Clues by Raich and Grid by Calluna
Theme: Route 66, established 1926.
Winner: Dave Miller of Stoke-on-Trent
Review of the February 2026 3D crossword
It’s a small world, they say, and February’s puzzle, as you will see below, gave me cause to muse on the theory of three degrees of separation.
Raich is a setter with a long history of puzzles in various publications like the Listener, the Independent and the Sunday Telegraph. I discovered that his pseudonym is a tribute to Raich Carter, one of the best players in the history of Sunderland AFC, and that Raich is a lifelong supporter of the ‘Mackems’. Sunderland is a city that is close to my heart, since I worked there as a headteacher for fifteen years — first degree of separation.
Raich’s clueing is perfect for a February puzzle, given that a proportion of solvers may well be relatively new to three-dimensional puzzles. His clues are concise, gentle, fair and accessible but not at the expense of the smile factor: my favourites were those for ERRED (“Made mistake, I hesitate to say, blushing”); the cryptic element of SUSS OUT (“… South American turn to buy drinks, not hard”); and URGES (“Advocates increases, with no introduction”). I also liked the way Raich used two familiar allusions (wives of Henry VIII and NI counties) to help the solver in those solutions beginning with 6.
Calluna is a two-person team who are major contributors of solid grids and interesting, quirky themes. Their last offering was the memorable Two Tone puzzle from August 2025 — remember the zebra? The theme here was no exception — it revealed itself early, since the first two clues I solved were the straightforwardly decipherable anagrams for GRAPES OF WRATH (set text for my English Literature GCE exam in the nineteen sixties — second degree of separation) and GET YOUR KICKS. ROUTE 66 is very familiar to me, since I have family living in Tulsa and Oklahoma City, and have visited them regularly over the last fifty years — third degree of separation.
The jumbled yellow and green shaded squares give us two references to Route 66: MOTHER ROAD (so called in The Grapes of Wrath) and WILL ROGERS HIGHWAY respectively. Will Rogers, the stage and motion picture star and ‘cowboy philosopher’, is a prominent figure in Oklahoma, since the airport in Oklahoma City is also named after him (recently ’upgraded’ to Will Rogers International Airport from Will Rogers World Airport — really). He should not be confused, however, with Roy Rogers (no relation, but another film star), the ‘King of the Cowboys’, with his famous horse, Trigger. Both Will and Roy are celebrated in the National Cowboy Museum in Oklahoma City.
En passant, a mention for Frank Paul’s cryptic illustration: ULEM (mule with head moved to backside) + A (arrow head). I am two out of two so far this year and am looking forward to the next ten months.
Thank you, Calluna and Raich, for an enjoyable puzzle that brought back many happy memories.
KM
Grid solution
Visual clue
A mule with its head moved to its rear end and an arrow head lead to:
ULEM + A(rrow) = ULEMA
Background image
The backdrop to this month’s puzzle is a photo by Matt Hecht (public domain) of a soccer player practising (getting?) her kicks.
Clues and explanations
Thematic solutions are indicated with an asterisk.
To automatically format thematic solutions and definitions:
| Day | Solution | Clue | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 6-FOOT | 9d Henry VIII’s wives pay for yards repeatedly? (1-4) | yards repeatedly? 6 FOOT (6 foot = 2 yards) |
| 2 | 6-PACK | 9to Referring to NI counties group’s well-defined muscularity (1-4) | well-defined muscularity. Ref. Northern Ireland’s Six Counties |
| 3 | ABHOR | 4d Detest awful bully, he’s obnoxious right from the start (5) | Detest. initial letters: A B H O R |
| 4 | ALONG | 6d In course of final on grass, most outsiders leaving (5) | In course of. Hidden in finAL ON Grass |
| 5 | AMERICA* | 4ac Early in day, Heather in country (7) | country. AM ERICA USA |
| 6 | CHOKO | 12aw Cook unhappy about hospital fruit (5) | fruit. COOK* around H |
| 7 | CITES | 17up Alludes to internet locations on radio (5) | Alludes to. “sites” |
| 8 | COYNESS | 17ac Being reserved – company? Indeed, about new stipulation at first (7) | Being reserved. CO Y(N)ES Stipulation |
| 9 | CURTEST | 12ba Despicable person, peevish mainly, most abrupt (7) | most abrupt. CUR TEST(y) |
| 10 | CYRUS AVERY* | 17aw,1d Travel expert’s new car survey you initially distributed (5,5) | Travel expert. (CAR SURVEY Y)* Known as the “Father of Route 66.” Leader of the Good Roads Movement of the early 1900s, which championed better roads across America. As Oklahoma highway commissioner, he laid out and numbered U.S. Highway 66. |
| 11 | DRIVE* | 2aw Move quickly down to secure right trip (5) | trip. D(R)IVE |
| 12 | ERRED | 18up Made mistake, I hesitate to say, blushing (5) | Made mistake. ER RED |
