Clues and Grid by Komorník
Theme: 2025
Winner: Dave Miller of Stoke-on-Trent
Review of the June Extra 2025 3D crossword
We have an unusual shape for this Extra puzzle. It’s sort of 6x3x5 but with gutters so words can be written around the separate pieces. (There’s a better description but that’s the answer so we’ll come back to it.) There are pink and yellow shaded squares and more clues than we need to fill everything, so there should be a higher than normal number of checks.
Unlike most months, this grid has a lot of 3-letter entries, including many of our usual crossword friends — and a new one, to me at least. I had to check EME, an archaic word for uncle. What a handy 3-letter word to know! With the loose grids usually found in UK cryptics, any old letter would do in the middle, but there are times when this could be a life-saver. And here it is reused in another, longer word, SCHEMELESS, fully containing the word and obviating its clue (well, not quite, it turns out). But what fun would that be? We want to solve more clues, don’t we?
There are a few proper nouns that may present difficulty, but their cluing is straightforward. My favorite of these is 3, which depends on the solution to 2. Taking AGA (another 3-letter friend!) around cLeAnIt to produce AGLAIA. The MAiden LAdies GAve charade for MALAGA is quite nice as well.
TRIPOS is, as usual, clued as the exam and not the Amiga operating system. One of these days my OG Amiga status will come in handy (instead of just showing how old I am).
Throughout the cluing is smooth, but I had some difficulty with 23. The parts are certainly there (CHESS, EME, L, S) but the reading is a bit awkward. It seems to be S + L in CHESS all about EME, which parses but makes a better surface than wordplay. But I am a sucker for a good surface reading and this one is nice.
But what of all the colored spaces and the mystery phrase that pays? The yellow spaces clearly spell SQUARING, and we are told that if we are competent SUMMERs that EXE and EQUALS will lead us in the right direction. In this case, it means E x (times) E. The description of the grids desired is THREE BY THREE BY FIVE BY THREE BY THREE BY FIVE. If we take that as multiplication rather than mere dimensions and adjacency, we get 2025, as in AD2025 (nearly) spelled out by the pink squares.
I found this a breezy diversion that made an excellent addition — or multiplication — to this year’s calendar… I mean — product!
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Grid solution
Background image
The backdrop to this month’s puzzle of is Crowded Times Square by So Fuego Productions (CC0 1.0 licence). The snake lurking in the corner of the clues page is a reference to 2025 being the Year of the Snake in the Chinese calendar.
Clues and explanations
| Day | Solution | Clue | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ADJACENT | 2to,1d,17aw By this time, jet can fly (8) | by. AD + [JET CAN]* – |
| 2 | AGA | 9ac Baker from Madagascar’s not “manic Mark” (3) | Baker. madAGAscar |
| 3 | AGLAIA | 21up,5d-2 Foregoing solution – clean it regularly inside – beauty personified (6) | beauty personified. cLeAnIt in AGA One of the Three Graces, embodying beauty |
| 4 | AME | 9aw Spirit that gives one third degree? (3) | Spirit. A + ME (third degree of musical scale) |
| 5 | ASP | 21aw This is venomous couple, Aesop lets slip (3) | This is venomous. AeSoP |
| 6 | DESIRE | 1ac,5ac Want some French passion? (6) | Want. DES + IRE |
| 7 | ELM | 15to Veneer perhaps found in carriage (LMS) (3) | Veneer perhaps. carriagE LMs |
| 8 | EME | 7ac Old sibling of parent with energy – me! (3) | Old sibling of parent. E + MEObs./Scottish uncle |
| 9 | ENTIRE | 17aw,5ac Not completely abstinent, I return, stout, from the brewery (6) | stout, from the brewery. hidden – unusual definition in Chambers |
| 10 | EQUALS | 17ac,21ac Fellows squeal painfully (6) | Fellows. SQUEAL* |
| 11 | EQUINE | 15ba,12ba Unrequited heart north-east of Copenhagen? (6) | of Copenhagen? unrEQUIted + NEref. horse of the Duke of Wellington |
| 12 | EQUIP | 7d Fit rejoinder from blogger perhaps (5) | Fit. E-QUIP |
| 13 | EXE | 8to Water that moves earth by itself (3) | Water that moves. E x EUK river |
| 14 | HAS | 4to Cheats, concealing odds? (3) | & lit. alternate letters cHeAtS |
| 15 | IDE | 5aw Almost thought one is “chubby” (3) | “chubby”. IDEa |
| 16 | IRISH | 20up One is grasped in right hand, like Guinness (5) | like Guinness. I + IS in RH |
| 17 | LAM | 13ac He fails to complete west-bound escape from NY (3) | escape from NY. MALe rev. |
| 18 | LOU | 13aw Short man or woman also out occasionally (3) | Short man or woman. aLsO oUt |
| 19 | MAGAZINE | 11AC Spooner’s one abruptly switching “average” woman and home, perhaps? (8) | woman and home, perhaps. Zagger mean Spoonerism |
