Georgina vs the Listener Crossword

Welcome back to George vs the Listener Crossword – last few days have been rather funny and busy, and I’m trying to avoid things – I’ve been avoiding looking at the solution to this crossword, and as I’m typing this up I’m watching the replay of the second T20 between Australia and England (don’t tell me the score, at least not for another two hours or so).

Waterloo time – you know what you’re going to get with Waterloo, some form of word-mangling.  I didn’t do Waterloo’s last Listener, but managed pretty well on the one before it was the ORs and ANDs in What it Says, repeated letters in different colors in fiDlEDE, and letters and numbers written in all sorts of directions in An Additional Symmetry.

The preamble kind of lays it all out – replace masculine references with feminine references in the grid, replace feminine references with masculine references in the clues.  Lots of clues, and lots of lights!  Wordplay looks like it gives the grid entries.

I started off looking for references to male and female names in possible answers, so I was convinced 1 across was going to be some form of FUNDAMENTAL becoming FUNDAWOMENTAL but that didn’t fit at all.  The first on I saw was 13 across which looked like an anagram of AFRAME of which there aren’t any (thanks Word Wizard), and so the FEM part of that could be MASC – MASCARA becomes FEMARA.

I reverse engineered a lot of the clues this way, including all four of the outside clues.  There was a lot of fun to be had – I particularly liked SITTING ROOM becoming SITTINBRIDE, LASS for LAD in 29 down, HIND for STAG in 32 down and in the clues, COB for PEN in 19 across, and GOOSE for GANDER in 17 (a particularly good clue as there was a substitution in the clue and the answer).

About three short sessions later, the grid comes together with the deceptive LINN the last in(n).

 

I didn’t get this finished in time to submit it, which is going to be a bit of a pattern over the next few weeks I’m afraid.  However I think I can claim a Victory to George.

2013 tally:  22-6-4

Feel free to tell me I need to solve these quickly and write them up in a timely fashion, though if I haven’t learned in nearly six years it’s too late, and see you next week when we get stoned with Dipper.