Listener Crossword 4355: Solution Notes
Shorthand Crosses by Aragon
Puzzle explanation
Class I clues were those containing U, in which the letters immediately following the Us spelt “The English Aristocracy, Nancy Mitford”; in that essay she promoted the terms “U” and “non-U”. Class II constituted the “non-U” clues, whose grid entries had all occurrences of U omitted. The initial letters of clues for the entries with two Us omitted could be arranged as BETJEMAN. Sir John Betjeman wrote the ditty:
The Mitford Girls! The Mitford Girls
I love them for their sins
The young ones all like ‘Cavalcade’,
The old like ‘Maskelyns’
SOPHISTICATION, Blessed dame,
Sure they have heard her call
Yes, even Gentle Pamela
Most rural of them all
The first line is taken cryptically to describe a substitution of THEMIT for DGIRLS in the fifth row of the grid, while the second line describes substituting ILOVETHEM for THEIRSINS in the central column. These changes (with no others) reveal the first names of Nancy Mitford’s sisters: Diana, Pamela, Deborah, Unity and Jessica. The puzzle’s title cryptically represents MIT(t) + FORDS.
Clue explanations
Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal
| No | Answer (omitted letters) | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Across | ||
| 1 | SCREEN D(U)MP | SCREED around N + MP |
| 7 | H(U)MO(U)R | HM + OR |
| 10 | H(U)MBOLDT | H + MB + OLD + T |
| 12 | NAURU | URN < around AU |
| 15 | HAGDOWN | H(ue) + AG + DOWN |
| 16 | REINS(U)RE | REINS + R(ob)E |
| 17 | NOCT(U)ID | NOD around (C + TI) |
| 19 | G(U)I | GI |
| 20 | (U)RLS | RL’S |
| 21 | STENTOR | S + ROTTEN * |
| 27 | (U)S(U)RESSES | STRESSES − T(aming) |
| 29 | DEB | BED < |
| 30 | O(U)R | OR |
| 31 | AIOLIS | AIS around OIL * |
| 34 | NARCOMA | RAN < + COM(e) + (brouhah)A |
| 37 | DISC(U)RS(U)S | DISS around SCR |
| 38 | ME-TOO | MET + O + O |
| 39 | HIRSUTE | H + (TIRE US) * |
| 40 | J(U)MPS | JPS around M |
| 41 | CAMANACHD | (AN MC HAD) * around AC(tion) |
| Down | ||
| 1 | (U)SHERESS | SHERE + S + S |
| 2 | C(U)MBENT | C(lai)M + BENT |
| 3 | EOAN | (ONE + A(ragon)) * |
| 4 | (U)NDERTOW | (ROD WENT) * |
| 5 | MAAED | MAD around AE |
| 6 | P(U)NGA | (gree)N in PGA |
| 7 | HADJIS | (A + DJ) in HIS |
| 8 | MUON | U(ndergraduate) in MON |
| 9 | ORWELL | O + R + W + SELL − S |
| 11 | (U)LM(U)S | LMS |
| 13 | UNIS | ((India)N (men)U (yield)S (jalfrez)I) * |
| 14 | PINES | N in (PIE + S) |
| 18 | C(U)TER | (st)RETC(hing) < |
| 19 | GR(U)EL | GEL around (pensione)R |
| 22 | CROATIA | C + OAT in RIA |
| 23 | ASSOT | homophone of A SOT |
| 24 | Y-SHAPED | (HEAD SPY) * |
| 25 | REQ(U)IEM | R.E.M. around (E + QI) |
| 26 | CO(U)SCO(U)S | ’COS + COS |
| 28 | EXMO(U)TH | EX-MOTH |
| 29 | D(U)M-D(U)M | D + MDM |
| 31 | A(U)G(U)STA | (Exp)ATS GA(mbling) < |
| 32 | B(U)ST-(U)P | BST + P |
| 33 | CROC | homophone of CROCK |
| 35 | R(U)HR | R + HR; ref. 22dn |
| 36 | CA(U)SA | CAA’ around S |