Clues by Tramp and Grid by Calluna
Enter the prize draw by 30 April.
The background for this puzzle is a Graham Fox photograph showing an old-style tram carriage with reversible seats.
This puzzle uses a conventional 9x5x5 grid by Calluna and marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of one represented in the grid in various guises. The yellow cells should be rearranged to give the name of the centenarian (6,6) and the orange cells should be rearranged to give perhaps the most well-known words uttered by him (2,5,4,3,2,5,2,4,6). Both of these should be submitted with solutions. Clues are presented in alphabetical order of their solutions.
Starting from Calluna’s script, Tramp takes the rôle of setter and uses his method to improvise a memorable puzzle. Are you a contender, keeping alive your title shot, or are you a bum, with a one-way ticket to Palookaville?
Day 7
American 34 dropping round: cheeky things (5)
Cheeky clue this! Start with a letter for American and follow with the answer to Day 34, but drop the round letter. The answer is a rude plural for things with cheeks – the British rather than the American version. [NI]
Day 9
Cricket’s sound? Clubs welcome bishop (5)
Nothing to do with cricketing bishop David Sheppard! Initial for clubs followed by a short welcome and an abbreviation for bishop (not b) to give you the insect’s sound. [JP]
Day 11
Family of film and screen legend initially shot with two rounds (9)
A tricky parsing here! You need to take ‘screen’ and the first letter of legend. These, together with two Os (rounds), are shot to pieces, the letters being an anagram of the famous family in the film. [JP]
Day 13
Kelvin, Sun journalist’s, written about society for parts of a newspaper? (5)
When the clue says parts of a newspaper it doesn’t mean sections in a newspaper but rather sections in the office of a newspaper itself (hence, the question mark). [GS]
Day 15
One might look after kids, briefly minding daughter: fine role model? (9)
Don’t think of nursemaids! Think of who would look after another type of kid minus the last letter (briefly). Put this round (minding) initials for daughter and fine to give you the role model (and film). [JP]
Day 20
In French the hog’s head roasts on both sides in ovens (5)
You want the (masculine) definite article in French followed by a letter for hog’s head and two more for roasts on both sides. Ignore the tasty surface: the answer is the plural of an unfamiliar word for a glass-annealing oven. [NI]
Day 27
Sinatra’s star nickname? Blue Eyes — singer ultimately performing with three mikes (2,7)
Ol’ Blue Eyes made one film with our birthday boy whom he hated, thus this pejorative nickname (2,7). This did not go well with birthday boy who retaliated with Mr Baldy. [GS]
Day 35
Rub-down, covering front of torso and stomach (5)
Rub-down in the sense of taking a rough piece of wood and making the surface smooth (4 letters). Then throw in the first letter of torso and there you are. This clue is charmingly devious, leading the solver to think the solution is a noun when in fact it’s a verb. [GS]
Day 36
Travels across sea having picked up slaves (5)
Picked up suggests a homophone of a word for slaves. The answer means travels across sea (especially waves). [NI]
I am grateful to the other members of the Hints & Tips team: Garry Stripling (Gin) and Jim Pennington (Philostrate).
Happy solving!
Nick Inglis (etc)