Stats The puzzle page was loaded nearly 500 times. 62 visitors had a go at it and 25 solvers managed to complete and submit. Of those who submitted, only 11 managed to get the full scores on both the grid and bonus questions. The first 10 all-correct submissions were awarded early bird bonus points from 10 to 1.
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Here is the solution grid:
BONUS QUESTIONS:
- The term hinting at the thematic phrase? (2 wds) ANS: – SEASONS GREETINGS
- The thematic phrase? (3 wds) ANS: – HAPPY NEW YEAR
Annotations
| ACROSS | Clue | Answer / Entry | Annotation | Def | Xtra Word / Alt Def | Cross Ref | Xtra Letter |
| 1 | Snow on sides of steep range (6) | SPHERE | S…P HERE(now); | range | S | ||
| 5 | Dreamy teen working on belly muscles (6) | ABSENT | ABS(belly muscles) TEN*; | dreamy | E | ||
| 10 | Fit nest to live and die (6) | BELONG | BE(to live) LONG(die); | fit | Nest | 29d | |
| 11 | Miser’s abode reportedly (5) | AUGER | hp augur(bode); | miser | A | ||
| 12*** | Fish to loaf around at sea (6) | AFLOAT | TOLOAF*;(See note below) | at sea | Fish | 34d | |
| 15 | Defensive players providing backing to seniors (8) | FIELDERS / YIELDERS | FI(rev IF, providing) ELDERS(seniors); | defensive players | Producers | 32d | |
| 16 | Former class disperses with lecturer for start of reunion (5) | OLDER | ORDER(class) with L for R | former | Disperses | 23a | |
| 18 | Educated speaker’s tense (6) | TAUGHT / NAUGHT | hp taut(tense) | educated | Nothing | 7d | |
| 20 | Pull over having snicked line in gorge (4) | GLUT | GUT(rev TUG, pull) outside L(line) | gorge | S | ||
| 21 | Guard to protect female close to her when topless (6) | FENDER / FEEDER | F(female) END(close) ER(her, topless); | guard to protect | Supplier | 28a | |
| 23 | Importance of second lock (6) | STRESS / STREWS | S(second) TRESS(lock); | importance | Disperses | 16a | |
| 25 | Incline back to front and stoop (4) | TEND | T(front, last letter) END(stop); | incline | O | ||
| 27 | Horn blown in alert saving none (6) | ANTLER | (i)NALERT* | horn | N | ||
| 28 | Supplier sacked, the French got mad (3,2) | LET GO | LE(the, French) GOT*; | sacked | Supplier | 21a | |
| 30 | Case of cheeky ruse to strip for consideration (8) | COURTESY | C…YRUSETO*; | consideration | S | ||
| 35 | Greeting on entry to resort with song engaging people (6) | HIRERS | HI(greeting) RE(on) R(resort, start) S(son); | eng…people | G | ||
| 36 | Sort of patch from skin scrubbed daily (5) | KINDA | HIPS | sort of | Scrubbed | 24d | |
| 37 | Decrepit spot to entertain lover (6) | SENILE | SEE(spot) outside NIL(love); | decrepit | R | ||
| 38 | Rum porpoise in Seychelles entertaining ship’s company (6) | SCREWY | SY(Seychelles) outside CREW(ship’s coy); | rum | Porpoise | 1d | |
| 39 | Fuel stamps held bear limits (6) | DIESEL | DIES(stamps) EL(held, no ends); | fuel | E | ||
| DOWN | Clue | Answer / Entry | Annotation | Def | Xtra Word / Alt Def | Cross Ref | Xtra Letter |
| 1 | Does a good turn leaving salt (6) | SEADOG / SEAHOG | DOESAG*; | salt | Porpoise | 38a | |
| 2 | Control length to get inside edge (4) | HELM / HELP | L(length) inside HEM(edge); | control | Assist | 17d | |
| *3 | Tips for example to include record in eulogy (5) | ELOGE / ELOPE | E…E outside LOG(record); | eulogy | Bolt | 21d | |
| 4 | Nut on exhaust fin making sound (6) | ENTIRE | EN(nut) TIRE(exhaust); | sound | Fin | 26d | |
