It’s Brendan, so there must be a theme – but not in the usual way.
Instead, it’s a pangram, but not just one but a double one! Every letter of the alphabet appears at least twice in the grid. This only became clear to me when I was wondering about 15 across. There were some excellent clues, particularly 4 and 24 down. And all credit to Brendan for managing what must have been a difficult gridfill.
I blog these puzzles on a four weekly cycle and this is now the second Brendan in succession for me. No complaints!
A reminder, as was pointed out last week by mc_rapper67, that this was again a Prize puzzle for those of us who buy the printed paper.

| ACROSS | ||
| 8 | DISRAELI | 
 Statesman presenting one unfortunate king’s identity the wrong way (8) 
 | 
| 1 LEAR’S ID (all rev). | ||
| 9 | QUARTZ | 
 Stated amounts of liquid that can be found in minerals (6) 
 | 
| Sounds like “quarts”; Chambers defines quartz as a mineral but doesn’t give a plural form. | ||
| 10 | CATHOLIC | 
 Child’s complaint over silly hat in particular? Just the reverse (8) 
 | 
| *HAT in COLIC. This is a subsidiary meaning of “catholic”: general, not particular. | ||
| 11 | ABJURE | 
 Abandon a book half-read after half one month or another (6) 
 | 
| A B(ook) JU(ne) RE(ad). Or it could be JU(ly) (another). | ||
| 12 | NON-INTERVENTION | 
 French rebuff lie about odd parts of their laissez-faire policy (3-12) 
 | 
| NON (French rebuff), T(h)E(i)R inside INVENTION (lie). | ||
| 15 | THANX | 
 Word used comparatively often before vote, short expression of appreciation (5) 
 | 
| THAN (word used comparatively) X (vote). We were a bit puzzled by this choice of a word not yet to be found in all dictionaries, when there were many other possibilities, given the crossers. We concluded that it must have been to ensure that there were at least two Xs in the puzzle, followed by the dawning realisation that there were at least two of every letter in the grid! | ||
| 16 | BOXER | 
 Dutch settler caging cross dog (5) 
 | 
| X (cross) in BOER (Dutch settler). | ||
| 20 | SUPPLEMENTARILY | 
 Loose-limbed fellows lately losing heart, as extra medicine is taken (15) 
 | 
| SUPPLE MEN TAR(d)ILY. | ||
| 21 | ZENITH | 
 Top religious school in East with missing head (6) 
 | 
| ZEN (religious school in East) (w)ITH. | ||
| 23 | REABSORB | 
 Take on board again unfinished wine sailors eye (8) 
 | 
| RE(d) ABS (sailors) ORB (eye). | ||
| 25 | LEGATO | 
 Cricket side at Oval smoothly added to score (6) 
 | 
| LEG (one side of a wicket in cricket) AT O(val). I don’t think that O is a recognised abbreviation for oval, but never mind. | ||
| 26 | FINANCES | 
 Men committed to union securing new funds (8) 
 | 
| N(ew) in FIANCES. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | DISAVOW | 
 Deny d*** constitutes an oath (7) 
 | 
| D IS A VOW. Very clever. | ||
| 2 | ARCHBISHOP | 
 See manager using spanner, note, prior to current workplace (10) 
 | 
| ARCH (or bridge, something which spans) B (note) I (current) SHOP (workplace). | ||
| 3 | JELL | 
 Part-time physician losing a third set (4) 
 | 
| (Dr) JE(ky)LL. I can’t resist (given the surface) mentioning the wickedly funny song by Fascinating Aida, “Kay, Why” but sadly, I can’t find it on You Tube, nor does it seem to be on their website. | ||
| 4 | VISCERA | 
 Organs recurring in a service vicar’s organised (7) 
 | 
| Befitting the theme, this is a double anagram! A SERVIC followed by E VICARS. | ||
| 5 | SQUARE ROOT | 
 Old-fashioned part of word that may be extracted by certain solvers (6,4) 
 | 
| SQUARE (old-fashioned) ROOT (part of word). | ||
