Stats: The puzzle page was loaded 738 times. 59 visitors had a go at it. 31 solvers completed both the puzzle and bonus forms. 2 solvers did not submit the bonus form. The remaining 28 solved it partly or fully but did not submit. 12 solvers got the full score.
Sweetie Pie<<< Click Here for the Puzzle Post
Here is the solution grid:
BONUS QUESTIONS:
Q1.What is the phrase from the extra letters? (18 letters, 4 words) ANS: BAKED BREAD WITH COIN
Solution Notes
Extra letters from across clues provide the phrase “Bread Baked With Coin”. Vasilopita is the bread or pie that is baked on Saint Basil’s Day (also New Year’s Day) in Greek tradition to welcome the New Year. The unclued entries are VASILOPITA and SAINT BASIL. Vasilopita literally translates to (St.) Basil Pie, which is also sweet, hence the title.
Four letters are changed in the final grid (highlighted in yellow) to reveal the phrase HAPPY NEW YEAR along the main diagonal from bottom right to top left. The changed letters anagram to YEAR, ergo “bringing in the ‘New’ Year”.
Wishing all members of the 1 Across family a very happy and prosperous New Year.
Annotations
| Across | Clue | Annotation | Answer | Extra Letter | |
| 3 | Unclued, refer preamble (10) | VASILOPITA | – | – | |
| 11 | Poor Bihar constituent in queues? (4) | constituent in queues (dbe); (B)ihar* | HAIR | (B)IHAR | B |
| 13 | Chain mail perhaps in secret love affair (5) | secret love affair; a(R)mour = chain mail perhaps | AMOUR | A(R)MOUR | R |
| 14 | Free section in annexe emptied (6) | free; hips | EXEMPT | ANNEX(E) | E |
| 15 | Poet from the east upset about painting (5) | poet; (A)te=upset, outside oil(painting) all reversed | ELIOT | (A)TE | A |
| 16 | Races for creative pursuits (4) | creative pursuits; (D)arts=races | ARTS | (D)ARTS | D |
| 17 | Weird Scottish tribe wanting independent child abandoned (8) | Weird (Scots origin); tri(B)e child* | ELDRITCH | TRI(B)E | B |
| 19 | Take tiny ornamental case (5) | ornamental case; e(A)t=take; wee=tiny | ETWEE | E(A)T | A |
| 21 | Counsellor voids bust tapping legendary craft (7) | counsellor; voids* inside ar(K)=legendary craft | ADVISOR | AR(K) | K |
| 22 | Pass on spiked water to Napoleon for so long (5) | so long; die(pass on) inside (E)au=water, French | ADIEU | (E)AU | E |
| 23 | Dirty racket jams that bar close to church (5) | dirty; (D)in=racket inside t(H)at | TAINT | (D)IN | D |
| 26 | Buries departed son after mob dispersed (7) | buries; (W)ent=departed, mob*, s=son | ENTOMBS | (W)ENT | W |
| 30 | Bottomless pit in the present state through drilling (5) | bottomless pit; by=through, inside (as(I)s=in the present state | ABYSS | AS (I)S | I |
| 32 | Fashion fit cover for packaging with art? (4-4) | &lit all in one clue; fit+p…g+w=with+ar(T)* | GIFT-WRAP | AR(T) | T |
| 33 | IRA coming out of closet after pressure is appropriate (4) | appropriate; p=pressure, alm(ira)(H)=close | PALM | ALMira(H) | H |
| 35 | Lichen sauce and peeled bananas (5) | lichen; sau(C)e n* | USNEA | SAU(C)E | C |
| 36 | Mainstay framework to support a mast (6) | mainstay; s….t=outer of support, a, p(O)le=mast | STAPLE | P(O)LE | O |
| 37 | Chipped glass bottles over rounded hill (5) | rounded hill; m(I)rro(r)=glass outside o=over | MORRO | M(I)RROr | I |
| 38 | Visible line around shelters (4) | shelters; see(N)=visible l=line, all reversed | LEES | SEE(N) | N |
| 39 | Unclued, refer preamble (5,5) | SAINT BASIL | – | – | |
| Down | Clue | Annotation | Answer | ||
| 1 | Tree yielding glimpse of renowned fleece (4) | tree; shear=fleece less r=first letter of renowned | SHEA | – | – |
| 2 | Draw coasts of Essex tossing in colour of seals for the Bard (3-3) | colour….Bard (Shakespearean usage); draw e..x* | WAX-RED | – | – |
