Listener Crossword 4623: Solution Notes
Tears by Oxymoron
Puzzle explanation
In clashing cells, the segments from both answers were concatenated to form an item (in the singular form) from The Dilly Song (often known as Green Grow the Rushes, O). The items in grid order were: APOST/LE, HEA/VEN, GOSP/EL, ST/AR, SYMBO/L, SHIN/ER, RANG/ER, RI/VAL, O/NE, BO/Y, WAL/KER, COMMAND/MENT. The letters shared by clues’ extra words and their answers spelt “number”; the thematic items were replaced by their numbers in the folk song. The puzzle’s title is a synonym of “rushes”.
Oxymoron was an alias used by Schadenfreude in other outlets. He originally submitted this puzzle to the Sunday Telegraph for its Enigmatic Variations crossword series. When that series was threatened with cancellation in mid-2020, the crossword editor passed this puzzle on to us. Happily, the EV was given a reprieve in June, but we had already progressed with editing Tears, so we kept it. We published it under his alternative pseudonym because the last Listener crossword by Schadenfreude had already appeared in 2019.
Clue explanations
Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal
| No | Extra word | Answer (clash) | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Across | |||
| 1 | (LE)MUR | (RUM + EL) < | |
| 4 | (VEN)IAL SINS | (SLAVES IN + NI) * | |
| 9 | ANG(EL)US | U in ANGELS’ | |
| 11 | CHA(ST)E | T in CHASE | |
| 13 | TELOMERE | OMER in TELE | |
| 14 | (L)ICENSE | ENS in (L + ICE) | |
| 15 | COLAS | C + ALSO * | |
| 16 | (SHIN)INESS | S after (SH + IN + INES) | |
| 17 | Layma(N) | ENERGISES | GREENIES * + S |
| 23 | SOCIETIES | SO + CITIES around E | |
| 24 | Famo(U)s | RELUCT | CLUE * in TR < |
| 27 | (RANG)IEST | TANGIERS * | |
| 29 | A(VA)LANCHE | A + VALANCE around H | |
| 32 | DOVETAIL | (VET + AIL) after DO | |
| 33 | COR(NE)R | CORN + RE < | |
| 34 | OS(BO)RNE | OS + BORNÉ | |
| 35 | (WAL)L STREET | (W + ALL + ST) around TREE | |
| 36 | CLE(MENT) | L in CEMENT | |
| Down | |||
| 1 | (APOST)ATIC | PO in (A + STATIC) | |
| 2 | (M)ilitary | MNEMONS | MEN * + MON’S |
| 3 | UGLY | homophone of UGLI | |
| 4 | (HEA)UMES | HERMES with AU for (superio)R | |
| 5 | AIRI(ER) | (R + IE) in (A1 + R) | |
| 6 | SHEEN | SEEN around H; ref. 16ac | |
| 7 | N(AR)CS | SCRAN < | |
| 8 | SECESH | SEC + SHE * | |
| 10 | GOSPODARS | GO + SP + ODA + R(estles)S | |
| 12 | AGNESI | I after AGNES; ref. 11ac | |
| 14 | (SYMBO)LIC | (SLIM COY + B) * | |
| 18 | ÉCLAIR | ALE < around C + IR | |
| 19 | SIDE | IDE(a) after S | |
| 20 | STINT(Y) | (fore)ST IN TY(rone) | |
| 21 | wood(B)lock | BESHINE | SHIN in BEE |
| 22 | VRAIC(KER) | VICAR * + KER(f) | |
| 25 | UNG(O)T | GUN * + OT | |
| 26 | un(E)nding | THOLE | T + HOLE |
| 27 | (ER)NEST | ERNES + (targe)T | |
| 28 | TELE(COMMAND) | (L + A + COMMENTED) * | |
| 30 | (RI)GOL | RIG + O + L | |
| 31 | bothe(R)ed | JARL | JAR + L |