3D Crossword Solution – September 2025

Clues by Soup and Grid by Komorník

Theme: The closure of the UK Government Cones Hotline

Winner: Heather Haigh of Cholsey

Review of the September 2025 3D crossword

A toppled conical grid with a (for these puzzles, very) large base 13 spaces in diameter and 12 in circumference, tapering to a single letter at the peak provides the vehicle for this month. There aren’t enough lights to make this a two-pager, but there are a lot more than thirty so we got our money’s worth. There are several unclued answers we need to find thematically.

I had a little trouble with the barely checked answers in this one. It’s one thing to only check half the letters, but some entries here (like Day 5) are hardly checked at all — and in that case the clue isn’t as helpful as it could be — and provide the only checks for unclued words.  HIGHLIGHTED was probably also under-clued but the distinctive pattern of letters helped.

Outside those, the clues are pretty solid and mostly straightforward. The vocabulary contains some wonderful long entries we usually don’t get a chance to see (IN AN EMERGENCY, NO MATCH FOR HIM, SUPERHIGHWAY) and a nice mix of common and somewhat less than common words.

And a few that were farther out. TORMINAL and NAUTCH probably sent a lot of solvers to their dictionaries, but the clues were generously apparent. Learning words is fun, so that’s kosher.

Early on, I caught on to the essence of the theme, which I’m old enough but far too American to have had any experience with. The unclued answers were nicely thematic and mostly readily sussable, but 42C was a bit sticky. The answer is CHANNELISER, but I’d tried CHUNNELISER first, and that was only after I committed to DALEK.

The excuse for having so many unchecked cells in a cryptic crossword is that each answer is already doubly-clued by virtue of the clues being cryptic. But are they really if they’re unclued?  They’re somewhat defined by the theme but otherwise only discernable by what checks you have, and if you were uncertain of the words that provide the only checks, it’s even sketchier.  I refuse to do the terrible non-cryptic (“quick”) crosswords from the UK for the same reason.

In fully-checked US crosswords we have a term (“Natick”) for a square you aren’t sure of because two obscure answers cross. The recommendation is to give one of the entries an easier clue. Here we cross some under-clued entries with unclued entries — one of which isn’t even really a word (enough so that it needed a note about its derivation).

I hate to end on a negative note. Overall, I liked the puzzle and appreciate the longer entries and thematic words, but having so many lengthy unclued and sparsely checked answers is inherently problematic. Having a slew of thematic Easter eggs that hinge entirely on this is probably not the best strategy.

ab

Grid solution

Visual clue

The first two items in this clue make up the fodder, and the third acts as an indicator. The two items are an axle and a bottle with its cork popped, meaning the first letter should be ignored. Sound waves coming from a speaker indicate homophones are needed of both items, giving:

“AXLE (b)OTTLE” = AXOLOTL

Background image

The backdrop to this month’s puzzle is ‘Stolen Ice Cream Cone’ by Dennis Sylvester Hurd (CC0 1.0 licence).

Clues and explanations

Thematic solutions are indicated with an asterisk.

Solvers’ comments

A wonderful puzzle, I enjoyed discovering the theme and having memories of Spitting Image mocking John Major. [GW]

That was fun! I never did use the august institution, but I remember the furore and satirical opportunities around it. Some nice clueing (as expected from Soup) and a new (to us) device of using the clock face in a dial grid for downward directions. All very fair and enjoyable, plus of course some new words. Chambers has “channelizes” listed before “channelises” in its entry for the word, so I’m opting for “z” in my first submission 🤞🤞 Thank you Komornik and Soup. [CW]

After last month’s last minute final entry, satisfying to do this on September 1st. What a theme! It would have been easier if the written instructions had been the same way up as the grid; I kept getting I and H mixed up. A challenge my daughter and I enjoyed together. Thank you. [HH]

A great topical puzzle, given the state of roads around the country at the moment. The idea may have been one of the things that came to John Major in the bath. [RP]

An amusingly niche theme: I didn’t see this one coming. [NI]

Brilliant clues and grid, so much fun. [AJ]

I’d like a 99 please. [JT]

Excellent [LA]

Fun theme, brings back memories! Some nice clues eg days 21 & 37, but some I couldn’t parse (days 31 & 38). Liked day 5 but couldn’t understand the ‘Nations scourge’ part of the clue. Never heard of NAUTCH, NIELLO, ORCINS and new spelling of DOGY. TORMINAL was particularly obscure and caused some difficulty! Thanks to Soup, Komornik et al. [JC]

