Clues by Paul and Grid by Absolution
Theme: 100 Years of Mel Brooks’ Parts (b. June 28, 1926)
Winner: Andie Johnson of Idaho
Review of the June 2026 3D crossword
Whenever I come across a puzzle in which Paul is involved, I know I am in for a treat, but let me begin by giving a huge shout-out to my fellow 3D puzzle reviewer, Absolution. All too often, it is easy to underestimate the role of the grid designer in producing a memorable puzzle, but this was indeed a super grid: the 7x5x5 is becoming increasingly popular amongst designers because it enables a good range of seven- and five-letter words without any snakes, which was the case here. If the price to pay for the absence of snakes is the odd obscure entry (BEERA, TOVAH), then so be it. What marks this grid out for special commendation, however, is that Absolution manages to weave the theme into every single layer of the grid, including tiers two and four, which gives the puzzle a pleasing coherence.
The designer is, of course, also responsible for filling in all the lights and building in the theme, which on this occasion proved to be very topical. There have been plentiful references this month on social media to the hundredth birthday of Mel Brooks, accompanied by hilarious snippets from his best-known films. (One short scene from Blazing Saddles involving Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder — the one with the KKK — makes me laugh out loud every time I see it). The photograph in the calendar (dipping honey) is a clever indicator of the subject’s first name. Several of his film titles emerge in this puzzle through what I can only describe as a masterclass of clueing.
When I am reviewing a puzzle, I usually place an asterisk next to a clue I wish to single out for special mention, but in my notes this month there are eighteen asterisks! So, just to give you a flavour: Paul likes to use homophones but will often add a humorous flourish: IDAHO (I’d a hoe), B-FLAT (bee flat), LUIGI (loo wee gee!), LADER (American pronunciation of ‘later’). A Paul question mark or exclamation mark will often warn the solver of a cryptic element that is either a little risqué, such as GOING (‘taking the piss?’), or ingeniously enigmatic, such as BLAZING SADDLES (‘behind incinerators?’), or indicative of a partial composite anagram such as YOUNG (‘Decrepit guy? No – far from it!’) or a composite anagram — my personal favourite this month — VODKA (‘Clear spirit that has one out of it?’). How brilliant is that? If we did have a prize for clue of the year, this would be in the running for me.
In clue after clue, we can smile at an impressive example of the setter’s art and his control of language: PEARL (‘Cherished item, ring adorning finger finally’), SPACE BALLS (‘Yogurt appears in this capacity with nuts’), DRACULA (‘Funny character recalled, father has left me a novel’), GUESS (‘Imagine beer but no pub’). Just one clash for me: UKASE — although the clue reads beautifully (‘Ruling Britain a struggle in the extreme’), I cannot agree that Britain is synonymous with the UK. One admission too: Frank Paul has foxed me this month, so I am looking forward to his solution.
To wrap up the puzzle, apart from MEL BROOKS, solvers are required to identify two of his titles: one that is jumbled in the shaded cells (History of) THE WORLD PART I and one that ‘can be read,’ as mentioned above in tier two, (Young) FRANKENSTEIN. Thank you, Paul and Absolution, for a marvellous puzzle — worth the cost of the annual subscription on its own.
Whilst on the subject of thanks, I had the pleasure of attending the annual prize-giving lunch in May and would like to extend my heartfelt appreciation to Nora Boswell for all her organisation. It was also a pleasure to meet some of the younger crossword setters who are emerging as talents. Tune in to my review in August for more on this topic.
KM
Grid solution
Visual clue
Blooming Heck! Is that a naughty indirect anagram?! Well it’s certainly a minced oath. Surrounding the victory sign, it gives us:
V inside OATH* = TOVAH
Background image
The backdrop to this month’s puzzle by Steve Buissinne (Pixabay) is of streams of honey, or in other words, Mel Brooks.
