A good-y puzzle from Soup this morning.
For those of a certain vintage, this puzzle will bring back memories. For those of the younger generation, some of it may go over their head. I was six years old when the Goodies first aired, but it ran from 1970 to 1982, so some slightly younger solvers may just remember it. It certainly helped me to solve some of the clues as I clearly remember the BIG CAT knocking down the POST OFFICE TOWER, the LOCH NESS monster episode, the GOODY GOODY YUM YUM at the end of the theme tune, and the FUNKY GIBBON and Black Pudding Bertha (OFFAL) songs. There may be more themed entries than the ones I’ve highlighted, but the setter also managed to get Tim, Bill and Graeme, the three actors who played the Goodies, into the clues.
Some of the clues were a bit wordy, the definition in 15 down is loose and the perennial LOCH does not sound like LOCK issue appears in the Spoonerism, but that apart, a fine puzzle, especially given the constraints of the theme.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane, Soup.
| ACROSS | ||
| 9 | EXPLOSION |
Big Bang Theory’s third on – spoil end of Netflix broadcast (9)
|
| *(e on spoil x) [anag:broadcast] where E is (th)E(ory) [‘s third] and X is [end of] (netfli)X | ||
| 10 | OFFAL |
Refuse very noisily, with a look back around (5)
|
| <=LO (“look”, back) around (FF (fortissimo, so “very noisily”) with A) | ||
| 11 | ACNED |
Dance about, get spotted (5)
|
| *(dance) [anag:about] | ||
| 12 | BOWSTRING |
Wrong bits used to make part of a weapon (9)
|
| *(wrong bits) [anag:used to make] | ||
| 13 | BRING ON |
Induce drummer to entertain battalion? Quite the reverse! (5,2)
|
| Bn. (battalion) to entertain RINGO (Starr) (“drummer”) | ||
| 14 | EXCEEDS |
29s from first principles, as on the 17 (7)
|
| EX (“from”) + homophone/pun/aural wordplay [as on the radio] of SEEDS (“first principles”)
The 29 in the clue refers to TRANSCENDS (solution to 29 across) and the 17 refers to RADIO (solution to 17 across) |
||
| 17 | RADIO |
Every so often, try and win on entertainment programmes here (5)
|
| [every so often] (t)R(y) A(n)D (w)I(n) O(n) | ||
| 18 | OBE |
Award given to Taco Bell (3)
|
| Hidden in [given to] “tacO BEll” | ||
| 19 | TOWER |
Big build-up to the pair of us beginning to reconcile (5)
|
| TO + WE (“the both of us”) + [beginning to] R(econcile) | ||
| 21 | SAYS YOU |
Delivers uniform? By one report, but not according to me! (4,3)
|
| SAYS (“delivers”) + homophone/pun/aural wordplay [by one report] of U (uniform, in the NATO phometic alphabet) | ||
| 23 | BILLING |
Oddie in front of Goodies line-up of stars (7)
|
| BILL (Oddie) + IN + [front of] G(oodies) | ||
| 24 | LAMENTING |
Deploring mis-alignment? (9)
|
| *(alignment) [anag:mis-] | ||
| 26 | FUNKY |
Strong-smelling lubricant behind pleasurable activity (5)
|
| KY (jelly) (“lubricant”) behind FUN (“pleasurable activity”) | ||
| 28 | CLUES |
Hints and tips for Colin ‘let’s upset everybody’ Sell (5)
|
| [tips for] C(olin) L(et’s) U(pset) E(verybody) S(ell) | ||
| 29 | TRANSCEND |
Go over Tim’s head and screen performance lacking energy (9)
|
| T(im) [‘s head] + *(and scren) [anag:performance] where SCREN is SCRE(e)N lacking E (energy) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | MEGA |
Brilliant contribution from Graeme Garden (4)
|
| Hidden in [contributon from] “graeME GArden” | ||
| 2 | OPEN MIND |
If you’re not sure, keep it! (4,4)
|
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 3 | GOODY-GOODY |
Twice turn round and, losing heart, deny being pious (5-5)
|
| [twice] GO (“turn”) + O (round) and D(en)Y [losing heart] | ||
| 4 | GIBBON |
One of Barry, Robin or Maurice performing – what an animal! (6)
|
| GIBB (“one of Barry, Robin or Maurice” (the Bee Gees)) + ON | ||
| 5 | ANYWHERE |
When at first you are getting frisky, position doesn’t matter (8)
|
| *(when y are) [anag:getting frisky] where Y is [at first] Y(ou) | ||
| 6 | POST |
Pale, stop messing around (4)
|
| *(stop) [anag:messing around] | ||
| 7 | OFFICE |
Position away from the freezer? (6)
|
| OFF ICE (“away from the freezer?”) | ||
