The last letters of the extra words in clues for the jumbled across entries were a jumble of “Chekhov’s gun”, Anton Chekhov’s principle that every element in a story must be necessary. He made the point several times, eg writing “If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don’t put it there.” The extra letters in wordplay of down clues spelt out “use semi-automatic Beretta pistol”, so in the grid’s top and bottom rows, the titles of his works Uncle Vanya and The Shooting Party were replaced by SEMI-AUTOMATIC BERETTA PISTOL, forming new words. The dummy clue (28dn) was an anagram of The Cherry Orchard, which was traced and highlighted in the grid in the shape of a pistol, with the final D forming the trigger guard. The first letters of all the across clues’ extra words spelt “inside D draw the trigger”. Further highlighting C, S and G in row 6 produced an illustration of the gun being fired.
Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal
No | Extra word | Answer | Explanation [extra letter] |
---|---|---|---|
Across | |||
11 | (I)nf[O] | PRIORATE | PRIOR + ATE |
13 | (N)o | OBAMA | OB + AMA |
15 | (S)heets | EARS | ARE * + S |
16 | (I)ndian | FELUCCA | FUEL * + ACC < |
17 | (D)ropping | NILLED | (DELL + IN) < |
19 | (E)liciting | AUREOLE | A + URE + OLÉ |
20 | (D)ru[G] | DREAMY | 2 meanings |
24 | (D)run[K] | RANEE | (g)R(e)A(t-)N(i)E(c)E |
26 | (R)ic[H] | CHAOS THEORY | CHARY around (H in OSTEO-) |
29 | (A)bus[E] | CAREER | CARE + RE < |
31 | (W)asted | RIBAUD | RIB + A + (d)UD(e) |
32 | (T)[V] | CEDARN | C(as)E + DARN |
33 | (H)ordes | MURINE | URINE after M |
35 | (E)nsig[N] | SNATH | (bo)S’N AT H(elm) |
38 | (T)itani[C] | VASTNESS | VAS + SENT < + ’S |
42 | (R)oac[H] | BETA-TEST | BEST around TATE |
45 | (I)mprompt[U] | TAKER | (Evi)TA KER(mit) |
46 | (G)olfer | LABIA | (I + A) after BAL(l) < |
47 | (G)randiose | PHRASIER | homophone of FRAZIER |
48 | (E)nters | MIRIAM | MIR + I’ + AM |
49 | (R)evive[S] | MART | TRAM < |
Down | |||
1 | UPEND | UP + D[U]NE < | |
2 | CARL | [S]CAR + L | |
3 | LOS | LOS[E] | |
4 | ERNE | RN in [S]EE | |
5 | AREAD | [E]AR + EA + D | |
6 | NIL | LI[M]N < | |
7 | YOURN | U in [I]RONY * | |
8 | ABCEES | CE[A]SE * after AB | |
9 | TACO | TO[U]CA(n) * | |
10 | EATERS | ES around [T]ATER | |
12 | TAIMYR | TYR[O] around AIM | |
14 | MALAGUEÑA | MAL + AGUE + NA[M] | |
18 | DÉTENTE | TE[A] in DEN + TE | |
21 | YERD | [T]YRE * + (trea)D | |
22 | RHEAS | S[I]R < around HEA(d) | |
23 | ECRU | ECU around [C]R | |
25 | EOAN | E O + [B]AN | |
26 | ORCHELS | (sc)OR[E] CHELS(ea) | |
27 | RAMA | A[R]M in RA | |
28 | (AIRE) | (THE CHERRY ORCHARD) * | |
30 | CENTIMO | (MORTICE + T[E]NON) * − TORN * | |
34 | ASTRAY | AST + [T]RAY | |
36 | ABASH | BA[T]S in (A + H(at)) | |
37 | TABOO | BO[A] in TAO | |
39 | STRAG | STAR * + G[P] | |
40 | VESTA | TA after V[I]ES | |
41 | SKIRR | (R + RI[S]KS) < | |
43 | TAIT | TT around AI[T] | |
44 | SHIN | HIN after [O]S | |
45 | RAMP | R + [L]AMP |