Clues by Tramp and Grid by Calluna
Theme: Marlon Brando (born April 3rd, 1924)
The winner of the April puzzle is Joe Gage of London.
Review of the April 2024 3D crossword
A bigger puzzle this month at 9 x 5 x 5 and 38 entries, allowing for more and longer words. A good mix of thematic content makes this a puzzle we can’t — well, I’m getting ahead of things.
The vocabulary didn’t hit too many uncommon (for crosswords at least) words. The thematic content should mostly be familiar even if the solver hasn’t seen the films in question. Exploring the greatest hits of one of the most iconic actors in Hollywood history should lead to some familiar characters.
Day 4 brings us an anagram to reach APOCALYPSE NOW (the director’s name helps a lot with that, in both ways). We have KURTZ at 19. And SURFS at 36, which we know “Charlie don’t.”
Giving us a Coppola double-feature, Day 15 gives us the GODFATHER, which I had to reverse engineer, but “goather(d)” is a good start on that word! 11 brings us CORLEONES and 27, MR. MUMBLES.
Other clues of note were Day 14, which had an evocative surface for a lexically interesting word, and 20 which has an explicit enough clue to help with a possibly unfamiliar word.
The pictorial clue is a 1000 amidst a bunch of Ed Sheerans — but explicitly not “the best” one. So it’s the WOR(M)SE EDS, as in Day 37.
The bonus for the month was found in the yellow cells of the puzzle which could be used to spell I’M GONNA MAKE HIM AN OFFER HE CAN’T REFUSE, a line spoken by our subject as Don Vito Corleone in the Godfather.
Fortunately, “our thing” is crosswords and not running a criminal empire or a clandestine operation in a warzone. This puzzle delivers the goods with a minimal amount of flak. But now I do want some cannoli.
ab
Grid solution
Visual clue
The number 1000 sits amongst several portraits of Ed Sheeran. The first Ed is captioned ‘THE BEST’ and crossed out, leaving therefore Eds which are worse. Using the Roman numeral for 1000, we get:
M in WORSE EDS = WORMSEEDS
Clues and explanations
Thematic solutions are indicated with an asterisk.
| Day | Solution | Direction, Clue, Count | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ABACI | 25up After burglary a curator is primarily counting frames (5) | First letters |
| 2 | ADAGE | 21up Saw Bill grow old (5) | AD + AGE |
| 3 | ALARM | 25to Fear of gangster with weapon (5) | AL + ARM |
| 4 | APOCALYPSE NOW* | 13ac,16to Terrible extremes in army — Coppola’s new film (10,3) | {A[rm]Y + COPPOLASNEW}* |
| 5 | ARCHAISMS | 27ba Old-fashioned styles of cars: has Mini on the outside crashed? (9) | CARSHASM[in]I* |
| 6 | ARIES* | 13to Sign of decay, canine at the front extracted (5) | [c]ARIES |
| 7 | ARSES | 27up American 34 dropping round: cheeky things (5) | A + R[o]SES |
| 8 | AYAHS | 15to Baby regularly has upset carers (5) | [b]A[b]Y + HAS* |
| 9 | CHIRR | 6d Cricket’s sound? Clubs welcome bishop (5) | C + HI + RR |
| 10 | CHYME | 26up Short hymn in church, it comes through internal organ? (5) | HYM[n] in CE |
| 11 | CORLEONES* | 6ac Family of film and screen legend initially shot with two rounds (9) | SCREENL[egend]OO* |
| 12 | DEIGN | 22up Be condescending of one European, we hear (5) | Homophone of DANE |
| 13 | DESKS | 5aw Kelvin, Sun journalist’s, written about society for parts of newspaper? (5) | <{K+S+ED} + S |
| 14 | DIZZINESS | 8ac Light-headed feeling from day: I repeatedly must get head around endless sleep (9) | D + II + NESS around ZZ[z] |
| 15 | GODFATHER* | 23ba One might look after kids, briefly minding daughter: fine role-model? (9) | GOATHER[d] around (D + F) |
| 16 | GONGS* | 23up Awards with crowds: American going for Oscar (5) | G{A/O}NGS |
| 17 | IMITATION | 12ac Fake’s defect, not large (9) | [L]IMITATION |
| 18 | KNELL | 2d King and his mistress getting ring (5) | K + NELL |
| 19 | KURTZ* | 2aw King by upper-class, posh establishment — not one character in 13ac,16to (5) | |
| 20 | LEHRS | 17aw In French, the hog’s head roasts on both sides in ovens (5) | LE + H[og] + R[oast}S |
| 21 | LUNGE | 4aw Waste time, out of oxygen for dive (5) | L[o]UNGE |
| 22 | MAGMA | 20aw Hot stuff appearing in two magazines, briefly (5) | MAG + MA[g] |