| 13 | GET YOUR KICKS* | 22ba,3d Stockier guy, Kelvin, at sea to find pleasure (3,4,5) | to find pleasure. (STOCKIER GUY K)* “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66″ is a popular rhythm and blues song |
| 14 | GRAPES OF WRATH* | 14to,11ba-2,13ba Novel graph software developed (6,2,5) | Novel. (GRAPH SOFTWARE)* Novel by John Steinbeck which uses Route 66, dubbed the Mother Road, to symbolize escape and the hope of a new beginning. |
| 15 | INWITH | 5d,21to-2 In Aberdeen enclosed by one unusual thin wall at outset (6) | Aberdeen enclosed. I (THIN W)* (Scottish for within) |
| 16 | KODIAKS | 3ba Bears cameras round island (7) | Bears. KOD(I)AKS The largest variety of brown bear |
| 17 | O’HARE* | 20up Oscar, fast mover in airport (5) | airport. O HARE Ref. Chicago (one end of Route 66) |
| 18 | ON THE ROAD* | 25to,7to-4 Jack’s work is getting there (2,3,4) | Double definition. Novel by Jack Kerouac about the Beat Generation |
| 19 | OUTAGES | 16ba Away for long time, they’re powerless? (7) | they’re powerless. OUT AGES |
| 20 | OUTRE | 25up Tour around earth far from conventional (5) | far from conventional. TOUR* E |
| 21 | ROADS* | 7to Poles welcoming area highways (5) | highways. RO(A)DS |
| 22 | ROUTE 66* | 7ac Way to take over country – defeat English at time of Hastings? Not half! (5,2) | Way to take over country. ROUT E (10)66 |
| 23 | RUSES | 7d Scammer in the end employs deceptive methods (5) | deceptive methods. scammeR USES |
| 24 | SHOWY | 24to Extremely sly about the way to be flash (5) | flash. S(l)Y around HOW |
| 25 | SIGHT | 19aw Sense there’s great deal (5) | Double definition |
| 26 | SUSS OUT | 23ac Instinctively see South American turn to buy drinks, not hard! (4,3) | Instinctively see. S US S(h)OUT |
| 27 | TAHRS | 10aw Mountain dwellers’ headgear recalled by Royal Society (5) | Mountain dwellers. HAT< RS Himalayan wild goats |
| 28 | TOWER | 15to In Rialto we rediscovered loom (5) | loom. Hidden in RialTO WE Rediscovered |
| 29 | ULEMA | 8to Muslim scholars you listened to with the French parent (5) | Muslim scholars. U LE MA |
| 30 | URGES | 8d Advocates increases, with no introduction (5) | Advocates. (s)URGES |
| Required | WILL ROGERS HIGHWAY | Alias (4,6,7) | |
| Required | MOTHER ROAD | Alias (6,4) |
Solvers’ comments
Impressive theming! [DW]
Definitely got my kicks out of this one 🙂 [RE]
Getting ABHOR gave us a steer to days 1 and 2, which led us to the excellent theme. Couldn’t figure out how the photo related to it, until we solved day 13 — which was a face palm / “of course!” moment. Nice variety of thematic references and, as usual , a couple of new words. Really enjoyed the puzzle — thanks Raich and Calluna. [CW]
Quite a gentle drive along the highway. 10 Don’t both ‘new’ and ‘distributed’ indicate an anagram? 26 is barely better defined in Collins, though Chambers doesn’t mention intuition. I hadn’t heard of Avery, nor the route’s synonyms. Wikipedia to the rescue. [MJ]
Nice. Lots of thematic entries! [PB]
An entertaining road trip! [NI]
Good fun. Favourite clues Days 7, 9, 24 and 26, and I got Frank Paul’s picture clue. [NB]
Lovely puzzle, a slightly cheeky number. Enjoyed the trip! Thank you [JT]
Very satisfying: no gripes. Took me far too long to understand that days 1 and 2 started with a digit; I was searching for A’s for ages. [HS]
Difficult [RC]
Took a while to work out that 6 came before A alphabetically, and dependent on Google for the aliases. However, enjoyed it as ever. Thank you. I have to restrain myself from attempting them before the correct month! [HH]
A most enjoyable solve with skilful use of the theme and another straightforward picture, which led me to work backwards through the clues. Day 22 – surely not! A number, in a crossword!? A touch of genius indeed. [DR]
Enjoyable puzzle. Never heard of “inwith”. [KD]
Ingenious theme – the first 3D road? Now, perhaps, we should emulate Billy Bragg and follow up with an ode to the A13. [PA]
Enjoyable puzzle with good thematic links. [JP]
Another enjoyable puzzle although Days 1, 2, and 22 had me completely perplexed until the penny dropped….numbers!! I knew nothing about Route 66 before, apart from the song, so a learning experience for me as the thematic answers appeared. A few words were new to me but could be deduced from the word play and crossers. I managed to unjumble ‘Mother Road’ and ‘Highway’ but I did have to resort to Wikipedia for ‘Will Rogers’. [SB]
A bit baffled by the first two clues until I discovered that they started with a number rather than a letter! Fun puzzle; many thanks to Raich and Calluna. [RS]
Enjoyed it a lot . [LA]
Those pesky 6s had me flummoxed for a while, when ABHOR seemed to imply that the first two clues would be A-Axxx or A-Bxxx! The PDM when ROUTE 66 hove into view was a Laugh Out Loud moment. Thanks to Raich and Calluna for a fun ride! [MC]
Nice level of challenge, interesting theme, thanks to all. [JC]
