And so this is Christmas, and what have you solved?…another year over, a new Cyclops Xmas jumbo special just begun…
To those new to the game, the Xmas special usually takes an item from an Eye regular feature at some point during the year – Pseuds Corner, Pedantry Corner, CommentatorBalls, etc. – and weaves it into the puzzle somehow – usually around a perimeter, whether outer or inner.
In this case we have a pome from EJ Thribb’s ‘Poetry Corner, and the preamble states that:
“Running clockwise round the shaded squares from the top LH corner is part of a 2025 Poetry Corner tribute. The poem’s subject and their occupation are the answers to 36 & 37 and 44 across. The unchecked letters of the quote are listed below, except for the four that are revealed in the grid.
A A A C C D D D D E E H H H I I
I I I K M N N O O O O O O O P R
R R R S S S S S T T T U U W Y Y
”
Cyclops is being more generous than usual here, giving us the subject’s name and occupation as (undefined) clues, and it didn’t take long to identify these as the late, great DICKIE BIRD – legendary cricket UMPIRE and fine upstanding Yorkshireman. Although, as he is the subject of an EJ Thribb ‘In memoriam’, he is upstanding no more. He has knocked off the bails, pulled up the stumps and gone to meet the all-seeing third umpire in the sky…RIP.
So, very rarely for me, I went first to my stockpile of Eyes (waiting patiently for my expatriate brother to visit and collect his usual stash of a year or so’s worth), via a quick Wiki-oogle to find out the rough timescale we are talking about – late September – and in an edition from around then was the tribute, which I remember reading at the time:
Poetry Corner – In Memoriam Dickie Bird, legendary Test Match umpire and national treasure
(it seems Yorkshire have deigned to share him with the rest of the nation!)
So, farewell then, Dickie Bird
‘That’s over’
That was your catchphrase, and now it is
Sadly you didn’t make it through the ‘nervous nineties’ to a century
The great umpire in the sky has raised his finger…and you are ‘Out’
…
The enumeration of the shaded inner perimeter and those four corner letters helped to narrow the thematic material down, and I was able to fill that in before I started solving in earnest.
With all those crossers, the gridfill proceeded serenely, with nothing really to scare the horses and the clueing generally a little gentler than some recent Cyclops puzzles…again, maybe he was being kind on us due to the size of the task, or maybe he grew weary with setting 80-odd clues, rather than the usual 30-odd…
There were a lot of familiar faces – Clinton, Trump, Streeting, Starmer, BoJo, Trump again, Nigel (Farage), the inevitable Ed Balls, and maybe a bit of a blast from the past in Andy Coulson.
26A was reminiscent of the Epstein-themed clues in Eye 819, while 26D caused a bit of a cringe and a crossing of the legs!
All in all, a wonderfully Cyclops-ean mix of political satire, skoolboy smuttery and lots of lovely anagrams – all woven around that wonderful tribute to dear old Dickie…
And now, the end is near, it’s time to blog the final Cyclops…
With a mix of emotions – sadness, relief, anticipation – I am going to be handing over the reins of my Cyclops slot to the ‘new blogger on the block‘ simonbyc. I have been blogging Cyclops for 121 blogs, from No. 580 back in 2016, when I took over from JetDoc/Jane, to this Jumbo 2025 Xmas Special 820.
I feel as though I have run my course on this, and it might be nice to get some fresh enthusiasm and a different perspective on things from a new blogger – to whom the best of luck from puzzle 822 onwards.
(I won’t be disappearing off your screens completely, as I will still be doing my Grauniad Prize, EV, Genius and Spectator blogs…)
I would like to record my thanks to my fellow blogger beermagnet for all the support over the years; to the late Gaufrid for getting me in to the blog, and current Admin kenmac for his support as well.
There would be no point doing the blog if there weren’t people reading and commenting on it – so thanks to all those who have commented and lurked over the years – I look forward to becoming a lurky commenter myself!
And finally, thanks of course to Cyclops – without whom there would be no puzzle and therefore no blog! The Eye and this puzzle has been part of my life from way back before I started blogging it, and long may they both continue!
