Listener Crossword 4894: Solution Notes
Mounts by Pointer
Puzzle explanation
The extra words in clues could all be preceded by “donkey”. The six donkeys hidden in the grid were BURRO, CUDDIE, PUZZLE (from The Last Battle by C S Lewis), MODESTINE (from Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes by Robert Louis Stevenson), BENJAMIN (from Animal Farm by George Orwell) and EEYORE (from Winnie-the-Pooh by A A Milne). To promote P T Barnum’s circus in 1858, Sam Loyd created his “Famous Trick Donkeys” puzzle (originally called “P.T. Barnum’s Trick Mules”), consisting of a card with two drawings of donkeys and a strip showing two riders in opposite directions. The puzzle was to cut the card into three pieces (the riders together and the donkeys separate) and arrange them so that both riders were simultaneously shown riding donkeys. In this puzzle, a similar effect was achieved by cutting out the square ring (shown by dotted lines in the initial grid here) and rotating it 90° anticlockwise, so that BARNUM is “riding” PUZZLE and SAM LOYD is riding EEYORE.
Clue explanations
Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal
| No | Extra word | Answer | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Across | |||
| 1 | GALOP | GAL(l)OP | |
| BURROW | RUB < + ROW | ||
| 2 | FÉDORA | ED in FOR + A | |
| engine | LEAD-UP | LEAD + UP | |
| 3 | SCHEME | SCHE(dule) + ME | |
| work | RUMPS | (c)RUMPS | |
| 4 | TRADE-IN | TIN around (A RED) * | |
| POOR | POOP with stroke added to final P | ||
| 5 | VERTUE | REV < + TUE | |
| TUART | (S)TUART | ||
| 6 | PERSON | (NOS + REP) < | |
| MITZVAH | MIT + V in ZA + H | ||
| 7 | ONE-EYED | O + YE(s) in NEED | |
| NOZZLE | NZ around OZ + L(arg)E | ||
| 8 | JEREMY | 2 meanings; ref. Jeremy Hunt (MP) & Beatrix Potter’s Jeremy Fisher | |
| LWEI | WEIL with letters cycled | ||
| 9 | Derby | PASTE | (show)S in PATE |
| BOOZE | BOE(r) around OZ | ||
| 10 | IMPEARL | IMP + EARL | |
| PORTED | SORTED with P for S | ||
| 11 | LIAR | (pecu)LIAR | |
| jacket | HAMAMATSU | MAMA in HAT + US < | |
| 12 | vote | ENSUE | EN SUITE − IT |
| CARBOLIC | Spoonerism of BAR COLIC | ||
| 13 | IMMODEST | ID EST around (M in MO) | |
| pump | INERT | (conta)INER T(erminal) | |
| Down | |||
| 1 | GESTAPOS | STAGE * + POS | |
| PILEI | I after PILE | ||
| 2 | BENJAMIN | 2 meanings | |
| 3 | LE HAVRE | HR separately in LEAVE | |
| SPASM | SPAS + M(attress) | ||
| 4 | ODE | ABODE − AB | |
| DESERTER | (RET + RES + ED) < | ||
| 5 | POMEROY | POMERO(l) + Y | |
| AHED | AHEAD − A | ||
| 6 | FREIT | F + TIER < | |
| EMBRACE | ME < + BRACE | ||
| 8 | LUTEINS | UTENSIL * | |
| OP ART | O’ + PART; ref. Bridget Riley | ||
| 9 | REMITTOR | MI in ROTTER < | |
| ZOMBI | COMBI with Z for first letter | ||
| 10 | RAP | A in RP | |
| PUZZLER | UP < + SIZZLER − IS <; ref. Sam Loyd | ||
| 11 | ODSO | OPPO with DS for PP | |
| WATTLE | BATTLE with W for B | ||
| 12 | MORALE | MALE around OR | |
| AESIR | (RISE + A) < | ||
| 13 | APARTHEID | A + PARI(s) around THE + D | |
| DUCT | PRODUCT − PRO | ||