Stats The puzzle page was loaded 729 times. 68 visitors had a go at it and 32 solvers completed and submitted the puzzle and bonus forms. The remaining 36 solved it partly or fully but did not submit. Only 12 solvers got the full score.
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Here is the solution grid:
INITIAL FILL
FINAL FILL
BONUS QUESTIONS:
Q1. What is the reference provided by the incorrect letters? ANS: A NATION OBSERVING ITS INDEPENDENCE CENTENARY
Q2. What is the entry that was replaced in the initial filled grid? ANS: SADDLE
Notes:
Incorrect letters from misprints in clues provide the reference
‘A NATION OBSERVING ITS INDEPENDENCE CENTENARY’,
the answer to which is TURKEY, the title providing a cryptic hint.
OTTOMAN was a related thematic entry, while a number of bird related entries were merely red herrings.
Turkey obtained its independence in July 1923 consequent to the Treaty of Lausanne, and officially became a
republic in October 1923.
TURKEY replaces SADDLE as the entry for 23, highlighted in the final grid. The clue number refers to the year (1923
and 2023), while SADDLE going out symbolically suggests liberation.
Consequential changes to the final grid occur in:
21a: CONVERTED ilo CONVERSED
27a: FURROWS ilo FARROWS
33a: BLINKER ilo BLINDER
36a: EDGY ilo EDGE
Annotations
| ACROSS | CLUE | ANNOTATION | ANSWER | MISPRINT | CORRECT | WRONG LETTER |
| 1 | Bane of current century laid on Uncle Sam (5) | IN(current) C(century) US(Uncle Sam) ; def:bone | INCUS | BANE | BONE | A |
| 5 | Crane leaving with crone (4) | (w)ITCH (crone less w, with); def:crave | ITCH | CRANE | CRAVE | N |
| 11 | Bet withdrawn showing tamer face (4) | LAID<=(bet, reversal); def:timer face | DIAL | TAMER | TIMER | A |
| 12 | State of being wet a sore point for tootsy scratching head (5) | (b)UNION(sore point on toe); def:state of being wed | UNION | WET | WED | T |
| 13 | Aimless couch potato ultimately with too much around body (7) | O+OTT<=(too much, rev.)+MAN(body); def:armless couch | OTTOMAN | AIMLESS | ARMLESS | I |
| 14 | Extraordinary tome doubling confidence about shares (5) | C(about) inside HOPE<=(confidence, rev.); def:extraordinary time | EPOCH | TOME | TIME | O |
| 15 | Ready to turn back to bed for suntan (3,3) | TIN(ready) GO(turn) D(back to bed); def:sultan | TIN GOD | SUNTAN | SULTAN | N |
| 16 | Three characters in a row at tee say ‘fore’? (7) | EL+EM+EN(3 letters in a row) T(tee); def:say fire (DBE) | ELEMENT | FORE | FIRE | O |
| 17 | Small base flipping inside mini utensil (4) | HIPS in reverse; def:small case | ETUI | BASE | CASE | B |
| 19 | Asian types get independent and start flying (5,4) | (GET I START)*; def:avian types | GREAT TITS | ASIAN | AVIAN | S |
| 21 | Dutch behind counter had a rep (9) | CONVERSE(counter) D(Dutch); def:had a rap | CONVERSED | REP | RAP | E |
| 25 | Coffee containers with a cork saving time in resorts | (t)URNS(resorts less t=time); def:coffee containers … cock (tap) | URNS | CORK | COCK | R |
| 27 | What vow does to drop son following female quarrel (7) | F(female) ARROW(quarrel) S(son); def:what sow does to drop | FARROWS | VOW | SOW | V |
| 29 | Ship shoddy parts for tricks (6) | POOR(shoddy) inside SS(ship); def:tracks | SPOORS | TRICKS | TRACKS | I |
| 31 | Rare niece, sharp, most regularly picked icon (5) | CUR(t)(sharp less last letter) I(c)O(n); def:rare piece | CURIO | NIECE | PIECE | N |
| 33 | Note bride left about gender (7) | (N BRIDE L)*; def:bender | BLINDER | GENDER | BENDER | G |
| 34 | Mid island and this lake, the Poles had it made (5) | DD; Med = Mediterranean; Lake Malta, a man-made lake in Poland | MALTA | MID | MED | I |
| 35 | Little cat close to mouse leaving plate (4) | KIT(little cat) E(mouse, last letter); def:plane(aeroplane) | KITE | PLATE | PLANE | T |
| 36 | Worm coming to site (4) | DD | EDGE | SITE | BITE | S |
