Terminal Suspension by Schadenfreude

Puzzle explanation

Little Bo-Peep found her lost sheep without their tails, which were side by side, all hung on a tree to dry. Thus the tail letters of twelve sheep (ewe, ammon, sheep, ram, teg, bident, Soay, hog, lamb, argali, urial and mug) are hung on a weeping birch (which would have catkins, like “lambs’ tails”), the sheep lined up on the Downs by Little Bo-Peep.

Misprinted letters in the last six across answers — (m)algre, eme(u), Teo(s), (m)aim, wo(o) and a(n)na — spelt “musmon”, a type of sheep. Extra letters in clues spelt “body and tail in each column”. Down answers yielding “weeping birch” were: 11 wrybill, 1 name, 18 time sheet, 34 sprat, 4 griot, 29 indene, 6 gynie, 30 yah-boo, 20 Aldis lamp, 9 rimus, 32 curiae, 22 shoot-’em-up.

The rhyme could be found in books of nursery rhymes, eg, The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes, although not The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations. Locating it was not essential for completing the puzzle. The relevant part was:

It happened one day, as Bo-Peep did stray Into a meadow hard by, There she espied their tails side by side, All hung on a tree to dry.

Clue explanations

Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal

No Extra letter/Misprint Answer Explanation
Across
11 (b)rooks RARER ARE(a) in (R + R)
12 ga(o)l UNAIMED I’M in (UNA + ED)
13 Shan(d) MONOLINGUAL MONO + (MULLIGAN – M)*
14 eas(y) BEASTIE B + EAS + TIE
16 Ar(a)gon GASPY (roundela)Y after (GAS + P)
17 S(n)ots INTEMPERANTS IN + TEMPER + ANTS
23 rule(d) SINUOSE NEUROSIS* – R
25 (t)old LETO L + (g)E(n)T + O
26 (A)melia LEMES Hidden reversed (ignoring “by”)
27 S(i)mile BELDAM BEAM about LD
28 cu(l)t BASICITY BASI(c) + CITY
31 ru(i)ns RUT R + UTE – E (Sheila suggesting Australian)
35 M: (S)ALGRE MALGRE MAL + GRE(w)
36 U: EME(R) EMEU EM + E + U
37 S: TEO(H) TEOS T + EO + (thi)S; see entry for “Teian”, this proper name is quite difficult to track down and its appearance in Chambers is somewhat unexpected
38 M: (M)AIM MAIM MIAMI < – I
39 O: WO(E) WOO WOOD – D
40 N: A(E)NA ANNA ANN + A
Down
1   NAME MAN < + E
2 Year(n) PROA A after PRO
3 ch(e)ap MENSE MEN + (E after S)
4   GRIOT G + RIOT
5 se(a)t TULIP ((gir)L + I) in PUT <
6   GYNIE (GUY – U + IE) about N
7 On(c)e GANGREL GANG + RE + L
8 (h)all BIGA BIG + A
9   RIMUS RIM + U + S
10 (c)rushed LEAPT PETAL*
11   WRYBILL W + RY + BILL
15 b(o)ard’s ENSEAM MEN* about homophone (SEE)
18   TIME SHEET SHEET after EMIT <
19 pear(l) MUSCATEL L after (MU’S + CATE)
20   ALDIS LAMP DIAL’S* + LAM + P
21 B(u)y NEAR GALE NEAR + G + ALE; reference strong SE wind
22   SHOOT-’EM-UP SOME HOT* + UP
24 (m)ess SETS SET + S
29   INDENE IN + DENE
30   YAH-BOO YAHOO about B
32   CURIAE ACQUIRE* – Q; plural supported by etymology in Chambers and entry in Collins
33 Me(n) MEWL ME + W(il)L
34   SPRAT S(poken) + PRAT
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