Listener Crossword 4822: Solution Notes
Editor’s Cuts by Lionheart
Puzzle explanation
Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier won the 2020 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for their invention of CRISPR-Cas9, a gene editing technique based on CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) that can add or remove a DNA sequence at a specific point in a genome. The letter sequence needing to be cut from 14 clues (regularly spaced at the start and end of the clue list) was ATA, and the letters preceding the cuts spelt out “Chemistry Nobel”. In other clues, the single extra letters spelt out “cut and join along palindromic repeats”, indicating that the middle section (shaded green here) of the full grid was to be cut away, so as to bring the two occurrences of ATACATA together (treating the rows of the grid as one sequence of letters). In the resulting grid, the names CHARPENTIER and DOUDNA were highlighted, along with CRISPRCAS9 in the top row, including the entry number 9. Highlighting of full cells including the entry numbers 1 to 8 in addition to 9 was accepted, but not including the T in cell 9. The thematic sequences used in the clues and grid were restricted to the DNA base letters for Adenine, Cytosine, Thymine and Guanine.
Clue explanations
Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal
| No | Extra (letter)/ |
Answer | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Across | |||
| 1 | (C)rook | CRISP | C + R + ISP |
| 6 | C[ATA]lan; clan | CASTLED | (CLAN + D(ortmund) + SET) * − N |
| 12 | spo(U)t | LYNCEAN | LYNC(h) + homophone of IAN |
| 13 | (T)old | HOO-OO | H + (O + O’) twice |
| 14 | h[AT A]ides; hides | ESTANCIEROS | ((t)E(a)S(e) + I + EROS) around CAN’T * |
| 15 | St(A)ring | RATA | (wa)RATA(h) |
| 18 | Pi(N)ts | CATACOMBS | TACO in CAMBS |
| 22 | tre[ATA]ble; treble | TRICHIASIS | (I I I + CHARTS) * + S(how) |
| 25 | (D)river | GNEISS | SINGERS * − R |
| 26 | (J)ousting | PLEXOR | P + FLEXOR − F |
| 28 | form[AT A]I; for mi | ADD-ONS | ADMIN’S with DO for MI |
| 29 | (O)ur | UNDECK | D in (U(r) + NECK) |
| 32 | ma(I)n | CLOISTERER | (ST in LOITERER) after C |
| 34 | Fi[AT A]xed; Fixed | TA-TA | (plan)T AT A(tessa) |
| 35 | Se(N)t | CATALYSED | (CASE + D) around (ITALY − I) |
| 37 | (A)right | CHARPENTIER | CHAR + PEN + TIE + R |
| 42 | s[AT A]top; stop | OUAKARI | (AKA + R) in (OU + I) |
| 43 | Co(L)in’s | ASANA | ANA after AS |
| 44 | Em(O) | NEEMB | M in BEEN < |
| 45 | T[ATA]ry; Try | BETHUMP | BET + HUMP |
| Down | |||
| 1 | line(N) | CLARTY | L in CART + Y |
| 2 | (G)listening | RYE | homophone of WRY |
| 3 | ins(P)ect | INS | INS(ect) |
| 4 | pe(A)r | PEACH | P + EACH |
| 5 | (L)and | RAN | (ove)R AN(d) |
| 7 | Mar(I)e or L(I)am | ARIA | (M)AR(e) + (L)IA(m) |
| 8 | have(N) | SHE | S + H(av)E |
| 9 | for(D) | TOROSE | TO + ROSE |
| 10 | err[ATA]; err | LOO | (O(vid) L(ook) O(ver)) * |
| 11 | st(R)op | DOUSER | DO + USER |
| 16 | (O)ar | ARGALA | AR + GALA |
| 17 | by [A TA]p asses; bypasses | ACEDIA | (ACE + DIVA) − V |
| 19 | Mor(M)on | TASSET | ASS in TET |
| 20 | har(I)m | MIXERS | 2 meanings |
| 21 | son[ATA]; son | BROCHÉ | BRO + CHESS with no S |
| 23 | In(C) | ISN’T | (Yet)I (Studie)S (I)N (i)T |
| 24 | p(R)awn | SPUR | SUR(prise) around P |
| 27 | Bo[AT A]nd; Bond | ACTION | TITANIC * with O for IT |
| 30 | (E)very | DRYISH | (D + IS) around RY + H |
| 31 | (P)addling | KIDNAP | (A KIND + P) * |
| 33 | comb[AT A]uster; combuster | SCRAB | S(hoot-em-up) C(ombuster) R(ecover) A(nd) B(attle) |
| 36 | ne(E)d | ANNE | AND NED − D − D |
| 37 | Ro(A)d | CUE | homophone of QUEUE; ref. Judd Trump |
| 38 | e[AT A]ll; ell | HAE | HALE − L |
| 39 | for(T) | PRO | 2 meanings |
| 40 | (S)ink | TAT | TATTOO − TOO |
| 41 | Marcel [A TA]le; Marcelle | EAU | CHATEAU − CHAT |