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clue No | Solution | Clue (underlined)
Logic/parsing |
||
| 1A | WORRISOME | Hairy miser involved with row about nothing (9)
WORRIS_ME (anag, i.e. involved, of MISER and ROW) around O (zero, nothing) |
||
| 6A | PREMISES | Establishment pledges to replace love with ecstasy (8)
PR( |
||
| 11A | JUMBOS | BoJo’s, um… about to drop round for “Big things” (6)
subtractive anagram, i.e. about, of BOJ( |
||
| 15A | RECTANGULAR | Like a pitch made by Conservative whip in uniform (11)
RE_GULAR (uniform) around C (Conservative) + TAN (whip, beat) |
||
| 16A | FASHIONABLE AREA | A Fabian arsehole rubbished Mayfair? (11,4)
anag, i.e. rubbished, of A FABIAN ARSEHOLE |
||
| 17A | TOUPEE | Cover for nut out cavorting on piss (6)
TOU (anag, i.e. cavorting, of OUT) + PEE (piss) |
||
| 18A | PUBLIC SECTOR | In which civil servants work to insert line in an area near the genitals (6,6)
PUB_IC SECTOR (area near the genitals!) around (inserting) L (line) |
||
| 20A | ON STAGE | A part of Clinton (stag!) enjoyed giving a performance (2,5)
hidden word in, i.e. a part of, ‘clintON STAG Enjoyed’ |
||
| 22A | EXTREMITY | Text (not Trump’s first): HAND OVER ZELENSKY’S BUTT (9)
( |
||
| 24A | GO TO THE DOGS | Decline to visit the Dobermans? (2,2,3,4)
GO TO (to visit) + THE + DOGS (dobermans) |
||
| 26A | ELFIN | Playful, perverted life, Epstein, finally (5)
ELFI (anag, i.e. perverted, of LIFE) + N (final letter of epsteiN) |
||
| 27A | AWFUL | Right to ditch Latin base (5)
( |
||
| 28A | TENACIOUSNESS | Perseverance of Sun once seat is lost (13)
anag, i.e. lost, of SUN ONCE SEAT IS |
||
| 32A | GODDAMN | Bloody American? (7)
punning CD – when an Englishman might say ‘Bloody…’, an American might say ‘Goddamn…’ |
||
| 34A | TIGER | Row about government leader’s cat (5)
TI_ER (row) around G (leading letter of Government) |
||
| 36A | DICKIE BIRD | & 37 [see preamble] That is covered by Private Eye lark? (6,4)
DICK (Private Eye, detective) + IE (id est, that is) + BIRD (lark, for example) |
||
| 39A | SCARECROW | Scruffy figure surprisingly cares about rank (9)
SCARE (anag, i.e. surprisingly, of CARES) = C (circa, about) = ROW (rank) |
||
| 42A | EXCHEQUER | Former Starmer residence – “No bearing on where your taxes go” (9)
EX (former) + CHEQUER( |
||
| 43A | LONG | & 21 dn. Extended tip for candidates to be whittled down (4,4)
LONG (extended) + LIST (tip, lean over) |
||
| 44A | UMPIRE | [see preamble] “In Trump I reside” (6)
hidden word in ‘trUMP I REside’ |
||
| 45A | PILOT | Guide – mine’s protecting left ball (5)
PI_T (mine) around (protecting) L (left) + O (round letter, ball) |
||
| 47A | TOOLKIT | It helps with DIY boob (look around inside) (7)
T_IT (boob) around OOLK (anag, i.e. around, of LOOK) |
||
| 49A | GOSSIP-MONGERS | Sperm’s going so sloppy, so blathers (6-7)
anag, i.e. sloppy, of SPERMS GOING SO |
||
| 52A | ANDES | Range of Coulson broadcast? (5)
homophone, i.e. broadcast – if something belongs to Andy Coulson (British journalist and former Downing Street Head of Communications), it might be Andy’s, which can sound like ANDES. |
||
| 54A | NASTY | No way to get inside – awful (5)
NA_Y (no) around ST (street, way) |
||
| 56A | CHANNEL-SURF | Search for something to watch – guide on small fur balls? (7-4)
CHANNEL (guide) + S (small) + URF (anag, i.e. balls, of FUR) |
||
| 59A | INDONESIA | Republic is inane, changing to accommodate party (9)
IN_NESIA (anag, i.e. changing, of IS INANE) around (accommodating) DO (party) |
||
| 60A | NOTABLE | So you’ll have to rest your plate on your lap? Extraordinary! (7)
