Listener Crossword 4245: Solution Notes
Ghost Story by Plinth
Puzzle explanation
In clue order, corrections to the misprints spelt out “honorificabilitudinitatibus”, which (as Chambers notes) is from Love’s Labour’s Lost. In grid order, the corrections spelt out “Hi ludi, F. Baconis nati, tuiti orbi”, a supposed Latin rendering of “These plays, F. Bacon’s offspring, are preserved for the whole world”. The grid contained the phrase “Love’s Labour’s Lost by W. Shakespeare” (with mirror symmetry), in which W SHAKESPEARE was replaced by FRANCIS BACON to form new words in the crossing down entries. “Honorificabilitudinitatibus” and its anagram are given in Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable.
Clue explanations
Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal
| No | Misprint | Answer | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Across | |||
| 4 | ELIOT | ELI + OT | |
| 5 | DRUIDIC | (CUR + DID) * around I | |
| 7 | KISLEV | KIEV around LS < | |
| 8 | ANODES | ANDES around O | |
| 10 | TRIOR | TRIO + R | |
| 11 | DERNIER | REIN < after RED < | |
| Down | |||
| 1 | LIAISES | (Soma)LIA IS ES(tablishing) | |
| 2 | OLOGY | O + LOG +Y | |
| 3 | STEM | 2 meanings | |
| 6 | SLAVONIA | AVON in AILS < | |
| 9 | HOSEA | HO + SEA | |
| Unnumbered | |||
| crus(H) | LOVES | LOAVES − A | |
| to(O)l | RIPSAW | RIP + WAS < | |
| (N)early | EEVEN | E + NÉVÉ < | |
| (O)de | SESTINE | S(ecretiv)E + I in NETS * | |
| F(R)ee | FRANK | F + RANK | |
| pa(I)ns | LABOUR | LA + BOU(t) + R | |
| (F)ell | DIRER | DR around IRE | |
| m(I)ssing | LOST | L + (h)OST | |
| (C)lamorously | BELT OUT | BELT + OUT | |
| b(A)ll | MESS | 2 meanings | |
| (B)eer | SLURP | SLUR + P(ETA) | |
| co(I)n | SOLDO | S(p)O(i)L(e)D (s)O | |
| (L)izards | AGAMOID | (I AM A GOD) * | |
| J(I)ggles | SHAKES | SAKES around H | |
| sen(T) | EMAILED | DILEMMA * with E for M | |
| dr(U)m’s | DROOME | (ca)D ROOM E(rupts) | |
| (D)ead | OGHAM | O’ + G + HAM | |
| b(I)kes | ORDINARIES | (I + SARDINE OR) * | |
| S(N)obbish | LAH-DI-DAH | L + (DID in HA-HA) < | |
| l(I)teral | TREW | T(hinking) + RE + W | |
| Gambi(T)’s | OVERTURE | OVERT + URE | |
| f(A)rm | VAQUEROS | (O + S) after QUAVER * | |
| Loo(T) | BEROB | BB around (h)ERO | |
| kn(I)ves | KREESES | SEEKERS * | |
| (B)aiter | TEASE | homophone of TEAS | |
| constr(U)ction | ROMANESQUE | ROMA + QUEEN’S * | |
| Spen(S)er’s | PEARE | P(oets) + ERE around A | |