| 23 | MARBLED | 19up,4ac Male and Mary, without clothes, ran out and streaked (7) | M + [m]AR[y] + BLED |
| 24 | MASON | 18up Lodger turning up in the morning with boy (5) | <MA + SON |
| 25 | MEDIC | 19aw Detective with Morse on vacation caught one working on cases? (5) | M[orse]E + DI +C |
| 26 | MOWED | 20up Money due is cut (5) | M + OWED |
| 27 | MR MUMBLES* | 20ba Sinatra’s star nickname? Blue Eyes — singer ultimately performing with three mikes (2,7) | {BLUE[eye]S[singe]R + MMM}* |
| 28 | NAEVI | 3aw Birthmarks? Tramp’s one for review (5) | <{IVE A N} |
| 29 | OLIVE | 14to Stone, perhaps mostly in this fruit? (5) | OLIVE[r] {Stone} |
| 30 | RACED | 1aw Did chase one in road (5) | ACE in RD |
| 31 | REICH | 7d Wealthy going around East German state (5) | E in RICH |
| 32 | REIFY | 10aw Make real fire around end of day (5) | FIRE* + [da]Y |
| 33 | REKINDLED | 1ac Aroused again — liked red negligee, primarily for excitement (9) | LIKEDREDN[egligee]* |
| 34 | ROSES | 1d Wine and special flowers (5) | ROSE + S |
| 35 | STAND | 24up Rub-down, covering front of torso and stomach (5) | SAND around T[orso] |
| 36 | SURFS | 24to Travels across sea, having picked up slaves (5) | Homophone of SERFS |
| 37 | WORMSEEDS | 11ba Plants in line, put back with minute roots (9) | <ROW + M (minute) + SEEDS (roots) |
| 38 | ZOOMS | 9d Monkey at first goes into caged areas and moves quickly (5) | M[onkey] in ZOOS |
| Easter egg | MARLON BRANDO | Yellow cells (6,6) | |
| Easter egg | I’M GONNA MAKE HIM AN OFFER HE CAN’T REFUSE | Orange cells (2,5,4,3,2,5,2,4,6) | Famous line said by Marlon Brando playing Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather |
Solvers’ comments
Got the theme and the Easter eggs very quickly. Very enjoyable but solving the puzzle is difficult and the hints didn’t really help except confirmed the answers. Still cant find where the error is. [RC]
Oh my! What a clever puzzle! Lots of great film references. I just love the way these 3Ds unfold gradually, with satisfying light bulb moments that happen along the way … The photo of the old-style street-car was a bonus reference – I can still hear Brando yelling “Hey, Stellllaaaa!” in the film version of the brilliant, angst-ridden, simmering Tennessee Williams’ play. All praise to Tramp and Calluna for an April offering that was full of delights. [And for once, I saw how the “EDS” in the visual clue from Frank Paul worked, so I felt happy that I had a full solve.] [JA]
A title shot rather than a one-way ticket to Palookaville. [NI]
An enjoyable puzzle whose theme we got after solving 11 CORLEONES, which nudged us to 15 GODFATHER. As usual, some new words for me so another tick there 🙂 We’re unsure about the parsing for DESKS, and haven’t worked out how to use the Ed Sheeran (presumably) heads in Frank Paul’s visual clue, so looking forward to the newsletter. Thank you Tramp and Calluna. [CW]
Thanks to Calluna and Tramp for an entertaining puzzle 🙂 [RS]
I’m not sure that the quote asked for in this month’s puzzle is my favourite from Marlon Brando in one of his films. This was brought home to me rather indirectly after a conversation with my old friend Terry earlier in the year. Apparently, for years, he had been wanting to work in a pub. But his wife, Edie said no every time. Why? She said he would be home late and tired, drunk or both and what pleasure would there be for her in bed that night? Well then he retired and his leaving party that evening was so raucous that he did indeed arrive home late, tired, and drunk. But he took her to bed and, as they say, a good time was had by all. In the morning she apologised for refuting his wishes over all those years. He turned to her and smiling he said Darling he said I coulda been a bartender. [GS]
A fun workout, and the background picture was a witty extra clue. [RP]
Love those films, loved the crossword. [RE]
Well crafted, interesting puzzle. Good range of connections to the theme. [JP]
On a roll after March’s puzzle, I started this early on my hard copy of the calendar. Now I can’t remember a lot about it so hoping that there aren’t too many errors! Looking forward to an explanation of the picture as I do like the word ‘wormseeds’. Thanks as always for the entertainment. Third time lucky now I have surfs rather than serfs. [HH]