| 6 | HADJ | 
 Experienced judge required trip to holy place (4) 
 | 
| HAD (experienced) J(udge). | ||
| 7 | STARDOM | 
 Fame derived from imperial position by reshuffle at top (7) 
 | 
| TSARDOM (imperial position) with the first two letters transposed. This is as close to an indirect anagram as you can get, but again, never mind. | ||
| 13 | TENTERHOOK | 
 Go into hospital in stole — it gets attached to stretcher (10) 
 | 
| ENTER H(ospital) inside TOOK (stole). A tenter is a frame for stretching cloth (so a stretcher) and a tenterhook is the nail used to fasten cloth to a tenter. I’d heard of the phrase “to be on tenterhooks” but never knew what it meant. | ||
| 14 | THEORISING | 
 Seeking explanation for not just any old revolt (10) 
 | 
| THE (not just any) O(ld) RISING (revolt). | ||
| 17 | NUREYEV | 
 Following success in theatre turned up to watch very famous dancer (7) 
 | 
| RUN (success in theatre) (rev) EYE (watch) V(ery). | ||
| 18 | WEAR OFF | 
 Our existing declaration limited cricket side — lose, in effect (4,3) 
 | 
| WE AR(e) (our existing declaration – limited) OFF (another definition of a side on the cricket pitch). The definition reads best if the comma is omitted. | ||
| 19 | CLERKED | 
 Cleaner worked — apart from four to nine — had job in office (7) 
 | 
| CLE(aner wo)RKED. Letters four to nine inclusive have been omitted from the opening phrase. | ||
| 22 | IRAQ | 
 Assessed intelligence about part of army in foreign country (4) 
 | 
| RA (Royal Artillery – part of army) in IQ (assessed intelligence). | ||
| 24 | AINU | 
 Indigenous people from area in eastern part of Honshu (4) 
 | 
| A(rea) IN (Honsh)U. I think that this constitutes an & lit clue as, according to Wikipedia, the Ainu people are to be found in the north-eastern part of the island of Honshu. | ||
Thanks bridgesong, perhaps ‘oval’ is more a description of O than an abbreviation.
I only got JELL by wordsearching as a last resort after some days – not a familiar spelling and a devious definition. I spotted the pangram but not its doubling! Well done and thanks Brendan
Not only is it a double pangram, but each of the 26 solutions finishes in a different letter of the alphabet! Brilliant piece of construction from Brendan.
Great Scott Jay! So they do. That explains the grid to some extent.
Meant to say that quartz is a family of minerals, so fine by me.
Didn’t notice the pangram before reading the blog. I never seem to look for them, but then I’ve never had the feeling that it might have been a quicker finish if I had. After all, there are near-pangrams that have the potential of sending you on a wild goose chase. But then I do read here that it helps some folks, so no complaints. And well done Brendan.
This was the kind of puzzle that relied on crossers. There were several clues that (imo) were just impossible to get without a bit of help. For example JELL – who would have thought that physician = Jekyll right off the bat? Perfectly fine in retrospect, in fact a very clever clue. To make a good Prize puzzle, which I think this was, requires just the right balance – too few of these clues and it’s not a challenge, too many and there’s no hope. So hats off to Brendan, again.
I wasn’t terribly convinced of the definition for REABSORB, but ok. I thought the CLERKED surface was a neat play on “9 to 5”.
The double pangram, which the two Xs alerted me to early on, actually served a useful purpose in settling whether 9 was to be QUARTZ, which does seem unnatural as ‘minerals’ (plural) or QUARTS.
Lovely puzzle, just right for a Prize (hurrah) one.
