Solution: PH18: To Serve Man
Answer: CASUALTY
Written by Dana Young
Solve the cryptic clues. Each answer is a homophone for a part of the body.
| CRYPTIC CLUE | ANSWER AND EXPLANATION | HOMOPHONE |
|---|---|---|
| The hind ends of a river horse and a stoat form a mollusk (6) | MUSSEL (hippopotaMUS + weaSEL) | MUSCLE |
| Hear bats? A rodent-like mammal (4) | HARE (anagram of "hear") | HAIR |
| King needs old wine, servant initially understands (5) | KNOWS (first letters of “King Needs Old Wine Servant”) | NOSE |
| Engineer culls a small oar (5) | SCULL (anagram of “CULLS”) | SKULL |
| Concealed within cavern, a valiant marine (5) | NAVAL (caverN A VALiant) | NAVEL |
| It's essential to breathe a little to effect a cure (4) | HEAL (breatHE A Little) | HEEL |
| Drag appearing in uptown (3) | TOW (upTOWn) | TOE |
| Victor, the first character at home, became conceited (4) | VAIN (V for Victor + A for first character + IN for at home) | VEIN |
| Squander garbage (5) | WASTE (double definition) | WAIST |
Indexing into the homophones by the extra number provided with each clue spells CASUAL TEA, which is a homophone for the answer CASUALTY.