Clues and Grid by Sirius
Theme: Mary Poppins (film released 27 August 1964; author P. L. Travers born 9 August 1899)
The winner of the August puzzle is Andrew Wyss.
Review of the August 2024 3D crossword
The biggest puzzle of the year with a whopping 53 clues — a key unclued entry — and a bunch of extension rods. This could take a while. Fortunately, you find the theme, and — SNAP — the job’s a game!
The non-thematic vocabulary was pretty straightforward, with only BEIRA at Day 18 sticking out to me as unusual. The word length mix was nice.
The theme is pervasive and provides many character names including the key figure at 2d: M. POPPINS herself. The anniversaries alluded to in the legend are the birth of author P.L. Travers (9 August 1899), the premiere of the film Mary Poppins (27 August 1964), and The Sun headline celebrating Inverness Caledonian Thistle (February 2000).
The extension rods are song lyrics from the film and the headline in question. I initially misspelled CHEREE, but fortunately the check with OER saved me. The repetition of words would be useful if you hadn’t got to the theme before you did these, but I’m guessing most people got tuned in from (literally) day one.
The cluing is mostly straightforward. The surface of Day 6 gave me some pause as I assume CO means coronary occlusion here, which is a far less nice way to get to sleep than COCOA! [Actually it’s carbon monoxide, though either one would work – Ed]
Day 31 seemed to be trying too hard, but short words with common letters often have less interesting clues than that. Might be inscrutable to folks outside the UK though (I certainly had to check).
Day 41 seems needlessly messy as well. But, again, a short word of common letters probably bored the setter enough he wanted to stretch a bit.
A good use of surface in Day 44 leads us to another thematic answer. It’s always nice when hidden words aren’t immediately obvious and don’t mess up the surface to draw (much) attention to themselves.
I liked the apostrophe used as a misdirect in Day 48 as well. I’m sometimes annoyed when people play with the spacing for a clue, but punctuation is certainly fair game.
The pictorial clue asks us to replace a gallon (G) in SPIGOT with a teaspoon (TSP), giving us SPIT-SPOT.
And quicker than you can say, well, you know, that big word, the job is done. I liked this one a lot. Rarely do we see a theme played out to such a degree and with great detail. Only fault is that the larger entries were broken into (sometimes very) small pieces, but considering the amount of thematic content, that’s certainly understandable.
Now, if you’ll be good enough to fetch my hatstand, please, the wind has changed and I must be off to help other solvers…
ab
Grid solution
Visual clue
Take an American word for a tap, then remove the abbreviation for gallon (shown by the cross) and replace it (shown by the tick) with an abbreviation for teaspoon, giving:
TSP in SPI(g)OT = SPIT-SPOT
Clues and explanations
Thematic solutions are indicated with an asterisk.
| Day | Solution | Direction, Clue, Count | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A SWEEP IS AS LUCKY AS LUCKY CAN BE* | (52,48di,37,36),55up-2,1di,5d-3,1di,28d-3,41C-3 One such as 36 is comparatively most fortunate (1,5,2,2,5,2,5,3,2) | Lyrics from Chim Chim Cheree 36 BERT is a chimney sweep in Mary Poppins |
| 2 | MICRO | 2di Most tiny device on record for Roy Orbison intros (5) | MIC + R + O |
| 3 | ALOO | 3up-4(torus) Curry pots kept in a little room (4) | Pots = potatoes in Indian curries A + LOO |
| 4 | UNCUT | 4di Wholesome top-class fruitcake that’s eaten cold not drunk? (5) | Def wordplay def U + N(C)UTHalf-cut = drunkUncut = sober? |
