Listener Crossword 4468: Solution Notes
Hide-and-Seek by Charybdis
Puzzle explanation
Letters “hidden” from the clues spelt “Twain, Bacon, Wyatt”. Proverbs initially hidden in the grid were “Truth is stranger than fiction”, used by Mark Twain in Following the Equator, and “Truth is the daughter of time”, referred to by Francis Bacon in Novum Organum. Removing the first and last letters, the second proverb became “Ruth is the daughter of Tim” (giving the names of two imaginary hiders). The first was then altered to Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard, the title of Robert Wyatt’s third solo album, from 1975. Josephine Tey wrote The Daughter of Time, a detective novel about the reputation of Richard III, whose remains were discovered in September 2012, “hiding” under a Leicester car park.
Clue explanations
Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal
| No | Hidden letter | Answer | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Across | |||
| 1 | (T)hat | SHEEN | SHE + EN |
| 7 | RENEGER | RENÉ + GERMANY − MANY | |
| 13 | (W)oman | MALEIC | MALE + IC(e) |
| 14 | Sp(A)in | ESTERASE | E + ST + ERASE |
| 16 | ENDOCARP | END + OP around RAC < | |
| 17 | ARKITE | (M)ARK ITE(m) | |
| 18 | LEMMATA | MEL < + STIGMATA − STIG | |
| 20 | S(I)enna | TANS | TRANSPORT − R − PORT |
| 22 | FRISÉE | FRISBEE − B | |
| 24 | THEISTS | T(wo) + HEISTS | |
| 26 | tau(N)t | DARES | D(efence) + ARES |
| 30 | SA SA | SALSA − L | |
| 34 | ARUM | MURA(l) < | |
| 36 | ALI G | GILA < | |
| 37 | REED ORGAN | (RED + ORANGE) * | |
| 39 | (B)all | SCENERY | SCRY around ENE |
| 40 | ENERGISES | ER in ENGINES with S for N | |
| 41 | SOLID | OS < + LID | |
| Down | |||
| 1 | (A)Roma | SMELT | 2 meanings |
| 2 | HANGAR | NG in HAAR | |
| 3 | (C)hilly | ELDIN | ’ELD IN |
| 4 | G(O)od | NICE | 2 meanings |
| 5 | SCAMPI | (C + AMP) in SI | |
| 6 | Ski(N) | DERMIS | RIDES * around M(ountain) |
| 8 | ÉTAT | TATE < | |
| 9 | ERKS | PERKS − P | |
| 10 | GAITS | GATS around I | |
| 11 | ESTHETE | (etch)ES THE TE(al’s) | |
| 12 | REEVES | R(op)E + EVES | |
| 15 | SPARTAN | SPART + A(vo)N | |
| 19 | AREG | (Refri)GERA(tor) < | |
| 21 | (W)heat | SHEAFING | SHE + A + FIN + G |
| 23 | Tr(Y)ing | TESTATE | TEST + ETA < |
| 25 | STRIGIL | (GIRLS + IT) * | |
| 26 | DAHLS | L in SHAD(e) < | |
| 27 | SHIRE | SH + I + RE | |
| 28 | g(A)in | DICERS | D + OFFICERS − OFF |
| 29 | HAN | HAN(d) | |
| 31 | SAICE | SACRIFICE − (CR + IF) | |
| 32 | stun(T)s | DIDOS | DO in DIS |
| 33 | POOFS | SPOOF with letters cycled | |
| 35 | MINED | DENIM < | |
| 38 | Ma(T)e | AMI | AM I?; ref. “I think therefore I am” |