if you have NO TABLE, you might have to rest your plate on your lap! |
||
| 62A | DRINK HEAVILY | Kyiv hardline nuts booze (5,7)
anag, i.e. nuts, of KYIV HARDLINE |
||
| 63A | ACTUAL | One pathetic cut on a large material (6)
A (one) + CTU (anag, i.e. pathetic, of CUT) + A + L (large, clothing size) |
||
| 66A | UNPARLIAMENTARY | Reform main party? Unreal, against Westminster norms! (15)
anag, i.e. reform, of MAIN PARTY UNREAL |
||
| 68A | UTTER MISERY | Say “M” is very dismissive of victory, real sad type (5,6)
UTTER (say) + M + IS + (V)ERY (very, dismissing V, victory) |
||
| 69A | CHASED | Did some dogging? Sounds quite virtuous! (6)
homophone, i.e. sounds – CHASTE (quite virtuous) can sound like CHASED (behaved like a dog, so did some dogging!) |
||
| 70A | DOES TIME | Has a spell behind bars – rabbits on about “item” (4,4)
DOES (female rabbits) + TIME (anag, i.e. about, of ITEM) |
||
| 71A | PERSONAGE | Celeb for each child? Decline (9)
PER (for each) + SON (child) + AGE (decline) |
||
| Down | ||||
| Clue No | Solution | Clue (definition underlined)
Logic/parsing |
||
| 2D | ON ACCOUNT OF | Due to UFO con act? No, stupid! (2,7,2)
anag, i.e. stupid, of UFO CON ACT NO |
||
| 3D | RESHAPE | Fashion again produces some fresh aperitif (7)
hidden word in, i.e. some of, ‘fRESH APEritif’ |
||
| 4D | SAVAGE | Herb grabs Virginia – and Lily? (6)
SA_GE (herb) around (grabbing) VA (Virginia, US state) |
||
| 5D | MORAL DUTY | Absurdly, truly mad to host ball as an ethical obligation (5,4)
M_RAL DUTY (anag, i.e. absurdly, of TRULY MAD) around (hosting) O (round letter, ball, again) |
||
| 7D | RATIFICATION | Approval of Riot Act if in a muddle (12)
anag, i.e. in a muddle, of OF RIOT ACT IF |
||
| 8D | MEANS TEST | Nasty singular match, barrier to getting financial aid? (5,4)
MEAN (nasty) + S (singular) + TEST (international match) |
||
| 9D | STYLI | Somewhat hasty litigious writers (5)
hidden word, i.e. somewhat, in ‘haSTY LItigious’ |
||
| 10D | STUNNER | Balls up by north-eastern Republicans – a beauty! (7)
STUN (nuts, or balls, up) + NE (north-east) + R (Republicans) |
||
| 11D | JACKBOOTS | Small flag attached to chemists, a symbol of fascism? (9)
JACK (small flag) + BOOTS (UK chemist chain) |
||
| 12D | MITTENS | Wear them in winter when love-struck, head to toe (7)
(S)MITTEN, lovestruck, moving head (S) to the toe (for a Down clue) = MITTENS |
||
| 13D | OTHER HALF | Maybe old man‘s for health reforms (5,4)
anag, i.e. reforms, of FOR HEALTH |
||
| 14D | SHORT LEG | Cricketer‘s crusty member (5,3)
SHORT (crusty, terse) + LEG (bodily member) |
||
| 19D | THEME | Subject to chucking ball at hunks endlessly (5)
T( |
||
| 21D | LIST | See 43ac. (4)
see 43A |
||
| 23D | ENLARGE | Pad out and measure regal bust (7)
EN (printing measure) + LARGE (anag, i.e. bust, of REGAL) |
||
| 25D | OBSESSIVE | Neurotic, unstable bosses Cyclops has (9)
OBSESS (anag, i.e. unstable, of BOSSES) + IVE (I’ve, Cyclops has…) |
||
| 26D | END | Balls squeezing middle of penis, so expire? (3)
E_D (Ed Balls, former UK politician) around (squeezing) N (middle letter of peNis) [wouldn’t be a Cyclops Xmas Special without good old Ed Balls!] |
||
| 29D | NICARAGUA | Location of AA curing a drunk (9)
anag, i.e. drunk, of AA CURING A |
||
| 30D | CHILL | Conservative Fanny’s frigidity? (5)
C (Conservative) + HILL (Fanny Hill, literary ‘woman of pleasure’) |
||
| 31D | SHIT | Crap second blockbuster (4)
S (second) + HIT (blockbuster – film, or book) |
||
| 32D | GRAVE | Sombre end of Streeting’s party (5)
G (end of streetingG) + RAVE (party) |
||
| 33D | APRIL | Time to feel sick about president, right? (5)
A_IL (feel ill) around P (president) + R (right) |