| 8 | FLAG |
Tire jack (4)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 13 | BORES |
Floods burrows (5)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 15 | CUTTLEFISH |
Slippery customer felt up in quite sweet surroundings (10)
|
| <=FELT [up] in CUTISH (“quite sweet surroundings”)
Very loose definition? |
||
| 16 | SPRIG |
Spray a bit of scent on 3 (5)
|
| [a bit of] S(cent) on PRIG (“goody goody”, see 3dn) | ||
| 18 | OCULISTS |
Those restoring sight with chicken’s heart and rabbit’s foot could be witches (8)
|
| If (chi)C(ken) [‘s heart] and (rabbi)T [‘s foot] are added to OCULISTS (“those restoring sight”), you’d get OC(C)UL(T)ISTS (“witches”) | ||
| 20 | WHINNIES |
White offspring of stallions and donkeys sounds like a horse (8)
|
| W (white, in chess notation) + HINNIES (“offspring of stallions and donkeys”) | ||
| 22 | YUM-YUM |
Esteban’s really, really upset Japanese schoolgirl (3-3)
|
| <=MUY (Spanish for very, so “esteban’s really”, upset) but “really” is repeated, so it’s YUM-YUM, one of the “Three Little Maids from School Are We” in The Mikado | ||
| 23 | BIG CAT |
One that writes about grams, a tonne, or an ounce? (3,3)
|
| BIC (“one that writes”) about G (grams) + A + T (tonne) | ||
| 24 | LOCH NESS |
Spooner’s to drop some pounds somewhere in Scotland (4,4)
|
| Spooner’s version of LOCH NESS may have been KNOCK LESS (pound less often, so “drop some pounds”).
As a Scot, who has become tired of the argument, I’ll just stay silent about the pronunciation of “loch” that doesn’t rhyme with KNOCK. |
||
| 25 |
See 24 Down
|
|
| 27 | YODA |
‘Green sage stems in yogurt’ and other delicious appetisers (4)
|
| [stems in] Y(ogurt) and O(ther) D(elicious) A(ppetisers) |
A fun theme, as pointed out by loonapick, for us of a certain vintage, (although I suspect that covers must of us), referencing the opening sequence to the comedy show. There’s also a MEGA EXPLOSION and RADIO TOWER. I liked SAYS YOU, OPEN MIND, SPRIG, CUTTLEFISH and finally OCCULTISTS for the surface. Most enjoyable.
Ta Soup & loonapick.
OBE can possibly be regarded as thematic, as there was a long-running gag about Tim being obsessed with being awarded one – ‘maybe an earl and an OBE’ ‘You’d be an earlobe…’
FLAG is also possible, as part of his costume was a Union Jack waistcoat.
Morning, all! Thanks for the blog, loonapick. Well, this seems to have gone down a bit better below the line on the Guardian’s site than a couple of my last puzzles, so I’m showing my head above the parapet early in the day. Fun to have a bit of a trip down this alley, anyway, and it gives me an opportunity to say ‘happy birthday, Graeme Garden!’.
I’d not considered OFFAL part of the theme, but RADIO and OBE were at least in my mind as ‘potential themers’, as was ANYWHERE (I wanted ANY TIME and ANYTHING as well but ran out of places). I also wanted to include SCOUTS and maybe TONY BLACKBURN somewhere but didn’t want to do too much shoehorning; I had also hoped to get in one more which I won’t say as I might use it again in future. Words with repeats (GOODY-GOODY; YUM-YUM) are always hard to clue (see also TSETSE, which doesn’t rear its proboscis here) but I think I’ve done it fairly, though people over at the G say YUM-YUM is quite hard. My favourites were EXPLOSION and ANYWHERE, given rather neat surfaces. Fair cop re the lock-loch; the get-out-of-jail card is that Spooner could conceivably have pronounced it Lock, even if I most certainly would not, even given my anachronistic Eastbournian roots.
Also references to I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, with CLUES and the inclusion of Colin Sell in 28 across. All three Goodies appeared in ISIHAC at some point, with Tim and Graeme being long term participants. Thanks Soup for taking me back to my childhood and loonapick for the blog
Thanks for popping in Hamish/Soup. I knew the Japanese schoolgirl but I have little Spanish, so it was the GOODY-GOODY that led me to the answer, an excellent combination. Anarchic for its time, I’m not sure it would be as hilarious nowadays, a bit like Morecambe & Wise.
