Listener Crossword 4865: Solution Notes
Location, Location … by Arcadia
Puzzle explanation
The corrections to misprints in clues, reading clockwise from radial 15 in the initial grid (shown here), spelt out BRITISH MUSEUM LIBRARY (which solvers were allowed to write normally in the central space). The grid represented the circular reading room of the old British Museum Library, which was originally located at GREAT RUSSELL STREET IN BLOOMSBURY, LONDON WC1B (ring 1, from radial 34). In 1997 it moved to a new location, shown in Ring 3: RESITE: SOMERS TOWN GOODS YARD AND POTATO MARKET. Hinted at by Matthew 7:20, “By their fruits shall ye know them”, the eight authors in Ring 2, plus RUSSELL and LONDON in Ring 1, accounted for 10 of the 12 titles that were italicised in radial clues, as listed below. In each case, the radial entry for a clue with a title crossed the ring entry containing its author. The extra letters in wordplay spelt out (clockwise from radial 16) “reading room’s designer”, referring to Sydney Smirke. By rotating the contents of Rings 2 to 6 so that the letters in shaded cells spelt SMIRKE, the two missing authors’ names, GREENE and BRAINE appeared as radial entries, to be highlighted.
| Clue | Title | Author |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Sentimental Journey | Laurence STERNE |
| 2 | Room at the Top | John BRAINE |
| 3 | Principles of Mathematics | Bertrand RUSSELL |
| 7 | Epistles to Several Persons | Alexander POPE |
| 13 | Opticks | Isaac NEWTON |
| 15 | Lives of the Abbots | BEDE (the Venerable) |
| 19 | Leviathan | Thomas HOBBES |
| 26 | The Heathen | Jack LONDON |
| 27 | Laughable Lyrics | Edward LEAR |
| 28 | The Lawless Roads | Graham GREENE |
| 34 | Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained | John MILTON |
| 36 | Sumer is icumen … | anon. |
Clue explanations
Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal
| No | Misprint | Answer | Explanation [extra letter] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Radial | |||
| 1 | MESETA | (A SENTIME[N]TAL) * − LATIN * | |
| 2 | Tes(L)a | TEASER | T + EASE + R(oom) |
| 3 | S(I)r | MENEER | NÉE in M(athematics’) E(mpirical) R(easoning) |
| 4 | SEMELE | SE[E] + ME + LE(d) | |
| 5 | Lim(B) | SPLENT | SPENT around L |
| 6 | NOOSES | O in NO[R]SE + S | |
| 7 | Bi(R)ds | PEWITS | (E(pistles) T(o) S(everal) P(ersons) W(ith) I(ndex)) * |
| 8 | SEINER | [R]EIN in SER | |
| 9 | gr(A)m | UNGETS | (G + (A)USTEN) * |
| 10 | SEE OUT | S(i)E(g)E (d)O(c)U(m)[E](n)T(s) | |
| 11 | (R)and | TROWEL | TOWEL around R |
| 12 | TIRLED | TIRED around L[A] | |
| 13 | REASON | REA[D]S + O(pticks) + N | |
| 14 | ba(Y) | BARNEY | (e)RNE(s) in BAY |
| 15 | TABLES | (L[I]VES OF THE ABBOTS) * − (THOSE OF BV) * | |
| 16 | (B)ack | STEREO | (O’ER + ET’S) < |
| 17 | Wo(R)e | DONNED | DONNE + D |
| 18 | NEMEAN | NE + ME[N] + AN | |
| 19 | l(I)ke | HANSES | (Leviat)HAN’S ES(says); ref. Hans Holbein the Elder and the Younger |
| 20 | ADOBES | ADO + BE[G]S | |
| 21 | Eruc(T) | BURPED | R in UP in BED |
| 22 | BORDER | B[R] + ORDER | |
| 23 | EYE-PIT | EYE + PIL[O]T − L | |
| 24 | l(I)ne | ESPIAL | (Co)E + SPIRAL − L |
| 25 | (S)erf | THE LOT | (sawdus)T + HELOT |
| 26 | EOTHEN | (f)[O]E(s) + O’ + (The Hea)THEN | |
| 27 | MADAMS | (MY MILD SARCAS[M]) * − LYRICS * | |
| 28 | (H)alf | AROMAS | ROADS * with MA(de) for D |
| 29 | (M)ale | KIRMAN | KIR + MAN |
| 30 | WAKIKI | WA[S] + KI(p) + KI(p) | |
| 31 | CANCEL | C in CAN[D]EL(a) | |
| 32 | p(U)ss | INTACT | CAT < in INT |
| 33 | LABORS | LA BOURS[E] − U | |
| 34 | inve(S)tors | ANGELS | (PARADISE LOST + REGAINED) * = (SATIRE PARODIED + ANGELS) |
| 35 | coup(É) | SIRCAR | CAR after SIR; ref. radial 37 |
| 36 | IRENIC | (SUMER I[S] ICUMEN) * − MUSEUM * | |
| 37 | ARISTO | (desp)A[I]R IS TO(urnay) | |
| 38 | cr(U)sts | TRINES | T + RINES |
| 39 | SILERS | SIL(t) + ER[G]S | |
| 40 | ca(M)p | OUTLIE | OUT + LIE |
| Ring | |||
| 14 | BLOOMSBURY | Inter-flora could signify BURY-BLOOMS | |
| 41 | GOODS YARD | GOOD + DRAYS < | |
| 42 | POTATO | POTTO around A | |
| 43 | RESITES | RESIT + E(xam)S | |
| 44 | OMERS | ’OMER’S; ref. intro to Barrack Room Ballads | |