Initial surprise that the solution to EV862 (which I blogged and submitted) received no correct entry by the closing date!! This was obviously a mistake, with the normal lucky-winner-picker being off sick or the mail bag having caught fire. Probably the latter as the explanation the following week was simply that “it was not possible to award a prize”!
Anyway, on to Glow-worm (how do some of these pseudonyms come about?). A straightforward preamble, with fourteen affected definitions, and other instructions for when the puzzle has been finished.
About fifteen clues solved on the first run through, including SEER, ACE and IOS. These three immediately revealed that there were misprints in the 14 definitions referred to in the preamble; no surprise really. After that, I actually found the answers fairly slow in coming, although they were perfectly fair with good surface readings. TUISM and AENEOUS were near the end: TUISM I’d never heard of, and my slowness at getting AENEOUS would have had my old Latin master, Mr Dawkins, turing in his grave as we did Aeneid (Book VIII I think) for O-level (and I remember none of it!).
Near the end, I slotted in SPOONERISM at 1A and METATHESIS at 46, hence the title, although metathesis is the switching of letters in a word as in asteriks and revelant. I’ve always treated this as a sort of childish playing with words rather than a true linguistic feature.
So there were spoonerisms to be found in the diagram, and they weren’t long coming: SHOVING LEOPARD for LOVING SHEPHERD (JESU); BLUSHING CROW for CRUSHING BLOW (SHOCK); DAMP STEALER for STAMP DEALER (PHILATELIST) and BUNNY PHONE for FUNNY BONE (HUMERUS). The initial letters of these clues, in order, gave PIIRMTSN, leading to MISPRINTS (which we already knew). As I solved, I noted the misprints (and correct letters). Neither seemed to be leading to real words … which normally means I’ve made a mistake. Not this time, the misprints (not corrected letters) gave KINKIERING CONGS. A quick despoonerisation and voila, CONQUERING KINGS is entered (in a rather tight squeeze) under the grid.
Unfinished business at 20D (Sussex) and 30D (Poe) now resolved thanks to Colin B.
A good puzzle from Glow-worm, and a welcome change from his game-based contributions to the Listener.
Solving time: about 2½ hours. I’m sure it should have been a quicker solve, especially as the Solving Strategies said the “clues are not too difficult” and it was “definitely one for new solvers to have a go at”! Oh, and solvers should soon be able to deduce 1A and 46. Hmmph! I’m beginning to dislike these notes!
Legend:
ABC* = anagram
ABC< = reversal
abCDef = hidden
red for correct and misprinted letters
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SPOONERISM | Unclued | |
| 9 | CROW | 2 mngs: rook & native American | |
| 11 | K | BASSOON | pipe: BAS (graduate’s + SON (lad) grabbing O (old) |
| 14 | I | EOSIN | red dye: (NOISOME – MO)* |
| 15 | SHOVING | pushing: ([H (heroin) GIVES NO] – E (hint of effort))* | |
| 16 | ANT | type of insect: T (tesla) with AN earlier | |
| 17 | TREASURY TAG | fastener: (A RUSTY GATE)* outside R (resistance); I couldn’t find out why it’s called a treasury tag | |
| 19 | LEPUS | hare: in littLE PUSey | |
| 21 | STYLISH | fashionable: STY (enclosure) + L (liberal) + IS + H (hot) | |
| 24 | N | ELBA | island: EL (the in Spanish) + BA(G) (steal mostly) |
| 27 | K | SEER | Indian fish: SEE (look at) + R (rupees) |
| SHOCK | Unclued: defined by CRUSHING BLOW | ||
| 29 | BUNNY | simpleton: N (new) + N (note) in BUY (bribe) | |
| 30 | LAUDS | prayers: sounds like LORDS (nobles) | |
| 31 | EVHOE | whoopee: EV (starts to Entertain Visitors) + HOE (instrument) | |
| 33 | ERSE | language: SEER* (answer to 27A) | |
| JESU | Unclued: defined by LOVING SHEPHERD | ||
| 34 | E | HEXARCH | having si vascular strands: (H (hearts) + REACH + X (variable)* |
| 36 | TUISM | apostrophe: IS with TUM (belly) about | |
| 39 | R | ACE | single point: in dulAC Etching |
| PHILATELIST | Unclued: defined by STAMP DEALER | ||
