Listener Crossword 4354: Solution Notes
Taxi! by Ilver
Puzzle explanation
Extra letters in wordplay gave “a very interesting number”, the Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan’s description of 1729 (now known as the Hardy-Ramanujan number). Fellow mathematician G. H. Hardy, having travelled to visit Ramanujan in a taxi numbered 1729, remarked that it seemed a rather dull number, but Ramanujan pointed out that it was the smallest integer that is the sum of two (positive) cubes in two different ways, 1729 = 1³ + 12³ and 1729 = 9³ + 10³.
Taking letters in positions 1, 7, 2, 9, 1, 7, 2, 9, ... of successive across clues spelt out the start of Hardy’s statement “Beauty is the first test: there is no permanent place in the world for ugly mathematics”. Letters in columns 1/7 and 2/9 of alternate rows in the grid were THE WOR(AHSTTMMAEIC)LD, HARDY. Unscrambling MATHEMATICS completed a representation of Euler’s identity, eiπ + 1 = 0, considered an example of mathematical beauty.
Clue explanations
Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal
| No | Answer | Explanation [extra letter] |
|---|---|---|
| Across | ||
| 1 | TRACKS | T + RACKS |
| 5 | HOMAGE | MAG in HOE |
| 9 | SEPHEN | S(t)EPHEN |
| 11 | EH WHOW | (n)E(p)H(e)W(’s) + HOW |
| 13 | EAT CROW | TEA * + C + ROW |
| 14 | TARMAC | (T CAR) * around MA |
| 15 | THARS | T + HARS(h) |
| 16 | SNIPING | SING about NIP |
| 18 | TAIPAN | PIÑATA * |
| 21 | ENMESH | MEN * + HE’S * |
| 22 | MYOSIN | M + SOY < + IN |
| 27 | LETS GO | LEGO around T(omb)S |
| 29 | SHINER | (backwa)SH I NER(vously) |
| 30 | CARON | CAR + ON |
| 31 | LYSINE | IS < in LYNE |
| 33 | WHYDAHS | WHY + D + HAS * |
| 35 | ASTRUT | TR(ee) in (AS + UT) |
| 36 | RULE OK | ULE in ROK |
| 37 | IDEATE | IDE + AT + E |
| 38 | IDYLLS | SILLY * around D |
| Down | ||
| 1 | TSOTSI | T(u)S(k) O(n) T(h)[A](i) S(h)I(p) |
| 2 | RED ANT | RANT around [V]ED |
| 3 | CHAMPIONESS | CONES around (HAM + PI[E]) + S |
| 4 | KETA | T[R] in KEA |
| 5 | HERB TEAS | (B + STA[Y] HERE) * |
| 6 | OHO | OH[I]O |
| 7 | AHEAP | A + H + PA[N]E < |
| 8 | EWES | E + WES[T] |
| 10 | PERIPLUS | PULPITE[E]RS * − T |
| 12 | OKRAS | RAS after [R]OK |
| 15 | TANE | T[E]A + ’N’ + E |
| 17 | GONOCYTE | GONE around (O + CY[S]T) |
| 19 | IMPISHLY | IMPLY around [T]HIS * |
| 20 | EQUAL SIGN | E + QUA[I]LS + IG + N |
| 23 | YEADS | YE[N] + ADS’ |
| 24 | ANISE | (oce)AN IS [G]E(rminating) |
| 25 | BENZOL | BENZ + O[N] + L(ow) |
| 26 | WRECKS | [U]K in SCREW * |
| 28 | TRITE | TR + ITE[M] |
| 30 | CHAI | [B]ACH with letters “cycled” + I |
| 32 | YAUD | AU in (Y[E] + D) |
| 34 | HUT | HU[R]T |