Listener Crossword 4792: Solution Notes
Doing The Lord’s Work? by Craft
Puzzle explanation
The puzzle celebrated the 50th anniversary of the horror film The Wicker Man, which was released 6 December 1973. Solvers played the role of the population of Summerisle, doing the bidding of Lord Summerisle. In the film, a girl called ROWAN MORRISON (given by the clues’ extra letters) was reported missing, in order to lure Sergeant Neil Howie to the island. The corrections to clue misprints spelt HOWIE, NEIL and the wrong letters spelt PUNCH MASK, the disguise he wore later in the film. He had been chosen as a sacrificial victim because he met the four criteria given by clues’ extra words: he made a FREE choice to come to the island, he had a KING’S POWER (as a police officer), and he was a VIRGIN and a FOOL (wearing the Punch costume). The final grid showed Howie trapped in the Wicker Man, with the letters of NEIL HOWIE in the 3×3 area making new words as shown in the grid here. Entering only the vertical bars and their mirror opposites formed boundaries of the Wicker Man, standing on (the green grass of) SUMMERISLE. Finally, the structure was set alight (when “a match has been found” as the preamble said), indicated by orange shading in the cells containing FIRE.
Clue explanations
Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal
| No | Misprint/ |
Answer | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Across | |||
| 1 | dea[R]th | EPITAPHED | EHED around (PIT + AP) |
| 3 | B[O]ar | OCA | (l)OCA(l) |
| 6 | se[W]er | IRIDAL | I + RID + AL |
| 7 | s(H)ort → P | TRACTATOR | (ROTAT(e) + CART) < |
| 10 | +Free | CRU | (e)CRU |
| 11 | Rag[A] | TEA SET | TEASE + T |
| 13 | D(O)ll → U | ACTION MAN | ACT I + ON + MAN |
| 14 | TYED | TED around Y | |
| 16 | BLAG | BAG around (stea)L | |
| 17 | TRIES | TRIESTE with no letters repeated | |
| 18 | (W)ear → N | ANADEMS | (AND SAME) * |
| 20 | [N]utters | SEZ | ZEST < − T |
| 22 | Scar(I)est → C | ANGSTS | GS in ANTS |
| 24 | +king’s | ASP | (r)ASP(y) |
| 26 | +power | WEEVIL | WE + EVIL |
| 28 | Hug(E) → H | FIB | 2 meanings |
| 29 | pa[M]per | REWRAP | REP around RAW * |
| Down | |||
| 2 | c[O]urt | LATITAT | LA + TIT + AT(e) |
| 4 | CORN | COR + N | |
| 5 | [R]are | ARUM | A + RUM |
| 8 | Ma[R]king | RENEWING | WING after RENÉ; ref. ’Allo ’Allo character |
| 9 | Ski(N) → M | SCABS | S(olving) C(arelessly) + ABS |
| 10 | CODE | COD + E | |
| 12 | M(E)rlin’s → A | TALONS | ALON(e) in T(urtle)S |
| 13 | va[I]n | ADVERSE | (b)AD + VERSE |
| 15 | MAS | MA’S | |
| 18 | po(I)se → S | AT EASE | TEAS in A,E |
| 19 | +virgin | AS IF | (F + IS + A) < |
| 21 | boa[S]t | ZABRA | ZEBRA with A for E |
| 23 | stal(L) → K | LIE TO | LEO alternating with IT |
| 25 | [O]pen | PESHITTA | P(en) + ATHEIST * |
| 27 | +fool | PUPATE | PUP + ATE |
| 30 | i[N] | REDIA | (cove)RED I A(ir) |