Three Days Late
By Sloop John Bee
I wrote the above puzzle for The Birthday Bash, The Perimeter Nina should read BIG DAVE’S IS SEVENTEEN TODAY, but as the blog was born on the 28th January 2009 and the Bash wasn’t until the 31st it was Three Days Late!
Apologies to anyone I plagiarized and thanks to Prolixic for the advice – the good bits are probably his and the bad bits mine
I hope a volunteer or volunteers come forward to blog the other two puzzles on the day (Bridge House 2 and BIG DAVE’S BLOG BIRTHDAY BASH, 2026)
If not I will have a go as soon as I have solved them myself.
Steve has volunteered to Blog Rhamat’s puzzle but Bridge House 2 is still up for grabs?
Across
7a Yankee drunk in the East End talked incessantly (8)
YAMMERED: Y for Yankee and how an EastEnder, who drops his aitches, would say drunk
9a A release for my father’s sibling (6)
AUNTIE: A from the clue and to release.
10a A Persian male’s small matter (4)
ATOM: A from the clue and a Persian male TOM cat. I tried to make a joke about Tom’s disappointingly small matter but sensibly it was edited out.
11a I sell grass recklessly to young store women (10)
SALESGIRLS: An anagram (recklessly) of I SELL GRASS
12a Isolate alien entering Vladimir’s cottage briefly (6)
DETACH: Our usual cinematic alien ET enters a shortened Russian cottage.
14a Match day paper? (8)
CONFETTI: A cryptic definition of the paper thrown at a wedding (and totally plagiarised from a recent Saturday puzzle)
15a Rebuilt bear after preliminary search almost cancelled (13)
RECONSTRUCTED: A preliminary search RECON, almost all of cancelled or STRUCk and a child’s abbreviated TEDdy Bear.
17a Oops – silly amounts of American marsupials (8)
OPOSSUMS: An anagram (silly) of OOPS and amounts or SUMS to follow.
19a Sexually ambiguous fun guy reportedly has muscles (6)
BICEPS: Someone sexually ambiguous or BI, Fun guy reportedly leads us to FUNGI or a type thereof CEPS.
21a Follow an occurrence – one happening on the Tartan (5,5)
TRACK EVENT: To follow or TRACK, and an occurrence or EVENT. Tartan is capitalised as that is a trademark for the rubber surface where TRACK EVENT’s take place.
22a Initially leave acrid vile stench here (4)
LAVS: Initial letters of words 2 to 5 – A construction stolen from RayT/Beam
23a Irritate one with only one eye (6)
NEEDLE: A sewing implement with one eye that also means to irritate.
24a Wearing small sandal perhaps at this time as footwear (8)
SNOWSHOE: S for small, and what a sandal perhaps, is an example of SHOE, contains at this time or NOW
Down
1d Struggle in South coast location (6)
BATTLE: A location on the South coast where a struggle near Hastings took place.
2d Islamic official seeing leaders in mosque before noon (4)
IMAM: The leading letters of In Mosque IM, go before noon or AM
3d Otto’s thick coin once (8)
GROSCHEN: A cryptic definition of a notably thicker coin from Germany once upon a time (hence Otto’s)
4d Mother and child getting fruit (6)
DAMSON: A mother DAM, and her child SON combine to be the plum-like fruit.
5d Sterile sick patient lacking potassium going bananas (10)
ANTISEPTIC: An anagram (going bananas) of SICk PATIENT but remove the symbol for Potassium K first.
6d Assaulted by instrument, detective returned (8)
VIOLATED: A musical instrument VIOLA and a reversal (returned) of an abbreviated DETective.
8d Strange citadel over German city’s shops (13)
DELICATESSENS: A German city ESSEN and the plural ’S, follows an anagram (strange) of CITADEL.
13d Microsoft software program provides a means of entry (6,4)
ACCESS CODE: Microsofts’s Database software ACCESS, and to program or CODE
15d Agent’s bohemian we hear with wit (8)
REPARTEE: An agent or REP, and a homophone (we hear) of someone Bohemian or ARTY becomes ARTEE
16d Relax, the men in blue hats working after strike (8)
UNBUTTON: The soldiers or men in blue hats would be the U.N. then ON for working follows BUTT or strike.
18d Cryptic Sue’s web bulletin board (6)
USENET: An anagram (cryptic) of SUE and the web or NET. USENET is a bulletin board from the early days of computing, that is still operating today.
20d Rover thinks his face rings a bell (6)
PAVLOV: A cryptic definition of the fellow who used to make dogs salivate by ringing a bell at mealtimes.
22d Mislay sloe cocktail (4)
LOSE: An anagram (cocktail) of SLOE
Thank you for an enjoyable puzzle SJB and for producing the solution.
The 3d coin was new to me and I didn’t know the reason for Tartan in 21a which made me think it should start with check but that wouldn’t fit with the down clues.
19a was my favourite.
I really enjoyed this, Sloops although, like Madflower, I have not heard of the coin. I’ve still got a couple to go but I will persevere and resist looking at your hints. So far, my COTD is the silly amount of American marsupials.
Thank you for an entertaining puzzle. 👍
Thanks for offering to blog Rhamat’s puzzle, I’ll make sure Gazza or myself will post it for you.
👍
Thanks for this, John, really enjoyed it. Didn’t get the German coin and couldn’t parse anything and didn’t want to ask Mr Google. I put “Reconstituted” for 15a, which of course I couldn’t parse and it stopped me getting 16d! At first, I had an alternative second word for 13d, which is another Microsoft Office program and so wanted to think the clue needed to be … “software programs provide” … but then the penny dropped.
Thanks again, great fun.
Thanks, I have just got home and am catching up with Mama Bee, who despite not been sure who I am, is really pleased to see me again!
Do have a go at the other puzzles, they are all much better than mine, but Bridge House 2 was quite tricky for me
The grid layout and the occasion strongly suggested a Nina was around the edge and it duly emerged – a very well engineered Nina it is too! Indeed, the whole puzzle is well engineered, so congratulations to SJB on his cruciverbal skills. I ticked enough clues to form both an Across and a Down podium – 7, 14 & 24 Across and 6, 15 &16 Down. 22a also brought a smile. Recognising the homophone in the 19a wordplay took me much longer than it should have – the emphasis I employed when reading the clue led me astray. That’s not a very good excuse as Boletus edulis is the one variety I can confidently recognise and collect when foraging in the Autumn. I did spend some time trying to find a translation for 3d that meant ‘thick’ until accepting it was part of the definition. I was then interested to read that the word has origins in the Latin for ‘thick’, i.e. ‘grossus’, which is also the basis for our very own groat.
Thank you to SJB for crafting a fun puzzle, and to SJB again (I assume) for the review! Hopefully this will be first of many…
Oops – my down podium should have read 8, 15 & 16. There’s a bit of imprecision in my late-at-night tick placement!
Been away and now catching up, so very late. Thoroughly enjoyed your puzzle and we did know the Austrian Groschen – 100 made a Schilling. Hope you all had a great day and thank you for your puzzle.