Posted by linxit on August 4th, 2007
Solving time: a couple of hours or so
This was harder than it looked on the surface. I’ve been solving the Listener puzzle for a couple of years now, so clues with a misprint in them are quite familiar to me, and don’t evoke the dread they used to any more. However, a lot of these seemed harder to spot than usual, and some clues had several candidates for the misprinted word.
I was a bit disappointed that there was no thematic material in the grid – the only gimmick was that the misprinted letters spelt out THE UNNAMEABLE and SAMUEL BECKETT. The name of the novel was actually “The Unnamable”, hence the comment about the spelling in the preamble.
As every clue is affected by the misprint, I’ll explain every clue and what the misprinted letter was.
5 slick -> stick: SKEWER – W(omen) inside REEKS rev.
6 cask -> cash: DINARS (drains)*
9 drugs -> dregs: U,L,L,AGE
10 Knit -> Unit: RADIATOR – ROT,AIDA,R(ossini) all rev.
11 Beat -> Bean: S(OY)A – Brown Shirts = SA = Sturmabteilung, the Nazi storm troopers. Makes a change from Sex Appeal!
12 sot -> not: TEMPERANCE (came,repent)* – the misprint completely changed the surface reading of this one!
13 sock -> sack: DE(P(RED)ATIO)N
18 puddle -> muddle: TOPSY-TURVY – complicated wordplay here. PSY=spy*, TUR=rut rev. (overheat), V=5, all inside TOY=model.
21 litters -> letters: EXES – double definition
22 Freud -> Fraud: TAR(TUFF)E – eponymous character in the play by Molière
23 vowel -> bowel: O(RD,UR)E
24 Hefty -> Lefty: SARTRE – hidden rev. in thinkER TRAShy
25 alloy -> alley: G(INN)EL – for once setter doesn’t mean the name of the compiler, nor the dog!
1 Never -> Sever: SEPARATE – ETA,RAPES all reversed. ETA are the Basque separatist organisation (Euskadi ta Askatasuna, which means Basque Homeland and Freedom)
2 flow -> flaw: DEFECT – double definition
3 files -> films: WILD (W)ES,T – within actually means “with” in.
4 sin -> sun: PA,(NA),MA
5 palm -> pale: S(ALL)OW
7 Rubber -> Lubber: S,LOUCH(e)
8 Feasts -> Beasts: D(ROME)D,ARIES – one of the definitions of “house” is: one of the twelve divisions of the heavens in astrology.
14 nut -> net: RE(TI=it rev)FORM
15 looked -> cooked: O,VERD(i),ONE
16 boot -> book: RO(M)ANS – the OT book.
17 full -> fuel: PET,ROL(l)
19 Planes -> Planet: SAT,URN
20 down -> town: YEOVIL – LIVY around the even letters of Homer, in reverse order.