A relatively easy solve to continue the start of the year. [AC]
Loved the theme! And learned a few new facts about that legendary route… which I’ve driven on in my many road trips across the States, when it was a much better and kinder place than it is sadly today. Clues likewise nice and gentle still, but I see March is going to be more of a challenge! [MS]
Got my kicks for sure! Now educated about Mr Avery, didn’t know that, great stuff. Thanks to Raich and Calluna, and Frank Paul whose drawing helped with 29. [SC]
I love these all!!! (Hello from St Catz Cambridge) [PB]
Theme came quite quickly with 13,14,18. Then with Route 66 obvious took me a long time to realise that it needed 66 to be inserted and not letters! Had to confirm Cyrus Avery which gave me Will Rogers – not previously known. We travelled part of the Mother Road in Arizona pre-Covid. 😎👍 [DM]
We learned something new about American culture and were impressed to find digits in the grid. [J&JH]
I enjoyed this one. Many clues were ingenious but satisfying to solve and very clever use of a theme including a number to make a crossword. [JB]
Another enjoyable puzzle, I had only a few clues left to solve and was none the wiser of the theme. Then the use of numbers surfaced and all was revealed. Thanks to Raich and Calluna. [GW]
A clever and at times quite tricky puzzle. Thanks to Raich and Calluna. I’ve had the Chuck Berry/Rolling Stones earworm ever since solving this one! [JA]
I found it very tricky to get going. I didn’t know you could have numerals so spent a long time trying to fit ‘a-‘ words in although I realised six had to come in somewhere. A long time ago I crashed a car on Route 66! [SG]
Fine [KPH]
Excellent [RL]
Good fun with a couple of new words for me. [GT]
I didn’t know this legendary road was turning 100 this year. Good puzzle with a few tricky clues. [MG]
This was an enjoyable and rewarding learning experience for me, as I knew so little about the history of this famous highway. I liked also the neat and unexpected inclusion of a numeric character as part of a word. All in all, a well-designed and well-clued thematic 3D puzzle. [AB]
Loved it – Didn’t get the theme until quite late on – I was resistant to making the leap to put numbers in 🙂 [LB]
You’re sure to 🎵get your kicks🎵 with this thoroughly enjoyable puzzle! I enjoyed the creative inclusion of numbers in the answers for Days 1, 2, and (of course) 22. Added a couple obscure new words to my vocabulary + that hilarious visual clue has been vividly etched in my mind for days… Cheers, Raich & Calluna! 🚘 [MS]
I’m rather ashamed that I assumed day 10 was an anagram but looked very odd so I used an anagram solver, looked him up (still in some disbelief) and all fell into place. So rather easy after that! But interesting, thanks. Lovely photograph (Matt Hecht) but I have no idea what it has to do with anything! [EF]
Very enjoyable – I learned a lot! [MH]
Enjoyed – thanks [CF]
Really nice puzzle with an impressive amount of thematic material. [MD]
It took me a while to work out the theme, but once the penny (or dime!) dropped, it was a fascinating and clever solving exercise. Thank you, Raich and Calluna! [SF]
Been there! Good puzzle loved the theme. [JM]
A good challenge this month, I was fooled by the first two clues for a good while, thinking they must begin with ‘a’ due to the alphabetical order of solutions. [ABG]
Took a while to work out what the theme was but clever construction. [PD]
Fantastic! Really enjoyed the theme and clues. [TC]
A little trickier than January’s, very interesting inclusion of numbers in the grid! Great fun to solve. [SH]
Lovely puzzle and theme. Thanks very much to all involved. [BS]
Very good [AW]
Unusually I had no idea what the theme could be from the introduction and had to google the alternative names. I was reluctant to believe at first that it could be using numbers as well as letters so that was a twist. Although I still enjoyed solving clues, the theme did not interest me – I realised what a difference it makes when the theme appeals to me. A nice straightforward grid. [JC]
Enjoyed having a topic close to home, and still learned something new (the name Cyrus Avery). Not used to numerals showing up in a cryptic–well done. Liked the Kerouac and Steinbeck references. Thanks to Raich and Calluna! [JS]
Having some cells be numbers is devious! (In a fun way of course) [CPP]
Another delightful puzzle with some interesting revelations about the thematic thoroughfare. [HJ]
Nice puzzle, thank you [AR]
Very fun and well developed! The inclusion of numeric characters was especially tricky but brilliant in that the theme shined through all the more. [MS]
So since when was 6 at the beginning of the alphabet? Otherwise a good bit of history in this puzzle. [MM]
Really enjoyed. Didn’t feel too complicated/too deeply themed. Just a nice, enjoyable one. [HM]