Reading comprehension questions: の + verb construction; clipped sentences; and 言葉のあや


Today I read this article:
[吉村知事が西村氏とのバトル終戦宣言、絆深まった](https://www.nikkansports.com/general/nikkan/news/202005080000540.html)

While I'm happy that the governor and minister have patched up their
misunderstanding, there were some things that I did not understand:

## の + verb construction

The first paragraph ended with this:

> 府庁で記者団の質問の応じた。

This is the first time I've seen の + verb construction. I would not be
surprised if it were に, but の？

## Clipped sentence

In the third paragraph, the governor said something that ended in と. Correct
me if I'm wrong, but I think this と is the conditional と which roughly
translates to "when, if" in English. If it 考える was negative, I would have
interpreted it as 考えないといけない. But because it wasn't, guessing it is difficult
for me. What exactly is the verb that follows after this?

> 吉村知事は「僕自身はこういう風に考えてますと。国と自治体は協力してやっていきましょうという話をしました」と明かした。

## 言葉のあや

The minister responded this way:

> 西村氏も「言葉のあやがあったが、ぜひそうやっていきましょう」と話したという。

My lack of knowledge of what counts as a figure of speech in Japanese might
have played a role here, but I don't really understand what specific statement
the minister's referring to as 言葉のあや. Is it the fact that the governor left
out the verb in 僕自身はこういう風に考えてますと。?




  * 質問の応じた is a mere typo. It must have been 質問に応じた.
  * The と after こういう風に考えてます is a quotative-と that corresponds to 話をしました _in the next sentence_. That is, 話をしました is taking two quotes. (See [right-node raising](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/17744/5010).)
  * 言葉の綾 originally refers to a witty/tricky usage of words, but today it's mainly used as an excuse for words that have led to a misunderstanding. For example それは言葉の綾だ literally means something like "This is a rhetorical expression", but it often effectively means "You took my words the wrong way." This 言葉のあやがあった means something along the lines of "there was an unfortunate misunderstanding (caused by the subtle nuances of words)".




  * 質問の応じた is a mere typo. It must have been 質問に応じた.
  * The と after こういう風に考えてます is a quotative-と that corresponds to 話をしました _in the next sentence_. That is, 話をしました is taking two quotes. (See [right-node raising](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/17744/5010).)
  * 言葉の綾 originally refers to a witty/tricky usage of words, but today it's mainly used as an excuse for words that have led to a misunderstanding. For example それは言葉の綾だ literally means something like "This is a rhetorical expression", but it often effectively means "You took my words the wrong way." This 言葉のあやがあった means something along the lines of "there was an unfortunate misunderstanding (caused by the subtle nuances of words)".

