Listen With Others

A neat puzzle with an infuriating endgame!

I had a bout of thickness, where I had no idea what the Title was referring to. So I visited the Nineteenth Hole for inspiration …

After too long, it turned out I was on a golf course. That achieving two or three under being called an Eagle and an Albatross I did know. Spotting them in the forms highlighted above – in particular ALCATRAS – was much, much harder!

Finding the additions in the clues was fun,
e.g 35d. Prune aster to wrap in waxed cloth (4)

With a couple of crossing letters and the definition ‘to wrap in waxed cloth’ it was clear that the answer was almost certainly CERE. But why?

Realising that ‘aster’ was actually ‘3 under’ and should have been reading ‘asteroid‘ made it clear. The clue really read: Prune asteroid to wrap in waxed cloth (4)

So, start with CERES, prune off the S and we’re sorted. Good fun!

Cheers,

Tim / Encota