Also, Tim used to wear a Union FLAG waistcoat, and wasn’t their slogan “Any time, any place, ANYWHERE “?
Oh dear. When I see all the pretty colours in the above grid, it confirms that alas I’ve missed another theme. I wasn’t a big fan of The Goodies, having watched it only occasionally. But at least it was screened in Australia.
I scratched my head at deploring/lamenting. Hadn’t heard of KY jelly. And my knowledge of Spanish was inadequate. Non-existent even.
One or two other speed bumps, but on the whole an enjoyable experience, thank you Soup.
Crispy @12: it was Anything Anytime ANYWHERE as mentioned by Soup @3.
Our boys were avid Goodies fans, we the adults absorbed random bits, like the yum-yum theme, and the dozens of Rolf Harris Rabbits (he went to the same school as me and mrs ginf, so we kinda noticed). All good fun, ta Soup and loona.
Oh and I’m no doubt being totally dim, but htf does bores = floods?
Nice to be reminded of a show from my childhood and I spotted some of the references as we went along but without quite clocking the entirety. I think getting both GOODY GOODY and YUM YUM into the grid is pretty neat. And it must be nice for Soup not to have an ear bashing for once 😉
Crispy @12: I think you might be thinking of Martini? But then, who wouldn’t at 8am on a February morning!
Thanks both
Muy buen rompecabezas. Gracias Soup.
PM@16 Yes, I woke up at 5am a bit nervous – if this had gone down badly then I was going to reconsider my approach (and potentially just stop). Nice to feel I might still have it…
Enjoyed this — got the theme early enough to help too, eg I started looking where FUNKY and GIBBON might fit before even finding the respective clues 😁 Liked EXPLOSION, SAYS YOU, OFFICE, OPEN MIND and my LOI, YODA.
Many thanks to Soup and loonapick
AlanC @14. My mistake. I was too keen to get my post done.
Hamish – you’ll have had your tea, I hope?
About 24D, I wondered whether we were supposed to rhyme with NOSH LESS, equally unScottishly.
(I have been expat far too long and never once watched the Goodies. Solved with no idea of the theme.)
Great stuff from Soup.
I’ve seen enough of the Goodies to know the three names but not enough to know the details of their sketches.
Missed the anagram part of TRANSCENDS and YUM-YUM was beyond my knowledge of Operas but the checking letters or wordplay allowed me to complete it.
Liked BOWSTRING,CUTTLEFISH and TOWER.
Thanks Loonapick and Soup
Muy muy bien. Top ticks for OCULISTS, YODA and CUTTLEFISH – at least it wasn’t “swimmer” 🙂
Cheers L&S
I liked the concealed anagrind for POST, which made me briefly wonder if the theme was going to extend to a range of old comedy shows. I thought the surface and construction of CUTTLEFISH made up for any vagueness in the definition.
Favourite: OCULISTS.
I could not parse 14c apart from def = transcends; the YOU in 21ac, 5d.
New for me: YUM-YUM = Japanese schoolgirl (and the names of the characters in “Three Little Maids from School Are We” seem to be very ridiculous); Bill Oddie (for 23ac).
I never heard of the Goodies so I did not see the theme.
It’s very rare for me to get a theme that I know and spotted early enough on to help. This time gibbon led me to funky, and I wouldn’t have been confident about yum yum without the connection. I recognised Muy and the japanese girl in retrospect, but they didn’t come to mind in time to help me parse the clue.
GiF@15: I thought it was to do with tidal bores, like the annual one down the River Severn – these are surge tides and often cause flooding.
Good fun – thank you Soup and loonpick.
Got the theme – and then didn’t use it making FUNKY (e.g.) harder than needed to be. I’m missing why PALE = POST and my Chambers appears not to be helping.
Enjoyed this – thanks to Loonapick and to Soup for popping in.
Oh yes, thanks JOFT, I’d forgotten about those continuous wave thingies.
PianoMan @28 – From Chambers (sorry!) “Pale – A stake of wood driven into the ground for fencing”
Piano Man @28, I think pale is another word for a fence post but I might be wrong
I concur with the posters who consider this good fun. The Goodies theme was sitting still half formed in my mind when I’d finished, I certainly didn’t see the bulk of the themers. I was sadly reminded of the year my parents were so disgusted at my b********g up my A levels that all I received for my birthday that autumn was a Goodies annual. Perhaps the loch/lock thing could have been ameliorated by the addition of “as a sassenach might say”.