| 40 | AENEOUS | bronze: AENEAS (epic hero) with OU (Open University) for A (Academician) | |
| 43 | NADIR | it’s the pits (lowest point): (GORDIAN – GO)* | |
| 44 | I | PROBANG | tool for doctor: ROB (Bobby, man’s name) in PANG (pain); it’s a medical instrument for applying medication to the oesophagus |
| 45 | DAMP | moisture: DAM (embankment) + P (beginning of penetrate) | |
| Down | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | STEALER | thief: TEAL (bird) in SER (sermon) | |
| 2 | PHONE | ring: (N (national) + HOPE)* | |
| 3 | OUST | Unclued | |
| 4 | N | OBITUAL | death notice: (BAIL OUT)* |
| 5 | ESSES | several links: CARESSES (strokes) – CAR (Ford, perhaps) | |
| 6 | G | IOS | grief based sounds: in adagIO Section |
| 7 | SOH | note: HOS(E)< (short socks) | |
| 8 | CAVY | rodent: sounds like CAVE (beware) | |
| 9 | ORNAMENT | adorn: O (hem of bolero) + REMNANT* | |
| 10 | C | WAGGERY | joker’s fun: WAGER (gamble) about G (grand) + Y (unknown) |
| 12 | SKATE OVER | deal hurredly: SKATE (fish) + OVER (left remaining) | |
| 13 | O | SITHENCE | from that time on: (TENCHES I)* |
| 18 | ULIKON | fish: U (upper class) + LIK(E) (enjoy mostly) + ON (skin of OnioN) | |
| 20 | SUSSEX | team (cricket I agree with Colin B comment below): SEX (relations) supporting SUS (abbr. for the Apocryphal book of Susannah); this is a Book of Daniel plug-in … I didn’t bother to read it | |
| 22 | YACHT CLUB | group of sailors: CLUTCH* in BAY* | |
| 23 | INBENT | concave: BEN (peak) in TIN* | |
| 25 | BLUSHING | colouring: BLUING (imparting indigo) retaining SH (quiet) | |
| 26 | SHEBAT | month in Israel: SHEBANG (affair) – NG (no good) + T (time) | |
| 28 | MARCHESA | Italian lady: MARCHES (tramps) + A (crest of Aventine) | |
| 30 | LEOPARD | cat: POE(T)< (imperfect versifier) in LARD (fat); imperfect = incomplete (thanks to Colin B comment below; nothing to do with Poe as I originally blogged) | |
| 32 | N | AJUTAGE | spout: A JUT (beetle) + AGE (maturity); you’ll have to look under beetle to find the definition jut |
| HUMERUS | Unclued: defined by FUNNY BONE | ||
| 35 | HI-HAT | part of ‘kitchen equipment’: sounds like HIGH HAT (stove pipe); high-hat is a pair of cymblas and kitchen is the percussion section of an orchestra | |
| 37 | SCI-FI | type of literature: IF (uncertainty) in SCI (heart of faSCIst) | |
| 38 | G | LEAP | 2 mngs: wide gap & basket |
| 39 | ADOS | troubles: ADIOS (cheerio) – I (one) | |
| 41 | URE | flower (river): (C)URE (remedy) | |
| 42 | S | SOT | toper: odd letters in ShOrTs |
Thanks for the blog Dave. I enjoyed the puzzle but seemed to have a few questionable misprints so I am grateful for:
BLUSHING CROW for CRUSHING BLOW
I just couldn’t work out what clues SHOCK — not that it was strictly necessary to complete the puzzle.
20d refers to Sussex County Cricket Club, I think.
30d POE(t) rather than EA Poe as I first thought too.
Thanks, Colin. I thought it was to do with Sussex cricket but forgot it in my original post. Not happy with it as a definition, though, as almost any town in the UK (or World) could be used in this way, if not for cricket then for football, rugby or crown green.
And spot on with POE: it’s annoying how difficult it is sometimes to move away from one’s original train of thought.
Re: POE Indeed. It was my partner who got it for me. She’s an Eng Lit graduate and so I asked her in what way EA Poe could be described as an imperfect versifier. She’s not a crossword solver, though she understands how cryptic clues work, but her first response was, “Isn’t it just POET without the T?” Doh!
I don’t feel Sussex was unfair as the checking was good and word play was straightforward—and the county is probably the birthplace of cricket.
Thanks, Dave, for your detailed and positive comments – as always, the Fifteensquared blog is valuable feedback for any setter.
My initials are GLO; Glow-worm was my nickname at school; and Glow-worms “make lights”…. (As do Fireflies, of course – see the Toughies!)
Regards and good wishes to all 15-ers
Glow-worm