Solving time: 15 mins, one missing (3dn)
Another puzzle with an epic answer, this time 14 words long (perhaps certain compilers at the Guardian are having a bit of a competition?), and beautifully integrated with all the parts symmetrically placed. I didn’t know the song, which made the whole puzzle a difficult solve for me, not assisted by initial wrong answers at 22dn and 27dn and a knowledge gap at 3dn.
Music: The ‘theme’ song linked to below is pretty dreadful, so 15dn wins: It Takes Two by Marvin Gaye and Kim Weston.
* = anagram, “X” = sounds like ‘X’.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 10 | HELL + O – 666 is the Devil’s number. |
| 11 | TAIGA; “TIGER” – I think Colchester Zoo has a ‘Tiger Taiga’. |
| 13 | MAYFAIR; “MAY FARE” (‘could do’) |
| 14 etc | IF I SAID YOU HAD A BEAUTIFUL BODY WOULD YOU HOLD IT AGAINST ME? (cryptic definition) – a song by the Bellamy Brothers, apparently from a quote by Groucho Marx. |
| 19 | SUE, from USE (= ’employment’) |
| 20 | ‘TWEEN; TWEE (= ‘showing sentimentality’) + [mila]N – hard clue with a very well disguised definition (“Inter [Milan]…”). |
| 22 | BAKLAVA; “BACK” + LAVA |
| 26 | STAIR; A[dult] in STIR (= prison). |
| 28 | [a]UNTIE[s] |
| Down | |
|---|---|
| 1 | A BIT THIN (two defs, one cryptic) |
| 2,4 | FAMILY AFFAIR (cryptic definition) – I was stuck on this and only resolved the top left by postulating BEAUTIFUL at 9ac. |
| 3 | OTTAVA RIMA; rev. of (Mira + VAT + TO) + A – a type of verse in poetry, I didn’t know it and guessed ‘straba sina’ which just about fits the wordplay, provided you accept that ‘rising’ can be an anagram indicator. |
| 5 | FLE(A BIT)E |
| 7 | FL (= ‘floruit’ = ‘flourished’) + A TRACE |
| 13 | MARRY (double definition) |
| 15 | IT TAKES TWO; (KEATS TO WIT)* |
| 18 | BOU(QUE)TS |
| 22 | BET + IDE – I originally wrote in ‘betray’ here which I knew wasn’t quite right, but it fit the wordplay so well I didn’t stop to think. This made solving the long song title a real struggle. ‘Beautiful bear’? ‘Beautiful boat’? ‘Beautiful beak’? |
| 23 | ABACUS; AC in A BUS |
| 24/8 | YOUR MOVE (two defs) |
| 25 | O + V(ERR)IDE – ‘overrule’ didn’t help me here. |