| 5 | Note very loose fit (4) | AGUE | (v)AGUE(loose – V, very); | fit | E | ||
| 6 | Sentimental songs salve lost maiden before boys collapse (7) | BALLADS | BAL(balm, salve-m) LADS(boys); | sentimental songs | Collapse | 13d | |
| 7 | Nothing petitioned upset Roman God (4) | SUED | rev of DEUS(god, Latin); | petitioned | Nothing | 18a | |
| 8 | Approach shed to acquire cycles (4) | NEAR | EARN(acquire with EAR/N cycled); | approach | Shed | 19d | |
| 9 | Got to protect America, time to be loyal (6) | TRUSTY | TRY(go) outside US(America) T(time) | loyal | T | ||
| 13 | Brief substitute (4,2) | FILL IN / FALL IN | DD | Collapse | 6d | ||
| 14 | Take white heroin in sorrow (6) | REGRET | R(take) EGRET(white heron); | sorrow | I | ||
| 17 | Assist couple endlessly switching positions in quarrel (4-2) | DUST-UP | DU(o)(couple less end) PUTS<=(rev positions); | quarrel | Assist | 2d | |
| 19 | Hard to temper short sword (6) | HANGER / HANGAR | H(hard) ANGER(temper); | short sword | Shed | 8d | |
| 21 | Bolt undone faster with hand tool (7) | FRETSAW | FASTER* W(with); | hand tool | Bolt | 3d | |
| *22 | King in chase sent signs modifying letters (6) | HACEKS | K(king) inside CHASE*; | signs …. Letters | N | ||
| 24 | Female wearing blue leaves decorated with a band (6) | SASHED / WASHED | SHE(female) inside SAD(blue); | decorated … band | Scrubbed | 36a | |
| *26 | Dead on rope reflecting hanging in church (6) | DOSSAL / DORSAL | D(dead) LASSO<=(rev rope); | hanging … church | Fin | 4d | |
| 29 | A lake bears use ultimately for chilling (5) | EERIE / EYRIE | ERIE(a lake) outside E(use, last letter); | chilling | Nest | 10a | |
| 31 | Twisted explicit gold pins in part of the ear (4) | OTIC | HIPS in reverse; | of the ear | G | ||
| 32 | Staff close to movie producers getting badgered (4) | RODE | ROD(staff) E(movie, last letter); | badgered | Producers | 15a | |
| 33 | Simple sex question feeling uncomfortable (4) | EASY | (qu)EASY(feeling uncomfortable less question); | simple | S | ||
| 34 | Square peg after rounding takes concrete shape (4) | GELS / EELS | rev of S(square) LEG(peg); | takes … shape | Fish | 12a | |
| NOTE: There was a minor error in 12A. The fodder TO LOAF does not yield AFLOAT. The error is regretted. | |||||||
Scorecard
| Participant(s) Name | Grid Score | Bonus | Total Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Akshay Bhandarkar | 144 | 15 | 159 |
| Prakash Arumugam | 144 | 14 | 158 |
| Samit Kallianpur | 144 | 13 | 157 |
| Tejas Siddharth | 144 | 12 | 156 |
| Ashit Hegde | 144 | 11 | 155 |
| Satyen Nabar | 144 | 10 | 154 |
| Madhup Tewari | 144 | 9 | 153 |
| Max Jackson | 144 | 8 | 152 |
| Supriya Mithal | 144 | 7 | 151 |
| Anirudh Sahni | 144 | 6 | 150 |
| Ganesh Nayak | 144 | 5 | 149 |
| Irwin Appel | 143 | 5 | 148 |
| Lakshmi Prakash | 143 | 5 | 148 |
| Mohsin | 143 | 5 | 148 |
| Mona Sogal | 143 | 5 | 148 |
| N Anantakrishnan | 143 | 5 | 148 |
| NARAYANAN R | 143 | 5 | 148 |
| Ramki Krishnan | 143 | 5 | 148 |
| VENKATESAN P. | 143 | 5 | 148 |
| Venkatraghavan S. | 143 | 5 | 148 |
| Derek Harrison | 143 | 0 | 143 |
| Madhusudan H | 137 | 5 | 142 |
| D NARAYANA SWAMY | 124 | 0 | 124 |
| R NAGENDRA PRASAD | 124 | 0 | 124 |
| Ian VanderSchee | 122 | 0 | 122 |
Congrats to Akshay who was the first participant to submit an all correct entry. He got 10 bonus points. The first 10 of the 11 all correct submissions were awarded early bird bonus points ranging from 10 to 1.