||
| 35D | GECKO | Lot of money and coke problem – reptile! (5)
G (a grand, £1000, a lot of money) + ECKO (anag, i.e. problem, of COKE) |
||
| 36D | DOUBT | Reform but … overcome by party mistrust (5)
DO (party) over (for a Down clue) UBT (anag, i.e. reform, of BUT) |
||
| 38D | DEMON | Protest against Nigel’s top villain (5)
DEMO (demonstration, protest) + N (top letter of Nigel) |
||
| 40D | EXPLAIN | Account for being no longer modest (7)
EX (no longer) + PLAIN (modest) |
||
| 41D | ANTI | Not for one getting sex when retired (4)
AN (one) + TI (it, euphemism for S-E-X, retired, or reversed) |
||
| 46D | IMMUNE SYSTEM | Enemy summits disrupted – threatened by HIV (6,6)
anag, i.e. disrupted, of ENEMY SUMMITS |
||
| 48D | KEY | Vital landing-place reported (3)
homophone, i.e. reported – a QUAY, or landing place, can sound like KEY – vital |
||
| 50D | SINAI | Peninsula‘s evil, potential technological threat? (5)
SIN (evil) + AI (Artificial Intelligence, potential technological threat) |
||
| 51D | SIDE | Maybe the right is getting backing of French (4)
SI (is, getting back) + DE (of, French) |
||
| 53D | DISQUIETING | Wallowing in digs, quite vexing (11)
anag, i.e. wallowing, of IN DIGS QUITE |
||
| 55D | SET SPEECH | Chests out, piss imbibed? That’s a feature of party conference! (3,6)
SET S_CH (anag, i.e. out, of CHESTS) around (imbibing) PEE (piss, again) |
||
| 56D | CO-EXISTED | Was at the same time a school without flexible exits (2-7)
CO-E_D (co-educational school) around (without, or outwith) XISTE (anag, i.e. flexible, of EXITS) |
||
| 57D | LIKE A SHOT | Fancy a drop of whisky? Eagerly! (4,1,4)
LIKE (fancy) + A SHOT (a drop of whisky) |
||
| 58D | FAVOURED | Four Dave broadcasts chosen (8)
anag, i.e. broadcast, of FOUR DAVE |
||
| 59D | ILL AT EASE | Embarrassed, getting off with a tormenter (3,2,4)
ILL (off, off-colour) + A + T_EASE (a tormenter) |
||
| 61D | BARBERS | Unkind remarks about ex-monarch – they’re often cutting (7)
BARB_S (unkind remarks) around ER (Elizabeth Regina, former monarch) |
||
| 62D | DAMAGED | Almost curse: “Old and not in good condition!” (7)
DAM( |
||
| 64D | CHIGNON | Nigh impossible to penetrate Tory’s knot of hair (7)
C_ON (Conservative, or Tory) around (penetrated by) HIGN (anag, i.e. impossible, of NIGH) |
||
| 65D | GRATIS | Grand arse is not subject to a charge (6)
G (grand, usually monetary) + RAT (scoundrel, arse) + IS |
||
| 67D | NOOSE | Coming back shortly with energy loophole (5)
NOOS (soon, coming, back) + E (energy) |
||
Thanks for all your blogs MC and Cyclops for another great puzzle. I don’t normally check the blog this early, but 9 1/2 hours (and counting) sitting in a&e meant I needed something to do in the middle of the night.
Deleted my repeat comment
Thanks for the blog and special grid and all the others for many years , enjoy your “retirement” 121 not out .
I decided just to solve clues first , the undefined were very friendly and the final poem went in fairly easily . High quality clues for such a large number .
Just to show I am paying attention , there is the tiniest glitch for STUNNER , Republicans=R .
TFC@1 I hope you have got sorted out .
TFC at #1 – oh dear, sounds grim – I hope things are OK, and also that you had a suitable supply of puzzles to get you through…
Roz at #3 – what a pleasant surprise to see you back – ‘mc_rapper67 121 not out’ in the scorebook…a lovely image! Good spot on the STUNNER(S) – duly corrected…
Hi all. Thanks for the fun I had with this one.
22A troubles me though. BUTT seems to have been used for both wordplay and definition. I didn’t think that was ‘permitted’. Cheers.