Clues and explanations
Thematic solutions are indicated with an asterisk.
| Day | Solution | Clue | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AMPED | 9to Badly made piano made louder (5) | Made louder. P in MADE* |
| 2 | APPRISE | 5ac Brief announcement of an Oscar, for example (7) | Brief. Homophone of “a prize” |
| 3 | BEERA | 24up Cold one, a son of Zophah (5) | Son of Zophah. BEER A |
| 4 | B-FLAT | 8d Note insect that’s been swatted by one’s ear? (1-4) | Note. Homophone of “bee” FLAT |
| 5 | BLABS | 8to Windsor has gagged the ultimate in royal gossips (5) | Gossips. royaL in BABS (Barbara) |
| 6 | BLAZING SADDLES* | 8ac,1ac Feature behind incinerators? (7,7) | Feature. Cryptic definition |
| 7 | DESKS | 2d Sections of newspaper, Daily Express supplements kinda salacious, originally (5) | Sections of newspaper. First letters of Daily Express Supplements Kinda Salacious |
| 8 | DRACULA* | 14ac Funny character recalled, father has left me a novel (7) | Novel. CARD< (pa)UL A |
| 9 | GOING | 25up Oscar, say, one snaffled – for taking the piss? (5) | Taking the piss. I in GONG |
| 10 | GUESS | 11to Imagine beer, but no pub (5) | Imagine. GU(inn)ESS |
| 11 | HISTORY* | 18ac Word on introduction to book – or play? (7) | play? HI STORY, e.g. Shakespeare’s histories |
| 12 | HURTS | 18up In speech, German scientist proves offensive? (5) | Prove offensive. Homophone of “Hertz” |
| 13 | I AM WELL | 17ba Bedridden? Wonder about medicine initially when tucked in – no need for that, setter declares! (1,2,4) | Extended definition – No need for that, setter declares! [M(edicine) in AWE] in ILL |
| 14 | IAMBI | 10d Muscular hero discovered chained by two feet (5) | Feet. I rAMBo I |
| 15 | IDAHO | 17to State where I was prepared to do some gardening, shortly? (5) | State. I’D A HOe |
| 16 | IN USE | 7d Live wires unintentionally grasped when thrown over (2,3) | Live. Hidden in (wirES UNIntentionally)< |
| 17 | LADER | 15to Stevedore eventually crossing the Atlantic, reportedly? (5) | Stevedore. How an American might pronounce “later” |
| 18 | LITHO | 3d Stone wall: it holds bricks in (5) | Stone. Hidden in walL IT HOlds |
| 19 | LUIGI | 3aw Plumber animated, finding urine well behind toilet, did you say? (5) | Plumber animated (in Super Mario video game). Homophone of “loo wee gee” |
| 20 | MOUNT | 16to Increase indefinite number in trap that’s not closed (5) | Increase. N in MOUTh |
| 21 | OBELI | 19aw Daggers drawn? (5) | Cryptic definition – † symbol |
| 22 | PEARL | 6d Cherished item, ring adorning finger, finally (5) | Cherished item. fingeR in PEAL |
| 23 | RISOTTO | 12ac Italian dish of ravioli unpacked below for the pizzaiolo? (7) | Italian dish. R(aviol)I SOTTO (Italian for below) |
| 24 | SNOWY | 4d White supremacists’ ovation – socko show – Broadway couldn’t go lower? (5) | White. Final letters of supremacistS ovatioN sockO shoW broadwaY |
| 25 | SPACEBALLS* | 13aw,24to Yogurt appears in this capacity with nuts (10) | this. SPACE (capacity) + BALLS (nuts) Ref. Spaceballs film featuring Mel Brooks as Yogurt |
| 26 | TABLING | 23ac Proposal has Bill married to Heather (7) | Proposal. TAB LING |
| 27 | TOVAH | 23to A very hot, wrinkly Jewish actor’s nickname (5) | Jewish actor’s nickname. (A V HOT)* |
| 28 | UKASE | 22up Ruling Britain a struggle in the extreme (5) | Ruling. UK A StrugglE |
| 29 | VALUER | 21ac He knows picture’s worth viewing, firstly – and what’s to be recast, as a rule (6) | He knows picture’s worth. V + ARULE* |
| 30 | VODKA | 21up Clear spirit that has one out of it? (5) | Clear spirit. VOiD + KA & lit |
| 31 | YOUNG* | 20aw Decrepit guy? No – far from it! (5) | Extended definition – Far from it. (GUY NO)* |
| Easter eggs | MEL BROOKS | Orange cells in layers one and four | The 100-Year Old Man the puzzle is about. |
| THE WORLD PART I | Green cells in the middle layer | What Mel made the HISTORY OF | |
