Hints & Tips December 2025

Clues and Grid by Komorník

Enter the prize draw by 31 December.

The background for this puzzle is a Benjamin Balázs photo of the edge of a bird bath.

This puzzle by Komorník uses an unconventional 13x5x5 grid which is essentially an 11x5x5 grid, but with the nearest and furthest 11-letter entries extended by one cell at each end, to form 13-letter entries. A further eccentricity is that the five layers are curved in a gentle and elegant arc.

The puzzle celebrates two birthday celebrants. The first may appear as a temporary and non-fitting solution at day 26. The second (inanimate) celebrant, partially depicted here, and almost precisely contemporary with the first, is named at 15ac (5,8) and located in a significant place (4). Solvers should submit the names of the second celebrant and the significant place with their entries. Clues are numbered in alphabetical order of their solutions.

The clue at Day 26 serves both as a clue for the associated entry at 13to (2,3) and as a clue for the surname of the first celebrant (6). The second celebrant is an architectural feature inspiring the unusual design of the grid.

Komorník, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, is a man who, for his own amusement, never takes up any book but Chambers Dictionary; there he finds occupation for an idle hour, and consolation in a distressed one. A three dimensional grid in possession of a good selection of clues, must be in want of a solution; this particular one is entailed upon the identification of the locations.

Day 3

Destination of heroine? Change is announced (5)

Announced suggests a homophone. Here we want a word for the hoped-for destination of the thematic heroines. It should sound like a word for change, but you should enter the destination. [NI]

Day 4

“New World” flavouring – Chawton abandoned with time running out (5)

Chawton is another clue to one of the birthday celebrants. In this case abandoned doesn’t mean the village is deserted, but the letters should be scrambled and ‘with time’ removed (running out) to give you a staple of New World (Mexican) cuisine. [JP]

Day 5

Scorning extremely talkative Bates is brought up – source of deep rumblings (5)

The word Bates includes the letters t & e. These must be removed (scorning extremely talkative). It’s an up solution (35up) so the letters of the word ‘is’ must be reversed giving the 5 letters needed. The result may remind you of Shirley but it certainly has nothing to do with her. [GS]

Day 6

Part of hall, or a cottage retreat perhaps, in the bleak midwinter (5)

In this clue the solution is written, before your very eyes, within the clue itself. It goes across four words but is spelt backwards (indicator – retreat). The solution is sung during the time of year indicated. [GS]

Day 13

Clergyman, ignoring the odds, seq. let down? (5)

The solution of Day 13 is the family name of a clergyman pertinent to the solution of Day 14 . And how to find it? Take the even letters from the last three words (ignoring the odds). [GS]

Day 22

Funny line called in fiction “parting burst”? Never! (11)

This clue makes the answer resemble a turducken (an American dish consisting of a chicken stuffed inside a duck stuffed inside a turkey). Funny suggests an anagram, just of line in this case. Now we want a word for called inside a short word for fiction, this combination should itself be inside (parting) the funny line. The whole is an unfamiliar word meaning ‘not able to be broken’ (hence ‘Burst? Never!’). [NI]

Day 25

Low note from brass (5)

No tuba here! Think of what the children would say the cattle do in ‘Away in a manger’ and add the sixth note of the tonic sol-fa to make a slang word for money. [JP]

Day 29

Proposal from one loaded with money but having no head-piece? (5)

You could be forgiven for thinking that ‘one’ was a person but it’s not. Something that can safely store lots of money – six letters. Remove the first letter (head-piece) and you have a synonym for proposal. [GS]

Day 32

’mid November, Papa, returning thus to estate – end of production (5)

Seems a little confusing, but take a short word for ‘thus’ backwards (returning) and follow this with a type of ‘estate’ to give you what might be hoped for after a production. Of course you could do without the parsing and just think of what comes between November and Papa! [JP]

Day 40

Verruca? Find it appalling one’s passed on 16 (6,7)

A nice anagram to solve to give you what other characters may have wrongly thought about the person who is the answer to 16. [JP]

I am grateful to the other members of the Hints & Tips team: Garry Stripling (Gin) and Jim Pennington (Philostrate).

Happy solving!

Nick Inglis (etc)