Clues by Enigmatist and Grid by Bozzy
Theme: Beers & Cheers / Oktoberfest (21 September – 6 October)
The winners of the October puzzle are Denise Brocklehurst and Monica Jeffrey of Warwickshire.
Review of the October 2024 3D crossword
A month-length appropriate grid this month at 7 x 5 x 6 and 33 entries, with one long unclued entry for thematic guidance.
There are several foreign answers that may present issues, but they’re all on theme. So where to begin?
Many of the clues reference entry 3, so that’s a good bet. It’s a little trickier than need be as CHEES(Y)+R gives us CHEERS. The clues that reference it are toasts in various languages. Cin cin!
Similarly, answer 2 and the recurring theme in the clues should lead us to BEERS. These are the words for the suggested title of “Beers and Cheers”. Kanpai!
Besides these entries there are a few archaic words in the puzzle. I liked DOETH and its clue at 7 a lot more than PEZANT at 18, though that did provide some useful checks.
I was also not familiar with the term OVEREGG, though I’ve likely heard it before. I plead American.
The unclued entry is OKTOBERFEST, making the revelry seasonal (though that happens mostly in September).
I hadn’t flagged many clues as troublesome, but 19 was easier with some checks to get me to “Wrens” faster. Most similar outfits have a W for “Women’s” in them that you could remove so that didn’t narrow it down much.
18 seemed overly baroque when — especially with a German theme — PEZ was right there to perhaps be chased by an ANT. But it got in an Azed shoutout, so that’s worth something.
The pictorial clue is a clock reading 12:00pm, an atlas, Ziggy Stardust in a labcoat with a stethoscope minus B. This gives us N + AZ + DR (B)OWIE = NA ZDROWIE. L’chaim!
With good word lengths, a strong theme, and a good mix of clues, this was a barrel of fun. Za zdorovye!
ab
Grid solution
Visual clue
A multi-part clue, starting with 12pm, i.e. noon, the A-Z road atlas, and David Bowie dressed as a doctor with a B crossed out on his coat, giving:
N + AZ + DR (b)OWIE = NA ZDROWIE
Clues and explanations
Thematic solutions are indicated with an asterisk.
| Day | Solution | Direction, Clue, Count | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ACCRETE | 14ac Gather a Commanding Officer’s wanting a drop of Oliver’s Island (7) | A,C(o),CRETE |
| 2 | BIERE* | 16to Nice ale, is it, that is on top of bar for starters? (5) | B(ar)/IE,RE ref city in France French beer |
| 3 | CHEERS* | 25up Broad not quite making it having run bye! (6) | CHEE[R]S(y) |
| 4 | CLARO | 12aw Smoke bombs close bar when ESB runs out (5) | CLARO anag minus ESB |
| 5 | CRUDEST | 12ac Extremely coarse earl, after something to chew, swallows last of Beer Street (7) | C[R]UD/E/ST |
| 6 | DAL | 22ac A little Old Ale or tasters of Life and Death get this pulse returning (3) | DAL Hidden & initials rev |
| 7 | DOETH | 22to Doom Bar order perverted the ancient acts (5) | DO(om)/ETH anag; bar=except |
| 8 | ENERGY | 7d Go gaily free of trouble following a half of Greene King (6) | (gre)ENE,R/G(ail)Y |
| 9 | LAGER* | 23to This drink needs to mature between ends of April and this month (5) | L[AGE]R see Chambers def A type of beer |
| 10 | LARGE | 9to Greek Ale given to cycling Left Handed Giant (5) | rev cycle of (e)GR AL/E; Left Handed Giant (Brewpub) |
| 11 | LOTION | 9d Pride member takes in counter to wash (6) | L[OT]ION |
| 12 | NA ZDROWIE* | 1aw-3,4ac With new spell, one Wizard 3! (2,7) | NA ZDOWRIE anag Polish cheers |
| 13 | NICETY | 1d It’s fine, as champagne ready for uncorking — and TEA, say (6) | (o)NICE/TY i.e. “tea” |
| 14 | NOBODY | 10d Complaint from Red drinker, who doesn’t matter? (6) | NO BODY |
| 15 | OKTOBERFEST* | 15ac,17to Unclued (11) | German beer festival |
| 16 | OMEGA | 21to The beginnings of One Mile End (great ales) — and the finale (5) | O,M,E,G,A first letters |
| 17 | OVEREGG | 19ac Not do a Proper Job on your pudding? Done mine! (7) | OVER/EGG |
