Clues by Raich and Grid by Bozzy
Theme: 3D Crosswords Calendar
The winner of the November Extra puzzle is Heather Knowles of Leamington Spa.
Review of the November Extra 2022 3D crossword
Raich and Bozzy were not in a vindictive mood when they composed this ingenious puzzle. After all, we don’t really want to deprive people of the chance to become World Champion, do we? No, we don’t. Appearances may sometimes be very deceptive, but we really are not like that.
However, if the puzzle was on the easy side, it was none the less ingenious. Raich did a fine job in disguising the thematic solutions, so that it was only when the BLIND MICE followed the THREE-DIMENSIONAL CROSSWORD PUZZLES and the MUSKETEERS that the point became clear. Incidentally, the clue for BLIND MICE is one of those cleverly-misleading ones, where a participle which appears to belong to one noun turns out to belong to another. How gratifying when for our crossword purposes the sort of clumsy ambiguity so practised by careless journalists — ‘lying at the bottom of the ocean, I can see that the wreck will be hard to salvage’ etc. — makes a good cryptic indication.
It is another feather in the cap of Bozzy that she produced such a thematic grid. Fitting in a lot of three-based expressions is an achievement. And what a lovely, emblematic grid it is! While solving it I began to feel that, rather than a late-autumn tie-breaker, it deserved a place as perhaps a January puzzle, setting out the stall on which later gems would be hung. Perhaps a shame that the grid’s shape is now ‘out of the bag’ — or the glasses-case — but could it not be reused at some point in the future? It has a lot going for it. Although the D part seems to offer many unchecked letters, in fact the grid thereby shows just how three-D puzzles work, since the up/down clues (all down here, but never mind) are so vital to the solving. It’s a beautifully relevant and functional grid, as well as offering fertile ground for new creations. Come on, all you ingenious would-be World Champions, what about some other large-scale letters, figures or emblems?
The entries themselves were mostly found without the dictionary, though the surprising TREBLE-DATED had to be found to be believed; TRIAPSAL made sense, but needed checking; OREXIN (does, or did, anyone really ever say ‘Nix’?) had to be constructed and then located, but that and the easily-found DOO were the only vertical lights that caused difficulties. I think it is to Bozzy’s and Raich’s credit that those crucial down entries were generally straightforward words, clued in a friendly manner.
I am confident that if anyone managed (for example) Soup and Shark along the way to collecting a full score, they will not have stumbled here, and they will have had a few smiles along the way.
AGC
Grid solution
Clues and explanations
Thematic solutions are indicated with an asterisk.
| Day | Solution | Direction, Clue, Count | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ADDLE | 16d Bewilder a Duke, led astray (5) | A+D+LED* |
| 2 | ANTIC | 8d Caper with worker in charge (5) | ANT+IC |
| 3 | BLIND MICE* | 35r,24b Learner in difficulty with motorway ice not seeing animals (5,4) | L in BIND+M+ICEThree |
| 4 | BOATS | 37ac Crazy about old water craft (5) | BATS around O |
| 5 | CHINA | 32aw-5 Country friend (5) | TWO MEANINGS |
| 6 | CUT IT | 20d Be successful in court regularly — just what’s needed (3,2) | CoUrT+IT |
| 7 | DATA | 14d-4 Information? A little brought back (4) | A TAD REV |
| 8 | DAZZLES | 4aw Arouses admiration at outset defending as Zinedine Zidane lacks equalising score (7) | FIRST LETTERS Zidane, French footballer and manager (b. 1972) |
| 9 | DEO | 25d Rewrite ode to God (3) | ODE* |
| 10 | DOO | 27d Scottish flier’s party attended by Oscar (3) | DO+O |
| 11 | EATER | 6d Consumer in sea terminal? (5) | HIDDEN in sEA TERminal |
| 12 | EEL PIE | 2ac-2,3d Fish-based food item that could make you sleepier, ignoring outsiders (3,3) | (s)LEEPIE(r)* |
| 13 | ETYMA | 15d Early word forms used in society maybe (5) | HIDDEN in sociETY MAybe |
| 14 | INANE | 5d Silly article seen in pub, English (5) | A in INN+E |
| 15 | MEN IN A BOAT* | 33ac,34aw,37ac-4 River travellers obtain name for reform (3,2,1,4) | Three…OBTAIN NAME* |
| 16 | MUSKETEERS* | 31r Old soldiers seek US term unexpectedly (10) | Three…SEEK US TERM* |