Thank you mc_rapper67 for the blogs. I wish I had kept the Private Eyes as having the original Thribb would have been a good start. Instead I ploughed through the clues (maybe as Maskerade was late this year?) and got the first half sorted needing some help with nineties. I can’t recall any clues that I felt to be unfair and many made me smile. This makes it the first Eye jumbo I managed to finish. An impressive feat by Cyclops. I, too, hope all is well with TFC
Thanks Roz at #4. Nice to see you back
Thanks MC at #5 I did 2 Daily Telegraph Toughies and half a Guardian cryptic in between times while waiting.
Arrived at ED (apparently it’s not a&e any more) 7pm last night, got away 8.30 pm this morning. A car collided with my son on his bike and he went right up over the roof on to the road. The car driver and a couple of kindly passers-by got him helped into a nearby church where they rang for an ambulance, then they rang me to let me know what had happened. The expected wait for the ambulance was up to 5 hours when I arrived but as the hospital is only 40 minutes away and my son had started to become more coherent we cancelled the ambulance and I took him in the car. He was assessed right away but then the long wait started. The final results, eventually, were blood ok (no internal bleeding etc), x-ray ok (nothing broken), CT scan ok (no head injuries) so apart from a few grazes and bruises he’s going to be fine. Thanks for all your concern. An eventful evening to be sure. And now, as Zebedee would say, it’s time for bed.
Thanks to Cyclops for another excellent puzzle and to mc_r for another top notch blog (and 25th anniversary congratulations too). It will be interesting to see your successor develop into the role.
Nick @ 6 Crosswords have conventions not rules, so while double duty is generally frowned upon it isn’t outlawed.
Thanks for all the blogs MC. I don’t often comment these days – time zone thing as I read them at breakfast your next day – but I do always read them.
Of course thanks to Cyclops as well – I always enjoy the Eye crossword. I think this set of clues was more approachable than many others.
Indeed, Simon @9
Wasn’t that pleased with EXTREMITY- not sure the clue works since BUTT has to do double duty (and is barely an extremity)
Thanks for this valedictory Eye blog mc_rapper and for all the others before – but look forward to seeing you again on the G Prize soon – another remarkable Xmas special from Cyclops, agree that the clueing of the subject was generous and this helped me to deduce the ‘perimeter’ while away, with no need to wait for a dig through the pile at home. I was surprised that TENACIOUSNESS is a word (Tenacity would seem to do the same job more elegantly) but it’s in Collins online so fair enough. All the best for 2026 to everyone, FatController what a relief that outcome must be, I hope that is all the time you (or anyone here) spends in such a location this year.
Thanks mc_rapper for the many blogs!
Had fun with this one, took a couple of sittings but managed to complete before Xmas day. Only vaguely knew of Mr Bird but the name, profession and full quote were all gettable from the crossing letters.
Similarly unsure on BUTT doing double duty, though Porphyro I’m happy with it being an extremity, e.g. the butt of a stick. Was also dubious re tenaciousness vs tenacity. Finally had to look up CHIGNON (having deduced it from the clue/crossers first).
Thanks Cyclops!
Ugh –
I was so pleased with myself for solving all of this over the hols but having decided to double check today realise that I mis-guessed the poem as follows:
That’s over that was your catchphrase, and now it is sadly you KID NOT MADE it through the nervous nineties to a century.
So annoyingly close! (And somehow I prefer my version…)
Very many thanks to you mc for the efforts over the years. A great puzzle and thanks to Cyclops for a gargantuan effort again….this is my favourite puzzle of all.
I would like to echo the thanks of the other posters to mc_rapper67. I’ve certainly learnt a lot along the way and had some laughs as well.
Great crossword from Cyclops as usual.
I marked 17a, 60a 10d and 23d as favourites.
I’m one of those who keeps back copies for the Christmas puzzle. Hats off to those who complete without that safety net.
Thanks for the further comments, and kind words – regulars like Franko, Winsor, Gazzh, and a few other less regular names – Saaaam, Mystogre.
Much appreciated, as usual, and I’m sure you will be equally supportive to the new kid on the block!
A belated thank you mc_rapper; I am in Bahrain and only received the Christmas special by snail mail a week ago. I rarely post online but do visit this blog every fortnight to check the parsing and when/if stuck. Wishing everyone a safe and healthy 2026.
Thanks for this, and all the previous blogs! Three off finishing, but very much enjoyed your spelling out loud so as not to cause ructions in 41D..