| 5 | UMBRELLA* | 4d Cover short distance in shade (8) | UMBR(ELL)A |
| 6 | COCOA | 6di Two silent killers meet with a cuddle. That might help one sleep — 15 and 36 say so (5) | CO (carbon monoxide) + CO + A euphemism I should say so/cocoa (Cockney rhyming slang – 15 is PHIL and 36 is BERT) |
| 7 | CSC | 6d-3 Civil service commission in riot: gases forwards and backwards with central agreement (3) | CS + SC → C(SS)C → CSC |
| 8 | CHIMINEY* | 8d Sirius shafted for unusually long spell? (8) | CHIM(I)NEY no def Unconventional spelling as in lyric |
| 9 | P L TRAVERS* | 10,9,7d-7 Writer of Oz almost cross after breaking ends off pencil (1,1,7) | P(enci)L TRAVERS(e) (born Australia) |
| 10 | ESTHETE | 11di LA art babe teethes painfully? (7) | (TEETHES)* |
| 11 | SWIM | 12C Setter’s prior opponents made to reel (4) | SW + I’M South and West = opponents in bridge |
| 12 | WAGE | 14d Pursue payment (4) | 2 defs |
| 13 | MICHAEL* | 15di 37’s angelic boy’s claim — he could go ballistic (7) | (CLAIM HE)* Son of George Banks (‘go ballistic in Super Caley headline) Michael’s father irascible (36 is BANKS) |
| 14 | LADY-HELPS | 16C,17di,9C-3 Youth (Jack perhaps) whoops about hot genteel female assistants (4-5) | (Jack-the-)LAD + Y(H)ELPS |
| 15 | PHIL* | 18di Eastender is irrational yet golden, mean and sinister (4) | Irrational number, Golden mean φ = PHI + L |
| 16 | PRESTO* | 18AC Hey, this is prelude to magic moving — or step in time, fast! (6) | 2 defs, (OR STEP)* |
| 17 | FLIES* | 20di Buttons files for divorce, as does 2d (5) | Def + (FILES)* + def Divorce in real life is much more than just a split. It’s a shake-up (2d is M POPPINS) |
| 18 | BEIRA | 21di Celtic godmother is in Gloucestershire paramilitaries at end of the line in Mozambique (5) | Def + is = BE (Glouc) + IRA Trans continental railway |
| 19 | TRY IT ON | 22di Tory nit to get fresh in fitting/unfitting manoeuvre? (3,2,2) | (TORY NIT)* + def + cryptic defs |
| 20 | CHINA | 23di Friend of 36 what’s spilt tea around home (5) | Cockney rhyming slang def CH(IN)A |
| 21 | OOMPH | 24di If you say it loud enough gasp appreciatively at speed of it (5) | Homophone ooh OO + MPH Someone with oomph has got it |
| 22 | SUMMARY | 25di I am in Pompeii before disastrous eruption with 2d for Readers Digest perhaps (7) | Latin SUM = I am SUM + MARY |
| 23 | SUGAR* | 25,26C Ragu stew drying out turning sour? Not at all poppet! (5) | RAGU S(tew) – wet Endearment |
| 24 | UP ON | 26AC Well informed about Post Office involvement in global communication centre (2,2) | 3 defsU(PO)N |
| 25 | HAMMIER | 27di More overacting from Hancock on radio in contact with one pitched into French sea (7) | Ref radio HAM sketch HAM + M(I)ER |
| 26 | COMIC | 28di Stand-up Topper for example (5) | 2 defs |
| 27 | CV | 29AC Nice old car perhaps cut in half by log of a lifetime (2) | French car 2CV ÷ 2 = CVCurriculum vitae |
| 28 | OUIJA | 30di Board gives spirited assents from Emmanuel and Ursula (5) | Macron OUI + von der Leyen JA Ouija board |
| 29 | SPIT-SPOT* | 31di-4,34di-4 Top tips about small insertion in top to toe arrangement. Come on now! (4-4) | Top tips <> SPIT (S)POT |
| 30 | MEDICINE* | 32di Prescription collected by dim niece — it’s atrocious! (8) | (DIM NIECE)* |
| 31 | ELITE | 33di Silk stocking found in French bed amongst letters, by, by gum! (5) | E(LIT)E EE by gum Merriam-Webster gives synonym |
| 32 | O’ER | 35up-3 Passage of play not very poetic ended (3) | O(v)ER Eg …That floats on high o’er vales and hills, … |
| 33 | SORRY | 36AC Pathetic apology (5) | Double def |
| 34 | IF ONLY | 37C I wish you liked nicoise olives from Italy’s Inverso for entrées (2,4) | Reverse first letters <> Inverso in Turin perhaps means reverse in Italian |
