Clues by Vlad and Grid by Calluna
Enter the prize draw by 31 August.
The background for this puzzle is an Elijah Henderson photo of a zebra.
This puzzle by Vlad uses a conventional 9x7x5 grid by Calluna commemorating those responsible for a movement in a period of British culture. Like Calluna, this movement has a strong link with the West Midlands.
Three additional items appear in anomalously tinted cells (in other words they are anagrams of the letters in these cells) and solvers must include these with their entries. The symbol (4,6) (pale blue cells), the place of origin (8) (yellow cells) and an associated accessory (4,3,3) (pale pink cells). The first of these is likely to be unfamiliar (and does not appear in any dictionary), but is clued by a Frank Paul drawing and I have included a hint to this below (labelled as EE1).
Vlad and Calluna have composed an appropriately monochrome, yet three dimensional tribute to a British cultural movement. If you’re unfamiliar with the theme then I’ve got a message to you Rudy. Don’t bust a blood vessel. Look in the mirror in the bathroom – it must be love.
Day 5
Try to stop jazz fan becoming outcast (5)
You want a short word for try inside a slightly longer word for a jazz fan. The whole is a member of an outcast people living in the W Pyrenees, supposed to be the descendants of lepers. [NI]
Day 6
Repaired CD players and clock (9)
Repaired suggests an anagram and the answer is an ancient water clock. [NI]
Day 23
Married woman looks after old Queen – bad thematically (7)
You need the usual abbreviated title for a married woman and looks after means you should insert the name of a Queen. The result would follow bad to give a thematic group. [NI]
Day 24
Late summer comes round revealing hole in hedge (5)
One of those really annoying clues where the answer is printed right under your nose. At least this one has the merit of being spelt backwards (indicator: comes round). Solution: a hole in a hedge. [GS]
Day 26
Doctor English in secure Berkshire home (6)
Here Doctor does not indicate an anagram but simply the two initials of your local medic followed by the one for English. These are inside a three letter synonym for secure (as in verb). The whole not referring to the county but the breed of animal that would be happily “at home” here. [GS]
Day 28
Gunners right-back, one that is extremely competitive (3,4)
The surface suggests an Arsenal footballer, but instead you need the usual abbreviation for an arm of the British army. Follow it with a 2-letter abbreviation for right reversed (back) and finally a 3-letter synonym for one to give a metaphorically competitive event. It also happens to be a song by Day 39. [NI]
Day 37
44 group that’s full of energy, live (3,4)
The answer is a thematic group. You literally want that filled with energy and a 2-letter word for live. [NI]
Day 38
44 musicians, not those with Hannibal (3,8)
Be careful not to confuse your Oscars with your Echos. [GS]
Day 40
Kids describing online film – they may be attached to Pole (9)
You need 4-letter synonyms for kids and film. The latter should be preceded by a single letter to suggest that it is online. Describing means you should insert this concoction in the synonym for kids. The answer describes people who revere or are designated by a specific sort of pole. [NI]
Day 43
Material’s oversentimental line (5)
Take a word for oversentimental and add a letter for line. The result is a Scottish variant of a woven material showing diagonal lines. [NI]
Easter Egg 1
This first Easter Egg is a symbol (4,7) for Day 44. Specifically it is the name attached to the logo for the publishing company with the name given by Day 44. The name will probably be unfamiliar but can be confirmed by webpages associated with Day 44.
Look for a short word representing the system associated with the two symbols on the left. The arrow indicates that you need to reverse this word. The right hand picture depicts a bottle of a specific hot sauce which you need to identify. The word HEARTLESS indicates that you should delete the middle letter. This sauce is being poured over a card, which indicates that the usual letter for this card should be surrounded by the (heartless) name of the sauce. [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)