Listen With Others

This was a lovely layered puzzle which gave nothing away at first but slowly revealed itself as a three-fold play on “Albatross” – the Ancient Mariner (who STOPPETH ONE OF THREE as per the down message), Gene Sarazen, who FAMOUSLY SHOT AN ALBATROSS (the across message) in another sense (a double eagle) as a young golfer, but had to give way in the grid to the Ancient Mariner, and the Monty Python sketch “Albatross” with its GANNET on A STICK.

I found the clues fair and pretty straightforward, with some clever touches, not least in the way in which misprints and golfing references were both incorporated into them. It must have been fun if a bit of a headache to write them. 

The only real problem I encountered was how to “alter” the answers to the three normal clues (9, 10 and 19d) to produce the necessary MONTY PYTHON. You’ll see from the pencil marks that I’ve left in for now that my first instinct was to anagram the words. That leaves all the squares filled but not all with real words. The alternative, which I’ve plumped for, is the deletion of a letter in each word, leaving awkward gaps but all real words as long as one reads MONTY and PYTHON with their spaces as such. Since the preamble neither indicates that all real words will be left nor that the spaces must be ignored, I can’t see how either approach can be marked wrong; but since the “real words” condition is so common, I’ve run with that. 

A great puzzle, Seps, and I hope we will see more from you. But why a second one now so soon after the other (not that I’m complaining)? Ah: Wiki tells me that Sarazen shot his albatross in the Masters on April 18^th1935. I wonder how many of us knew that.

PS The notes at http://www.listenercrossword.com tell us that the puzzle was published during this year’s Masters Tournament (naturally).

PPS The solution I went for is the one published. The notes say that “Three grid entries have their third letter erased, revealing MONTY PYTHON” and perhaps hint at a connection with “stoppeth one of three”, which hadn’t occurred to me.

Southern Course – or should that be curse?* leaps to the top of my gelasticity leader board for reprising the ridiculous Monty Python sketch and giving me a good laugh.

Or rather, laughs because I had to watch several versions (including one very rude one) in order to be sure I’d alighted on the right answer.

So I’ll happily forgive you Seps for sending me on a protracted wild-albatross chase listening to Iron Maiden’s Ancient Mariner (better than I remembered) and countless vocal renditions about the hapless bird.

I have just one 4-letter word for you – TEAM. Had the rubric read “to reveal a TEAM” rather than “to reveal a group” I would have got there much faster! (If you didn’t write it then please ignore the comment.)

To sum up, a fabulous puzzle, full of thematic interest, fun, challenging, frustrating at times, with a great ending. Thanks Seps, hope your next one is on its way.

*for the ancient mariner, not for Gene Sarazen, clearly

No completed crossword this time – in haste I posted it without scanning first!

It is only just over three months since we met Seps so we immediately suspect that this crossword must be date-related to be appearing so soon after his first. Solving speeds ahead but we have two thirds of the grid filled with no thematic event leaping out at us.

Obviously Seps earned his entry to the Listener Oenophiles at the end of December but I check anyway and find just a little evidence that he retains it, ‘Sobering cry when double returned (4)’ We decide that the misprinted letter must be an A (a ‘Sabering cry’ SA SA, when AS is returned twice). Well that double will suffice. Cheers, Seps.

All those golf terms! We are convinced there has to be a golf theme here but GSTAAD comes out of the first clue, ‘Augusta University always leaves sadly deserted resort with slopes in a breeze (6)’ We take ‘all’ the Us out of Augusta, anagram it (sadly) and add the D for deserted to get one of our ski resorts (Freeze, for Breeze). But isn’t Augusta the scene of the golf Masters, not Gstaad? The penny doesn’t drop yet!

STOPPETH ONE OF THREE! At last a little light dawns and I am able to tweeze out SHOT AN ALBATROSS and that GANNET recalls the Monty Python sketch. Now I realize why ‘Chuck club breaking off head (4)’ gives [S]TICK (with chEck for chUck). The Gannet on a stick! We see where the three ‘normal’ clues have to be altered and extract a letter from MOUNT, PYOT and HORN to give us MONTY PYTHON.

FAMOUSLY SHOT AN ALBATROSS. I haven’t a clue who did (apart from Coleridge’s sad seaman) but I can see where ANCIENT MARINER will fit into the grid and I back-solve to see GENE SARAZEN. Wiki confirms that he was a famous golfer who shot an albatross at the Masters in Augusta in 1935. How thematically rich this compilation was. I’m told, too, that the Masters is just beginning. Thank you Seps.