The word is TACK. In the order of the headwords in Chambers, except for the fifth, their meanings are indicated by: COURSE OF ACTION (1A), BITS (12), COMESTIBLES (16), ACUTE NOISE (33/24), LEASED TENEMENT (42) and DISTINCTIVE FLAVOUR (10/5). TACK in the tenth row was to be shaded. The title indicates the fifth headword’s meaning.
22D was TABLEWARE, and the quotation from Ralph Waldo Emerson reads: ‘The louder he talked of his honour, the faster we counted our spoons.’ First prize Oenone Green, Feltham, MiddlesexRunners-up Stephen Saunders, Midford, Bath; Len Coumbe, Benfleet, Essex
The unclued lights Across are Shakespearean LORDS and the Down ones are LADIES. (The plant ‘lords and ladies’ is an ARUM.) First prize Giles Cattermole, Orpington, KentRunners-up Norman Watterson, Hillsborough, Co. Down; Terry Lavell, London E17
Unclued lights suggested a section of the international radio communications alphabet: Bravo (VILLAIN: 6), Charlie (DIMWIT: 16), Delta (DEPOSIT: 19), Echo (MIMIC: 15A), Foxtrot (DANCE: 38), Golf (GAME: 36) and Hotel (BOARDING HOUSE: 1D). ZULU appears in the third row and was to be shaded. The title suggests ‘alpha’. First prize Geoffrey Peake, Stalybridge, Cheshire
Unclued lights are marches by John Philip SOUSA, as hinted by the title: 4/1A, 14/12, 20D, 33A/17, 37/29/26, and 41 First prize Thulasi Karunakaran, Thame, OxfordshireRunners up Susan Hay, South StaffordshirePeter Moody, Fareham, Hampshire
The unclued lights are the four Labour MPs who stood for election as Labour’s leader to succeed Jeremy Corbyn: 11, 18/12, 28/16 and 36/41. The red squares reveal ANGELA RAYNER, the deputy leader. First prize Sara MacIntosh, Darlington, Co. Durham Runners-up Kevin Ward, Quorn, Leicestershire; Belinda Bridgen, London NW8
The thirteen unclued lights are all breads, hence the puzzle’s real title at 17A. First prize Nicholas Grogan, Purley, SurreyRunners-up Clare Reynolds, London SE24; Mrs E. Knights, Wisbech, Cambs
Unclued lights were characters in the musical Oklahoma!, 2/20, 4A, 10, 22, 24, 30, 35/15D. They are AUNT ELLER, WILL PARKER, LAUREY WILLIAMS, ALI HAKIM, CURLY MCLAIN, JUD FRY, and ADO ANNIE. OK (all right) is the abbreviation for the state First prize Carole Smallhorn, Moreton-in-Marsh, Glos Runners-up Ian Dempsey, Oldwick, New Jersey; Roger Dickinson,
The paired unclued lights (1D/6, 14/25, 36/32 and 39/1A) are, AS THEY SAY when the title of the puzzle is translated, four French idioms listed in Brewer. First prize Clive West, Old Windsor, BerkshireRunners-up Simon Coxall, Royston, Hertfordshire; Mark Saxon, Stockport
Unclued lights are anagrams of the names of countries (anagram of Cretinous): UNHOARDS (1A: anagram of Honduras), ATWAIN (5: Taiwan), OBANG (37: Gabon), ELCHI (38: Chile), DAIMONIC (43: Dominica), RUBINE (10: Brunei), TANAGRINE (11: Argentina), LAIRAGE (15: Algeria), SERIAL (30: Israel) and RAIN (36: Iran). First prize Sue Pounder, Ashton-under-LyneRunners-up Tony Alers-Hankey, London W4; Andrew
Alexandre DUMAS père wrote The Three Musketeers and The Count of Monte Cristo, whose eponymous characters were Athos, Porthos, Aramis and (Edmond) Dantès. First prize Magdalena Deptula, Eton, Berkshire Runners-up Storm Hutchinson, Dulas, Anglesey; Ian Shiels, Leeds
The unclued lights, when preceded by a US state, form MISSISSIPPI 11, CALIFORNIA 22, VIRGINIA 27, HAWAII 37, RHODE ISLAND 40, OREGON 10, KENTUCKY 14 and INDIANA 7D. First prize David Simmonds, Crayford, DartfordRunners-up Fran Morrison, London SW15; Andrew Herbert, Brooke, Norfolk
The novels are A Modern Utopia (anagram of AORTAE IMPOUND 17/5), The Time Machine (HEATHEN/MIMETIC 22/27), Tono-Bungay (BATON/YOUNG 29/31) and Men Like Gods (SMOG/LIKENED 8/26) by H.G. WELLS (33). First prize Joanne Aston, Norby, Thirsk Runners-up David Morgan, Gilesgate, Durham City; R.R. Alford, Oundle, Peterborough
BIG, the solution at 21D, can be associated with the ten unclued lights. First prize Elizabeth Shorter, St Austell, CornwallRunners-up John Fahy, Thaxted, Essex; Roger Theobald, Laverstock, Salisbury
The omitted letters reveal SATURDAY THE TWENTY-NINTH OF FEBRUARY TWENTY TWENTY. First prize Lewis Osborne, Newton Mearns, Glasgow Runners-up G.H. Willett, London SW19; Ian Graham, Holt, Norfolk
41/1A/10 is MISQUOTATION. 1D/24/33, 15, 34, and 38/16D are examples of common misquotations. First prize Dianne Parker, Dover, KentRunners-up Vincent Clark, Frant, East Sussex; Robin Vick, Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex
The unclued answers are all words inChambers, having their origin in Indonesia (clued by wordplay in the title). First prize Kailash Vernalls, Thame, OxonRunners-up Paul Davies, Reading, Berks; Mrs J. Smith, Beeston, Norfolk
Each unclued light is a genus name of a TREE (i.e. ‘middle of the road’ = (s)TREE(t)). Cornus was also allowed at 2 Down.First prize John Honey, SurbitonRunners-up Ben Stephenson, London SW12; D. Page, Orpington
ROTAVATOR (4A), NAURUAN (12), DEED (25), DEIFIED (36), MALAYALAM (39), REIFIER (4D), TERRET (15D), and REPAPER (18) are palindromes as is 2442, the NUMBER (3) of the PUZZLE (30), and its title. First prize Neil Mendoza, OxfordRunners-up Duncan Milroy, East Molesey, Surrey, Alison Latham, London EC1R
FRANCIS THOMPSON, born in PRESTON, wrote THE HOUND OF HEAVEN and a poem, AT LORD’S, remembering the run-stealers that flicker to and fro, and his HORNBY and his BARLOW LONG AGO. First prize D. Rosendorff, Coogee, NSW, AustraliaRunners-up Peter Hampton, Wimborne, Dorset; Margaret Shiels, Edinburgh