Sufficient justification for THANX I think 😉
Thanks bridgesong. Kept up my record by missing the theme again and found this very hard. The first pass yielded only IRAQ and made me realise I had a task on my hands. The rest came only slowly until ZENITH, my LOI. I knew what it had to be but was fixated on madrassa. I was also fixated on cricket sides on and off so LEGATO took a long time too. I think QUARTZ can be found in other mineral forms. Quite an exercise and much to admire.
Thanks bridgesong. I had HAJJ but couldn’t parse it (didn’t know the alternative spelling) and went with HEAL for 3d, thinking physician was healer and having healing/setting bones in mind. Close, but no zig-a-zig-ah for me.
Thanks bridgesong. Not easy to say on looking back why this proved quite testing – perhaps because Brendan repeatedly did the unexpected as in 1A which was not someone from a US state (he lives in one) and as in 10A where the ‘reverse’ did not signal a swapping of previous elements in the clue. The ‘with’ in 21A not as expected, and the singular TENTERHOOK stood out, too.
Like bridgesong, I was wondering about O being an abbreviation for Oval (in LEGATO), but like Gonzo@1 it occurred to me that the printed O is in the shape of an oval, so maybe that is what was intended.
I’m not sure the clue for AINU is an &lit. since “indigenous people” is not part of the wordplay. Some call this an Extended Definition, which seems to work.
Not sure if I wasn’t in the mood, on the wavelength, or whatever, but I finished about 1/3 of this and gave up. I find Brendan parses very obscure sometimes. JELL, RE = unfinished wine (could be unfinished anything beginning with RE!). And a lot of the time I stare at the clue and can’t even find a definition to work with. Anyway …
Kay, Why … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=skqBaC8VO9o
Started well, getting DISRAELI and QUARTZ straight off, but then slowed down, and failed right at the end, needing a word finder for VISCERA, having failed to spot the way the anagram(s!) worked.. Somehow, I don’t actually feel too bad about that. I did at least spot the double pangram, which did lead me to JELL (at that point I’d worked out I was short one J). Very impressive construction, although it did lead to some unusual spellings in places. Beaten but only slightly bowed, thanks Brendan and thanks for the blog, bridgesong.
Kudos to Brendan for the setting of this lovely puzzle. For me Dr W@3 has summed it up. I wish that I had been switched on to have noticed even one of the 2xpangram or the ending part spotted by Jay@2 for one. I am not sure why I should have missed it really as it should have been doubly obvious than a single.
I put myself on the wrong path with a thoughtless – bung and shrug – [love that phrase, it has a real Aussie vibe for me, for some reason] entry of NON-INTEFERENCE at 12 which left me with an E instead of a T at the start of THEORISING until I came to the realisation the INFERENCE is not actually a lie at all.
Favourites were TENTERHOOK and CLERKED and 2d ARCHBISHOP was superb piece of misdirection.
Like others JELL was last in.
An excellent Prize worthy of the title.
Thanks for the blog, bridgesong, you lucky blogger with all your Brendans 🙂 .
Incredible. I saw the double pangram and was impressed but when Jay @2 pointed out that each of the 26 answers ends in a different letter of the alphabet I was stunned. How does one see such things, and, more amazingly, how does one construct such a crossword? Wow. Brendan is a genius. Thanks bridgesong for the blog.
Thanks for the blog, I did actually notice a lot of “Scrabble” letters ( Q, Z X, J …) while solving and got the double pangram, but many thanks Jay@2 for the extra information. Brendan has missed a trick here, he could have called it a reverse alphabetical jigsaw and had no clue numbers but the clues in alphabetical order of LAST letters.
I have to disagree with DrWhatson@4 about the solvability of 3dn. It isn’t physician=Jekyll that is required, but “part-time physician” and that was sufficient for me to come up with JEKYLL and then figure out the word play and confirm that spelling. A clever cryptic definition I thought. I never notice or care about pangrams and the same applies to a double. AINU was a write-in for me from the definition alone and I almost didn’t bother to find the wordplay.