| 17 | ODD | 19d-3 Unusual love, extremely deluded (3) | O+DeludeD |
| 18 | OLDE | 13d-4 Part of Bristol, delightful, suggestive of quaint past (4) | HIDDEN in BristOL DElightful |
| 19 | OREXIN | 17d,36ac-2 Hormone — nothing about retrospective warning to be careful (6) | A hormoneO+RE+NIX REV |
| 20 | RAINS | 1d Pours down — coaches failing to start (5) | (t)RAINS |
| 21 | SALT | 21ac-4 Sailor in compound (4) | TWO MEANINGS |
| 22 | SHIRT | 9d Quiet Irish ahead of time identifying something to wear (5) | SH+IR+T |
| 23 | SKETCH | 28ac-4,29aw-3 Drawing of small vessel (6) | S+KETCH |
| 24 | SOLID | 18d Note cover is reliable (5) | SO+LID |
| 25 | STOOGES* | 30aw Butts of jokes maybe get so repeatedly wretched (7) | Three…GET SO SO* |
| 26 | STUMPY | 21aw Short and thickset agent touring corporation (6) | SPY around TUM |
| 27 | TAB | 26d Cheers British Bill (3) | TA+B |
| 28 | THREE-DIMENSIONAL CROSSWORD PUZZLES* | 7r,10ac-4,12aw Teasers, droll, mispronounced “whizzes” bizarrely providing fun for us (5-11,9,7) | TEASERS DROLL MISPRONOUNCED WHIZZES*Separate sheet attached showing letters are the same in both |
| 29 | TOTEM | 7d Carry Mike’s distinctive symbol (5) | TOTE+M |
| 30 | TREBLE-DATED* | 26r-11 Outliving normal lifespan, dare let debt out of control (6-5) | Lives 3 times as long as manDARE LET DEBT* |
| 31 | TRIAPSAL* | 23r Last pair set off describing some churches (8) | Has 3 apsesLAST PAIR* |
| 32 | TRIODE* | 22r Electronic device editor mixed up (6) | With 3 electrodesEDITOR* |
| 33 | UNCLE | 11d Tricky clue about Northern relative (5) | CLUE* around N |
| 34 | ZOMBI | 12d Zulu doctor carrying oxygen heading for injured person, lifeless (5) | Z+MB around O+I(njured) |
Solvers’ comments
What a fabulous bonus puzzle! Just seeing the grid design made me smile. Then we enjoyed the themed words becoming clear. And so many fun clues! [AH]
Greatly enjoyed all the “3” references and the link with these crosswords. Very clever grid and not too difficult a solve. Thank you! [BS]
Fair, fun, learned a couple of new words – what more can one ask for?! [JS]
An enjoyable puzzle with a neat theme, which helped confirm some solutions. We also encountered several new words, which has happened in every 2022 puzzle. Thank you to Raich (new to us) and Bozzy. [CW]
A nice simple puzzle. [DM]
Nice concept and enjoyably done but clues perhaps on the easy side for a tie-breaker! But I enjoyed day 26 when at last I understood it!! I regret that I can only instantly see seven thematic entries, but nothing seems to depend on it. [EF]
I enjoyed this challenge. Extra fun and a very clever grid. [JB]
A satisfying end to the year, thanks. [J&JH]
Very enjoyable. Bit easier than some of the other months, but more than enough to keep me entertained. Thank you. [JT]
This was a lot of fun – just testing enough but not too much so. Thanks to Raich and Bozzy. It was a very cleverly laid out puzzle with the design echoing the long answer at Day 28. I am so glad I “discovered” 3D puzzles and this community – I have had so much enjoyment over the years. Thanks to the whole team. [JA]
Theme ‘THREE’ too obvious, nothing difficult here, easiest for as long as I remember.☹️ [MN]
A worthy celebration. A fair selection of 3-related words, which didn’t leap out at first. [MJ]
A nice bonus puzzle, with an interesting shape – thanks to Raich and Bozzy – although I don’t think I am up to tasks 2 and 3 of the challenge… [MC]
Very nice, not sure about a couple of the answers though! [MD]
Ingenious new grid design and fun to complete [PD]
Delightful celebration of our project, with an epic appropriate anagram at Day 28! [NI]
Great end to the year x [RE]
I had a super “aha!” moment when I got the theme—thanks! [RS]
An enjoyable solve and fun to do. [RC]
I know I often complain about them, but I quite missed not having a picture clue! Liked all the ‘three’ references, especially the blind mice and the men in a boat. Thanks to Raich and Bozzy for an entertaining puzzle. [RS]
Thank you. Very much. As always he enjoys these. [RG]
Over too soon but I may be speaking too soon. Nice easy to follow grid… sometimes I get confused by the directions. Thanks for the treat of an extra puzzle. [HH]
A breeze compared to the November puzzle! The triple theme was a clever one, thank you! [SF]
Not too hard: nice range of threesomes. [TH]