White Rose by Filbert

Puzzle explanation

The puzzle was about an incident in the 1981 Wimbledon Championships where the umpire called out a shot by John McEnroe and he protested, shouting “You cannot be serious. That ball was on the line. Chalk flew up!” Corrections to the misprints in down clues spelt out “that ball was on the line”. In row 7 of the grid, McEnroe’s tabloid nickname SUPERBRAT was changed to COME OFF IT (a paraphrase of “you cannot be serious”), forming new words that were defined in the “clues” for the thematic entries SERVICE LINE. In the middle column the O represented the ball on the centre line and was changed to K to complete CHALK FLEW UP, which was paraphrased by the puzzle’s title.

Clue explanations

Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal

No Misprint Answer Explanation
Across
1   ERNŐ RUBIK ERNŐ RUBIK’S CRANE = (INSURANCE BROKER) *
9   SERVICE (unclued)
10   LINE (unclued)
12   CZECH homophone of CHECK
14   LNER LONER − O
15   ETC (wr)ETC(hed)
17   AUSSIE GAUSS + IE − G
18   WOOSEL (S(ing) E(ntertaining) L(adies)) after WOO
19   MAWR W in RAM <
20   EMMET (ME < + ET) around (Ta)M(ar)
22   OBTAIN (ON A BIT) *
24   SUPERB SUB around PER
27   RATCH RAT + CH
28   SURA SUPRA − P
29   LECHER L + ETCHER − T(urps)
31   ASTARE SAT * + ERA <
33   EAR EARN before N
35   RIEM I in (RE + (Ji)M(my))
36   WOLFS (S(tick) + FLOW) <
37   DERM (GERM − G) after D
38   NUREYEV UN < + YE(s) in REV
39   DOG-PADDLE GP in (ADDLE after DO)
Down
1 (T)oiler ESNE (E + E) around (S, N)
2 (H)alf RECTO RECTO(r)
3 Comm(A)nd OVERSEE VERSE in (p)OE(m)
4 (T)rip RICKET RICKET(y)
5 (B)y BENUMB BUM with letters cycled after BEN
6 P(A)ins ILLS (W)ILL S(hakespeare)
7 s(L)eep’s ONEIRIC (ONCE IRI(s)) *
8 forma(L) HEREIN HE + REIN
11 (W)rap INSWATHE IN + (WET HAS) *
13 he(A)d HALO HALOGEN − GEN
16 sum(S) COMPUTER MP in COUTER
21 M(O)re MUSSIER SUM < + SIRE with E moved up
23 Dow(N)ed TACKLED TACK + LED
24 Par(T)s SHARDS HARD in SS
25 (H)aving RARING (f)R(u)I(t) in (o)RANG(e)
26 Cr(E)w’s BLEW B + LEWD − D
27 Sca(L)y REMORA RE + M(aria) OR (Mari)A
30 o(I)l EASEL AS in EEL
32 gu(N)s AMMO AM + MO
34 (E) RAVE R + EVA <
Back to 2022 menu