| 35 | NANNY* | 39di Horny chap, mates with one looking after kids (5) | 2 defs overlapping (3D licence) |
| 36 | BERT* | 42C Sweeper returns in treble side taking out right wingers (4) | TREB(le) ← |
| 37 | BANKS* | 42di 51di-4’s irascible father forbids embracing Kelvin — by George! (5) | BAN(K)S George Banks |
| 38 | EIEIO | 43d-2,43d Epic editor needs to slim — regular chips out and perhaps refrain from MacDonalds (5) | E p I c E d I t O r Old MacDonald had a farm |
| 39 | RUN OFF | 44di Escape with urn (3,3) | Reverse anagram RUN off = (RUN)* = URN |
| 40 | TIE | 45up-3 Couple join Relate. One might get hot under collar (3) | 3defs + cryptic def |
| 41 | TAE | 45d Caledonian to eat apple turn-over without apple (3) | EAT → TAE (Caldonian reduces to nickname ‘Caley’ in the 24.5 anniversary |
| 42 | RANGY | 46di Extenuated and furious having to move right back to the start (5) | ANGRY → RANGY |
| 43 | FLYERS* | 47di Those like 2d, low, with buttons undone — they benefit from good circulation (6) | 2 defs + cryptic ref to flyers as handbill ads (2d is M POPPINS) |
| 44 | FLY A KITE* | 47di-3,52,49di-4 See which way the wind’s blowing? East, but after folly packs in, evens out: West, finally (3,1,4) | FoLlYpAcKsI + (wes)T + E ref. the most important scene of the film, the Saving of Mr Banks. |
| 45 | SWEEP* | 48di Small cry from lucky chap, 36 for example (5) | S + WEEP |
| 46 | TERNS | 50di These birds would be showing a serious expression when moving back to front (5) | TERNS → STERN |
| 47 | JANE DOE | 51di Plain girl, one with large, soft eyes, could be anyone (4,3) | JANE + DOE |
| 48 | SPOONFUL* | 53up Farmers bobbin’ about for a little nip, a sip in small measure (8) | NFU (National Farmers’ Union) in SPOOL a little nip, a sip (lyric) |
| 49 | SULTANA | 54C Ruler gummed with a piece of dried fruit (7) | SULTAN + A |
| 50 | LAY AT | 56di The Caretaker perhaps disquieted, takes key to place by someone’s door? (3,2) | P(LAY) + AT |
| 51 | LOVELIEST* | 56C Elves oil top of thistle in a most delightful way (9) | (ELVES OIL + T)* ‘in a most delightful way’ lyric |
| 52 | VOYEUR | 57di Y ouvre — translated as ‘blue star gazer’ perhaps (6) | (Y OUVRE)* signalled by ‘translated’ Blue star eg Stormy Daniels |
| 53 | PLAY IT | 58di Sex toy wrong way round as Ingrid put to Sam (4,2) | IT PLAY → PLAY + IT Casablanca ‘Play it Sam’ |
| Extension rod 1 | A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR HELPS THE MEDICINE GO DOWN | 55,53up,38di-2,25di-2,26C,19di(8oc),9C-3,13di-3,32di,40d-2,Inference (1,8,2,5,5,3,8,2,4) | |
| Extension rod 2 | CHIM CHIMINEY CHIM CHIMINEY CHIM CHIM CHEREE | 8d-4,8d,8d-4,8d,8d-4,8d-4,28C (4,8,4,8,4,4,6) | |
| Extension rod 3 | A SWEEP IS AS LUCKY AS LUCKY CAN BE | 55,48di,37,36,55up-2,1di,5d-3,1di,28d-3,41C-3 (1,5,2,2,5,2,5,3,2) | |
| Extension rod 4 | SUPER CALEY GO BALLISTIC CELTIC ARE ATROCIOUS | 48,26,58,43,44,6,55,9,43,5,40,30,42,55,1,16,37,54,7,37,28,23,43,56,22,37,28,55,46,43,55,45,44,30,6,37,30,26,53 (5,5,2,9,6,3,9) | 24.5yr anniversary of one of the most famous sports headlines, derivative of Mary Poppins’ supercalifragilisticexpialidocious: after Inverness Caledonian Thistle beat Celtic 3-1 in The Scottish Cup. Match played evening of Feb 8th 2000. |
Solvers’ comments
An epic tribute to splendid books and a great film. And a lovely touch to bring in that magnificent headline. I was stumped for ages by Day 29 since I haven’t read the books or seen the film since the 60’s. [NI]
Interesting and complex puzzle using the three anniversaries. There seemed a couple of issues to me unless I’ve missed something. Day 29 (31di) spit spot wouldn’t fit with 8d chiminey and day 26 (28 di) has a black cell next to the 28. Could move the number 28 anti clockwise one cell but that would mess up cheree. [JP]
