Clues by Boatman and Grid by Calluna
Theme: Miles Davis, b. May 26th, 1926
Winner: Stephen Baines
Review of the May 2026 3D crossword
A 7 x 5 x 6 grid this month, so longer entries but not more of them. We are told this puzzle marks a centenary and that the shaded squares, which spell two “title”s are elided from the wordplay. As I’ve mentioned before I usually start solving without looking at the grid, but that doesn’t work here. It also doesn’t help that despite one of the colors being blue, it is so pale it’s only, well, kind of blue. I can hardly detect it in some cases. I know we want them light so they don’t interfere with the written answer, but I struggled.
So, where to begin? A quick run through the clues will give some pretty strong hints that we’re talking about Miles Davis on the event of the hundredth anniversary of his birth. The background photo of a milestone is a monumental confirmation.
The thematic content is strong and provides a good backbone for the puzzle. With BITCHES BREW and TRUMPET across checking BEBOP, MILES DAVIS and MILESTONES and BERLIN, CORNET, and PARKER in the third dimension, we’ve got a sturdy base to build on.
Some of the other vocabulary is a bit iffy. FITTE was a necessary evil to get the main entries to work, but HAVERS seems fishy to me (obvious friendlier choices were available, but this had a cute clue).
The clues — once you get past the gimmick — are pretty straight-forward. Because of the colored cells, some anagram clues could have surfaces so smooth they barely register as clues at all. “Massive in improvisation” was my favorite and probably inspired the idea for the gimmick in the first place.
In some cases so many letters were skipped that the wordplay wasn’t terribly useful. The ULE at 14 really needs support from the check, definition and alphabetical order.
Outside the gimmick, 10 was a messy clue that didn’t pay off with a nice surface. But that’s a minor nit.
The easter eggs are KIND OF BLUE (an album title) and PRINCE OF DARKNESS (the maestro’s title). Most of those come from checked letters so you have three chances to get them. I think that easter egg letters are best used to provide checks for otherwise unchecked letters, but in this case their locations affected cluing, so it was more crucial where they fell.
The pictorial clue depicts a circus tent and a decapitated wizard. Ouch. But the “B”ig top + (M)erlin does neatly spell BERLIN. Grisly sideshow though.
With strong thematic content, an interesting and pervasive gimmick and strong cluing, this puzzle is Big Fun and a fine tribute to The Man With a Horn.
ab
Grid solution
Visual clue
A circus marquee, an arrow and a decapitated wizard combine to give the name of a city. Take ‘Big Top’, i.e. the first letter (top) of BIG and use it in place of MERLIN’s head (M) to get:
B(ig) MERLIN = BERLIN
Background image
The backdrop to this month’s puzzle is a milestone by Bernhard Renner (Pixabay).
Clues and explanations
Thematic solutions are indicated with an asterisk.
| Day | Solution | Clue | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BEBOP* | 8to The subject’s early style quietly receiving honour in retrospect (5) | The subject’s early style. P + OBE reversed [B ignored] |
| 2 | BERLIN* | 5d Intensity of sound produced as the subject appeared here (6) | the subject appeared here. BEL (as in decibel) [RIN ignored] Miles in Berlin: live album |
| 3 | BITCHES BREW* | 5ac,8ac-4 Remix of Day 12 in mash of the subject’s title (7,4) | the subject’s title. ETHIC* (Day 12 solution) inside BREW [SB ignored] Studio album |
| 4 | BREWERY | 8ac Where you get beer from a jug knocked back by the yard (7) | Where you get beer from. EWER reversed + Y [BR ignored] |
| 5 | BYPATH | 8d Yes, indifference has no limits, in a roundabout way (6) | a roundabout way. Y + aPATHy [B ignored] |
| 6 | CASKET | 3d Blended teas in caddy? (6) | caddy? TEAS* [CK ignored] |
| 7 | CORNET* | 24up It was used by the subject as composer, evident in extreme pieces (6) | It was used by the subject. ComposeR EvidenT [ON ignored] |
| 8 | DESIST | 4d Break off end of blood blister, say? (6) | Break off. blooD + homophone = CYST [E ignored] |
| 9 | DUSTY | 4aw Sixties diva’s mission (5) | Break off. DUTY [S ignored] |
| 10 | EGOLESS | 17ac Unrest in Los Angeles after expulsion of one pupil in vain? Quite the reverse (7) | vain? Quite the reverse. (LOS ANGELES – AN L)* |
| 11 | ESTOPS | 9d Origin of tunes included in ESP creates legal challenge (6) | legal challenge. T(unes) inside ESP [OS ignored] ESP: Miles Davis album |
| 12 | ETHIC | 10to The problem with Boatman is how to decide what’s right (5) | how to decide what’s right. THE* + I [C ignored] |
| 13 | FITTE | 2aw Obscure part of poem “Sex” by Lawrence (5) | Obscure part of poem. IT + TE [F ignored] |