| 37 | Ride donkey in outskirts of Sicily (5) | ASS(donkey) inside S(icil)Y; def:rude | SASSY | RIDE | RUDE | I |
| DOWN | CLUE | ANNOTATION | ANSWER | MISPRINT | CORRECT | WRONG LETTER |
| 1 | Lane in placid leas (4) | HIPS | IDLE | LANE | LAZE | N |
| 2 | Dud breaking pipeline that is going underground (6) | (PIPELINE – IE)*; def:dug | NIPPLE | DUD | DUG | D |
| 3 | Facilities at old base to peddle craft (5) | CAN(facilities) O(old) E(base); def:to paddle craft | CANOE | PEDDLE | PADDLE | E |
| 4 | Those poor are tipped, nothing more to be paid? (2,5) | THOSE* (a)RE; def:nothing more to be said | SO THERE | PAID | SAID | P |
| 5 | Head held up to pierce inches above tip of ear – no earring here? (2,4) | NUT<=(head, rev.) inside IN(inches) E(ar); def: no jarring here | IN TUNE | EARRING | JARRING | E |
| 6 | Wrong about horse’s gain (4) | TORT<=(wrong, reversal); def:horse’s gait | TROT | GAIN | GAIT | N |
| 7 | Enter broadcast revealing spicy deed (5) | HP of come in(enter); def:spicy seed | CUMIN | DEED | SEED | D |
| 8 | Wife softly keeps stirring gin & it, so point to a lime? (7) | W(wife) and P(softly) outside (GIN IT)*; def:point to a limb | WINGTIP | LIME | LIMB | E |
| 9 | Bank displaying love in care of deposit (3,3) | O(love) inside CO(care of) PUT(deposit); def:balk | COP OUT | BANK | BALK | N |
| 10 | Sad one is changing places (8) | (SAD ONE IS)*; def: plates | ANODISES | PLACES | PLATES | C |
| 16 | Letter with college application, more or less a request to go east (6,2) | EX(letter) C(college) USE(application) M(or)E; def:request to go past | EXCUSE ME | EAST | PAST | E |
| 18 | Exact nut never having a free fit (7) | EN(nut) NO(never) (a)BLE(fit less a); def:exalt | ENNOBLE | EXACT | EXALT | C |
| 20 | Members in some cases possibly select wrong over right (7) | SELECT* outside R(right); def:members in some casts, possibly | TERCELS | CASES | CASTS | E |
| 22 | Nine in passage left to stand apart or hammer nails hard (6) | OR PAN(hammer) outside H(hard); def:line in passage … apart | ORPHAN | NINE | LINE | N |
| 23 | Section to go off cot (6) | S(section) ADDLE(to go off); def:col | SADDLE | COT | COL | T |
| 24 | Riddles about Welsh being fast fleers? (6) | SIFTS(riddles) outside W(Welsh); def:fast fly/iers? | SWIFTS | FLEERS | FLYERS | E |
| 26 | Chinese mania one invested with to start over (5) | I(one) inside DART<=(to start, reversal); def:Chinese mafia | TRIAD | MANIA | MAFIA | N |
| 28 | All the bards in the region of Cornwall away from coasts (5) | (c)ORNIS(h); def:all the birds in the region | ORNIS | BARDS | BIRDS | A |
| 30 | Rosy arms being raised (4) | GUNS<=(arms, reversal); def:cosy | SNUG | ROSY | COSY | R |
| 32 | Boy to stand outside to occupy crowds (4) | BE(stand) inside O(ccup)Y; def:bow to | OBEY | BOY | BOW | Y |
Here’s the list of Top Scorers (For the full list, please check the Leaderboard in the Hall of Fame)
Each of the following scored 151 points (Grid Score = 144 and Bonus points =7)
Al Sanders
Anirudh Sahni
Debasmita Basu
Hawk Crossword
Lakshmi Prakash
Madhusudan H
Mona Sogal
Raj Jayaram
Samit Kallianpur
Sohil Bhagat
Sparsh Sinha
Venkatraghavan Sahasranaman
Congrats to the toppers and to all the solvers who participated.
Grid Rating: The puzzle got an exceptional score of 9.22. It got 15 perfect 10s (47% of those who rated). The lowest score was 7.
Favorite Clues: The Top clues were
- Three characters in a row at tee say ‘fore’? (7) – 13 votes
- Aimless couch potato ultimately with too much around body (7) – 10 votes
- Those poor are tipped, nothing more to be paid? (2,5) – 8 votes
Thanks Bingo for an yet another brilliant puzzle which was very satisfying to solve. Thoroughly enjoyed solving it and setting the bird free.
Our next puzzle will be “A to ZED” from Saral and it will be published on Sunday 16th July.