Difficult, fabulous and GREAT fun. [RE]
Lovely crossword [LA]
This was a tour de force and unlike any other calendar puzzle I have attempted, except perhaps for the Sirius puzzle in last year’s calendar. It seemed to have many dimensions! Some of the clues were very puzzling, but I enjoyed grappling with them, and it was rewarding to come to a finish. Congratulations to Sirius for doing justice to this entertaining theme. [AB]
Oh my – how complex was that! I feel very tentative about submitting my entry as there were so many intricacies. I’m sure I’ll have slipped up somewhere. But many thanks to Sirius for this tribute to P L Travers and the two films. Lots of nostalgia for me as I unfolded this solve. I queued for hours with my family to see the 1964 film in Brisbane, our capital city in Queensland, Australia. I only found out much later that PL Travers was born not so far away, also in my home state in Australia, in a city called Maryborough to the north of where I live. I’m now introducing the old favourite songs from “Mary Poppins” to my three-year-old granddaughter. Back in the day, my now nearly forty year-old son (her Dad) just about wore the colour off the video recording as he watched it so often as a little fellow. Lots of great stuff here including the intriguing story of the football-related headline. Thanks to Sirius for such an ingenious creation. I feel I am destined for an epic fail as I submit this, but never mind, I had lots of fun! [JA]
Was puzzled as to the theme to start with, but the umbrellas in the cover photo helped clue me in. Really enjoyable puzzle, and I especially liked the final Easter Egg (which I had to google, I hadn’t heard that riff on the Mary Poppins song before). Thanks to Sirius for a fun time. [RS]
My better half cracked the theme after solving day 8 and the second extension rod together. I were a bit puzzled by the last extension as I was expecting the famous long word, but then the headline began to ring bells. Respect to the reporter back in February 2000! The Celtic Godmother was new to me, thus maintaining the new word learning in every month’s 3D ✅ The torus as a sweep’s brush (along with “extension rods”) was a witty and clever construction. We were slightly held up on day 29 as we didn’t parse it on our first pass and when we worked out what letters we had from crossing solutions, it didn’t make sense. We think there’s a printing error in the torus – the cell labelled “31” shouldn’t be there and the adjoining pink cell should in fact be “31”. Then the “T” at the end of the two words is a shared cell and the diagram works perfectly. There’s also a slight mismatch between the grid numbers cited for Day 1 and the third “extension rod”. One begins 52 and the other 55. Fortunately, both those cells are “A” so it’s inconsequential. Thank you, Sirius. [CW]
Whew! [JS]
Quite the tour de force. Good theme and clever use of it. I might be mistaken but I think there may be an error where 8d and 31d intersect. I guess I will find out when I press Submit! [JT]
What an amazing puzzle, only to be expected from Sirius. Favourite clue is the carbon monoxide of day 6. [PD]
Another trip through Sirius’s convolutions. Slow going until I starting filling the extra grids, which helped a lot. A number of solutions not fully explained. I saw the film more or less when it came out, and again when the children were growing up. I think we had the book before then too. Would the usual alphabetic numbering have made things too easy? Aligning the numbers over the cells in the final extra grid would made entry easier. [MJ]