| FRANKENSTEIN | Collector of disused parts (12) | With YOUNG, Young Frankenstein, the title of a film Second layer read left-to-right, back-to-front |
Solvers’ comments
Very clever fitting of thematic elements into the grid construction (notably the positioning of FRANKENSTEIN) while keeping the number of weird/obscure answer words relatively low 🙂 [DW]
I loved it as much as his films. [RE]
Good puzzle, somewhat unusual clues [PB]
Very entertaining, with many appropriately funny clues. [NI]
We have really been enjoying and are in awe of the thematic elements. Made us want to watch the new documentary on Mel brooks! [M&SS]
I love Mel Brooks’ work, so some smiles at memories of the films mentioned, but I found the puzzle a bit of a slog, some winces at the clueing for APPRISE, LADER, LUIGI, and still baffled by the picture clue even after working out the answer. Thanks to Paul, Absolution et al. [JC]
Thanks to Paul and Absolution for a fun challenge. I only knew a little bit about Mel Brooks so it was interesting to find out more. Some unfamiliar words meant it took a while for me to unravel this one. [JA]
Thanks to Paul and Absolution for a fun puzzle. [RS]
Really enjoyed this one. Very much a fan of the centenarian subject. Couple of words were unfamiliar to me but the solutions were all fairly clued. Many thanks to The Producers of the grid and the clues. [JT]
An ingenious puzzle with a centenarian well worth celebrating. We weren’t sure who the subject was until Day 6 – then it was obvious, and a delight. Plenty of thematic pieces, and lots to smile about remembering his films. Plus a couple of trademark Paul-style clues. The Easter Eggs were noteworthy. We were impressed that Mel was in layer 1 and Brooks in 4. Plus, Frankenstein was in order. The letters in layer 3 held us up for a while until the penny dropped and we realised the “I” was in fact a Roman numeral. Thank you Absolution and Paul. [CW]
Tricky parts but enjoyable. Not sure some things are quite right. [SG]
I reckon finding the solution to the green cells took as long to suss as the rest of the puzzle. Man, that was sneaky! Thanks to all for the entertainment. [SC]
Good fun as expected from Paul. [RP]
Good construction to get the second layer in too. 6 gave me the theme, which helped completion. The middle layer anagram took a bit of work. Some nice and some convoluted clues. 9 Does an Oscar qualify as a gong? 15 and 19 puzzling. 24 Can “couldn’t go lower” really mean “last letters”? But as someone once said, if you can solve it, it’s OK. [MJ]
I’ve got the same combination on my luggage! [RL]
A remarkably good grid, given three almost-entirely themed layers – impressive to get several more theme solutions in there with only a couple of obscure words! Good clues, as ever. [HS]
We tried to find some extraordinary anagrams of the green cells, before realising that was just crazy. Other than that, this was a pleasant solve. [DR]
An enjoyable puzzle from Paul which wouldn’t be the same without a little of his toilet humour! I would have solved it sooner if only my goldfish brain had remembered the two ways of listing alphabetically, only recently discussed here. So a ‘doh’ moment when I finally sorted out Days 13 & 14, and then finally the middle layer Easter Egg. [SB]
Blazing saddles was the best clue! [AC]
Wonderful puzzle thanks to Paul and Absolution. Even having got the theme there was still a lot of work to be done. [GW]
Once I got the theme, answers flowed faster. Some imaginative clues! [PD]
Always have fun with Paul! And an impressive grid too. [JG]
Hadn’t realised how old Melv Brookes is when blazing saddles gave it away. I guess I was probably misled by thinking the seven letter word was going to be Dracula rather than history! Haven’t sorted out vodka yet! Part one, part I, part 1 hmmmm! But I guess it had to be. [DM]