I see that some don’t care for Brendan’s style. I do and particularly appreciate the various devices used to mislead which usually succumb to some lateral thinking. Very rewarding to solve. Thanx Brendan and bridgesong.
My very minor grumbles seem very churlish now, THANX is a word I simply do not like, the clue is fine and the X is needed. O=OVAL I could not find support but I do write my O as an oval so fine really.
Many, many splendid clues , will just note VISCERA for the double anagram well sign-posted , and JELL for the “part-time ” physician, I could go on …..
Like KLColin @16 AINU was an immediate write-in (FOI) and I couldn’t see how it could be a cryptic clue at first.
Like others I couldn’t get 3d – not helped by having an unparsed *pathetic* instead of CATHOLIC for ages.
Still I enjoyed it. Favourites were: VISCERAL, QUARTZ, CLERKED (made me laugh)
Thanks Brendan and bridgesong
Since I had the more usual spelling for HAJJ and so thought I had already accounted for the final J, I had no pangrammatic help with JELL and put a doubtful GELL=SET instead. No cigar, and by then it was Monday morning and I was losing the will to live, having successively failed to finish the Friday, Saturday and Everyman crosswords and decided that dementia must be setting in.
A masterclass in clever setting. Pity I was too thick to live up to it and missed many of the subtleties like VISCERA and the alphabetic word-endings. I did like the statesman who actually was a statesman for once, DISAVOW, THEORISING and CLERKED.
Brendan is fast becoming my favourite setter. I loved this. Too many good clues to mention and a pangram to boot …
Then I came here and learned it was a double pangram and the clever last letters pointed out by Jay. Wow! Just brilliant.
Thank you B&B.
Well done, Jay @2, for spotting the last letters. Makes the grid fill even more impressive.
Thanks bridgesong and Brendan. I was foxed by 20 across and now I see why. ‘Lately’ means ‘recently’ and is not a synonym of ‘tardily’.
A few slightly unfamiliar words and spellings, but nothing too obscure. Now that I know from this blog that these were necessary for the double pangram/different last letters trick, my reaction is like KLColin’s @16 – I don’t care. As Roz@15 says, if Brendan is going to this trouble, at least do something else too, to make it interesting. But I see that this seems to be a minority view.
Nevertheless, an enjoyable crossword. Favourites were NON-INTERVENTION, TENTERHOOK and CLERKED. I thought the definition for SQUARE ROOT was a bit vague.
Thanks Brendan and bridgesong.
Thx Brendan + bridgesong.
Entertaining. I muffed QUARTs instead of QUARTz. Roz@15: Wow what an idea. An alphabetical wasgij. Some of the clues would need to have been a lot simpler. JELL was a favourite.
You are not alone, Ed@13. I did the same and never quite recovered.
Thanks to Brendan for casting such a pearl before this swine and to bridgesong for explaining it, although I still don’t see what the three asterisks are for in 1d.
Did anyone else google LO(c)UM to see if it could mean set?. For some reason I found this very hard, though enjoyable. DISAVOW and ARCHBISHOP, when I finally got them were both excellent.
A brilliant piece of verbal engineering by Brendan, for which many thanks. Like Beaulieu at 23, I thought that ‘may be extracted by certain solvers’ did not quite lead to SQUARE ROOT. Can someone please point out what I have missed?
bagel @27 , when solving quadratic equations ( or higher powers ) we are finding or extracting the roots.
The roots are the solutions of the equation, and may lead to square roots in simple cases such as
x squared – 9 = 0
This was a classy and very enjoyable puzzle anyway, but I marvel even more at the full alphabet in the last letters of the solutions than at the double pangram in the grid, as pointed out by Jay @2.
Thanks to Brendan, and to bridgesong for the blog.
Brendon always produces very fine crosswords. To then add other features – – without marring the experience of solvers who don’t spot them – – shows what a master of his craft he is.
