Listen With Others

I was just reading in the Magpie about Twin’s success and what do we download? “I Want You” by Twin. Only two lines of preamble (not like last week!) That can be good or can be really frightening.

The other Numpty who is not a great pop music fan is muttering about all the italicised titles in the clues, but solving at the usual rate anyway, as I hunt through the clues for evidence of Twin’s right of access to the Listener bar. I find ‘Tope’ in ‘Tope neglecting ending for World Gone Wrong briefly (6)’ Somewhat tortuous to remove ‘neglecting’ then use the ending of world, AGO for ‘gone‘ then BAd (wrong briefly) but I find that a DAGOBA is a tope – A dome–shaped shrine for Buddhist relics (not a lot of alcohol there, though!).

Fortunately I then find ‘Drink after initially finishing Death Is Not the End (6)’ We take ‘Death‘ out of that and use the initial letters F I N with that drink (ALE) to give us FINALE. So we can raise a mug of ale. “Cheers, Twin!”

DYLAN’S TENTH ALBUM, we read in the message produced by those extra words (that has to be the (X) of the preamble) and while he is finding that that is ‘Another Self Portrait’, I am realising that we are being instructed to read EVERY SECOND UNCHECKED CELL. What a fine, original idea! Easy, right? One would think so, but what a mess I made of it.

After three tries that led to gobbledy-gook, I finally got CUT OUT GRID, SUBMIT FRAME WITH YOUR X. Pencils out for a bit of fun! This should be relatively easy for Mr Green to mark.

Since I sent our very ordinary selfie, I have heard of some hilarious self portrats that went to Mr Green. A Little Hare (from the setter Little Hare) a pair of cockrels from Mrs Cocks, a bishop’s mitre from out treasured Listener bishop, the wonderful one that appears in Encota’s blog (clearly a budding da Vinci) and this delightful sketch of Mr Teuton (Mephisto). He tells me that cheerful portrait was drawn from a Christmas photo. A reaction to Brussels sprouts?