Listener Crossword 4743: Solution Notes
Season’s Greetings by Lionheart
Puzzle explanation
The clue types were based on bloopers of the kind featured on the TV show It’ll Be Alright on the Night, which was originally hosted by Denis Norden. The extra words in clues were things that often appear by mistake when filming, such as “boom mike”, “harness” and “reflection”. The “forgotten line” clues had one or more occurrences of the letters “line” (consecutively) missing. The answer to each misnumbered clue was entered at the location of the previous such clue. The sequence of clue mistake types encoded the message “Happy Christmas, Denis Norden”, which Rik Mayall used to say after fluffing a line on the set of his TV series Bottom, referring to its possible inclusion on Norden’s programme.
Clue explanations
Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal. Clue mistake types: 1 = factual error, 2 = forgotten line(s), 3 = extra word, 4 = wrong clue number, 5 = nonstandard answer
| No | Clue type | Answer | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Across | |||
| 5 | 2; mousse(LINE), mus(LINE)t | MULL | 2 meanings |
| 9 | 3; light | ANIMUS | A + NIMBUS − B |
| 13 | 1; Tokay = white wine | OKAYS | (t)OKAYS |
| 14 | 1; avisos = fast boats | AVISOS | A + VIS + OS |
| 16 | 4; 41dn | RILL | BRILL − B |
| 18 | 1; evil = very disagreeable | DEVIL | D + EVIL |
| 19 | 4; 19ac | DARK HORSE | DARK + HERO’S * |
| 21 | 1; emus can’t fly | EMU | (w)E MU(st) |
| 22 | 5; put kilt on again? | REKILT | ((Sco)T-LIKE R(emove)) < |
| 23 | 5; fan of Sergio Leone? | LEONEIST | (SILENT ONE) * − N |
| 24 | 1; re follows do in scale | RECAPS | RES around CAP |
| 25 | 3; director | DECENT | DESCENT − S |
| 28 | 2; cabal(LINE) | SPAVIN | V in SPAIN |
| 32 | 3; boom | SORROW | (S(olve) + ROW) around OR |
| 35 | 4; 19ac | ATONAL | A + TON + A + L |
| 38 | 3; Mike | GUEBER | (ar)GUE BER(ry); ref. 27dn BABIST |
| 39 | 2; put on the (LINE) | BET | BERET − RE |
| 40 | 4; 35ac | ABOMASUM | A + B + O’ + M + A + SUM |
| 42 | 4; 40ac | ASTRAY | ASHTRAY − H |
| 43 | 4; 42ac | IDIOT | I’D + IT around O(nion) |
| 44 | 4; 43ac | AIR STRIKE | AIRS + TRIKE |
| 45 | 5; resident of Ealing? | EALER | (REAL ALE − (A + L)) * |
| 46 | 3; coffee | TUGRIK | (KIR + GUT) < |
| 47 | 3; Cup | MAYA | 2 meanings |
| Down | |||
| 1 | 1; Godard was after the silent era | GODARD | GOD around RAD < |
| 2 | 1; Kate is Princess of Wales | SKATERS | KATE in SR + S(portsmen) |
| 3 | 4; 44ac | SNEERS | SEERS around N |
| 4 | 4; 3dn | TARO | TAR + O |
| 6 | 1; Bolt had a PG certificate | U-BOLT | BOLT after U |
| 7 | 4; 4dn | PYKNIC | homophone of PICNIC |
| 8 | 1; las is Spanish | LASTED | LAS + TED |
| 9 | 5; prayer to Mary’s partner? (cf Ave Maria) | AVE JOE | AVERAGE JOE − RAGE |
| 10 | 3; harness | ISÈRE | I + SERE |
| 11 | 4; 7dn | LORELS | L’ORÉAL’S − A |
| 12 | 2; SA(LINE) | SOLUTE | SOL + U + TE |
| 15 | 4; 11dn | MOVE IN | MO + VEIN |
| 17 | 4; 15dn | SIMS | SIMOOMS − MOO |
| 20 | 4; 17dn | HALAVAH | (AA around LAV) in HH |
| 26 | 3; camera | TWEAKED | WEAK in TED |
| 27 | 4; 20dn | ENCRUST | (CURSE * + T) around N |
| 29 | 3; cable | POTING | PING around TO < |
| 30 | 5; Apple product? (cf iPhone etc) | ISHARK | (IS + ARK) around H |
| 31 | 4; 27dn | BABIST | BIS in BAT |
| 32 | 3; crew | SMYRNA | S + MRNA around Y |
| 33 | 1; retral means at the back | RETRAL | RETRIAL − I |
| 34 | 4; 31dn | NUDISM | DI in SUN < + M |
| 36 | 1; Wyton is in Cambs. | BEDS | BEDS (Bedfordshire) |
| 37 | 5; noisy cow? | MOOER | ROMEO * |
| 38 | 3; reflection | GASSY | GLASSY − L |
| 41 | 4; 34dn | FRYERS | F(o)R(t)Y (m)E(t)R(e)S |