Listener Crossword 4704: Solution Notes
Movement by Craft
Puzzle explanation
The puzzle was published on the day before the start of daylight saving in the United Kingdom in 2022. The corrections to misprints in across clues spelt out “spring forward, fall back”, a mnemonic for how and when to change clocks. The first part was represented by changing the unclued entry at 5dn from GREENWICH MEAN (Time) to BRITISH SUMMER (Time), while FALL reading backwards in row 10 was highlighted. The other unclued entries were GEORGE HUDSON, an entomologist who first proposed the modern system of daylight saving, and HECTOR and HUTTON, two medals he received.
The clue for 15ac used the correct definition of “meer” as a spelling of the dialect “mere” = “to bound”, not the war club (which could never be spelt “meer” because all syllables in te reo Māori end in a vowel). This is an error that arose in the 2003 edition of Chambers, which swapped the order of the entries for “mere3” and “mere4” but failed to update the “meer” cross-reference from “mere1,2,3” to “mere1,2,4”.
Clue explanations
Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal
| No | Misprint | Answer | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Across | |||
| 1 | GABION | I in GABON | |
| 5 | pane(S) | GLAZING | G(overnment) + LAZING |
| 11 | (P)onderment | PORING | RING after PO |
| 12 | sho(R)ter | OUNCES | 2 meanings |
| 13 | m(I)ssing | ANOMIE | (IE + OMAN) * |
| 14 | crow(N)’s | RAJ | JAR < |
| 15 | Mar(G)in | MEERED | ER in MEED |
| 18 | GROVET | GROVE + T(ightly) | |
| 19 | (F)oster | ABET | BETA with letters cycled |
| 20 | bec(O)me | VINEW | VIEW around N |
| 22 | (R)ing | FRODO | ’FRO + DO |
| 23 | (W)ill’s | HEIR | homophone of AIR |
| 25 | m(A)ss | UNIAT | AT UNI with words switched |
| 27 | (R)ocky | TORR | TORRID − ID |
| 29 | (D)egum | UNGUM | SUNG + U + M(uslim) − S |
| 31 | CLEEK | homophone of CLIQUE | |
| 33 | (F)ell | DUNE | (sala)D UNE(xpectedly) |
| 36 | t(A)nning | CACHOU | homophone of CASHEW |
| 37 | dua(L) | DIAMYL | (L(onel)Y + MAID) < |
| 38 | (L)iner | AFT | DAFT − D |
| 39 | OBTEND | OB + (migh)T + END | |
| 40 | glo(B)e | PLANET | PLANE + T(affeta) |
| 41 | m(A)sses | SCRAES | (SEARCHES − HE) < |
| 42 | (C)ool | FRESHEN | FRESHMEN − M |
| 43 | Jun(K) | HEROIN | homophone of HEROINE |
| Down | |||
| 2 | BENJ | BENJAMIN − AMIN | |
| 3 | INCAVI | IN + CAVIE − E | |
| 4 | NOS | (contai)N (tw)O (word)S | |
| 6 | LIARD | LIZARD − Z | |
| 7 | ANNEX | ANNE + X | |
| 8 | IN MY BOOK | BY < in KIMONO * | |
| 9 | NAILED | (L(ocal) A(uthority) + DINE) * | |
| 10 | QUARTE | QUARTET − T(op) | |
| 15 | MENU | MEN + U(s) | |
| 16 | ETENS | ET + ENS | |
| 17 | DART | 2 meanings | |
| 20 | VIGNETTE | VIG + NETTE(d) | |
| 21 | TALCY | (coas)TAL CY(cleway) | |
| 24 | RUED | RUE + D | |
| 26 | TEAL | HEAL with T for H | |
| 28 | ROOFER | (FOR HERO) * − H | |
| 30 | NUMBER | 2 meanings | |
| 32 | ÉCLAIR | LA in RICE < | |
| 34 | WINCH | WINCH(ester) | |
| 35 | PADRE | PAD + RE | |
| 38 | AN MO | AN + MO | |
| 40 | PEH | HEP < | |