Perhaps ZEN (NE corner, outside) is the state of mind you need to function at this level 🙂
Bagel@23; in mathematics you solve an equation (“certain solvers”) and extract square roots (in eg. quadratic equations). Hope this helps .
Oops, sorry. Bagel@27.
I’m inclined to agree with beaulieu @23 that the double pangram seems a bit pointless, and that Brendan could have made it more interesting, as Roz suggests @15, by omitting the clue numbers for a reverse alphabetical!
Maybe missing JE(ky)LL has put me in a curmudgeonly mood, but like Auriga @25 I don’t see what the asterisks in 1d are doing – or rather, it looks to me like they are doing nothing but mislead. OK, there’s a convention that punctuation can be inserted or ignored, but are asterisks really punctuation?
Thanx to B & b.
I took d*** as a representation of “damn” a curse/oath
Auriga @25 and sheffield hatter @33: yes, the asterisks are misleading, but surely that’s the point? It’s a clever reference to the way certain prudish Victorian publishers would print an oath and so fits the surface perfectly.
Already doubly impressed by the pangrams, I’m now marvelling at the full complexity thanks to Jay@2.
I also enjoyed the two cricket sides LEG & OFF either side of a HOOK & below the SQUARE ROOT, but … the Adelaide Oval not so much.
Thanks Brendan & bridgesong
As always with Brendan, one of my favourite setters, I enjoyed solving this puzzle, with its range of clever constructions, misdirecting definitions and witty surfaces. I had ticks, on one or more of these counts, for DISRAELI, CATHOLIC, SUPPLEMENTARILY, LEGATO, DISAVOW, ARCHBISHOP, JELL, VISCERA and WEAR OUT.
Like others, I took Oval as referring to the shape of a capital O, which I don’t remember seeing before, whereas we regularly see ’round’ to denote a lower case one.
Like some others here, I have no interest in pangrams and rarely see them, since I don’t go looking, but this time I did and exploited the fact that I’d discovered it was a double one to write in my last entry – ZENITH. But hey, this was Brendan – on a Saturday – there must be more to it than that. Double pangrams are not that uncommon: we’ve had triple, quadruple and even quintuple examples. I stared at the grid for ages, looking for the icing on the cake but could see no more, so gave up, feeling slightly disappointed / frustrated and awaited the blog.
Huge thanks to Jay @2 for revealing the secret, which I would never have seen. Brendan does it again!
Roz @15 – I have a vague memory that some setter, at some time, did devise such a puzzle as you suggest but I can’t think who it was and so I have nothing to hang a search of the archive on. Does anyone else have any recollection?
Huge thanks to Brendan and to Bridgesong.
bridgesong @35. Yes, no doubt if I had actually solved the clue I would see it the way you describe, but having (like Jay @34) seen ‘d***’ as simply a representation of damn or drat, I was completely stuck for a way to the solution and couldn’t get out of the rut. Obviously my failure rather than Brendan’s, but it makes it difficult to join in with the applause!
Eileen @38: yes, I too remember such a puzzle (reverse alphabetical jigsaw), but I can’t remember who the setter was, or even if it was a Guardian puzzle or a completely different series.
When Timon and I set down to tackle this puzzle, he asked me if there was going to be a theme. “Yes, it’s Brendan, there’s bound to be one”, I replied. I thought I’d found it with the double pangram.
Wow – I didn’t spot the double pangram, let alone the reverse alphabetical-ness…a rare achievement, I suspect, although I’m sure Araucaria may have produced something similar? Chapeau to Brendan – and Jay at #2 for spotting it.
In terms of the prize puzzle aspect, I don’t think you have to buy the paper version – but you will need a printer, as there still doesn’t seem any way to submit from the interactive version. There is a ‘PDF version’ link on the website, which includes the submission instructions. So I usually print from this, solve it on paper, or transcribe my online solution, and fax in the result (postal entries also accepted). (Having said that, I haven’t won in years, so I have no idea if my method gets me into the hat each week!)