Good! Interesting theme, some chewy clues so it took a bit of thought to work it all out which makes it more fun. Most clues very clear and fair as you’d expect from Tramp. Didn’t know CHYME, LEHRS, or WORMSEEDS and as usual couldn’t make sense of the picture clue. Thanks to Tramp and Calluna. [JC]
Great stuff as always from Tramp, a few new-to-me words, so an education and even a chuckle thrown in as I didn’t know about the Mr Mumbles thing. Marvellous. [SC]
I really enjoyed it. [LA]
Nice grid and some nice clues. I hadn’t heard of 27. [MJ]
Good fun – hope I’m a contender! [TH]
Loved it, some cheeky clues but all gettable. Saw the theme quite easily despite (shamefully) having never seen any of the referenced films. Hat tip to Frank for the Eds Sheeran rebus. Thank you. [JT]
Enjoyable, with some rare entries and a favourite theme👌 Nice one👍😀 [MN]
Brilliant puzzle, really enjoyed it, thanks. [MD]
Wonderful, really enjoyed this one still lots to do to finish once the theme revealed itself. Thank you Tramp and Calluna. [GW]
This was a very satisfying puzzle to solve. Two of the thematic entries in particular (Corleones and Godfather) led inexorably to the name hidden in the yellow cells, but the long anagram in the orange cells took me a while to think of (or work out). I think it was the three F’s (in ‘offer’ … ‘refuse’!) that helped me to get it, along with the enumeration, no doubt. [AB]
Another theme which has widened my knowledge base, thank you! [SF]
Great tribute to a great actor. Coulda been a contender Mr Christian. [JM]
Although the theme was a bit too obvious at first glance, I discovered a lot I didn’t know about it, so thanks – I saw a great deal of thematic material and probably missed even more. Some delightful punning in many clues, and other apparently simple clues were sometimes hard to solve. I didn’t think it was quite clear which was the answer in 36 – I can try both ways round but if I’ve made another mistake I’ll be struggling!! [EF]
Some pleasing clues in this enjoyable challenge. [JB]
Nice puzzle, interesting to research. [JM]
😎👍 [DM]
I’d never heard of wormseeds but the visual clue got me there. [PD]
Took us a long time to identify the theme, but a good set of clues that we were able to parse for most of the answers. [J&JH]
I struggled with this one to find the theme. Eventually I found it and all was explained. Some different clues and the usual sprinkling of words I didn’t know. A really good puzzle which I thoroughly enjoyed. [MP]
Getting trickier now! [HJ]
The curse of the misremembered quote. I had it in mind as the rather straightlaced, and ill-directed, ‘I am going to make you …’ and that doesn’t fit the letter count. Went through many other Brando quotes before the lightbulb moment. [PA]
Well, I certainly learned a few new words from this – but generally solvable from the wordplay. I have never forgotten my first impression of Marlon Brando as a teenager when the school hired a copy of “Julius Caesar” to show to our ‘O’ Level group – and we all (girls school) instantly fell in love with him as Mark Antony – though I have to say that James Mason as Brutus came a close second. The critics were more scathing, I seem to remember, on the grounds that neither were Shakespearean actors and their delivery was terrible! [SB]
Tricky and interesting theme. Not sure of the parsing on 11 or 16. Nice one. [SB]
By coincidence I was doing this one while watching On The Waterfront, which might have given me a little helping hand in spotting the references! (Possibly not a complete coincidence though, as I suspect the film was on the BBC in the first place due to the same centenary.) [JG]
An aesthetically very pleasing puzzle, from the beautiful streetcar image, to Frank Paul’s clever picture clue (which unusually helped me cross-check the actual clue, which I was not 100% sure about — it’s usually the other way round!), to the lovely images conjured up by the precise, sometimes very funny clues. Thank you, Tramp and Calluna. [MS]
Really fun puzzle – satisfying to uncover the Brando references in the solutions. Quite a few tricky ones to parse. Thanks to all. [BS]
Supoib! [DB]
Interesting and good clues. [NC]