Listener Crossword 4574: Solution Notes
Well-spoken by Miles
Puzzle explanation
The letters omitted from wordplay spelt “Euler line”. The three occurrences of X in the grid were the vertices of a tall scalene triangle. The preamble phrase LONE TEPEE LEANS (a jumble of the unclued entries ÉLAN, STEP, LEO, EEN) hinted at this triangle’s shape. The nine occurrences of O marked the defining points of the triangle’s nine-point circle: the mid-points of the sides, the feet of the altitudes (where a line from a vertex meets the opposite side at a right angle), and the mid-points along the altitudes between the vertices and the orthocentre (where the three altitudes meet). In the centre of the circle (the shape both delineated by Os and resembling an O), a fourth X was added to mark the “nine-point centre”, at the cell corner between the L of LIANA and the P of IN PERSON. The Euler line had to be drawn parallel to the triangle’s right-hand side and passing through this X (beside the spaced out letters of EULER, not through their cell centres). The puzzle’s title cryptically referred to Euler as a homophone of “oiler”, an oil well.
Clue explanations
Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal
| Answer (unclued letter) | Explanation |
|---|---|
| BEAUXITE | BÊTE around (A + UZI with X for Z) |
| ETEN | ET + EN; the de Longchamps point is also on the Euler line |
| NASUTE | SAN < + UTE |
| BENIGHTM(E)NT | (MIGHTN’T BE) * around N |
| UNEQUALS | ALS after (UNE + QU) |
| KEFIR | (E(gg) F(ermented)) in KIR |
| TENACE | TEN + ACE (flanking J, Q, K) |
| SO(U)PER | SOPER; ref. Donald Soper |
| DECOL(L)ATORS | DECORATORS with L for R |
| CATNEP | (PET CAN) * |
| APOGEE | APE(x) around (O + GE) |
| LIANA | (A + NAIL) < |
| IN PERSON | IN + PER + SO + N |
| NEAR-SIGHTED | (IN + NEAR-SIGHTED) * = DISHEARTENING |
| (E)SLOIN | NOILS * |
| SOLE | 2 meanings; E after SOL |
| TANDOORS | ROAST * around (ND + O’) |
| (R)EBUKED | BE < + UK + ED |
| CTENE | C + TENE |
| BENEFACTOR | (ROT + CAFÉ + NEB) < |
| AUGURA(L) | (ARUGULA − L) < |
| UNHATS | HAUNTS with first two letters moved to the middle |
| (I)SMS | SMS |
| ETNA | 2 meanings |
| LETHE | LIFE − IF + THE |
| CAPOTASTOS | CAPO + TAST(e) + O’ + S |
| NUTS | NU + T(ank)S |
| CERE | SINCERE − SIN |
| LEAP | 2 meanings |
| NONG | SONG with N for S |
| ALLEGRO | (liber)AL LEGRO(om) |
| SPANDEX | SPAN + homophone of DECKS |
| PEPINO | PEP + (ON + I) < |
| AN(N)EX | NE in AX |
| NOEL(E) | “lover” with NO EL = “over” |
| BEST | 3 meanings |
| IRON | I + RN around O |