A setting tour-de-force; many thanks to Jay @2 for the icing on the cake.
I found this a little difficult to get into but lots to like as the pieces fell in. I particularly liked FINANCES and JELL. Roz @15, I too remember an alphabetical using the last letters, but I can’t remember where I saw it. The Guardian Genius 208 by Kite had an alphabetical with clues listed in alphabetical order of inserted letters.
Thanks B&B.
Bit late from me but add my congratulations to Brendan for the (by me alas unspotted) dbl pan. To bridgesong for the explanations, to Jay @2 for pointing out the reverse alphabetical and to Roz @15 (approx) for an intriguing suggestion. Not since someone did a prize without an ‘e’ as a tribute to the OULIPO stylistic group can I recall being so impressed,
🙁 for me no prize as I came up short on THANX (genuinely never heard of and not in Chambers so couldn’t even wordsearch it) and CLERKED (just too clever,nice ‘hidden word with a twist’)
Thanks (with eyes downcast, one foot slightly forward) to Brendan and to bridgesong.
Another NON-INTERference so scuppered myself but nonetheless an enjoyable puzzle that entertained all week (the prize gets my attention over the evening meal and it’s a pleasure when it lasts a few days). But AINU was beyond me and although I noticed the double-pangram I was too lazy to do the “math” to uncover the need for a J in JELL (while juggling “gel” and its possibilities). All in all a debt of THANX to Brendan for the distraction and to bridgesong for the enlightenment.
And VISCERA introduced a festive note?
Tough but enjoyable.
Favourites: NON-INTERVENTION, NUREYEV, CLERKED (loi)
I could not parse:
6d HAJJ? I have not seen it as HADJ before.
4d E in *vicars? Oh I see it is a double anagram – I don’t think I have seen one of these before.
Thanks, both.
Belated thanks to Roz @28
Thanks Brendan & bridgesong
I didn’t parse JELL. And had gell anyway !
Thought SQUARE ROOT solvers was a reference to this website. Spotted pangram too late to be of use but great puzzle.
Thanks for the writeup. Several I couldn’t parse here, and I’d settled on “SAHU” for 24d (A in eastern half of “honSHU”), which blocked further progress in the bottom-right of the grid.
Thanks, bridgesong@35 and others. D***ed obvious, now!
I did see the final letters pangram (the VQKFU motif at the bottom clued me in) but missed the double! Very nifty gridfill.
I racked my brains before arriving at 22. I knew the people in 24 but still took a while to find them. Finally getting into gear, I polished off DISRAELI and thought JELL, my LOI, was a nice hide.
Thanx, Brendan and bridgesong. Much enjoyed the entertainment.
1d “The great big D” isn’t a vow, but it is an oath …
Totally missed Dr. Jekyll, the part-time monster.
Roz@15 I’m so glad Brendan didn’t follow your jigsaw suggestion! It would have made a challenging puzzle impossible!
Thanks, Brendan for the challenge and Bridgesong for the enlightenment. I needed your help.
Eileen@38, I have never seen an alphabetical for last letters so it is either before my time or not the Guardian or Observer. In the FT, Julius sometimes produces an alphabetical jigsaw but only seen it for first letters, and I have only done the FT since they changed owners.
Thanks Brendan and Bridgesong
Contributors passim: the previous final letter pangram, which was announced as such in the Special Instructions, was Prize 27136 by Philistine on March 4 2017.
Me @ 53: Forgot to say, yes, it was an unnumbered jigsaw.
Simon S @53: many thanks!
Well discovered Simon S @53, just checked and I was abroad then and missed it, typical. I wonder if I can get someone at work to find this and print it out ?
Many thanks, Simon @53 – found it!
