The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28869.
As announced in 16A BANDS, all the across answers are pop bands ( although The COASTERS and ABBA, as vocal groups, might be seen as a little out of place). As has been said before, pop groups can nearly cover the entire dictionary, but most of them here are well known, even if a few are as vintage as Diana Dors (12A). I even spotted the theme in time for it to be helpful.
| ACROSS | ||
| 7 | NIRVANA |
Trump initially in near enlightened state (7)
|
| IVANA (‘Trump’) with I, the first letter or initial (‘initially’), in NR (‘near’). | ||
| 8 | BAUHAUS |
Dismissive comment by two Americans about university design school (7)
|
| An envelope (‘about’) of U (‘university’) in BAH (‘dismissive comment’) plus A plus US (‘two Americans’). | ||
| 9 | BLUR |
Make vague promo for jacket with no back (4)
|
| A subtraction: BLUR[b] (‘promo for jacket’ of book) minus its last letter (‘with no back’). | ||
| 10 | MARMALADE |
Preserve body part nursed by sick Parisian (9)
|
| An envelope (‘nursed by’) of ARM (‘body part’) in MALADE (‘sick Parisian’). | ||
| 12 | DOORS |
Inspiring love, blonde bombshell actress entrances (5)
|
| An envelope (inspiring’) of O (‘love’) in DORS (Diana, ‘blonde bombshell actress’ – going back a bit). | ||
| 13 | COASTERS |
They may be on the drink — or the drink may be on them! (8)
|
| Cryptic double definition: ‘drink’ as the sea, for the ship, and the mat under a drink. | ||
| 15, 25 | DIRE STRAITS |
Rage-filled policeman features in predicament (4,7)
|
| A charade of DIRES, an envelope (-‘filled’) of IRE (‘rage’-) in DS (Detective Sergeant, ‘policeman’); plus TRAITS (‘features’). | ||
| 16 | BANDS |
Boris’s tips for the across solutions here (5)
|
| B AND S (‘BoriS‘s tips’) | ||
| 17 | WHAM |
Women act poorly in bash (4)
|
| A charade of W (‘women’) plus HAM (‘act poorly’). | ||
| 18 | HEATWAVE |
Accept nurses consume whiskey in very sticky period (8)
|
| An envelope (‘nurses’) of EAT (‘consume’) plus W (‘whiskey’, radio alphabet) in HAVE (‘accept’). | ||
| 20 | OASIS |
Place for refreshment, old and without changes (5)
|
| A charade of O (‘old’) plus AS IS (‘without changes’). | ||
| 21 | SEARCHERS |
They look mischievous, poking far-sighted people (9)
|
| An envelope (poking’) of ARCH (‘mischievous’) in SEERS (‘far-sighted people’). | ||
| 22 | ABBA |
Religious father figure rabbi had to disrobe (4)
|
| ‘[r]ABB[i] [h]A[d]’ minus the outer letters of each word (‘to disrobe’). | ||
| 24 | BANGLES |
Jewellery from Britain and its ancient inhabitants (7)
|
| A charade of B (‘Britain’) plus ANGLES (with Jutes and Saxons, ‘its ancient inhabitants’) | ||
| 25 |
See 15
|
|
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | MILL |
19th-century intellectual‘s works (4)
|
| Double definition, the first being probably either James or son John Stuart. | ||
| 2 | OVERCOME |
Emotionally exhausted in triumph or defeat (8)
|
| Double definition (‘triumph’ and ‘defeat’ give the same meaning from opposite sides, victor and vanquished). | ||
| 3 | ANIMUS |
Black drops from a rain cloud giving bad feeling (6)
|
| A subtraction: A NIM[b]US (‘a rain cloud’) minus the B (‘black drops from’). | ||
| 4 | CARAVANS |
Area between two vehicles on special convoys (8)
|
| An envelope (‘between’) of A (‘area’) in CAR VAN (‘two vehicles’) plus S (‘special’). | ||
| 5 | THWART |
Married couple tucking into pastry dish in foil (6)
|
| An envelope (‘tucking into’) of H W (husband and wife. ‘married couple’) in TART (‘pastry dish’). | ||
| 6 | MUSE |
Inspirational figure‘s catty comments overheard (4)
|
| Sounds like (‘overheard’) MEWS (‘catty comments’). | ||
| 11 | RECONVENE |
Soldiers, crook and even rogue meet again (9)
|
| A charade of RE (Royal Engineers, ‘soldiers’) plus CON (‘crook’) plus VENE, an anagram (‘rogue’) of ‘even’. | ||