To quote Afferbeck Lauder – mirsten choiple.
A late reply to Crispy, Bill Oddie was a regular in “I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again”, the predecessor to ISIHAC. His name was Angus Prune and he never missed ISIRTA.
Thank you Crispy and Alan!
[Smudgekent @33 – He also appeared in the early editions, including the very first edition, of ISIHAC. He and Graeme found writing the scripts for ISIRTA was becoming a pain so they hit on the idea of an ad-libbed version – ISIHAC. At some point in the early days, all the ISIRTA regulars appeared on ISIHAC – even John “Otto” Cleese!]
Crispy, I am sure you will remember that Mr Cleese also made a memorable appearance in The Goodies.
Never knew that FUNKY had the meaning of smelling bad. Nor, I suspect, did the wine waiter in a posh (one Michelin star, no less) restaurant who asked us if we’d like to try one of their newer funky wines…
FWIW I *loved* ISIRTA, especially the 25th anniversary episode – you could feel the joy radiating from the radio.
Now I’m much more heavily involved in teaching undergrads, I am gradually developing a philosophy that there is a lot of crossover between crosswords, comedy and teaching. Crosswords and comedy are both about looking at things in a bit of an oblique way: you can’t ‘get’ a clue twice; you can’t get a joke twice, either – once you’ve heard it once you don’t get that PDM (though of course you can laugh at what you know is coming in a way that you can’t really with crosswords).
And then teaching: there’s a *lot* of crossover with comedy, as lecturing is basically a performance and is all about engaging with your audience. But beyond that, think back to when you’ve been to a comedy gig: sometimes the performer will go down some route or other and the audience will get the joke (or get to what the joke is going to be) before the performer has said it – that leads to glorious moments where the performer can stop and say ‘what? what’s so funny?’ – and of course that’s entirely down to their skilful scripting of what they’re saying.
And *that* is where I think good teaching becomes great teaching: is it possible to get students to ‘get’ where you’re going with something before you’ve told them where that route is? Then the students feel clever for understanding before you’ve told them, and learn the process of making that mental connection – as it were, learning how to have ideas. But the key here is that the teacher has permitted the students to have those ideas – they’ve put the scaffolding in place for it to happen, ideally without the student realising it.
So there’s the connection with crosswords: as a setter, I have to let the solver win but without realising I’ve let them win. Otherwise it’s no fun.
Anyway, there’s my two penn’orth – would be interested what anyone (particularly teachers or students!) think.
Smudgekent – Sadly, I don’t remember that. If I’m being honest, all I remember about Goodies programmes are the kitten on the Post Office Tower, and ‘Ecky Thump. I do, however, have “The New Goodies LP”, and all their singles. Sad, but true. Incidentally, the lyrics for what is called “New Goodies Theme” on the album simply have Anything, Anytime – not Anywhere, although I could have sworn that they did. Maybe that was the Old Goodies theme.
Pianoman@28 The expression “beyond the pale” comes from the fences constructed of pales beyond which it was unacceptable or unsafe to venture.
Having been delighted to see Soup’s name at the top of the crossword after a week of unchallenging crosswords, we were then disappointed to find we whisked through it. This is obviously not the majority view, you can’t please all of the people all of the time 😞. It was a fun puzzle and with Soup’s trademark humour , and the theme brought back some nice memories. Thanks Soup and Loonapick, and please, don’t change too much Hamish, we really enjoyed the crosswords that we had to think longer on…….
Our kids loved The Goodies, and we enjoyed it too – enough to pick the theme (obvious enough from 3/22), but not enough, apparently, to pick up all the references. I looked in vain for Marge and Tina (as in Don’t Cry For Me…). I first thought 23a was going to be _ _ _ BILL, having only the I – the SE corner fell last for me. Right idea, wrong place. I did wonder about pale = POST, thinking the palings go between the posts. Great fun, like The Goodies. Thanks, Soup and loonapick.
What a lovely analysis, Soup. #38. A bit meta for a Wednesday morning, but nothing wrong with that.
Thanks for a timely reminder of why teaching teenagers can be (sometimes) such great fun.
[Hamish @38 – I remember a summer school from when I was doing my Open University degree back in the late 80s / early 90s. One lecturer always made a point of telling a joke halfway through a lecture to get our attention back. Worked every time!]