The puzzle is here https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/2017/mar/04/prize-crossword-no-27136
and the blog
http://www.fifteensquared.net/2017/03/11/guardian-prize-27136-by-philistine/
I had HEAL instead of JELL for the reasons jonestheguitar@8 set out. Indeed, I put it in fairly early and didn’t give the clue another thought…..and I’d probably do the same again in retrospect.
A definite example of there being two perfectly acceptable, but different, solutions to a cryptic clue.
dantheman @58. I’m not sure about “perfectly acceptable” – I was thinking of HEAL too (two-thirds of HEAL(er)=’physician’), but I couldn’t justify entering it in the grid until I could work out what ‘part-time’ was doing in the clue. Which I never did…
Yes, another brilliant grid fill from Brendan.
About two years ago Wiglaf, in The Independent, did it too: http://www.fifteensquared.net/2019/11/30/independent-10338-by-wiglaf/
Comment #16 by James made clear that Philistine even had two!
mc_rapper67 @ 41 I hadn’t realised they’d reinstated the competition, thanks for the info. I’m feeling very proud of myself for finishing today’s Prize – I shall have to remember to print it off and send it in.
Very best wishes to Katherine and all thinking of submitting Prize solutions. We know it’s just a lottery but it’s an extra bit of fun. I was finally lucky, about fifteen or so years ago (before I discovered 15²!), but my Prize Collins dictionary (the Prizes were more generous in those days) is now dog-eared and coverless but it’s just one reason why it’s still my favourite dictionary. When blogging, I have to acknowledge Chambers as the apparent go-to, though I quote Collins as often as I can.
I found this difficult and got tremendous satisfaction when I finally finished it on Friday. I think JELL was LOI and it was thinking what “part-time” could mean that got me it finally.
I also wondered why Brendan had chosen THANX, when THANKS would have fitted anyway, but not enough to realise the reason, and very far from copping the last-letter thing.
I have done an alphabetical jigsaw based on last letters and it was hard! (As if this wasn’t already hard enough!). I kept mistakenly thinking of words with the alphabetic letter at the front of the word. If, as Roz says, it wasn’t in the Guardian, I think it might have been created by Soup, and perhaps appeared in 1across magazine?
Epee Sharkey @ 53: “Not since someone did a prize without an ‘e’ as a tribute to the OULIPO stylistic group […]”. Someone = Brendan!
Ah, the earlier puzzle was identified while I was writing. Yes, Simon@53, that’s (the?) one I remember doing. Tricky.
I meant to address Epee Sharkey @ 43 in my earlier comment, btw.
Those earlier crosswords are fascinating, love the collective wisdom in these threads
Thanks, Tony Collman @63 @64, for filling in the gap.
Extremely impressed it was Brendan with both memorable puzzles. It is even more impressive that I solved both (well apart from 2 of this one), without even being aware of the constructional feat.
Is tours de force the appropriate expression ?
A great puzzle and like others I spotted the pangram but not the extra layers of construction.
Superb.
Tony Collman@63 and Epee Sharkey@66, that OULIPO puzzle by Brendan (Guardian Prize 27,734) was just about the most brilliant puzzle I have seen. For me it ranks just ahead of Araucaria’s JS Bach masterpiece (Prize 22,089).
Folks, those are well worth trying, if you haven’t already. And be sure to read the 225 blog to catch all the details.
Thanks, Brendan for another gem, and bridgesong for some much needed help.
Thanks bridgesong with fine help from jay and gonzo in pointing out everything here. I thought at first it was going to be a pangram around the edges, then thought Brendan was being cunning in giving us a double minus the second J since that is the letter many ( I learned on here) search for to check the pangram is on. So you can probably guess that I failed with HEAL instead of JELL. Sheffield hatter@59, if you told me you were a “healer” I would assume you dabbled in crystals or homeopathy as one of many new age sidelines, thus part-time. But I think that for a definition of JEKYLL is brilliant so will admit defeat. This one took me until Tuesday and I enjoyed the challenge, thanks Brendan.