| 12 | DRIVE |
Cheat at football without right motivation (5)
|
| An envelope (‘without’) of R (‘right’) in DIVE (‘cheat at football’) | ||
| 14 | READS |
Studies concerning marketing tools (5)
|
| A charade of RE (‘concerning’) plus ADS (‘marketing tools’). | ||
| 16 | BLANCHED |
With dull clothing, red or very white (8)
|
| An envelope (‘with … clothing’) of CHE (Guevara, ‘red’) in BLAND (‘dull’). | ||
| 17 | WASH AWAY |
Rinse off residue of fire in vacant Wichita street (4,4)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of ASH (‘residue of fire’) in WA (‘vacant WichitA‘) plus WAY (‘street’). | ||
| 19 | TWANGY |
Disheartened, throw accordion gently? It’s sounding like a guitar (6)
|
| Outer letters (‘disheartened’) of ‘ThroW AccordioN GentlY‘. | ||
| 20 | ON-SITE |
One breaking stone ground at that place (2-4)
|
| An envelope (‘breaking’) of I (‘one’) in ONSTE, an anagram (‘ground’) of ‘stone’. | ||
| 21 | SLAM |
Roast starter of smoked meat cut (4)
|
| A charade of S (‘starter of Smoked’) plus LAM[b] (‘meat’) minus its last letter (‘cut’). With no crossers, I confidently entered RIBS. | ||
| 23 | BATH |
Club and hotel in old Roman town (4)
|
| A charade of BAT (‘club’) plus H (‘hotel’). |
I thought this was going to be easy. Just from BANGLES, even without solving 16a, I thought “girl groups!”, which was soon corrected to groups, then BANDS. It wasn’t quite so easy, ultimately, didn’t know BAUHAUS or HEATWAVE, but it was mostly straightforward and fun, as usual from Picaroon.
I was thinking “Trump initially” had to be T hence Satori, but it didn’t fit. NIRVANA was quite tricky. Thanks both P’s.
I got 16a early, and was expecting a slew of English bands I’d never heard of, but I was pleased to discover that it was an international mix, and most of them well-known. And there was scope in each clue to proceed even without knowledge of the band.
The only one that I didn’t manage was 1d, as I’m not too familiar with 19th-century intellectuals.
This was a very enjoyable experience with plenty of smiles, the only people who might possibly be offended being guitarists (19d)!
BANDS was a favourite for the B-and-S construction and was obtained fairly early which helped a lot. The other favourite was COASTERS.
A delight from start to finish. I actually liked every one of the across clues – and knew all the 16a BANDS except for 18a HEATWAVE (cf Dr. WhatsOn @1) – though it was gettable once I had the crossers and worked out what was happening with the wordplay. I thought BLEACHED was also good at 16d. 12a DOORS was my top favourite, and also one of my favourite bands of all time! Many, many thanks to Picaroon and PeterO.
An ok potter but a bit ho hum I thought . 16ac helped, though I didn’t recognize half of the bands (Marmalade, Heatwave, Coasters, Searchers, Bangles). The only case of blanched as adjective I know is for almonds (which are then white, true, but not all that ‘very’). The catty comments raised a faint smile. Thanks PnP.
[ … but yes agree about the Doors JinA. There’s an incredible live video of The End, which I swear felt like it took up half the Sydney-Perth flight I was on when I watched it]
Theme after my own heart became apparent after BLUR, MARMALADE and DOORS were first in, which then gave an easy BANDS. There’s also CARAVAN(s), MUSE and BLANCHED(ubois) in the down clues to add to a very enjoyable puzzle. Nice spread of music across the decades from the 60s onwards.
Ta Picaroon & PeterO
[ … checking the YouTubes, think it was the Toronto ’67 one, though the Isle of Wight ’70 one (which some of our solvers might have been at …) is in fact quite a bit longer]
Not only the acrosses but also one of the downs. Muse is also a band.
Thanks Picaroon and PeterO.