Crispy@44: Dr Sonja Dunbar, Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at Cambridge, has researched exactly this: see https://ukstemconference.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/horizons-in-stem-2024-conference-proceedings-v2.pdf on page 29. It doesn’t have to be a joke – interesting, non-examinable content is also really good.
Hamish @45. Thanks for that. We also found that after the first time he’d done it, we were all more focussed in subsequent lectures, waiting for the gag, in case he slipped it in early, or slipped a second one in later on.
Good fun. How the hell did I miss that theme???
Thanks to Soup and Loonapick
I loved The Goodies yet still managed to completely miss the theme (as usual).
Admin@17: I think you mean “crucigrama” (‘rompecabezas’- literally ‘headbreaker’ – is the general word for a puzzle, but ‘crucigrama’ is specific).
Completed and just popped in to check my parsing, only to discover yet another missed theme. I loved the Goodies as a kid and was watching some clips on YouTube just recently. Now I feel stupid.
Thanks both.
Hamish@38 – I think you’ve summed it up very nicely. I teach software development. Humour/scaffolding and signposting is essential. Humour helps the students feel you’re on their side, and scaffolding is like a referee in a football game. If it does its job properly, no one notices it’s there. The same applies, as you say, to crossword setting too. We need to feel you’re on our side, but we should feel a sense of accomplishment by finding the key that opens the way through.
Thanks for an entertaining puzzle, and a lovely reminder of my childhood. Thanks Loonapick for the blog too.
And also, I discovered today, all three of the Goodies were awarded OBEs.
Know nothing about the Goodies – before my time – but mostly solved anyway so thanks Soup. My DNF was, of all things, YODA with the very cleverly disguised definition. I even thought of Yoda but didn’t see the def. Made me laugh when I finally revealed it. Good crossword.
Thanks for a fun crossword. I have to confess the theme completely passed me by – which is good, because it means you don’t have to have to be my age to complete it! Thanks, Graham/Soup for avoiding obscure cross-references. Some great clueing – particularly liked – BRING ON, CUTTLEFISH and OCULISTS.
I have to confess, unlike most of my fellow commentators, I was never a great fan of the Goodies. However, many of the references do now come back to me. I was probably spoilt by the genius of Monty Python! Also that I was young enough to have other distractions than watching TV – no playback or even VCR in the early days!
Very enjoyable. MEGA was my first one in and the mention of Graeme Garden immediately made me think there was something going on. Lots of ticks. I liked “mis-” as an anagram indicator in LAMENTING!
Fascinating comments, Hamish. I entirely agree with you about the crossover between crosswords and comedy. I always think that some of the best clues are like good jokes. GIBBON for example reminded me of one of my all-time favourites, by Paul: “Actress was less inclined to sketch Robin and Maurice Gibb, but…? (4,9)”.
Many thanks both.
[Hamish/Soup@38: it may depend on what subject you’re teaching, and the make-up of the student body. I taught materials science, and about half of the audience in a lecture would be non-native speakers of English – good, but much less idiomatic than the home-growns, and without the same cultural references. So the lecturing was maybe a bit less nuanced anyway than it might be in less hard-core subjects, and and attempts to inject humour risked falling very flat indeed with many / most of those present. Or maybe my being decades older didn’t help…
My daughter (not a crossworder), on having some bits of crosswords explained to her, said “so it’s just a series of dad-jokes, then.” There’s some truth in that.]
I got the theme about half-way through, but didn’t see all of the references in their full glory till I looked it over having completed. I very fondly remember the Goodies from when they first aired, and have such episodes as have survived on DVD, so the children have enjoyed them too. My favourite episodes are the “Come Dancing” take-off and the film-making one. After a slow start, the last ten minutes or so of “The Movies” with its amazing mash-up of Buster Keaton comedy, Western and Roman epic, is a dizzying and glorious romp.
I think my favourite clue was LOI YODA – it took a long time for the penny to drop. Green Sage, indeed!
Thank you Hamish/Soup for a nice trip down memory lane, and Loonapick for blogging.
Graeme Garden spoke at a recent(ish) AZED lunch. He said people often say to him that they grew up watching the Goodies. His reply? “No you didn’t.” I quite agree.
Late to the party but wanted to add my hearty congrats to Soup for an excellent crossword. More please, sir.
I love your daughter’s comment about crosswords being just a series of dad-jokes, DTS @55. I learnt to do cryptic crosswords as a teenager with my father, and now I realise just how much doing them reminds me of him!
