Listener Crossword 4599: Solution Notes
Triumvirate by tnap
Puzzle explanation
The puzzle was based on the first three lines of an anonymous verse in the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations:
Multiplication is vexation, Division is as bad; The Rule of Three doth puzzle me, And Practice drives me mad.
The letters missing from clue definitions formed MULTIPLICATION. The unclued entries were jumbles of US Army division nicknames, located at their division numbers, as given in Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable under “Regimental and divisional nicknames”: 1 Big Red One, 2 Indianhead, 5 Red Diamond, 10 Mountaineers, 23 America, 37 Buckeye. The puzzle’s title referred to the third line of the poem.
Clue explanations
Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal
| No | Missing letter | Answer | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Across | |||
| 9 | L(U)ing’s | GUGA | AGUE < with G for E |
| 12 | CEP | (abundan)CE P(erhaps) | |
| 14 | ONE-ER | ON + E’ER | |
| 15 | OURS | (c)OURS(e) | |
| 16 | NANNA | ANNA(l) after (seaso)N | |
| 17 | De(I)fy | IDOLISE | I DO + LISE (diminutive of Elizabeth) |
| 18 | ODIN | O’ + DI + (dominio)N | |
| 19 | OFFSET | OFF + SET | |
| 21 | BOERS | BOWERS − W | |
| 22 | UNLEAD | JUNK-DEALER * − JERK * | |
| 25 | ma(I)d | SHES | SMASHED * − MAD * |
| 26 | (A)Tom | DOT | 2 meanings |
| 27 | RECS | homophone of WRECKS | |
| 29 | S(T)ir | DISTURB | D(avid) + IS + BRUT(e) < |
| 31 | OPIATE | O + PIA + TE | |
| 33 | SMORE | ’S + MORE | |
| 34 | SINDHI | IND in (SH + I’) | |
| 36 | HOOT | TOOTH < − T’ | |
| 39 | Cha(P)s | ADMEN | MADE * + N |
| 40 | OSSA | O + ASS < | |
| 41 | ANNIE | (c)ANNIE(r) | |
| 42 | s(L)ang | TIN | (castra)TI N(ever) |
| 43 | s(T)ay | SIST | ASSIST − AS |
| 44 | SASSENACH | (AS CAITHNESS − IT) * | |
| Down | |||
| 3 | fa(I)r | BONNIEST | B + (ISN’T ONE) * |
| 4 | INNS | IN + N,S | |
| 6 | GEIGER | G + REGIE < | |
| 7 | lan(C)e | ORD | O + RD |
| 8 | ROOFSCAPE | (CAFÉ’S POOR) * | |
| 9 | GULFY | GUY around (L + F) | |
| 11 | ARETHA | (Marg)ARET HA(ll) | |
| 12 | CHORUS | C + HOURS * | |
| 13 | PAINLESSNESS | SPANIEL’S * + NESS | |
| 19 | ORATORIANS | A in (OR + TORII with ANS for I(ncantation)) | |
| 20 | ELECTRONIC | (NOTE CIRCLE) * | |
| 21 | BABUSHKAS | (BACK + AS − C) around BUSH | |
| 24 | IRISHMEN | IN around RHEIMS * | |
| 28 | bi(O)nt | SESTON | (SET + ON) around S |
| 29 | C(L)ubs | DISCOS | DISCUSS with O for US |
| 30 | me(N) | BOSUNS | BOSS around UN |
| 32 | ID EST | (squal)IDEST | |
| 35 | ADIE | ADIE(u) | |
| 38 | far(M) | BAA | B + À + A |