A few difficult clues and unknown answers made the solving experience more challenging, yet the puzzle was entertaining throughout. And the search for thematic items was entertaining. Happy 100th Mel! [MG]
A fitting tribute for a comedic pioneer by Paul & Absolution! 🤩 I loved all the layers of thematic components & some very clever clueing. A handful of my favourites were Days 10, 20, 22, 23, & 28 ❤️ [MS]
Great fun, bringing back lots of memories of films that would probably not get made today! Thanks to Paul and Absolution…and to Mr Brooks – 99 not out as I write this… [MC]
A fun puzzle [KD]
Some mean and clever misdirections but I think I’ve got there without Hints and Tips so will submit with a few hanging question marks and fingers crossed. Day 6, although a brilliant clue, gave the game away at once! Dracula was a tiresome red herring as the obvious ‘7-letter answer’ to be associated with an Easter Egg! This file was very fussy about how I could insert that answer!! Despite recent correspondence I wasted inordinate time in thinking that IAMBI could not come after IAMWELL. [EF]
To start with, I found the grid fill pretty difficult, especially as (if I’m correct) answers to days 13 and 14 are not in alphabetical order! Next, I was stumped for a long time, staring at the letters in the middle layer coloured cells and wrongly trying to recreate a role from the film at day 8! Finally, I got there, but have now, alas, torn all of my hair out!😱 [MN]
I don’t understand the Frank Paul picture for this one. [CF]
And as if by magic that 12 letter collector appeared at the end, what joy. [SB]
Good fun to do, enjoyed the extra twists [AR]
Brilliant puzzle thanks [MD]
Hilarious. Not so much the crossword, witty though Paul undoubtedly is, but the films. Putting on the Ritz, anyone? [PA]
A very clever and enjoyable puzzle, and I now know an awful lot more about Mel Brooks films! What a talent. [SF]
Took me longer than normal – Day 17 could be LADER or LODER although LADER is in Colllins and across the pond sounds like Later but STEVEDOREs are LOADERs and LODER is part of the name of a rower across the ATLANTIC – for the Colllins I went with LADER. Thank you. [LB]
Very clever tribute to Mel Brooks. Enjoyable to solve. Thank you. [JB]
Loved it [PS]
I was more grateful than ever for the very generous tips and hints this month! Without the extra clues to the History Easter Egg I would have remained in the dark. Thanks for the challenge! [HH]
Perfect to have the witty and irreverent Paul clue this one on the great Mel Brooks! A really enjoyable romp, like all his films. [MS]
I knew more than I thought about Mel Brooks. Fairly straightforward and restrained for a Paul. Reminds me of a cinema in or near Soho that played films on a loop – you just went in whenever – one time they had a double bill of Monty Python and the Holy Grail with Blazing Saddles. A day’s entertainment! [JC]
I had only recently seen The Producers, so the theme was fairly fresh in my mind. As usual, plenty I didn’t know about the subject previously – the learning makes for an enjoyable experience. [MH]
Happy birthday, Mr. Brooks! I’m glad I don’t have to review this one after that bang-up Hints & Tips column! I didn’t manage to get The Producers in there but I think I got every seven-letter title word except Anxiety. (It was in there originally but it didn’t really work.) I keep trying to up my Easter Egg game because so many just seem to be an afterthought. (Wait ’til you see my next one…) [AB]
Nice one [GS]
Fun, thanks to Paul and Absolution. Long live Mr. B! [JS]
A very happy 100th birthday to Mel Brooks! [CPP]
Love the theme [TC]
A great puzzle from arguably my favourite setter! Seemingly rather impenetrable at first glance, and then slowly started to fall into place. Many thanks and hats off to both setter and designer! [SH]