I never knew that a snow leopard was known as an ounce.
“Every day’s a school day”
RedTinDave@59. That meaning of “Ounce” is one of those crosswordisms – it is a valid usage, but I’ve never seen it in the wild, so to speak.
In 13a, ‘quite the reverse’ feels redundant – the clue works perfectly well without it as Loonapick’s parsing shows. Can anyone shed light on its contribution?
Jim Weaver@61: battalion – bn – has to “entertain” (i.e. receive) ringo. The clue states drummer entertains battalion, so the sentence order has to be reversed.
I, like others didn’t spot the theme, but I do remember a report of some poor chap literally dying laughing at the ‘Ecky Thump sketch. As I remember his relatives were quoted as bearing no malice, and saying things to the effect that it would have been the way he wanted to go!
Thanks Soup – don’t ever think of packing in. We absolutely need all sorts of minds behind the setting of puzzles. But the comment about Dad jokes brought knowing looks in my house!
Missed the theme as always, despite being a big Goodies fan in my school days. (Tbh, I don’t think that the programmes have stood the test of time as well as some other 70s comedies, but at least they are not as bad as the likes of Mind Your Language.) The answers flew in quickly today, but YUM YUM, although obvious from the crossers and the ‘double’ in the clue passed me by completely when it came to parsing. I might have got there with Pedro or Juan, but Estaban threw up too many esoteric options rather than the simple one. Thanks loonapick and Soup.
I’m curious, why does the Guardian do those cluse where the answers are split? Like 24/25 down. I haven’t really seen this in other papers. It just seems a bit odd to me, why not just use that clue somewhere else on the grid where it fits?
JT@64 – to allow some longer solutions in grids which have shorter spaces, or solutions longer than 15 letters. Sometimes stuff just won’t fit elsewhere. Convention is that all grid entries must be real words or full parts of phrases (eg LETTHECATO / UTOFTHEBAG wouldn’t be allowed).
Thank you Hamish, that’s useful to know. I think it just frazzles my brain a bit!
This time JT @64, the paper copy didn’t mention clue 25 in clue 24 which gave a minute’s pause. But a very enjoyable, quick-ish crossword even for those of us who didn’t see the theme (although I knew enough to think initially a “Goodies line-up” was something to do with a three-person tandem bicycle)
Hamish/Soup@3: For me YUM-YUM was one of the easier clues, my brain going to YUM-YUM at the first mention of Japanese schoolgirls, and then the reversal fell into place. It was also a favorite for the clever spot. Perhaps it’s just a matter of having the right GK, which this time I did.
Mind you, I am often “upside down”, finding easy the things the majority find hard and struggling with what most here found easy.
Ah, yet another theme of British TV from the 70s. It was widely believed by early US television executives that British humour (British spelling deliberate) didn’t translate into American, so we didn’t start importing British TV on any large scale until rather later. So yes, I had never heard of this one. Fortunately, the only clue this time that actually needed you to know something about the show was the one for BILLING (Bill Oddy), which was obvious from the crossing letters anyway.
“Muy” for “very” is Spanish 101–in fact it’s among the first 20 words you learn when you take a basic Spanish class. As in the simple conversation that every language class ever devised starts with:
Hola, como estas?
Muy bien, y tu?
(Hi, how are you? Very good, and you?)
So having suffered through so much significantly more obscure French than that in these puzzles, I have zero sympathy for anyone who didn’t know “muy.” Call it turnabout as fair play, if you like. (Not knowing YUM-YUM from The Mikado is more forgivable, though. And yes, all the names in that operetta are ridiculous, which is why it’s easy to treat it as a lampoon of British, not Japanese, culture, and thus how it manages to still be performed and loved today.)
Missed the theme, so thank you loonapick for explaining it. Here in Canada I was able to catch the occasional episode of The Goodies, and really enjoyed them. Enough to know Bill Oddie (@23a), but not enough to have been able to identify the theme. If I’d looked for one, I might have caught the FUNKY GIBBON, knowing it from the Secret Policemen’s Ball
Pleasant puzzle, with the RS being the chewiest. LOI 6d POST, I had to look up that meaning of “pale”. I enjoyed 18a OBE (amusingly hidden in “Taco Bell”), 24a LAMENTING (“mis-alignment”), 5d ANYWHERE (for the naughty surface), 22d YUM-YUM (nice pdm after not expecting to know the definition), 27d YODA (“Green sage”)
7d OFFICE we had a similar clue recently
Thanks loonapick for the blog, and Soup for dropping in @3 etc. Thanks for letting me win, and definitely don’t stop!