Well it was fine, but a bit too much. Half a page of extra clues seemed a little overindulgent and those odd big lights e.g. in 31di were irksome. That said, I enjoyed 15, 38 and 6. [DR]
Impressive grid and cluing. Held up by what appears to be mistake ref Day 29 / 31 diagonal, but eventually sorted it out even though the second half of the picture clue still doesn’t make sense to me! Liked the Easter Eggs especially the last which made me laugh when I realised what it was. Curious that one Egg is the answer to Day 1 anyway. Didn’t know Beira, and CSC hasn’t existed for many years but otherwise many thanks to Sirius. [JC]
A good fun solve, bit confused about the grid entry for spit-spot, it has to BE spit-spot but doesn’t appear to fit in the grid….. possible mistake in the grid layout? Thanks to Sirius for the entertainment. [SC]
Great puzzle. Even I knew the words thank you. [RG]
Great! Loved the theme. [EW]
Sirius has excelled again! [SF]
Lost for words…..except for one…. supercalifragislisticexpialidocious! [JB]
Super puzzle – very witty, and fun to solve! [DB]
Supercalifragilistic. My mind is blown. Really clever crossword. [JM]
Brilliant! But help me understand 18 and 50 please. 😁 [SB]
Wow! A marathon to fill it in online! Thanks for the fun. Inspired to book tickets for the musical. [HH]
Easter egg no 4 made my day. [MM]
It is clear that some if not many members enjoy and appreciate this degree of grotesquely convoluted tortuousness, so I will put up with it gracefully. At least the Hints & Tips team had the grace to acknowledge the degree of ‘adjustment’ (distortion??) required to fit the answers into the grid. [EF]
What an stunning puzzle, so much material, took quite a while to work through, but well worth it. Will be amazed if I’ve got everything right, and even more amazed if I’ve avoided any typos! [MD]
Sirius never ceases to astonish every year, around this time! A work of 3-D genius, and I’ve no idea how he managed to pack so much into the clues and the answers. The circular chimney sweep torus grid brushes and ‘extension rods’ are some of the cleverest, most original visual puns we’ve enjoyed. It was such fun to see the Celtic headline version of ‘supercalifragilistic’ as one of these – I remember the game and the Sun’s (I think) report the next day, being a Celtic fan, and thought this was the funniest ever headline, immediately destined for legendary status… as this tribute probably confirms! [MS]
The keyhole shaped space in level five had me foxed for weeks. [RC]
Oh, sneaky Sirius! I was waiting for the apology re day 26 but it never came. Thank you, H&T team, for making me look properly at the grid (and day 29 too). Never seen the film btw. But I do know about Dick van Dyke strangling London dialect. [PA]
A technicolour tour de force! [J&JH]
Wow – what a tour-de-force! You cannot be Sirius! An amazing amount of thematic material and a mind-bending ‘grid/matrix/lattice’. Took me a while – I kept ‘poppin’ back to it throughout the month. I was nearly undone by the missing ‘bar’ for the third letter of 31d-4, thinking for a while that I had to find a four-letter word ?P?I… (I was also a little confused by the answer to Day 1 appearing again as an ‘Easter Egg’ – unless I have missed something clever?…) [MC]
What a great puzzle! Lots of fun to solve and if I have entered it all correctly I’ll be amazed! I really enjoyed all the thematic references and the extension rods. Well done Sirius! [BS]
😎 [DM]
Happy memories of the best sports headline ever! [AR]
Phew!! Sirius surpasses his own brilliance as usual. What a tour de force! This was tough and I will be very surprised if I have got them all correct. It certainly needed that spoonful of sugar to help…. [SB]