Nice puzzle — as for the hotline, it seems no more sensible in retrospect than it seemed at the time. [TH]

Really tough! Just got the last clue so fingers and toes all crossed 🙂 [RE]

Thematically very well constructed from the grid to the reference in my LOI which was day 5, when I finally thought of the correct Nation. [DR]

Didn’t drive us completely around the bend, but there were both diversions and holdups along the way. We think we arrived in one piece but hoping the hints and tips explains Day 31. [J&JH]

Difficult to do for an Australian. [KD]

As always an enjoyable solve with several words new to me. 😎👍 [DM]

🍦 [RS]

Good use of the apposite grid shape, and I found it pretty hard going, but really fun. [MD]

👍 [JC]

I didn’t notice its departure at the time, but I’d never used it. It would probably be swamped these days. 42C took some time. [MJ]

I found this quite a challenge and still haven’t parsed some clues. But hugely enjoyable and a fun theme. Thanks Soup and Komornik. [BS]

Wow – 42C really had me stumped for several days, to the point where I was wondering whether I could actually find a suitable word by the end of September. Still not sure whether it is right though… [MH]

It was interesting to discover the very British theme, and I remember the period when the hotline got many mentions in the media. Two of the unclued entries were unknown to me, making them somewhat difficult to find, but,apart from that and one clue for which I needed a hint from a fellow-solver I managed to complete this ingenious puzzle. [AB]

As a non-Brit, this is one of the most absurd and amusing things I’ve ever heard of… in the best way possible! 🚧 Both the grid and the clueing in this puzzle were very enjoyable — a few of my favourite clues include 3 (clever!), 19 (new word for me), 20 (beautiful in its simplicity), 29 (initially stumped me trying to “shatter” (anagram) things incorrectly), and 40. Thanks, Soup & Komorník! [MS]

Very hard, especially the “Unclued” clues. Along the way, I did find out a lot about a seemingly very silly policy of John Major’s government (it reminded me of something out of “Yes Prime Minister”). While it was a clever puzzle, I have to say it was a hard slog, and I still don’t know if I’ve got everything right. I’m especially worried about alternative spellings for 42C, a term I’ve never encountered before! Whatever about my success or failure, thank you to Soup and Komornik! [JA]

An intriguing and clever puzzle – and one which nearly defeated me! I was shocked to discover I had no recollection of this short-lived initiative by John Major – but not surprised it never came to much, as the number of cones on our roads proliferate by the second! Thank you, Soup and Komornik! [SF]

Brilliant maneuvering of clues and the theme. 42C was a challenge as was day 5 but then it was all so obvious after all. Very enjoyable. [SB]

Jiminy, hard and a little more than usually obscure for a Yank, but fun to solve and some really funny cluing! Thanks for the work-out! 🙂 [JS]

Having submitted a first attempt at the beginning of the month, the hints and tips reminded me to have another go. Torminal not terminal. Also lost the original submission so started again. Enjoyed it both times – a fascinating subject! Thank you for the fun. [HH]

Well, having had a little help from Hints & Tips I will submit these answers but more in despair than hope. I’ve put some humble pie into the fridge in case, but I feel I am unlikely to be persuaded that these are satisfactory answers, or that different, ‘correct’ answers were deducible from the given clues. [EF]

I missed this most delightfully eccentric institution since I was living abroad at the time but I would have been on the hotline every chance I had! What a clever puzzle in so many ways, in its construction, imagery, clueing, and very retro evocation and series of cultural references. Some very neat one liners. I love that the cone has been knocked over, and we have to stand it up again…. also makes me think of the famous traffic cone atop the Duke of Wellington statue in Glasgow. [MS]

Excellent [RL]

I found this quite hard, in spite of getting the theme early on, and the hints and tips were very useful. Thanks to Soup and Kormornik for a challenging but enjoyable puzzle. [RS]

The most bizarre theme for a puzzle I have ever come across. I didn’t twig for ages! [JB]

More tricky than others in terms of the theme. The hints and tips email helped me by clarifying I needed to change a letter in my tentative answer for day 38 – another new word for me. [JC]

Thanks for another interesting puzzle. it caused much amusement when I worked out the theme, and of course, it brought back memories of long lines of redundant traffic cones! Some new words for me, torminal in particular proved difficult. Although I had worked out the anwer from the letters I had and the wordplay, Google struggled to confirm that it is a word, let alone provide a definition. [SB]

Of course you do. You see a cone knocked over in the road and think, ‘that’ll make a good crossword grid’. Fantastic! Thanks Komorník. [PA]