Needed the theme to finish this, despite not knowing some of the bands. First pass of the across clues gave me only the two four-letter words, WHAM and ABBA (which didn’t alert me to the theme), though NIRVANA sprang to mind immediately for 7a. but like Dr Whatson@1 I thought the answer must contain a clue. Had to get the theme word 16a before I saw how 7a worked. Like a lot of themed crosswords, once you see the theme, particularly with Picaroon’s helpful ‘the across solutions here’, then it was a question of going through the catalogue with the help of the crossers to complete. But on the whole I enjoyed it. Thanks PeterO and Picaroon.
‘Must contain a T’ @10
Since I already had 5 of the 6.5 acrosses that preceded BANDS – and recognised them as bands – 16a was easy to see. Indeed, the whole crossie flowed in pretty smoothly apart from SLAM (for which I wanted to put SEAR) and HEATWAVE – like @1, 4 and 5, a NHO for me, though I did get it eventually from the clue alone. Why do you classify ABBA as a vocal group, PeterO? – Björn and Benny both play (multiple) instruments. Thanks, Picaroon and PeterO.
I did get and parse it all but NIRVANA, which went in unparsed. Even when I wrote in BANGLES, ABBA and MARMALADE (Ob-La-Da, Ob-La-Di) on first read through, I didn’t spot the theme until I solved the key word.
I’d completed most of the bottom half before I got BANDS which helped with DIRE STRAITS (that one of the across clues I bought tickets to see, along with CARAVAN, which played uni, not that that’s special, they’re still touring). Another one who didn’t know HEATWAVE.
That was the chewiest Cryptic for a while. Thank you to PeterO and Picaroon.
At last, a theme I know something about! I spotted it early but given the sheer number of band names it wasn’t quite as much help as many themes. ( There was also a huge range of styles and eras in the solutions. ) Dire Straits and Caravan are the only ones I’ve seen live. 1dn was my LOI but thanks to Monty Python I got there in the end. ( John Stuart Mill of his own free will on half a pint of shandy was particularly ill!)
Thanks to Picaroon and PeterO
I wouldn’t call Abba a “vocal group” – Benny and Bjorn played instruments. Perhaps you’re confusing them with Brotherhood of Man, in which case: shame on you!
I found this a bit hard going at first, especially the NW; but it gradually fell into place. As usual I failed to spot the theme early enough for it to be of much help. Looks obvious now, but requires one to look up from simply concentrating on the next clue. I must get into the habit. PS. I was pleased to see a reference to the wonderful Diana Dors. She was taken too soon. WIth thanks to both.
John Stuart Mill
By a mighty effort of will
Overcame his natural bonhomie
And wrote Principles of Political Economy.
(But I wouldn’t have heard of him if not for E Clerihew Bentley.)
Like others, I hadn’t heard of HEATWAVE or BAUHAUS as bands, and like TassieTim I originally had SEAR instead of SLAM. It says something about me that the blonde bombshell came to mind quite quickly, but Ivana Trump not at all, so although the band NIRVANA was clearly the answer, I couldn’t parse them.
Thanks Picaroon and PeterO
For once I got a theme, but only after writing in LOI BANDS! I didn’t parse NIRVANA (tricky) or DIRE STRAITS. Favourite was THWART.
My favourite story about John Stuart Mill is that he learnt to read at some improbably young age (2?), but only upside down, from standing in front of his father as the latter read from the bible.
I knew AlanC would find some extras in the downs 🙂 I also saw W(ishbone) ASH, The ANIMUS (fronted by Ericus Burdonicus), and a narrow escape from WASH A-WAddy waddy. Thanks P & P.
My take on OVERCOME = triumph/defeat was not ‘same meaning from opposite sides’ (for that I think you’d need defeatED = vanquishED = OVERCOME as past participle)
but rather
‘to overcome’ (infinitive) – same verb used transitively and intransitively:
We shall overcome (intransitive) = we shall triumph
We shall overcome them (transitive) = we shall defeat them
grantinfreo @5. I remember BLANCHED from the Sherlock Holmes “Adventure of the Blanched Soldier” (They think he has leprosy, but it’s something else.)
essexboy@19, LOL. I’m sure the other EB would have had a great chuckle.
Animus Blanched is also the name of a Fall album
Good fun as ever from Picaroon, but it isn’t quite as satisfying to get a solution from the theme and parse afterwards, as it is to arrive at one from the word play. Gladys@17 Nice Clerihew.
