems we have a new setter here. We have something (or things) circling the perimeter and will find four words that will be removed from clues that will provide the unchecked letters.
Listener No 4850 Counterfeit by Charybdis
Clashes in four cells, four unclued lights and a string of four letters to be changed after filling the grid. There was nothing too disconcerting there and, as the founder of the Listener … Read more >>
Listener No 4849 Peace at Last by Priest
Perhaps it is misguided of us to expect a gentle puzzle for the first of the Listener year. This one promised a literary work and we were going to find ‘echoes’ in every … Read more >>
Listener 4848 Return by Dysart
A rather sad “Goodbye!” We find that we have Dysart’s last Listener in front of us and know that this will be the last one that JEG will mark. Sad, but also extremely … Read more >>
Listener No 4847 Demeaning by Lionheart
It was evident early on that this crossword was about Christmas (as those letters in circles soon told us). The word MEAN in various contexts appeared in the title and the preamble. SCROOGE? … Read more >>
Listener 4846 Malined Work by Hypnos
A welcome return to the Listener by Hypnos, aka Slueth and Shamus and indeed Phlip Marlow in the Church Times under his own name (spot the references to his near-namesake investigator) … I … Read more >>