Listener Crossword 4711: Solution Notes
Cycle of Crime and Punishment by Aver
Puzzle explanation
The puzzle marked the 125th anniversary of the release of Oscar Wilde from Reading Gaol on 19 May 1897. In the presented order of the clues, the correct letters for the 31 misprints that were in definitions spelt out “two years’ hard labour in Berks prison”, describing the sentence Oscar Wilde served for gross indecency. In normal order of grid entries, the incorrect characters, including wrong answer lengths for 11ac and 12ac, gave “C33’s verse spread out in the other clues”. After leaving prison, Wilde wrote The Ballad of Reading Gaol, originally published under the pseudonym C33, which had been Wilde’s cell number. It relates the hanging of Charles Thomas Wooldridge, a fellow prisoner who had been convicted of murdering his wife; in the grid an O was changed to W to form his initials, CTW. The clues without misprints (whose answers were entered normally, not cycled), contained fragments of a well-known verse from the poem:
Yet each man kills the thing he loves By each let this be heard. Some do it with a bitter look, Some with a flattering word. The coward does it with a kiss, The brave man with a sword!
Clue explanations
Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal
| No | Misprint/ |
Answer | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1ac | Yet each | STILL | 2 meanings |
| 19 | (R)each, T | HOME-SCHOOL | HOME + SCHOOL |
| 29 | Bre(E), W | ICE TEA | AI < around CETE |
| 6 | f(E)llows, O | ACCULTURATION | A + C + CULT + RATION after U |
| 15ac | man kills | AMENDS | A + M(an) + ENDS |
| 20 | cit(S), Y | ILIUM | 2 meanings |
| 9 | glu(T), E | CEMENT | (announ)CEMENT |
| 39 | M(I)sters, A | SAVANTS | SAV(e) + ANTS |
| 27ac | the thing he loves | ADDICT | ADD + C in IT |
| 11 | (3), 7 | FANTASY | (in)FANTA’S Y(outh) |
| 36 | Wo(O)ds, R | ASIDES | (S + IDEAS) with A moved to the front |
| 15dn | A(R)ian, S | MOUTAN | MAN around OUT |
| 40 | By each let this be heard. / Some | LISTEN UP | (simp)LISTE NU-P(op) |
| 3 | (T)ell, H | SHEOL | (L(i)O(n)E(l) H(e’)S) < |
| 25 | C(P)R, A | PERK | PER + K |
| 16 | cla(V)inet, R | REED | homophone of READ |
| 41 | do it | DROIT | (hai)R in (DO IT) |
| 28 | (R)ouble, D | CLONE | CLOSE with N for S |
| 13 | ho(S)e, L | PLESH | SHLEP * |
| 17 | P(E)ddling, A | WADING | DIN in WAG |
| 1dn | with a bitter look | SNEERINGLY | (GREY LINES) * around N(ancy) |
| 31 | (S)ack, B | SIT BY | OBSCENITY * − ONCE * |
| 30 | b(E)at, O | BARCAROLLE | BAR + CAROLLE(r) |
| 10 | ank(H)s, U | KEDDAHS | KED + DAHS |
| 8 | Some with a | A FEW | (W + A) < around FE |
| 22 | pa(C)ts, R | DIVORCES | DISCOVER * |
| 12 | (3), 6 | WOOFED | WOOF + E(aglewoo)D |
| 21ac | d(E)ns, I | NOISES | LIONESS * − (Danie)L |
| 18 | flattering word. | COMPLIMENT | COMMENT around LIP * |
| 7 | D(O)A, N | GENOM | GEN + MO < |
| 23 | (S)ite, B | SNAP | PANS < |
| 37 | M(U)d, E | XEBEC | QUEBEC with X for QU |
| 21dn | The coward does it | SHIRKS | (SKIRMISH − MI) * |
| 24 | (L)ang, R | DIALLED | DALLIED with I(ngénue) moved up |
| 35 | ban(D), K | ATMS | (WHO BET + ATMS) * = THE WOMBATS |
| 14 | (E)lopes, S | RAMPS | RAS(h) around MP |
| 26 | with a kiss, | RELAX | REL + A + X |
| 4 | (H)astiness, P | PALLIDLY | (ALL + ID) in PLY |
| 2 | hu(N)t, R | GUTTED | (DET + TUG) < |
| 34 | (A)ran, I | KURD | K(nits) U(ndergarments) + R(e)D |
| 32 | The brave | ADAGE | AD + AGE |
| 38 | (T)ails, S | RIGGED | 2 meanings |
| 27dn | N(U)rse, O | SAETER | EASTER * |
| 5 | (C)ame, N | FORENAME | FOREIGN − IG + ÂME |
| 33 | man with a sword! | OSCAR | 2 meanings |