Listener Crossword 4422: Solution Notes
Buried Treasure by Poat
Puzzle explanation
The clashes when arranged in the right order spelt out “read every third”. The letters in every third unchecked cell in the grid gave “one of three clue acrostics”. The initials of every third clue, starting with the first, spelt “this goes nowhere”; starting with the second clue, they spelt “false trail again”; starting with the third gave “close by Ampthill”. The last of these is from the book Masquerade by Kit Williams (who was jumbled as ISTIWALKMIL in row 12 of the grid), which involved a real-life hunt for a buried golden hare. This puzzle’s HARE was buried in the preamble, literally “in the search area”, which was the only place where the letters appeared consecutively in a straight line.
Clue explanations
Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal
| No | Answer | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Across | ||
| 1 | SPLASH | ASH after SPL |
| 5 | JOE BLOW | homophone of JOB + LOW |
| 10 | OUTLEARN | (UT + LEAR) in ON |
| 12 | BIRD | (D + RIB) < |
| 13 | QUARTOS | QUART + O’ + ’S |
| 15 | VEHMIC | M in (VEHICLE − LE) |
| 16 | STYE | L in STYE = STYLE |
| 17 | NÉE | NEE(d) |
| 18 | EELS | ELSE with last letter moved to the front |
| 20 | READY | ref. TV show READY Steady Cook |
| 24 | RAMIST | (ce)RAMIST |
| 25 | COUNTER-FLEURY | (CLUE FOR + U + ENTRY) * |
| 27 | YEASTS | YES with EAST for E |
| 31 | PSORA | ORA after PS |
| 32 | BREN | BRE(d) + N |
| 33 | MUG | 2 meanings |
| 35 | ECRU | EC + RU |
| 37 | HERDEN | HER + DEN |
| 38 | DEBRIEF | BRIDE * + (l)EF(t) |
| 39 | SIST | FANTASIST − FANTA |
| 40 | WALK-MILL | WILL around (A + L + KM) |
| 41 | TOECAPS | TO + SPACE < |
| 42 | THESES | THESE(u)S |
| Down | ||
| 1 | SOEVER | (s)EVER(e) after (SOL − L) |
| 2 | PULVEROUS | (PURSUE + LOV(e)) * |
| 3 | ALUMS | ALU + MSG − G |
| 4 | SEA ICE | E in SAICE |
| 5 | JETSAM | (MASTER + J − R) < |
| 6 | EASY | E(nds) A(nd) S(ome) Y(arn) |
| 7 | LINNAEUS | (LINEN + A US) * |
| 8 | ORFE | OR + FE(ral) |
| 9 | WAVEYS | Y in WAVES |
| 11 | ARCHAEAN | ((t)A(k)E (p)A(i)N(s)) after ARCH |
| 14 | TEE-TEE | TEE-HEE with T for H |
| 19 | LIFT-GIRL | (LIGHT FILTER) * − THE * |
| 21 | DOR-BEETLE | homophone of DOOR + homophone of BEATLE; ref. The Doors and The Beatles |
| 22 | EULOGISE | (O + GIS) in EULE(r) |
| 23 | ANTRES | (RESONANT − ON) * |
| 26 | UPMOST | ((De)O in (PM + S)) in UT |
| 28 | SCUBAS | CUBA in SS |
| 29 | SHEIKH | HE in SIKH |
| 30 | ANNULS | (MANUS around N and L separately) − M |
| 32 | BREME | (RE + ME) after B |
| 34 | UNIO | (j)UNIO(r) |
| 36 | CRIA | ((ord)AI(ned) + RC) < |