I must be on form today – BAUHAUS and BLUR went straight in, which gave the game away for me. Unlike others here, I’m quite a fan of BAUHAUS. This convinced me that my guess at NIRVANA (from the definition) had to be right, so I went back and managed to unravel the parsing (like others, I’d been held up looking for a T). MARMALADE and DOORS were also write-ins, and that was before I’d even got to 16a…
Needed most of the crossers to get COASTERS, but should have spotted it much sooner – the clue feels a bit chestnutty and obvious once you spot it. THWART also gave me some problems – guessed there had to be a W and H in there, but THW… is an unusual combination of letters so it took me ages to work out.
As well as MUSE in the down clues, you could add CARAVAN[s]. And if there isn’t some post-rock/prog outfit called ANIMUS, there really should be.
Thanks, Picaroon and PeterO. Great fun.
[To combine all three EBs, boy, Bentley and Burden –
Essexboy
‘S amusing ploy
To make a pun
About the the man who sang “The House of the Rising Sun”
eb @19: 🙂 I did see W(ishbone) ASH and WAR in THWART but didn’t want to push it. Funnily enough War were originally called Eric Burden and War.
Me @24 – OK, so it’s metal rather than prog/post-rock, but of course there’s a band called Animus.
Although I think I prefer Essex Boy’s version.
Great fun even though I’d not heard of all the bands. For the very first time, I got the theme, and then 16a confirmed it! Made it much easier, although all the clues were well constructed. Thanks Picaroon for the fun and thanks PeterO for parsing a couple that I just threw in hopefully and worked.
First entry 15,25, DIRE STRAITS, second 16 BANDS – couldn’t believe I’d cracked a theme so early! And I’d actually heard of most of the rest – amazing, for me – so fun all the way, as for Julie @4.
Many thanks to Picaroon and PeterO.
Very enjoyable even though I didn’t know all the bands/groups.
A pity 21d wasn’t SHAM rather than Slam. There’s a group Sham 69.
This is getting punnier, funnier and sunnier, Petert@25.
I was originally a bit underwhelmed by this crossword, but thanks to bloggers here, and Picaroon holding his light under a bushel, there’s so much more than the acrosses. R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
I got 12a largely because i the early 1950s I lived in the same London street as Ms Fluck whose activities were a constant source of fascination. Can’t think, though, that hers is name widely recognized in 2022.
It was first of all me frowning over whether OVERCOME fitted the bill as my foi today, giving me the V for NIRVANA. Then bang, bang, bang! in they all went, the bands rather than the bangs. None of them quite my cup of tea – were they all from a particular era? – and it’s often an age/generational thing with popular music, I find. Didn’t know the COASTERS or HEATWAVE, and these were the last two in, solved simply through the clueing. Actually, I do rather like listening to Nevermind these days, and happy that the band who served that album up in 1993 were first into the grid today…
Employing my usual “system” of looking at the clues more or less randomly, I started off in the bottom right corner, and almost unbelievably had got WHAM, OASIS, ABBA and DIRE STRAITS without noticing any theme. I then got 16a. Is it possible that without that giveaway clue I might have completed the whole thing still in a state of ignorance? I wouldn’t put it past me.
Favourites were MUSE for the “catty comments” and BLANCHED, both very clever.
Many thanks Picaroon and PeterO.
Tough puzzle.
I could not parse 7ac.
Liked MARMALADE, WHAM, DIRE STRAITS, THWART.
New: ABBA = God as father; DIVE – cheat at football/soccer.
Thanks, both.
There’s also (almost) the Ramones in row 7, and that well known prog rock band ULSAR in column 11.
I failed to notice at heme until I got BANDS rather late on. It helped with NIRVANA, but I think I had all the others by that stage.
Like Tassie Tim and Gladys, I had SEAR for 16d until I checked all. Even before I lived in Vietnam, I considered a pig’s ear delicious!
Thanks for the band aid Petero
And Here’s to you my Picaroon
May all your crosswords
Be A…. I don’t know, this is silly. Thanks anyway
essexboy@19 – Agreed. OVERCOME is not a Janus word though, having skimmed through PeterO’s analysis, I was almost tempted to add it to my lengthy, growing list of such!