Congrats to all the solvers who attempted this challenging puzzle and managed to submit it.
Grid Rating: The puzzle got a spectacular score of 9.54. It got 15 perfect 10s (63% of those who rated). The lowest score was 8.
Favorite Clues: The Top clues were
- Snow on sides of steep range (6) – 7 votes
- Defensive players providing backing to seniors (8) – 5 votes
- Case of cheeky ruse to strip for consideration (8) – 5 votes
- Simple sex question feeling uncomfortable (4) – 5 votes
- Former class disperses with lecturer for start of reunion (5)- 4 votes
Thanks Bingo for an absolute cracker. I personally thoroughly enjoyed this challenge and although it initially felt that it was an impossible puzzle, the clear clues and wordplay made it possible for any persevering solver to make steady headroom. It was one of Bingo’s gentler puzzles and the theme provided an additional layer of checking. A very satisfying solve and a wonderful way to wrap the 2022 season at 1ACross.
Here is what our solvers said…
| Comment |
|---|
| Really fun! Very hard but so interesting and worth it! Season’s Greetings and Happy New Year to you all! |
| Amazing puzzle- frustrating yet satisfying 🙂 happy new year to all |
| Very very challenging grid . |
| Super grid as usual from Bingo. Running out of superlatives |
| Typical Bhala-grade puzzle. A1 ofc. Seemed daunting to read at first, but was not as tough finally. Extremely enjoyable to solve and parse. Well-executed concept seamlessly woven in with silken surfaces. A minor anag fodder glitch in the clue for ‘Afloat’ but really nothing that would sink the ship! We stay afloat…thanks a lot buddy. Season’s greetings to you too 🙂 |
| True masterclass in puzzle construction. It is amazing how such a grid can be conceived, with several layers to be unraveled to get the final answers. Great treat to end the year and thanks for the hint in the blog post (about the puzzle being last of the year, which I thought was a hint to solve the bonus questions). This doesn’t mean I got all answers correct but solved it enough to appreciate the brainpower behind this grid. |
| Wonderful exercise, and as usual, amazingly constructed puzzle. Grateful for these mind-benders! There’s a NINA too! |
| Very difficult but enjoyable |
| Amazing concept,brilliant grid.Very challenging and enjoyable.All clues were excellent. |
| Hard one for both Setter and Solvers |
| A most enjoyable challenge. Amazed at the number of constraints the setter had to follow. Perfectly formed clues. Several times I suspected an error in setting, only to realize later that there wasn’t one. |
| Absolutely amazing! |
| Wonderfully crafted grid work. Enjoyed the year end fun. |
| What a wonderful wonderful puzzle! Truly mind-bending but a real treat and so satisfying! Bingo rocks! |
| Another brilliant problem from Bingo, So many favourite clues difficult to pick only three |
| This is simply brilliant! Cant believe a puzzle can be designed to have so many layers of complexity. This is not a puzzle, it is a masterpiece! |
| Tough nut to crack |
| High quality cluing and a fun mental workout. Thanks Bhala |
| Wow! tough but fun to solve! kudos to the setter! |
| Lovely challenge as usual. Slow start till I got the hang of tagging each clue into one of the categories. Many red herrings too, which resulted in backtracking and course correction! Thanks Bingo for the entertainment. |
| A nice mix of clue types in a challenging puzzle. Unusual to have extra letters in the clues rather than in the wordplay result, and also unchecked changes, though these became clear in the end. |
| Sorry I couldn’t figure out which clues were which. Some very good clues though. Enjoyed it a lot!! |
| Clues were fine, however the idea was very frustrating to solve. Whether a word is a connector or is extra (leaving in 1D), whether a word is an anagrind/ indicator or has a letter extra (having snicked containment indicator or having (-s)nicked? strip anagrind or s extra? sent anagrind or n extra?) is not clear. I would usually relish a fair challenge, and challenge though this was, I felt these were unfair to the solver. The puzzle on a whole was both satisfying and frustrating at the same time.Not really a fan of bonus points for the first ten correct submissions either. But that’s due to personal constraints and is neither here nor there – it’s completely unrelated to the grid. |