Taste and Fancy by Radix

Puzzle explanation

The misprints in the grid were all in unchecked cells and spelt out “I am a weakish speller”. This was an anagram (ie, something he “could have made”) of “William Shakespeare”, which was given by corrections to misprints in across clues. The corrections for down clues gave Shakespearean words or spellings: turbond, galowses, pajock, sneak-cup, handsaw. The title comes from The Pickwick Papers, where Sam Weller’s reply to “Do you spell it with a ‘V’ or a ‘W’?” is “That depends upon the taste and fancy of the speller, my Lord.”

Clue explanations

Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal

No Misprint(s) Answer Explanation
Across
1 (W)oman SHEA SHE + A(ncestral)
6 Bra(I)d ENLACE CLEANE(r) *
11 mea(L) TEASING (ING after TEA) around S
12 pu(L)se GRAM GRA(vid) + M
13 f(I)t UNMATCHED (DUTCH MEN + A) *
16 bo(A)ks CATES (Clees)E in CATS
17 ga(M)e RUMAL RU + MAL
18 (S)ham SEEMING SEE + MING
20 (H)ead LATTICING LAT + TICING
22 Dec(A)y MOLDERING (GOLDMINE + R) *
24 Nic(K) GOODMAN MOGADON *
26 Angl(E) PLANT PLAN + T
28 (S)light SLIME SLIM + E
30 O(P)en UNCLASPED (’S + CLEAN-UP) * + D
31 n(E)w SIAN SA around I + N
32 Fl(A)gging WASTING W + ASTI + NG
33 (R)ide ALLIES AL(l) + LIE + (slaveholder)S
34 B(E)ing ESSE ESS + E
Down
1 (T)rat, ho(U)se STUART (US + TRAT) *
2 (B)ut, (R)ap HEND H + END
3 Y(O)gi’s, a(N) ASANA A(erial) + AN in S(hizuok)A
4 bo(G)us, (D)ippers SITULAE (L + U + TIES A) *
5 n(A), (L)ine ANCESTRAL (CLARET’S NA) *
7 s(W)eet, Le(O)’s NIECE (corps)E in NICE; ref. popes Leo I etc
8 Moth(S), (E)at ARCTIIDAE (EAT + CARDI I) *
9 pe(P)per, note(S) CAYENNE CA’ + NN in EYE *
10 w(A)sh, (J)eepers EMYS MY in ES
14 (C)ell, D(O)lia’s AMYLOIDAL DOLIA * after AMYL
15 Soa(K), (S)ee RETINULAR RET + INSULAR − S
19 g(E)n, (N)oil WOOL OIL WOO + L + OIL
21 s(A)me, sha(K)e INPHASE IN + PHASE
23 St(U)ff, spe(C)ks STODGE DOTS < + GE
25 Shi(P)s, attac(H) MENGE MEN + EG <
27 ty(N)ed, V(A)gue LOS’TE LOST + E(dmund)
28 (D)o, pa(S)s SA SA SA + SA; (do = ditto)
29 (W)ater, lo(A)n LENS LEN’ + S
Back to 2012 menu