Dalibor’s puzzle is not one for the occasion, however does have an obvious theme.
If one still likes to have a go at the puzzle, don’t read any further yet and click here: Dalibor @ Derby 2016.
It is not difficult to spot the theme – The Bee Gees, of which only one of the brothers Gibb is still with us.
Ten clues contain the titles of seven of their albums, all from the 60s and 70s.
A completed grid is added at the end of the blog.
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | CITRUS | Perhaps orange squash lacks final bit of strength after drinking it (6) |
| CRUSH (squash) minus [strengt]H, going around IT | ||
| 4 | THEMATIC | Like this puzzle, it came out on Thursday (8) |
| TH (Thursday) + (IT CAME)* [* = out] | ||
| 10 | CZARINA | Empress‘ clothes initially all the rage, welcomed by fashion retailer (7) |
| C[lothes] + {IN (all the rage) inside ZARA (fashion retailer)} | ||
| 11 | SPIRITS | Soprano falls over, one’s entertained, this is humour (7) |
| Reversal, indicated by ‘over’, of: S (soprano) + TRIPS (falls), then going around I (one) Spirits Having Flown (1979) [plus 22 and 23d] |
||
| 12 | MA’AM | Massachusetts and In The Morning: that’s what the Queen likes to hear (4) |
| MA (Massachusetts) + AM (in the morning) | ||
| 13 | UNMERCIFUL | I’m fun? Cruel, wild, ruthless! (10) |
| (I’M FUN CRUEL)* [* = wild] | ||
| 15 | EGGNOG | In the end, Bee Gees consuming no alcohol? (6) |
| [be]E + GGG (Gees, three of them) around NO | ||
| 16 | REQUIEM | US band covers rather timeless work by Robin (7) |
| REM (US band) around QUI[t]E (rather, minus T for ‘time’) The Titanic Requiem was Robin Gibb’s final contribution to the world of music. 2012 was the year (100 years after the Titanic sank). |
||
| 20 | ARRIVES | Barry drops by before composer turns up (7) |
| [b]ARR[y] + IVES (composer) | ||
| 21 | US OPEN | So, gym’s at the heart of a French sporting event (2,4) |
| {SO + PE (gym)} inside UN (a , in French) | ||
| 24 | AUDIOPHILE | Nerdy type in German car about to leave country after work (10) |
| AUDI (German car) + OP (work) + [c]HILE (country, with C (about) deleted) | ||
| 26 | IDEA | Losing weight, that is a thought …. (4) |
| ID EST (that is) minus ST (weight, stone) + A Idea (1968) |
||
| 28 | ICED TEA | …. which includes: good to abandon Coke and Tango as drink (4,3) |
| IDEA (solution to the previous clue) around both C[ok]E and T (Tango, Nato alphabet) | ||
| 29 | WHISTLE | Nearly drunk? Sing! (7) |
| WHISTLE[d] (drunk, nearly) | ||
| 30 | GADFLIES | Annoying people chatter about possible life after death, for a start (8) |
| GAS (chatter) around {(LIFE)* after D[eath]) [* = possible] | ||
| 31 | ODESSA | Hardy girl less tense, overwhelmed by Dão, rum and port (6) |
| {TESS (Hardy girl, think: Thomas Hardy) minus T (tense)} inside (DAO)* [* =rum] Odessa (1969) |
||
| Down | ||
| 1 | CUCUMBER | Waiters told to obstruct serving vegetable (8) |
| CU (homophone of QUEUE (waiters)) + CUMBER (obstruct) Cucumber Castle (1969) [plus 8d] |
||
| 2 | TRAFALGAR | Southern wind over much of southern Portugal reaching place in Spain (9) |
| TRAF (reversal, indicated by ‘southern’ (ie from the south), of FART (wind)) + ALGAR[ve] (southern Portugal, much of it) Trafalgar (1971) |
||
| 3 | UNIT | 1 °C? (4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 5 | HASTENED | Was quick to find East End’s problem: “put an h in front” (8) |
| H + (EAST END)* [* = problem] | ||
| 6 | MAIN COURSE | Short song Maurice composed for Fish, perhaps (4,6) |
| (SON[g] + MAURICE)* [* = composed] Main Course (1975) |
||
| 7 | TRIFF | Tragedy’s beginning with a series of chords that’s wonderful (5) |
| T[ragedy] + RIFF (a series of chords) | ||
| 8 | CASTLE | Keep calm, almost extremely silent inside, ultimately serene (6) |
| {CAL[m] around S[ilen]T} + [seren]E | ||
| 9 | FANNY | Andy regularly supports cool girl (5) |
| FAN (cool) + [a]N[d]Y ‘Fanny (be tender with my love)’ features on 1975’s ‘Main Course’. |
||
| 14 | HORIZONTAL | North Lazio’s at sea level (10) |
| (NORTH LAZIO)* [* at sea] Horizontal (1968) |
||
| 17 | EXPEDITES | Old flame despite changes, gains momentum (9) |
| EX (old flame) + (DESPITE)* [* = changes] | ||
| 18 | REPHRASE | Shearer somehow among foremost of pundits? Au contraire, put differently (8) |
| P[undits] inside (SHEARER)* , instead of the other way around [* = somehow] | ||
| 19 | ON CAMERA | A new romance first filmed …. (2,6) |
| A preceded by (ROMANCE)* [* = new] | ||
| 22 | HAVING | …. getting support from above when sex is involved (6) |
| HANG (support from above) around VI (sex, Latin word for 6) | ||
| 23 | FLOWN | University going for minimum level? Fun will be gone (5) |
| FUN with LOW (minimum level) replacing U (university) | ||
| 25 | DREAD | Family man keeps on creating panic (5) |
| DAD (family man) around RE (on) | ||
| 27 | MIND | Listen to First of May in depth (4) |
| M[ay] + IN + D (depth) | ||
Thanks Sil; very nice puzzle, although of course I didn’t know anything about the Bee Gees albums so the theme was lost on me.
I also didn’t know WHISTLED for drunk – it must mean I can hold my drink!
Some very good constructions; I particularly enjoyed EGGNOG, ARRIVES and HAVING (fooled again by sex=VI; that’s obviously not so enjoyable.)
P.S. The blog for the Windsurfer puzzle is here.
Sil,
Thanks for posting all of the blogs. I think I’d have enjoyed this more if I’d been familiar with the subject. Found it quite challenging in plaees, but an enjoyable challenge.