| 18 | PEZANT | 8to,1ac-2 Back in Jail, US Cryptic setter gets shot of editor, one at Scrubs who had no Pedigree? (6) | PE[AZ(ed)<]NT rev ref. setter Azed |
| 19 | PILSNER* | 8ac 9 women, sacked from their service, with impudence talk back (7) | PIL,SNER(w) all rev Bohemian beer from Pilsen |
| 20 | PROOST* | 8d For sailor the opening of tequila 3! (6) | PRO,OS,T Indian beer, Flemish cheers |
| 21 | RARELY | 11d When Summer Lightning is seen at 15, bank on sun (6) | RA/RELY |
| 22 | REEST | 11to Caledonian Dry remains around Aberdeen, most commonly (5) | RE[E]ST |
| 23 | ROCKET | 5d Quickly produce High Rise rating (6) | 2 meanings: High Rise one of Brewdog’s beers (or Highrise one of London Brewing Co. beers) |
| 24 | SALUTE* | 24up Given a tot of Scotch, an old music maker 3! (6) | S/A LUTE Italian cheers |
| 25 | SEW ON | 2aw North is due back to get Stitched Up (3,2) | rev N OWES; Stitched Up one of Taylors’ beers |
| 26 | SKOL* | 20ac Small floor, large 3! (4) | S/KO/L Nordic cheers and also a lager. |
| 27 | STOUT* | 20to Enduring -uch a -ipple? (5) | S,T OUT i.e. “such a tipple” |
| 28 | TASTE | 3ba Perceive Abbot as Tetley? A little of this is needed (5) | TASTE hidden |
| 29 | TATARY | 3d Thanks to Jolly Sailor Brewery’s rear area, its boundaries blurred (6) | TA,TAR,Y |
| 30 | TEACHER | 18ac Master Brew enclosure with bars hotel installed for Silver King (7) | TEA/C[H (for AG)E],R |
| 31 | UNCUT | 13aw Recycling copper cask (bigger than Firkin) with nowt taken out (5) | (cu t)UN/CU,T(un) |
| 32 | WEEDED | 6d Having Piddle, Sid the Landlord finally made bed more attractive! (6) | WEE/D,E,D last letters |
| 33 | ZEALOT | 4d Militant Director’s kicked out of bar many times (6) | ZE(d),A LOT |
| Required | BEERS AND CHEERS | A suitable and rhyming name for the puzzle based on the thematic items (5,3,6) |
Solvers’ comments
Kept me puzzling for hours 🙂 [RE]
This was quite a stiff examination, especially before I realised that there were several foreign equivalents of cheers! I was particularly unnerved watching the checked letters in na zdrowie appear. All became clear and I felt very at home with the theme. Bottoms up! [NI]
Great [LA]
Unusual to see no date for what the puzzle commemorates, but after deciding the barrels weren’t whisky, all became clear. A fun puzzle with extensive use of the theme. We’re unsure of the parsing of CHEERS (though it, of course, had to be Day 3’s solution) and NICETY. CLARO, PEZANT and TATARY were new to me. Every day is a achool day 🙂 Thanks Enigmatist and Bozzy. [CW]
Nice words and clues. Some cheers I’d not come across, helped by Wikipedia’s “toast” page. 13, 27 somewhat puzzling. [MJ]
Oh a tough one, but it is Enigmatist. After 3 or 4 passes only a few clues solved. So a very slow solve but enjoyable nevertheless. Quite a few new words. [GW]
The theme was incorporated well into clues and solutions. Clues for 2, 26 and 19 were particularly fine. [DR]
Very enjoyable, CHEERS🍻 [MN]
I found the last few really tough: 10 23 25 are still a bit hand-wavey. [RS]
Pheweeee, that was tough, I need a drink after that! Sláinte! [SC]
I really enjoyed this one. Some cheeky and challenging clues but all was fair, once I realised that not all answers were in English. Cheers, indeed! [JT]
Loved the theme and many related clues/answers but this was a toughie! Only had a few answers after first run through. Slowed down by not knowing CLARO, NA ZDROWIE, PEZANT, REEST, or TATARY and while some could be deduced from the clueing, some were harder (18 especially!). The picture clue sparked a lively debate as to whether 12:00 can / should really be AM or PM. Didn’t fully parse 1 or 3 but overall a lot of fun thanks to Enigmatist and Bozzy. [JC]
My favourite subject, I went to the unclued, some while ago, and I loved the thematic clues and answers. For once Frank’s drawing helped me with the answer. Normally I have to back reference the answer with the drawing. 😁 Why were 26 and 27 numbered in the grid? Great puzzle. [SB]
