Listener Crossword 4680: Solution Notes
Manhunt by Shark
Puzzle explanation
The extra words in clues gave “Wheatstone two-needle telegraph”, describing a device that used needle positions to encode letters spelling a message. The machine’s letter encodings didn’t include J, Q or Z, so other letters were used in their place. In 1845, a murder suspect was seen boarding a train from Slough to Paddington. While he was in transit, police used the telegraph to send a message to Paddington, where the suspect was identified, followed and later arrested. Letter choices from the double-letter grid cells spelt out the start of the transmission, A MURDER HAS GUST [ie, just] BEEN COMMITTED AT; the next two words were SALT HILL, appearing in rows 4 and 12 of the grid. Using the grid’s vertical and diagonal bars as needle positions for the telegraph gave the phrase GARB OF A KWAKER [Quaker], part of the description of the suspect. The man was John Tawell, who was convicted of the murder and hanged in Aylesbury. The letters of his surname formed a triangle in the grid after changing the I of HILL to A.
Clue explanations
Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal
| No | Extra word | Answer | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Across | |||
| 1 | REARMOUSE | MOUSE after REAR | |
| 2 | HORDE | H + E after ORD | |
| 3 | Wheat | BENI | BENI(n) |
| 4 | RESISTORS | 2 meanings | |
| 5 | REHEARSAL | HEARS(e) in REAL | |
| 6 | LIGATURE | (I + GAT) in LURE | |
| 7 | COSSETED | SET in CODES * | |
| 8 | TEBET | BET after (THE − H) | |
| 9 | stone | GAGE | 2 meanings |
| 10 | VERONICAS | VERONICA + S(aturate) | |
| 11 | COCOPLUMS | COLUMNS − N around COP | |
| 12 | CODOMAIN | COD + O + MAIN | |
| 13 | STATUETTE | SETTE(r) around TATU | |
| 14 | DECO | CODE with halves switched | |
| 15 | two | HILL | SHILL − S |
| 16 | TRANSITED | (RAT’S IN) * + DET < | |
| Down | |||
| EROSE | E + ROSÉ | ||
| ARED | RED after A | ||
| MOBS | BS after MO | ||
| USE | (to)U(ch) S(cr)E(en) | ||
| ENROL | LORNE < | ||
| needle | XIS | X + I(nsult)S | |
| HERRY | CHERRY − C | ||
| RAGA | RAG + A | ||
| ASTUTE | (f)AST (b)UT (w)E | ||
| TELESMS | TELE + SMS | ||
| LOBE | (g)LOBE | ||
| STEREO | STERE + O’ | ||
| SEGNO | (SIGN with E for I) + (ech)O | ||
| GAUNTLET | G + AUNT + LET | ||
| ECOCIDE | E + COC(k) + IDE | ||
| CILIATE | CITE around LIA(s) | ||
| OSCAR | SO < + CAR | ||
| MOUTHS | MOTHS around U | ||
| telegraph | WELD | WED around (meta)L | |
| ATON | SAT ON − S | ||