I did like COASTERS; surprised not to recall having seen that DD/drink pun before. An inchoate chestnut?
I still suffer from themyopia – even though it was blatant (and I’d remembered to take a look postsolve; but then promptly forgot!) Still, that way I avoided GK write-ins, so no solving sidesteps. What you gain on the roundabout …..
Many thanks, Picaroon and PeterO
William F P. I liked COASTERS too. In honour of John Masefield we always had dirty little ones in our house.
Rarely see a theme but couldn’t miss this one. DORS was an actress not a band but the theme entry was not her but DOORS. I too wondered at the ABBA comment… and thought their name had a backward B in it but checking I find that was just a gimmicky representation used for some marketing.
Thanks both
Petert@40 ?
……Haha that was
I’m another who started out with SEAR, before remembering the american idea of “roast”. Apart from having to look up which particular blonde was the bombshell, this was a smooth and pleasing solve. Thanks very much to Picaroon for the fun, and to PeterO for the explanation of THWART, the parsing of which defeated me…
[There’s a story of Diana Dors returning to Swindon to open something and the mayor have an unfortunate slip of the tongue when he introduced her as “once known to us as Diana Clunt”]
PS. Petert at 40: that’s brilliant! I shall now use this as a reason for the host of coffee/booze stained beer mats around the house…
Tim the toffee, the Masefield poem about ships I assume
Great fun. I’d heard of all the bands and saw the theme early on.
I was hoping to find out here why “dive” means “cheat”.
Like Petert@40, I was reminded of salt-caked smoke stacks.
Thanks to P&P.
Auriga @48
A “dive” is when a footballer deliberately falls over to simulate a foul, hoping to win a free kick.
what Eileen and Julie said
Thanks very much to Picaroon and PeterO
I solved 16a, and therefore spotted the theme fairly early, and it was almost no help, because I’ve never heard of any of the bands except for ABBA, Dire Straits and The Doors. I had heard of Diana Dors, though I keep forgetting that the Blond Bombshell wasn’t Marilyn Monroe.
ginf@5 “Blanch” may mean “turn pale,” whether or not one is blanching almonds at the time.
Thanks for the puzzle, Picaroon and for the help, PeterO.
Knowing Picaroon’s fondness for themes, I scanned the clues for a keyword (usually I come across it more than halfway through). BANDS went in quickly. Consequently I solved most of the across clues from the double definition without recourse to the wordplay and the whole thing was over much too quickly. Pity Picaroon couldn’t find space for GORKY’S ZYGOTIC MYNCI 🙂
Nice to see MILL make an appearance. The clerihew quoted by gladys @17 is a useful mnemonic for his most famous work, but he also wrote (with his wife, Harriet, who died before it was published) The Subjugation Of Women – arguing for full gender equality. [He said that everyone should be able to vote apart from barbarians and the uneducated. Discuss].
Thanks to S&B
An enjoyable and mostly straightforward solve, although I’m another who didn’t fully parse NIRVANA.
Thanks Picaroon & PeterO
Excellent grid-filling with the 15 themed Across solutions (and finding groups with alternative definitions).
I got DIRE STRAITS fairly early on, which gave me the helping hand with the theme. I liked HEATWAVE for the surface, ANIMUS for the black drops of rain, and BLANCHED for the wordplay.
Thanks Picaroon and PeterO.
Thank you muffin@49. Everything I know about football has been learned from crosswords!
Peter@40 – Nice!
[Gervase@52 – Well, we have a few uneducated barbarians who have received votes. For example, one hears today that our brilliant and beloved leaders are again trying to frack us up; it causes no harm, evidently (to hedge fund and equity managers and other pals of Kwami and Liz that is!)]
Thanks Picaroon & PeterO. At 94 this was a tussle. I recall a record being played and my asking a pupil “What’s that tune” and the contempt with which he said” It’s the Beatles, Sir!”. Seven of the BANDS (?) were unknown to me. A band is Glenn Miller, accompanying Bing Cosby or the Andrews Sisters. Nonetheless, I did complete it so the clueing was tidy.
I do take exception to NIRVANA as Ivana does approach the limits of defined anagrams.
Keith Thomas @ 57, I’m with you. Or Duke Ellington, Artie Shaw etc., etc.
Highly enjoyable. Great to see BAUHAUS get a mention; I’m off to listen to Bela Lugosi’s Dead for the nostalgia. Thanks Picaroon and PeterO.