Cheers! Thanks to Enigmatist and Bozzy for a fun, boozy crossword. [RS]
Some tricky clues here but good topic! [PD]
A bit of a struggle but good fun, your health! [MD]
Great topic – some answers a little hard to get (Day 12!) [RG]
Some of this was quite mild, but I’m hoping not to be left with a bitter taste at the end. [RP]
Enigmatist at his most devious I think. My favourite clue is definitely the unusual and inventive Day 27! [JB]
When is the group outing to Munchen? I now know a lot more about beer than I did before – but I’d still rather have a naughty cocktail! [SF]
Cheers! Who needs ‘Sober October’? [MC]
Got the theme fairly quickly, especially with the photo, but quite a few clues that took a while to fall into place (with some unconventional versions and spellings — eg day 18, and trying for ages to make day 20 be prosit, like jamming a puzzle piece in which almost fits but not quite). I loved day 12, and Frank Paul’s ‘BOWIE’ corruption! Also went on a bit of a wild goose chase trying to think of cockney rhyming slang that fit the Easter egg….sigh. [MS]
A good solve [DM]
Not my specialist subject or indeed subject. [SW]
This must surely set a new record for the number of ‘clue words’ per ‘answer letters’… I still think brevity is the soul of wit and that wit is to be valued in crosswords of all dimensions! Sorry, but this level of convolutedness just doesn’t do it for me, especially since many of the foreign terms are given spellings which are not supported by sources. I would have had no hope without Hints and Tips, so thanks for those, but if this is still not right I don’t think I’ll be bothering to scratch my head any further! [EF]
A treat for my German husband! [AR]
Don’t hold out much hope for all these being correct! Very clever clues and links but I found it very tricky. [HH]
Enigmatist has a fearsome reputation, but was kind enough to make this one gettable. Waited till the Hints & Tips though just in case. And the setter’s knowledge of ales and their styles made him a bit of an obvious choice for this one. [PA]
A theme I know nothing about. [AB]
Another hard one! [JS]
Just the puzzle for a wine tasting holiday in Spain. [JM]
A lot of words that I didn’t know. He completed it at night. [RG]
Having once been in Munich immediately before Oktoberfest, I can vouch for the wonderful beers and the likelihood of hearing toasts in many languages, so this rang bells for me. But tackling clues by Enigmatist is never easy, and I struggled with some of the entries. At least for once I could untangle the Frank Paul picture!! I was also not sure what you meant for the Easter Egg as there is no hint in the grid – should it be a well-known phrase, or just something that comes to mind. And “cheers” is already one of the answers…. [SB]
Got there eventally. [SG]
That seems to have gone down well. Glad that everyone managed to get some in. Thank you for all the comments, especially those more successfully facetious than mine.
I think I should respond to EF, who does point out something which is probably an inevitable consequence of making a puzzle so thematic. “Convolutedness” is not everyone’s cup of tea and EF will certainly not be alone; I hope there are enough puzzles during the year where elegant brevity does prevail. However, Enigmatist’s achievement here is I think remarkable: he has sprinkled the clues with references to an average of at least one beer/ale per entry (in addition to those in the solutions) and such an achievement must come with some small cost. Sometimes our solving is like striding across an open hill landscape: here perhaps we pick our way through a scented forest (or a crowded bar). I hope both types of challenge give enjoyment.
AB, reviewer of the October puzzle, is obviously familiar with any number of different ways of saying ‘cheers’, so AB’s comment in the feedback must just be a coincidence! 😁