Listener Crossword 4942: Solution Notes
Jet Wheels by Almasti
Puzzle explanation
In Rudyard Kipling’s novel Kim, the protagonist is challenged to a game called Play of the Jewels (which the puzzle’s title treated cryptically as indicating an anagram of THE JEWELS). The game involves remembering 15 items of jewellery scattered on a tray, once they are hidden from view by a cloth placed over it. The thematic grid entries summarised the 15 items, with repeated answers “re-collected” as follows: EMERALD ×4 → FOUR EMERALDS, RUBY ×2 → TWO RUBIES, SAPPHIRE ×2 → TWO SAPPHIRES, TURQUOISE ×3 → THREE TURQUOISES.
Clue explanations
Conventions: * = anagram, < = reversal
| Answer | Explanation |
|---|---|
| ALB | (M)ALB(ec) |
| TURQUOISE | (QUOTE URIS) * |
| AMBER | (c)ABER around M (em) |
| ANS | A + N(erve)S |
| ARED | (Decl)ARED |
| ARENA | (warf)ARE NA(vy’s) |
| CRYSTAL | (LACHRYMOSE TEARS) * − (ME ASHORE) * |
| DOSSERS | 2 meanings |
| EDDY | 2 meanings; ref. Mary Baker Eddy |
| ELITE | ELIMINATE − MINA |
| EMERALD | ’EM + (h)ERALD |
| EOKA | EA around OK |
| ERR | ERR(and) |
| RUBY | RUB + Y |
| EUTERPE | (n)EUTER PE(rson) |
| EXEDRA | ERA around (X + ED) |
| FATEFUL | FA + FLUTE * |
| FLUX | LU(ck) in FX |
| FRIEDA | FRIED + A |
| HAUTBOY | ABOUT * in H(ank)Y |
| HETAIRIST | A in THIRTIES * |
| IMPI | MP in II |
| IVORY RAT | (IVOR + AT) around Y(o)R(k) |
| IZMIR | Z in (I + M + IR) |
| KURSAAL | RUSALKA * |
| MIRANDIZED | (AZ MINER DID) * |
| MUIR | (RUM around I) < |
| EMERALD | (ALDER + E(l)M) * |
| MUSO | MU + SO |
| NEEP | N(am)E + EP |
| ORATE | RAT in OE |
| TURQUOISE | (US + OUTRÉ IQ) * |
| PIPA | PI + PA |
| PRATY | PRAT + (Kell)Y |
| RAI | 2 meanings |
| REAN | (squa)RE AN(yhow) |
| RET | (you)R (sued)E (coa)T |
| RUBY | (BY RU) with letters cycled |
| RUTINS | (IN RUST) * |
| SAC | (Marsupial)S AC(tually) |
| SAPPHIRE | SAP + P + HIRE |
| EMERALD | EM(inent) ER(udite) + ALD |
| SRA | S(ec)R(et)A(ry) |
| SUBBUTEO | SUB + BUT + E(xpects) + O |
| TAHR | AT < + H(imalayan) R(ange) |
| TAY | TAYRA − RA |
| TOPAZ | TOP + AZ |
| TUNKU | (Pash)TUN KU(rdish) |
| TURANDOT | A in TURN + DOT |
| TURQUOISE | (QUIT EUROS) * |
| TUSSLED | TU + LESS * + ’D |
| UNSER | N in USER |
| EMERALD | ER in (DAME around L) < |
| USEN’T | U + SENT |
| VALSE | VA + (e)LSE |
| WAR CRY | ARC(h) in WRY |
| ZYDECO | (Snaz)ZY DECO(r) |
| SAPPHIRE | APP in SHIRE |