Thanks Soup. I never heard of The Goodies so obviously I missed the theme. I did manage to solve the crossword anyway missing only YUM YUM. (I had no chance with that clue knowing neither the Spanish word nor the cast of the Mikado.) I enjoyed this quite a bit anyway due to the creativity and humour in the clues. Favourites included BOWSTRING, BRING ON, YODA, and FUNKY. Thanks Loonapick for the blog.
I enjoyed this: favourites were OCULISTS and BOWSTRING, plus a one word anagram (always welcome) in LAMENTING, and a nostalgic theme in The Goodies.
This was a show I always enjoyed back then, though it was rather overshadowed by Monty Python. I believe the three stars, Bill Oddie, Graeme Garden and Tim Brooke-Taylor had each worked with various Monty Python people on earlier TV and radio shows (such as At Last The 1948 Show, and I’m Sorry I’ll Read That Again, which were required viewing/listening when I was young). They must have felt they missed out when Python became so huge, but The Goodies was inspired on its day.
I had forgotten the Mikado character YUM YUM, and guessed at HINNIES, so thanks to loonapick for clarifying. I do enjoy a Spooner clue, but even though I’m not Scottish I don’t agree with the LOCH NESS pronunciation as “lock”. I shall say no more on the subject though, after recent controversies!
Thanks to Soup and loonapick
Happy Birthday Graeme
Good (y) quick crossword. I didn’t get the Goodies thing (apart from seeing Bill Oddie and Graeme Garden in the clues). But I never do get the themes, I don’t look for or notice them.
Smudgekent @36 Was that when the future Basil Fawlty appeared as a genie and shouted “kid’s programme!” as they faded him out?
Thanks Loonapick and Soup. Great fun
Being a 66 year old I latched on to the theme fairly early, fave family viewing in t’70s.
“OBE” definitely part of the theme. It is mentioned in versions of the theme song:
“It’s anything you want it to be, a record or an OBE”
Bardyman@79 and others: Tim Brooke-Taylor’s character in The Goodies was always going on about how he wanted to get an OBE. I was so pleased when he, IRL, was actually awarded one!
My favourite is YODA. Use of the word ‘stems’ as an indicator for initial letters was a clever way to disguise the definition.
I am well old enough to remember the Goodies. However, even though I noticed the references to Graeme Garden and Bill Oddie, the reference to Tim didn’t occur to me at the time as a reference Tim Brooke-Taylor. I couldn’t parse YUM-YUM and failed to notice it was part of the theme song. Ditto the other elements really. I could kick myself. So thanks very much Loonapick for pointing it out.
Thanks too to Soup of course. Some very good cluing there.
Excellent crossword, ran aground in the SE having raced through the rest of it. Agree the definition for CUTTLEFISH was not very helpful.
I am the right age to have enjoyed The Goodies. I missed the FUNKY to go with GIBBON, but it did remind me of their appearance on Top of the Pops. Still on YouTube and looks terrible 50 years on.
TB-T, GG and BO were luminaries in the the ’60’s humour, we owe them much.
Thanks both.
Great fun. Soup’s puzzles are always interesting so I hope he doesn’t give up or change his style. I can’t abide the Goodies so was delighted to find the theme pass me by. YUM-YUM is neither difficult nor unfair (I don’t like G&S either). Favourites LAMENTING and YODA.
Loved the theme (sign of age?) – I never see themes, got this one. YODA LOI – once saw the 1st 15 minutes of a Star Wars film – “There’s a female character not wearing sensible shoes, let’s go to the pub” we said and I’ve never seen another.
Thanks to loonapick, and to Hamish@38 for affording us a fascinating glimpse into the mind of a setter. The thoughts on teaching made me recall the great physicist and pedagogue Richard Feynman, who famously dismissed his award of the Nobel Prize in 1965.
Having zero familiarity with the Mikado “Yum-Yum” as a reference to a schoolgirl, Japanese or otherwise, would not have struck me as entirely appropriate!
…was wondering whether the Goodies’ trandem (bicycle made for three) is maybe gathering rust in a TV props storage unit somewhere.
Great crossword. But please, please, Lock is just wrong for Loch. Stop it!
The internet to the rescue: https://www.goodiesinfoguide.com/trandem-guide and https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/sep/02/goodies-bike-trandem-auction-october-seventies-comedy.
