Late Arrival by Aragon

Puzzle explanation

The corrections to misprints in the clues, in order of the corresponding grid entries, spelt out “These are the only 102 of which the news has come to Harvard”, paraphrasing the penultimate line of a song written by Tom Lehrer in 1959, called The Elements. In it he recited the names of all the chemical elements then known, to the approximate tune of the major-general’s patter song from The Pirates of Penzance. The start and end of the song were as follows:

There’s antimony, arsenic, aluminum, selenium And hydrogen and oxygen and nitrogen and rhenium And nickel, neodymium, neptunium, germanium And iron, americium, ruthenium, uranium … And argon, krypton, neon, radon, xenon, zinc, and rhodium, And chlorine, carbon, cobalt, copper, tungsten, tin, and sodium. These are the only ones of which the news has come to Harvard, And there may be many others, but they haven’t been discovered.

After the entries in rows 1 and 10 of the grid were jumbled, the rows consisted of the symbols for all the elements listed in the song’s first four lines, in order. Any upper, lower or mixed case for the symbols was accepted. The two blank cells in the grid were filled with L and R, for lawrencium (Lr), the next element to be discovered after the song was written. These letters also completed TOM LEHRER in the main diagonal.

Clue explanations

Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal

Misprint Answer Explanation
guil(T) ABASHLESS (A + BLESS) around ASH
Por(T)er ALE homophone of AIL
quit(E) ALL-TO ALTO around L(ead)
r(O)ots AMLA ((Bhop)AL MA(inly)) <
Gr(E)at A ONE SAÔNE − S
Par(T) ARLINGHAM A + R + LING + HAM
o(F) AURUM ARM alternating with U,U
B(Y)gone AWAVE A + W(inds) + AVE
cas(H) BALBOAS BAL + BOAS
S(A)lves BALMS (pro)B(lem) + ALMS
hun(T)er BOONE BOON + E
tr(A)ps DENNETS NET’S after DEN
t(H)at ENRON (bottl)E + NR + ON
(W)oman ENTÊTÉE TEE after ENTE(r)
Norma(N) EURE EUREKA − KA
El(A)te EXALT EX + ALT
S(H)e FILLIES FILL + IE + S
abo(D)e GER EG < + R
(H)e H-BOMB (MOB in BH) <; ref. helium
skin(S) INTIMAE I + MATINÉ(e) *
G(O)an KACHAHRIS (C(anaria) + H + A + H + A RISK) *
gam(E) LOTTO T(iger-mea)T in LOO
he(A)d MADAM MAD + AM
Pol(E)’s MAGDA MA + G’DA(y)
Cran(E) MARABOU ARM * + A + B + OU
D(O) MARQUEE MARQUE + E(steem)
(2)019 MIRADOR RADIO * in RM <
S(H)eltered NESTED S(unha)T in NEED
Po(S)t NEWEL homophone of KNEW + EL
(W)ay NINETIETH (IN + E + THEN IT) *
(M)ag NME N + ME; ref. New Musical Express
(S)tem OATEN (A NOTE) *
rule(R) OFFA OF + FA
st(E)ps PAVANE (A + VAN) in PE
limb(O) PENDING PEN + DING
(C)arry PRACTISE ACT in PRISE
(H)itting RAPPER REP < after RAP
(C)ut REDIVIDED RED + I + VIDE + D
he(L)p REHAB (HE in BAR) <
gr(I)nder RYNDS (Mancheste)R (Cit)Y (fa)N (woul)D (embarras)S
Jam(E)s SID (D(oor) + I’S) <
(H)ail STANE SANE around T
98(0) TARA TA + RA
fo(R) TEN-WEEK (W + KETENE) *
Ha(V)ing UREIC (CURE I) *
Gle(N) VALE 2 meanings
19(1)2 VENUE ((G)E(n)U(i)N(e) E(n)V(y)) <
ne(R)d WEENY 2 meanings
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