Listener Crossword 4806: Solution Notes
Second to Last by Karla
Puzzle explanation
The grid letters omitted by wordplay in clues spelt out, in the order specified, “twenty-nine years”. Using the specifications 2.4 and 3.6 for the number of digits before and after the decimal points, the letters’ grid positions gave latitude = 13.7675 and longitude = 120.186111. Treating both as positive (north of the equator and east of the International Reference Meridian) gave a point in the middle of Lubang Island in the Philippines (taking one or both as negative gave places in the ocean). Japanese officer Hiroo Onoda spent 29 years on Lubang as a “Japanese holdout” after the end of the Second World War; a 5×3 rectangle at the bottom of the grid containing JAPANESE HOLDOUT was erased. The corrections to misprints in clue order spelt “represent flag using a coloured shape”. Drawing a red disc in the blank area produced the flag of Japan. The wartime flag with radiating arms was also accepted, but not those of the Philippines or the Muncipality of Lubang, which were not the flags of the subject Onoda. The puzzle marked 50 years since Onoda’s surrender on 9 March 1974. The puzzle’s title referred to Onoda as almost the last Japanese holdout from the Second World War; the last was Teruo Nakamura, arrested on 18 December 1974 in Indonesia.
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✓ Japan -
✓ Japanese Imperial Army -
✗ Philippines -
✗ Lubang Municipality
Clue explanations
Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal
| No | Misprint | Answer (unclued letter) | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Across | |||
| 1 | Yea(R)s | ANNALS | ANNEALS − E |
| 5 | c(E)ase | ENDEAR | EAR after END |
| 10 | (T)AOIST | A + (h)OIST(s) | |
| 11 | (P)ie | TARTLET | (T + T) around AR + LET |
| 13 | MO(W)RA | RA after MO | |
| 16 | ho(R)seman | CHIRON | CH + IRON |
| 17 | (E)ast | COOPED | CO-OP + E + D |
| 18 | (S)easons | NOELS | 2 meanings |
| 19 | P(E)OPLING | POP + LING | |
| 21 | (N)ONSENSE | ON + SEEN * around S(crum) | |
| 24 | Chang(E) | RE-EDIT | DEER < + IT |
| 25 | So(N) | STOPED | S + TOPED |
| 27 | AT LENG(T)H | LATE * + (whe)N (payin)G (cas)H | |
| 32 | profi(T)ing | GAINSAID | GAINS + AID |
| 35 | (F)iction | LIEGE | LIE + GE |
| 36 | (L)ocks | TITIAN | TITI + A + N |
| 38 | L(A)ke | GOETHE | GO + LETHE − L |
| 39 | un(G)ulate | DOETH | DOE + T(riptyc)H |
| 40 | MALA(Y)AN | MAN around ALA | |
| 41 | ta(U) | ELUATE | ((lik)E TAU LE(vy)) < |
| 42 | re(S)ort | SCARPA | CAR in SPA |
| 43 | p(I)t | HOTTIE | HO + T + TIE |
| Down | |||
| 1 | (N)est | ATMANS | (c)A(n) N(e)S(t) after ATM |
| 2 | (N)OWHERE | ERE after (O + W + H) | |
| 3 | A(I)RILY | (Y + LIRA) < | |
| 4 | pa(G)e | STOOP | P after STOO(l) |
| 5 | (E)TON | TON | |
| 6 | f(A)int | DROOP | (POOR + D) < |
| 7 | (A)LAP | LAP | |
| 8 | (R)ECENSES | CE in ESSEN * | |
| 9 | (S)TODGED | TOD + GED | |
| 12 | (C)heat | ANCON | A(merica)N + CON |
| 14 | s(O)me | ARSHIN | (h)ARSH IN(terior) |
| 15 | DOL(E) | DOLL − L | |
| 20 | C(L)ass | HETAIRAS | (THIS AREA) *; “mistress” in the clue should have been “mistresses” |
| 22 | (O)f | OPT | O’ + P(i)T(s) |
| 23 | ST(Y)LED | ST + LED | |
| 24 | t(U)ne | RAGTIME | RAG + TIME |
| 26 | pea(R) | PREHEAT | (THE PEAR) * |
| 28 | (E)at | ENID | DINE < |
| 29 | GA(N)JA | GA + JA | |
| 30 | Re(D)ding | SIT OUT | OTIS < + UT |
| 31 | heart(S) | TEE-HEE | TEEPEE with H for P |
| 33 | (H)orny | SATYR | SAT + YR |
| 34 | b(A)shes | DOSEH | EH after DOS |
| 37 | (P)ussy | TALC | L in CAT < |
| 38 | che(E)k | GENA | GEN + A |