“Yum Yum” as a reference to a schoolgirl is in awful but Victorian taste – you’ll need to take it up with the ghost of W S Gilbert.
Needless to say I missed the theme until somebody pointed it out – though I enjoyed the Goodies in their day. Pity there wasn’t room for the ancient Northern martial art of Ecky Thump.
Enjoyed BOWSTRING and the mis-alignment, but failed to parse OCCULTISTS. Either this wasn’t as hard as previous helpings of Soup, or I’m getting more used to his style.
Thanks loonapick, and thanks to Soup for the puzzle and especially for the extra commentary! It’s a treat to get a window on the process and philosophy.
A fun puzzle for me, despite never to my recollection having heard of The Goodies (American here:)). I think YODA was my favorite, but lots to enjoy.
Thank you Hamish for an enjoyable crossword, which I managed to solve without knowing the theme, so full marks for achieving your aim which you stated on the G site.
And your contributions here are much appreciated, especially @38 which resonated with me. Most of my working life was teaching English to newly-arrived adult migrants and refugees. Without a common language, the humour that native English speakers often share with the use of puns or English phrasal verbs in particular isn’t readily accessible as they are often the last things acquired to native speaker level.
However, we found a kind of ”inter-humour” which was the glue amongst the students and with the teacher, and the fun in learning. And just as funny when it came around again, as we all knew what was coming, as you say.
The Dalai Lama was well-known for using humour in his teachings, often in international settings. I was fortunate to attend one in Sydney. He called himself the “Professional Laugher”, Hamish, I don’t think he’d mind if you used that yourself. He’d see the humour in it and know it was of good intention. 🙂
Thanks for the nostalgia as well as the fun of the clues. I often don’t spot themes but did this time and it helped!
#paddymelon: The Dalai Lama was ? he is still alive bro and may he live long.
And it took until #55 before I understood Yoda.
Thank you, DerekTheSheep!
Hamish/Soup@38,
Nice to see contributions from the setter. As you may be aware John Cleese also used comedy in some of his training films as a tool for teaching.
Here’s one example I saw:
A man is talking to his GP who had a tendency to get mixed up with which patient he was seeing. The man pointed this out when the doctor addressed him by the wrong name. “Ah” he said. “Better take you off his pills then” 🙂
With me it was 1d referencing Graeme Garden, 28a referencing Colin Sell, and 17a being RADIO that led me to think the theme was ISIHAC, until 3d put me right. An entertaining puzzle which I finished – unusually for me – except for YODA. But with ISIHAC in mind, ‘Hamish, ye’ll have had your tea?’
manoj # 95 True.
simonc@37 That was the original meaning of funky. It appears thus in the titles and lyrics of early 20th century jazz and blues songs.
I’m guessing no coincidence that Ono features on her birthday below 13a?
Late to the party, but what a lovely puzzle – thanks Hamish@12 – keep up the good work: we would miss you if you stopped or changed your style. Yet again, despite being a huge fan of the Goodies (both at the time and remembering some of their classic moments now), I failed to spot the theme; and despite being a Spanish speaker, I failed to think of muy for really (de verdad?) until Mrs K pointed it out. All part of the fun. And thanks to loonapick for the blog.
I seem to remember a report in the popular press of a viewer who literally died laughing watching the Goodies…
Happy days.
Etu@93: someone else mentioned that much earlier but with 93 comments I can’t find it again. I can remember literally rolling on the floor unable to breathe because of laughter when watching either Spike Milligan, Monty Python or the Goodies when I was about 15 or 16, I think.
I struggled with 7d, at first thinking of the obviously wrong OFFISH, then writing in the justifiable OFFING (making your offing in sailing is to take up a position away from the shore, and the connection with ‘freezer’ is arguable) before settling for the correct but not much better OFFICE.
I enjoyed the intersecting YODA and FUNKY once the penny had dropped very noisily on the tea tray.
Thanks to Soup and Loonapick.
sh. 94:
“literally rolling on the floor unable to breathe because of laughter”
I did a bit of that today for some reason, Will?
Cheers all.
I am having a month off from Guardian weekday blogs to keep my screen-time down but just want to tell Soup that there is a lovely tribute to his puzzle in the Letters Page today .
Only read three comments , think I was around 5 at the time of the Ecky Thump episode and still remember my stomach actually hurting through laughter .
I am quietly very proud that someone took the time to write in. Means a lot. And thanks, Roz, for pointing it out here.