| 14 | FUDDLE | 25up Starts to use legalese extensively to stupefy (6) | Obscure part of poem. Use Legalese Extensively [FDD ignored] |
| 15 | FUSION* | 2d The subject’s later style in America on one disc (6) | The subject’s later style. US + I + O [FN ignored] |
| 16 | HAVERS | 6d Hesitates to cycle with one using electric power to make short cuts (6) | Hesitates. SHAVER with S cycled to the end |
| 17 | ISOGRAM | 19ac Sulphur (a small amount) forming a line where conditions are equal (7) | a line where conditions are equal. S + GRAM [IO ignored] |
| 18 | LIVENER | 12ba One who adds spirit to international victory sign (7) | One who adds spirit. I + VEE [LNR ignored] |
| 19 | MILES DAVIS* | 16to,15to The subject, massive in improvisation (5,5) | The subject. MASSIVE* [ILD ignored] |
| 20 | MILESTONES* | 16to,14to The subject’s title seems to use variations (10) | The subject’s title. (SEEMS TO)* [ILN ignored] Studio album |
| 21 | PARKER* | 1d The subject’s first leader and equal: he once wore the crown (6) | The subject’s first leader. PAR + ER [K ignored] Charles Parker Jr, aka “Bird” and “Yardbird” |
| 22 | PHOTO | 21to Image visualised in epitaph: tombstone (5) | Image. epitaPH TOmbstone [O ignored] |
| 23 | PO-FACED | 1ac Danced as a Bohemian, heartlessly left out with humourless expression (2-5) | with humourless expression. POLkAED – L [FC ignored] |
| 24 | POTSDAM | 13ac Stomp about the place in Germany (7) | the place in Germany. STOMP* [DA ignored] |
| 25 | PURER | 13to Cleaner is a prude – try overlooking odd characters (5) | Cleaner. PrUdE tRy [R ignored] |
| 26 | RESISTS | 11ac Faces of weird sisters (7) | Faces. SISTERS* |
| 27 | SOLEMN | 7d Grave and dire omen (6) | Grave. OMEN* [SL ignored] |
| 28 | STUMPY | 26up Short of money to get into Animal House (6) | Short. M inside STY [UP ignored] |
| 29 | TOMES | 23to Big books of cats (5) | Big books. TOMS [E ignored] |
| 30 | TRIBE | 20to A related group of people from centres of Antrim and St Bees (5) | A related group of people. anTRim + stBEes [I ignored] |
| 31 | TRUMPET* | 23ba The subject used one to surpass the leading edge of technique (7) | The subject used one. TRUMP + T [E ignored] |
| 32 | UNREEL | 22to,18ba-2 Cheeky leprechaun! Chap goes to take stuff off the bobbin (6) | take stuff off the bobbin. (LEPRECHAUN – CHAP)* |
| Required | KIND OF BLUE | Title – blue cells (4,2,4) | |
| Required | PRINCE OF DARKNESS | Title– orange cells (6,2,8) |
Solvers’ comments
Very clever construction. Cool! [NI]
What a great theme, and an enjoyable puzzle. FITTE was a new word for me, so a tick there. We did have one solution we couldn’t satisfactorily parse, so looking forward to the newsletter for the commentary. Thank you Boatman and Calluna. [CW]
Not my sort of music, but a great puzzle with masses of thematic material. Many thanks, Boatman/Calluna. [TH]
Neat puzzle, and I liked the extra twist of avoiding the coloured cells in the wordplay. Many thanks to Boatman and Calluna. [RS]
A fitting memorial to a great musician [RP]
I have a copy of KoB, but learned more of the subject. Not too tricky, but a few I don’t fully understand: 10, 23, 25. How prescient to get in a mention of Peter Mandelson in the easter eggs. 🙂 [MJ]
I knew very little about this theme as I am not a big fan of jazz, but I still found it clever and enjoyable going down this rabbithole. Thanks to Boatman and Calluna. [JA]
Good clues and tons of thematic material. [PB]
Nice and chewy! Enjoyed the challenge, especially when the penny dropped as to the theme. Got held up a ridiculously long time on ‘ESTOPS’ and ‘EGOLESS’, still not entirely sure of ‘LIVENER’ but no really obscure words and I got the picture clue for a change!! Thanks to all – lots of fun. [JC]
I remember that Boatman last year used the device he also used here whereby certain letters are excluded from the wordplay of several clues. Again, it worked well, adding a bit more spice to the solving process. Kind of Blue was (not surprisingly) the first of the two Easter Eggs to find. I wasn’t aware of the Prince of Darkness label, but it was not hard to work out. [AB]
Nice quick one this month. [AC]
A great crossword celebrating a great artist x [RE]
Very fun spin on amending wordplay to solve clue – nevertheless we do not understand wordplay on day 16?? [MS]
Very enjoyable. Realised I knew very little about the subject, usually prefer something shorter, so I will have a listen and educate myself. I needed Hints and Tips to get the correct solution to 6d, a word I only know from The Proclaimers! Thank you [JT]
First run through didn’t result in that many answers but it slowly gave way with only a few head-scratchy moments. Had to laugh when I googled “Fitte meaning” to check it was something to do with obscure and it came up with a whole bunch of hits regarding the Norwegian translation. Every day’s a schoolday. [ 🫣-Ed] [SC]