Here’s what our solvers said..
| Name | Comments / Feedback on the puzzle |
|---|---|
| Al Sanders | Very difficult, a fun challenge! |
| Anirudh Sahni | These were clever clues, and tough. Even the definitions were enigmatic in many cases.For several clues I had to work backwards from the phrase and the solution word. Still not sure of the annos for a couple of them.Loved the number of theme words and the answer word. An enjoyable head-scratcher. |
| Raj Jayaram | Many years ago, I ran the full marathon – all 42km. The feeling I got on finishing this grid matched the feeling I got on finishing that run! A whole lot of pain, but worth all the effort in the end 😅 Amazing construction to create clues that have one misprinted letter, that still have meaningful surfaces, AND come in the sequence required to give the thematic reference. Full marks to the setter 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽 |
| Venkatraghavan Sahasranaman | Wow, just wow. No gilding the lily for yet another superb Bingo puzzle. |
| Madhup Tewari | An amazing puzzle! Very challenging but really enjoyable. Very clever clues with great surface in all of them. Can’t wait for another one. |
| Prakash Arumugam | Brilliantly crafted puzzle. This is in a different league. Great fun solving it. Thanks |
| Nilesh Parmar | awesome concept |
| Lakshmi Vaidyanathan | Superb grid! Bhala always comes up with something special in his grids. Thanks for an entertaining grid Bhala 😊 |
| Venkatesan P. | A tough grid. Unable to fit the solution to the reference provided, replacing the existing one, as it alters the crossing letters of the other solution(s). Hence filled the solution word in the bonus page and not in the grid. I just can’t get my head around the great setter’s esoteric ideas. |
| Koteswar Rao | Outstanding puzzle. I am sure the setter must have put his heart and soul in it. Bingo never disappoints. Kudos! |
| Rathnakumar V | One of the best grids , initially fond it tough, once few started coming, became awesome. WONDERFUL Tribute to a nation on its 100 th year of independence. |
| Ganesh Nayak | Real delicious onion, with layer upon layer unraveling 🙂 Didn’t have time to complete 🙁 |
| Debasmita Basu | Had to struggle a lot initially. |
| Madhusudan H | Hats off to another brilliant grid that stretched brain power to its limits. It felt like solving a mathematical puzzle and crossword puzzle at the same time. Once the pattern emerged from incorrect words, it made solving the rest of the grid (somewhat) quicker. All in all, it provided a joy solving experience. |
| Mona Sogal | Challenging grid- brain gym 🙂 |
| Sohil Bhagat | This was a puzzle of two halves for me. The top half was surprisingly breezy, but the bottom half held me up for a long time. A couple of the answers in the bottom half are guesses – so, I’m hoping they turn out right!Always look forward to a Bingo puzzle and this one didn’t disappoint. Will wait for the annotations to understand the entries I didn’t quite get in the bottom half. As for the top half, CUMIN seemed a bit off because it’s not really a homophone of COME IN as the clue seems to be indicating. The rest of the grid was great, and specifically the misdirections in the definitions led to some really pleasing surfaces |
| Sparsh Sinha | Challenging and enjoyable |
| Ian VanderSchee | Quite the roller coaster ride of fast progress followed by getting stuck. Loved it! I thought for sure I would have to replace the word OTTOMAN, but I eventually figured it out. |
| Tejas Siddharth | Challenging as usual. Relished doing it. Not sure what changes in gender to provide blinder though. |
| Ashit Hegde | Another great puzzle from Bingo. Brilliant in so many ways |
| Ramki Krishnan | Very challenging – even after completing and finding the bonus answers, not sure about the anno for a couple of clues. Finding the actual definition by doing the right substitution was more difficult – once that was cracked, solving the clue was easier! |
| Satyen Nabar | Great, as expected. Thanks Bhala 🙂 |
| sandhya paruchuri | Very challenging! |
| Samit Kallianpur | Tough and a challenging grid! Got my cardio for the day. Good theme and great effort put in by Bingo! |
| Nagendra Prasad R. | Too tough to attempt. Could get only half the solutions. |
| Max Jackson | Nice to have a barred puzzle. It’s more usual to use the correct misprint letters; this way leaves you without a known definition. |
| Narayanan Rangamani | VERY TOUGH and not interesting |
| Arvind Ramaswamy | Had a good but very slow start… was able to cover 70% of grid (bottom left was a blank).. Reminded of school days when I’m blinking at the question paper and the teacher announces “last 5 mins to go”, I rush to scribble something and submit… When Sowmya reminded that today was last day, I hurriedly submitted hoping desperately, at least I should get “pass marks” 🙂 Loved the challenge though but could not manage to take it to completion even after 152 hrs struggle :). today’s definitely not my day (yet again) with Bingo.. maybe Someday.. someday… someday…… |