shannon

[rabet]

Does anyone know if a correction for this clue has been printed in The Times?

rabet

[Quizmonster]

Why do you imagine it needed a correction? I seem to recall that answer but not the clue. Certainly, I have not seen any correction. Please provide the clue.

[rabet]

clue to SHANNON

'Long-distance runner has collapsed, with this assortment in the lungs? (7)' I take 'long-distance runner' to be the definition (long river), 'has collapsed' gives the first three letters SHA, but I don't follow the rest of the clue. I'm not alone here, judging by some other entries on this website.

[Quizmonster]

Yes, Rabet, I actually went to my recycling bin to dig out the appropriate paper! I, too, was confused at the time. I got the same structure as you did re the anagram of 'has' and the idea that the Shannon was a long distance "runner". Thus I had SHA-N-N, given the crossing down-clues, which meant 'Shannon' was certainly what was required.
The only reason for the NNON that I could subsequently find was that the words 'lungs' and 'cannon' appear together in Roget's Thesaurus to signify 'loudness'. I suppose 'nnon' could just about half-reasonably be described as an 'assortment' from 'cannon, but that seemed far too thin a connection to me. I tried a Google search using lungs+nnon, but most hits seemed to be mis-spellings, such as 'nnon-Hodgkins lymphoma'.
In conclusion, I am as puzzled as you are!

[kettledrum]

I rather assumed that N N O N meant 3 parts nitrogen & 1 part oxygen - roughly speaking, the constituents of the air we breathe

[rabet]

Thanks Quizmonster ~ and well done Kettledrum! I'm sure you are correct here. What an ingenious clue.

[Quizmonster]

Oh, yes! I like that, Kettledrum, and it is certainly what the puzzle-setter had in mind. With my utterly unscientific background, I would never have come up with that in a million years. Well done!