Tried David Attenborough first – then Miles Davis came with Milestones that I got cryptically. Enjoyable as always. Thank you. [LB]
An enjoyable challenge to brighten up a dull bank holiday, submitting my answers listening to Kind of Blue! I haven’t managed to parse ‘havers’ and I had wrongly entered ‘estopp’ but solving the anagram brought that error to light. [SB]
Havers nearly beat us! [RS]
Well this was quite a challenge. Thanks to Boatman and Calluna. It took while to get the theme and then the second Easter egg was rather elusive as I thought it was another album title, Doh. [GW]
That was an enjoyable diversion and not as tricky as it promised to be. Wikipedia revealed the full extent of the thematic content for a topic I knew little about. [DR]
Commemorates someone I feel I should know more about, so it wasn’t a chore to scurry around reference works (OK, Wikepedia) to eke out the answers. Maybe I should download days 3 or 20 or {blue cells}. [PA]
Fantastic tribute to the greatest of all jazz pioneers! Some of the clues were such a perfect marriage of wordplay and surface meaning (eg days 1, 2, 19 and 20). It helps that he has some of the most wonderful album titles too. Great excuse to listen to many of them again, and again… [MS]
Very interesting and enjoyable. Took a while to get used to the ‘missing’ letters in wordplay but added interest when you got into it. Don’t fully understand days 7 or 23, but suggested words seem the most likely, so fingers crossed. [EF]
Neat, great subject, enjoyed the investigation and I must dig out some of those titles… [SB]
A witty tribute to a music legend. Great clueing and fun to solve. [MG]
When I saw that the theme involved a centenary, I thought this would be a fitting tribute to David Attenborough, so was thrown off-track for a while. Once I got back on track, I really enjoyed this crossword and everything soon fell into place, with a lot of thematic hints. Thank you again for a very pleasant reason to turn off the TV. 👌 [MN]
Wow! Hard to be sure of solutions when letters not included in wordplay – yet another twist to a 3D puzzle. [JB]
A reasonably straightforward and VERY enjoyable solve — with the clever use of coloured letters being omitted from the wordplay was a fun twist! Many thanks, Boatman & Calluna 🙏🏼 [MS]
Made much tougher by the omission of the blue letters – hard in words like FITTE. But not insurmountable! The photo reminds me of an old joke: “Police in Ireland have found the gravestone of what they believe to be the world’s oldest ever man. He was 173, and he was known as Miles from Dublin.” [HS]
Not a jazz fan, which wasn’t really a problem as clues fell nicely into place. Longer anagram took time to crack! Great puzzle. 😎👍 [DM]
I try to solve clues daily in calendar order, so May was a rough start: so many missing letters and references to the theme and later clues! But in the words of the subject, So what? Once I got a foothold, I had a lot of fun. I spent days trying to fashion the orange cells into of Spain. Thank you Boatman! [CPP]
Enjoyable. I’m was delighted to have been selected as winner of the April extra puzzle. Thanks [KD]
Not sure that omitting letters from wordplay added anything to the puzzle. [PD]
Very good [GS]
Really good to learn about the theme before the radio started the commemorations. [J&JH]
Lovely, as always! [JN]
I had a wonderful time with this one–have always loved Boatman, and (for once) I knew the topic. Hats off for the acknowledgement of Bird, too! Thanks to Boatman and Calluna. [JS]
Another enjoyable and educative challenge, thank you, Boatman and Calluna! [SF]
Another highly enjoyable puzzle complete with interesting theme, and yet not too complicated for 3D beginners – thanks for the entertainment! [SH]
Good mixture of easy and difficult clues, enjoyable. [SG]
Another enjoyable and educative challenge, thank you, Boatman and Calluna! [SF]
I knew very little about Davis, or even jazz, but fortunately this wasn’t necessary. I was several clues in, having a possible answer but unable to parse, before I re-read the instructions and realised some letter weren’t to be included in the wordplay – then it made sense. I much prefer the complication to be in the clues/solving rather than weird grids. Turns out there have been so many Princes of Darkness, but Ozzy still the best. [JC]
Either these are getting more challenging or I am getting more challenged. Either way, well worth the workout and as ever learnt a lot and had fun along the way. Thanks. [HH]
Great puzzle – quite tricky until the theme revealed itself. [MD]
Very imaginative! Lots of stuff I didn’t know about the subject. I learned plenty. [MH]