I think the original ‘blonde bombshell ‘ was Jean Harlow.
Sad that so many know so much about pop music, but so few know John Stuart Mill and the part he played in the campaign for female suffrage.
http://suffrageandthemedia.org/source/john-stuart-mill-speech-admission-women-electoral-franchise/
Wasn’t sure about the parsing for some of these but decided to take a chance on ABBA and struggled with NIRVANA but never mind. Managed to get the DOORS in the end
Jolly good fun as ever from Picaroon
Cheers P&P
Pop or rock BANDS were called “groups” in the UK up to around the late 60s or early 70s. “Band” was the American term. With Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band , the Beatles were I think partly inspired by the American usage and partly by the idea of a brass band or big band.
I remember in around 1970 or 1971 hearing a DJ on the radio referring to a “band” and thinking “Gosh that’s a bit American”. But that of course took over as with so many other things.
Thanks for the blog, a nuclear theme which I did like plus all the extras mentioned , especially CARAVAN who always make me think of Vaughan-Williams. Struggling to think of a favourite clue.
Grant@8 I was at IofW 1969, The Who and Bob Dylan. Possibly the youngest there at minus 8 months.
Just another manic Monday …. well not quite a Monday level crossword but it became much easier once the theme was clear. I missed OVERCOME (I had “overdone”) and I failed to parse NIRVANA but everything else fell into place without much struggle. As usual, there were no bad clues; I ticked ANIMUS, THWART, and DRIVE as noteworthy. Thanks to both.
It’s interesting that we all have our own “Goldilocks Ages” for music – I certainly have my own – but that argument wouldn’t fly here at all when it came to, say, Prime Ministers. [It was the classic 1970 IoW Doors performance of Light My Fire that featured nods to Eleanor Rigby and My Favourite Things; you can almost get stoned just by listening to it!]
I’ve recently taken to doing the crossword in reverse clue order starting at the last of the downs, so fortunately I didn’t discover the theme until half-way through, so avoided the worst of the themo collapso effect.
I’d heard of everyone except the Coasters and Heatwave. There’s also a somewhat hidden Comet in the downs, but that’s probably unintentional.
I enjoyed the MUSE/mews joke and like the fact that it crossed with the MARMALADE cat in 10. For some reason, I was thinking that Marmalade was the name of the cat in Roobarb, but that was, of course, Custard.
Happy trip down memory lane today!
Thanks, Pic and Pete.
[phitonelly @66
I have vague memories from my youth of Orlando, the marmalade cat. “Fish in ships!”?]
I suppose it depends how ancient ancient is, but I would have thought the Britons would have been more likely candidates to be Britain’s ‘ancient inhabitants’ than the Angles, who only arrived much later.
KateE@47 I was laughing at coasters joke but my emoji turned into a question mark.
Anna @68 – my thoughts too – and we’re contributing to today’s blog in Angle-ish, kind of.
Loved it, just fell at the last, as is my wont.
Spotted the theme very early whichnwas a great help.
Have not heard of BAUHAUS, was surprised that Cream or Genesis were not on parade.
Thanks both
Thanks for the parsing of NIRVANA, I spent far too long trying to shoehorn a ‘T’ into it somewhere.
I had never heard of the 19th Century Intellectual either.
Thanks PeterO as I couldn’t parse NIRVANA either. Enjoyed this, highlight cruciverbially if not musically for me was DOORS, thanks Picaroon. PS Phitonelly@66 there was a pretty good Aussie indie band called Custard around the turn of the century.
I count just two (partial) anagrams.
Roz @63, good on your mum, she must be be pretty cool.
Aunt Ruth @60: some of us know both the bands and John Stuart Mill (and his Dad). JS Mill was reputedly Blake’s “dark Satanic mill”.
A very nice puzzle. Couldn’t parse nirvana but guessed it from the theme. A fine selection of bands as well. Some of my favorites in that lot.
TassieTim @76 – Indeed. To add to that, his propensity for being rebellious is of course the origin of the phrase “Trouble at t’Mill”, and his love of partying was what inspired George Eliot’s Mill on the Floss – “on the floss” being a 19th century idiom equivalent to our modern “binge drinking”.
(I studied Mill at university, often while listening to Bauhaus.)