| 20 | MALAGA | 14ba,10ba Couple of maiden ladies gave home to modern artist (6) | home to modern artist. opening pairs of letters of MAiden LAdies GAveNative city of Picasso |
| 21 | NAZIR | 16up-2,10aw,12d-2 Court official once swapped extreme terms in appearance Down Under (5) | Court official once. NZ air with A and Z swappedFormerly an Indian magistrate |
| 22 | SAD | 3to Strauss (about Danube, initially): “It’s Blue” (3) | Blue. initial letters of Strauss About Danube |
| 23 | SCHEMELESS | 3ac,7ac,8d Having no plan, about 8 seconds left in game (10) | Having no plan. [S + EME (Day 8) + L] in CHESS |
| 24 | SLEPT | 3d What Christ and angels did then, amid a falling-out of warring Stephen and Matilda? (5) | What Christ and angels did then. (STEPHEN + MATILDA)* minus (THEN AMID A)*Ref. period 1135-1154 in England – famous contemporary comment |
| 25 | SOP | 24ba Note on piano reduction for high voice? (3) | high voice. SO P Abbr of soprano |
| 26 | SUMMER | 22up,6ba-2 Heat may be expected from this one going to court to secure thousands (6) | Heat may be expected from this. MM in SUER |
| 27 | SUS | 24to Loitering with intent perhaps in Louisiana perhaps (3) | Loitering with intent perhaps. Southern US |
| 28 | TRIPOS | 19ac,23ac “Sit” this is perhaps end of Churchill’s training (6) | Cryptic defintion. Ref. to dog Churchill once appearing in TV advertisements + ref examination at Cambridge University |
| 29 | UNAUS | 18up They do very little in many countries – and a big one (5) | They do very little. UN + AUS Two toed sloths |
| 30 | UZI | 18aw Ulna zapped in opening stages, damaging arm (3) | damaging arm. Initial lettersof Ulna Zapped In |
| Easter Egg | THREE BY THREE BY FIVE BY THREE BY THREE BY FIVE | A suitable if wordy replacement for the pink cells (5,2,5,2,4,2,5,2,5,2,4) | ADZOZS (pink cells) = AD 2025 |
Solvers’ comments
Wow! That works on so many levels. Great concept, lovely clues. Particularly days 15 and 29. Thank you. [JT]
Trickier than some. Some interesting words. 4 puzzling. 20 would better say “couples”. 21 presumably NZ air with AZ swap; over-complicated. 21 UN = many countries? [MJ]
Nicely calculated [J&JH]
This one had me spinning in circles for a few days, but was very satisfying to figure out what was going on with those pesky Zs! Uncertain about a couple parsings so I’m extra grateful for a small grid with plenty of overlap. 😉 Thanks, Komorník! [MS]
An interesting puzzle and grid with so many 3 letter words. Thanks to Komornik. [GW]
A lovely bonus with some real ‘doh’ moments and a couple of solutions for which I can’t quite explain the wordplay. It was a very satisfactory moment when the penny finally dropped and I realised what the theme of the puzzle was!! [SB]
I hadn’t noticed that this year was a square. What an elegant conceit! [NI]
I have no idea what the pink cells indicate. [KD]
Very enjoyable! [MH]
Almost got me there. Took me a few to figure those pink squares out. [AB]
A very pleasing mathematical theme and some great clues for little words. I enjoyed 13, 15 and 24, once I knew what the surface was all about. [DR]
The prime factorisation took some time to come to mind! [RS]
Some fiendishly difficult little clues, and three letter answers are always a lot harder than longer ones, especially when many are quite obscure or unusual, as is the case here. I must have reread the instructions over a dozen times before they began to make some sense, and I’m still not sure I really understand what the main theme is, nor the occasion, nor if my Easter egg or my pink cells are correct, nor what the letters refer to! So if by some miracle I have solved this fully, I’ll have to wait for the post-mortem analysis to see how. [MS]
Difficult [RL]
I was in the act of seconding an appeal in the comments section for some help with this when I noticed the significance of some of the pink squares, and think I have probably cracked it! Don’t understand all of the clues but the amount of cross-checking is helpful and the whole is a beautiful conception and execution (if I’m right!) [EF]
The puzzle was solved with the usual nice mix of words some new to me. However I struggled with finding the phrase. Once I realised what it was it was obvious! I hadn’t noticed that 2025 was a square. [MP]
Phew! Not sure how we got there, but hopefully we have! A Komornik special …. [SF]
Very convoluted and quite a few obscure words. I hope I understood what the easter egg was after. Was expecting to explain the replacing of the letters. [JC]
I thought I had it figured out but evidently not. Tough puzzle! [JS]
I found this quite a struggle for some reason. Maybe it’s the heat! Look forward to seeing the solution. Thanks, Komornik! [RS]
I had forgotten that 2025= 45 squared following 2024=44×46 [DM]