Sabre’s first Listener was waaaaay back in 1970, and this was his 75th solo effort — others were in collaboration, including no. 3000. This year’s puzzle had a slightly odd grid with gaps between a lot of cells and ticks around the perimeter. (And did Sabre have a competition with ‘Eck for the number of steps required to finish!)
Shenanigans
Listener No 4880, “Listen!” by ’Eck
I sat opposite ‘Eck at the last Listener get-together in Farringdon a few weeks back. At some point he told me that he had a puzzle coming soon. Of course, what he should’ve told me was that…
Listener No 4877, “Romantic Piece”, A Setter’s Blog by Pandiculator
I wrote this puzzle in July 2023, so my memory of parts of the setting process is a little hazy. That said, the folder on my PC that I used for constructing it allows for a bit of archaeology, so I’ll outline the setting process here.
Listener No 4872, “There’s No Place Like Home”, A Setter’s Blog by Bungo
The first Listener I attempted was Listener 4642 – Music Box by tnap. I had been aware of the series through reading the Listen With Others blog, and marvelled at the ingenuity of the setters, and the pandemic having given me rather more free time than I had anticipated, I decided to have a crack at one.
Listener No 4866, “It’s Not Involved”, A Setter’s Blog by Quinapalus
Plato chose a convenient spot for his Academy, about half-way between the main railway and long-distance coach stations in Athens. The area is now a park with, like a lot of ancient sites, not much to see apart from a few stones on the ground. There’s a small ‘Digital Museum’ nearby which unfortunately I did not have time to visit.
Listener No 4863, “Board of Trade”, A Setter’s Blog by Deuce
I’ve seen plenty of crossword puzzles based on games: Scrabble (from Paddock, just a few weeks ago); Boggle (from Twin); Battleships (Harribobs); Sudoku (Twin again); and uncountable further references to chess, bridge and go.
Listener No 4861, “Plain Cloth” by Paddock
According to the Crossword Database (which is operational again after some heavy bot traffic recently), there have been seven puzzles where a certain board game has featured, two of them Listeners. (Spoiler alert, this is the eighth/third.)
Listener No 4860, “Lost” by Dash
A bit of history this week from Da and Sh, two well-known setter/solvers who have migrated here from Listen With Others. This was their first Listener but they have an Inquisitor and Magpie under their belt.
Listener No 4859, “Forever”, A Setter’s Blog by Twin
There are many great Listener crosswords that are much-loved because of their complexity, involving a series of ideas that build upon each other to form an intricate and satisfying whole.
Listener No 4859, “Forever” by Twin
I didn’t realise that Twin’s first Listener was back in 2017. Since then he has had pretty much one a year, including two wins of the Ascot Gold Cup (Tip-top Condition in 2020 and Singles Only in 2022). He was also one of the five finalists in last year’s Times Crossword Championship.
Listener No 4858, “Lavish Border”, A Setter’s Blog by Hawk
The term “mathematical group” as I used it is not entirely accurate. I didn’t really want to get into formal group theory in this puzzle, and I’m not sure I’d be thanked if … Read more >>
Listener No 4858, “Lavish Border” by Hawk
Oh dear! This week we had a Hawk puzzle, his fourth Listener. Last time (no 4782, Life 2) involved cutting up the grid into two different sizes and gluing them together to identify … Read more >>
Listener Annual Awards for 2024
For those of you who missed last Saturday night’s Annual Listener Awards in Southport, here are the winners: Ascot Gold Cup for the best puzzle: By George! by Enigmatist (John Henderson). Solver Silver Salver for the longest all-correct run … Read more >>
Listener No 4856, “If You Say So” by Tuds
A new setter this week and I think he is vying for the annual MVP award — Medal for the Vaguest Preamble! [There’s no such thing. Ed.] For a start, there were five … Read more >>
Listener No 4855, “Just the Job” by Hedgehog
Apologies to both, but I always get Hedgehog and Hedge-sparrow confused! This was Hedgehog’s fifth mathematical Listener, although he has had a fair few more over at Magpie, mostly grade B and C … Read more >>