Listener Crossword 3986: Solution Notes
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/ |
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 | |