Raich makes his first appearance in the Indy for over 18 months to welcome in 2025 – Happy New Year to one and all!
We have always enjoyed Raich’s puzzles and this was no exception – although we found it rather easier than expected.
Raich is known for his themed puzzles, and we couldn’t help but think that there would be one on the first day of a new year. However, on completion of the grid, nothing leapt out at us. Fortunately, with a little assistance from the site that we use when compiling our blogs, we learnt that a number of across entries refer to things that happened in 1945 – 80 years ago!
The musical at 1ac opened on Broadway on 19th April
Hitler married Eva Braun in the 5ac/32ac on 29th April, and they committed suicide there the next day
The BBC 11ac Programme was launched on 29th July
The film 12ac/14ac premiered in London on 13th November
The 20ac/22ac came into existence on 24th October
33ac was the name of the B-29 bomber that dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima on 6th August
Are there some other thematic entries? Quite possibly!
Many thanks to Raich for the challenge – we hope it won’t be as long before your next offering!
CAROUSE (have drinking spree) L (Liberal)
BERLIN (capital) BUNK (place to sleep) ER (I hesitate to say)
AMPLE (sufficient) round or ‘including’ IF (provided) I (current) + R (right)
Double definition – the BBC Light Programme became Radio 2 in 1967
BRIEF (short) ENCOUNTER (meeting)
Double definition – the second relating to recharging batteries
pOODLES (dogs) missing the first letter or ‘lead’
UN (‘French article’) is the abbreviation (‘briefly’) for UNITED NATIONS
A reversal (‘on return’) of DRAWER (person writing cheque) + IN (home) G (grand)
Double definition
FLORidA (State) missing or ‘overlooking’ I’d’
An anagram (‘differently’) of TEXT I READ
E (last or ‘ultimate’ letter of terrible) + an anagram (‘recollected’) of ANALOGY
C (Conservative) LAW (legislation) BACK (support)
An anagram (‘odd’) of PECuLIAR missing the ‘u’ (uniform in the phonetic alphabet)
Hidden (‘to some extent’) and reversed (‘upset’) in seIZUre
E (English) XI (eleven – ‘team’) L E (first and last letters or ‘extremes’ of lamentable)
A reversal (‘after revolution’) of LEE (shelter)
Hidden (‘seen entering’) in castLE GATE Eagerly
mATURE (grown-up) with the first letter or ‘start’ replaced by N (new)
RAN (managed) round or ‘including’ CO (company) round or ‘protecting’ CO (another company)
Double definition, the first referring to boxer Mohammed Ali
UP (cheerful) DATES (romantic meetings)
An anagram (‘unexpectedly’) of DIRE NEW
Hidden (‘some’) in mishaPS ALTER Your
An anagram (‘at work’) of RENOWN round or ‘captivating’ B (British)
Double definition
P (page) RE (about) FAB (wonderful)
G (good) ETON (school)
Even letters only (‘oddly abandoned’) of bAtChEs
ALLy (associate) missing the last letter or ‘failing to finish’
I love how approachable this was. Only had to reveal three letters. One was for EXTRADITE: I was wondering whether to anagram “over text I” or “text I read”. The other two were for my last three entries: I have never heard of the Berlin Bunker before, and I was lacking in terms for untrustworthy people and shelters.
Thanks Raich and Bertandjoyce!
I quickly spotted the 1940s/World War 2 theme, possibly because I was a war baby. For the record, those I saw are CAROUSEL, BERLIN BUNKER. BRIEF ENCOUNTER, UNITED NATIONS, ENOLA GAY and possibly PREFAB, UZI and FIGHTER ACE. Gentle for Raich, so thanks for that and to B&J.
Happy New Year to all setters, bloggers and solvers!
Gosh. That didn’t last long. Very clearly clued indeed. I did not have the GK to spot the theme – whilst all the elements are familiar to me, I could only have dated with confidence ENOLA GAY and BERLIN BUNKER. Even had I looked for a date theme, I thought the UN came slightly later and had no idea about the timing of the movie, the musical or the radio programme.
Thanks Raich and B&J. HNY to all.
Silly me! I spent too long on 20/23 pondering how DNATIONS came from “describes” (after ITE[m], “article briefly”).
Thanks and Happy New Year all round.
Grateful for a hangover friendly puzzle. I just hope the content isn’t an omen for what we can expect in 2025.
Many thanks, Bertandjoyce, for the excellent blog. You have indeed identified all the thematic entries. Thanks also to those who commented. Happy New Year to all.
45 squared is 2025