Beelzebub 1,358

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It was a very pleasant surprise to find one more Beelzebub published after we feared that 1,357 may be the last.

I learn today from Phi’s blog that this is his 692nd Beelzebub in just shy of 21 years. That’s an incredible achievement and one that I think we can all raise a glass to.

I’m told the solution was published in the same issue, but I haven’t found it yet, and my copy has all the usual blurb about dictionaries and closing dates, so I’ve stuck to the usual publishing date just in case.

Anyway, I seemed to make relatively swift progress, just having to check a few details in Chambers while nearing the end.

There’s a small Nina in there, being the names of the four Beelzebub setters from over the years. There’s obviously PAUL Henderson (26 down), COLIN Gumbrell (25 down), Richard WHITELEGG hiding in the top row, and well I never, there’s Countdown octochamp Michael MACDONALD-COOPER (15 down, 25 across).

Time for me to stop rambling and extend my thanks to all four setters for keeping our Sundays entertaining over the years.

*=anagram, []=dropped, <=reversed. Hover to expand abbreviations.

Across
1 WHITE – WHIT + E.
5 LEGGING – L + EGGING.
11 HAIR-EEL – AIR in HEEL.
12 AINEE – [chatel]AINE E[vidently].
13 INTERROGATEE – (TEENAGER TRIO)*.
16 EMPLOY – E + ((P + L + O) in MY).
17 GEAR UP – EAR in GUP.
19 CAPITANI – AC< + (IN A TIP)<. Can TIP be “strike”? I don’t see it in Chambers so maybe I’m wrong. Clue was: Mediterranean leaders account recalled retreating in a strike.
22 ROUNDURE – RO[d] + (R in UNDUE). The Shakespeare’s Globe definition was particularly nice.
24 PHAEIC – HAE[t] in PIC.
25 COOPER – O in COPER. Again a little unsure of my understanding of the definition, which I take to be “Stout and porter?”. Beer comes in barrels, as made by a cooper, but that’s as far as I’ve got: Stout and porter? One managing to bring in round.
29 AUSTRALIA DAY – A + (ADULT SAY + AIR)*.
30 UREIC – (IE in CRU)<.
31 VILLAIN – VILLA + IN.
32 LARCHEN – ARCH in LEN[t].
33 ADULT – ADULT[erate].
Down
1 WHITECAP – WITH* + PACE<.
2 HANGMAN – HAN + G-MAN.
3 TRELLISED – (ILL in DESERT)<.
4 EERY – E[ll]ERY. Ellery Queen was before my time, so I was pleased to figure this one out correctly.
5 LEROY – [doub]LE ROY[alties].
6 ELOIGN – ELO + GIN*. I assume that’s Arpad Elo, but am happy to be corrected.
7 GAG REIN – E in Uri GAG[a]RIN.
8 INTERRUPT – I + N + (ERR in (T + T)).
9 NEED – NE[ar]ED.
14 GEEK – G[r]EEK.
15 MACDONALD – (DO in CLAN*) in MAD.
18 PEER GYNT – ENERGY* in PT.
20 TRIARCH – T + ((A + R) in RICH).
21 PREVAIL – (RE + V) in PAIL.
23 OCTAVE – O + (V in CAVE)
25 COLIN – L in COIN.
26 PAUL – PAUL[dron].
27 AURA – [l]AURA.
28 ZILA – Z + I + L + A[ssam].

 

7 comments on “Beelzebub 1,358”

  1. Thanks Simon

    No problem with 19ac. My electronic version of Chambers has, for the fourth definition of TIP, “to strike lightly but definitely, to hit glancingly; a tap, a glancing blow”. I hadn’t looked it up previously because I remembered the game ‘tip-and-run’.

    Regarding 25ac, Chambers gives the second definition of COOPER as “a mixture of stout and porter”.

    I would like to add my thanks to the setters for all the enjoyment they have provided over the years.

  2. Let me echo Gaufrid’s sentiments. As I have said here many times as well as to various setters and bloggers over the years, Beelzebub has been the high point of my week for longer than I can remember. The debt I owe Colin and Paul is immense, and I can never repay it. Cheers guys, I have a large glass of The Singleton before me and I raise it in tribute.

    My life goes in one era and out the other.

    And now I must learn to love Mephisto. 🙁

  3. PS, forgive me please for not acknowledging Michael-Macdonald Cooper, who was Spurius in the Indy as well as its crossword editor for a while.

    And he may not have won Brain of Britain, but he gave a sterling performance, much enjoyed.

    (I wonder if he and his wife still drive diesel vehicles.)

  4. Such a shame – the Beelzebub has been a part of my solving life for longer than I care to remember…so ‘Many thanks’ to the various setters, editors and bloggers over the years.

    The end of an era…and the start of an error, I feel, by the (S)Indy owners?

    I had also been told that the solution to 1,358 was published last week, but didn’t see it either, so solved and sent in anyway, for nostalgia’s sake. Chuffed to have been picked out for a prize for 1,357 (tucked away on page 36)…all the more reason to keep today’s final paper edition for posterity!

  5. Yes to all that’s been said so far. I’m at a loss as to what to do this afternoon.

    Incidentally, the answers and the winners of the last two Beelzebubs are on page 36 of today’s paper, along with the solution to Quixote’s crossword in the main paper, not a prize puzzle this week.

    I wasn’t sure as to how 5ac could be transportation on water, but I see Chambers defines to leg as to propel a barge using your legs against the roof of a tunnel. I presume that is the sense meant. Also, I wasn’t aware of that meaning of “laura” in 27dn.

    I’m embarrassed by 26dn. I assumed HAUL meaning a catch of fish. I was not aware of that spelling of pawl, nor of a pauldron. Paul is my given name!

  6. Thank you for the kind words. This was thrown together rather rapidly when it became clear we might squeeze another one in. Fortunately two setters had forenames that worked, another had a usable (if extended…) surname, so only one had to be split. Not quite clued at a single sitting, but certainly done quickly.

    And I still have no formal word of the future. But I hope to be able to use the already-clued puzzles on the blog if that’s the way it is to be.

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