| 4 | Members in branches (4) | dd | ARMS | – | – |
| 5 | Fibre making pounds drop to finish lean with energy (5) | fibre; list=lean with l=pounds going to end, e=energy | ISTLE | – | – |
| 6 | Boy embarrassed to turn and run (6) | run; lad=boy, red=embarrassed, rev. | LADDER | – | – |
| 7 | A shaking expressing resistance reflects code of silence (6) | code of silence; a + tremo(r) =shaking less r(resistance), all reversed | OMERTA | – | – |
| 8 | Disease mostly eradicated from international game reserves (5) | disease…eradicated; polo=game outside i(international) | POLIO | – | – |
| 9 | Petrochemistry contributing to oral pill (6) | hips | TROCHE | – | – |
| 10 | Time to reflect once you start to scorn probing cult cinema (8) | cult cinema; thou=you, archaic s=start to scorn, inside rev. of era=time | ARTHOUSE | – | – |
| 12 | Spurts of half-hearted cricketing shots on the rise (5) | spurts; rev. of sweeps=cricketing shots less e(half of the heart) | SPEWS | – | – |
| 18 | Exhausts, oily I suppose, exuding sulphur (8) | exhausts; fat=oily, I, gues(s)=suppose less s=sulphur | FATIGUES | – | – |
| 19 | Victor to stand up over base (4) | base; lie=stand, rev. outside v=victor | EVIL | – | – |
| 20 | Mass in Pluto becomes indistinct (4) | becomes indistinct; m=mass inside dis=pluto | DIMS | – | – |
| 24 | Salami curing plant (6) | plant; salami* | ALISMA | – | – |
| 25 | Foil wrapper for hollow pastry cases (6) | foil; tart=pastry outside h…w=wrapper for hollow | THWART | – | – |
| 26 | Possibly drop short cut after hearing sense (6) | possibly drop(dbe); ear=hearing sense, bob=short cut | EARBOB | – | – |
| 27 | Potty nuts study Greek conjugations (5) | study greek conjugations; potty* | TYPTO | – | – |
| 28 | Rounded or blunt in conversation? (6) | rounded; hp of bald=blunt | BALLED | – | – |
| 29 | Part where poop is hard (5) | dd, poop or poop deck is in the stern | STERN | – | – |
| 31 | Arabs developing Iraqi port (5) | Iraqi port; arabs* | BASRA | – | – |
| 33 | Antiquated language coming from China to India (4) | antiquated language; pal=china, i=india | PALI | – | – |
| 34 | Mention no name to work in harmony (4) | to work in harmony; me(n)sh=mention, less n=name | MESH | – | – |
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 148 points (Grid Score = 144 and Bonus points = 4)
Anirudh Sahni
Ashit Hegde
Lakshmi Prakash
Mona Sogal
Narayanan Rangamani
Prakash Arumugam
Ramki Krishnan
Samit Kallianpur
Satyen Nabar
Tejas Siddharth
Venkatesan P.
Venkatraghavan S.
Congrats to the toppers and to all the solvers who participated.
Grid Rating: The puzzle got a phenomenal rating of 9.26. It got 14 perfect 10s (45% of those who rated). The lowest rating was 7.
Favorite Clues: The Top clues were
- Fashion fit cover for packaging with art? (4-4) – 6 votes
- IRA coming out of closet after pressure is appropriate (4) – 6 votes
- Exhausts, oily I suppose, exuding sulphur (8) – 6 votes
Thanks to Bhala for this super entertainer which was a fitting finale for 2023. The grid construction and execution were mind boggling as always.
Here’s what our solvers said..
| Name | Comments / Feedback on the puzzle – Please provide specific com |
|---|---|
| Anirudh Sahni | As usual for Bingo, a tough and enjoyable multilayered challenge, with many fodder words looking like indicators and vice versa. Learned some things from unusual words and unusual word senses. But I must be getting the hang of Bingo’s style, since this seemed easier than some of his other puzzles. 🙂 |
| Ganesh Nayak | Excellent challenge, just right for the hoilidays, though I couldn’t get everything right. |
| Jyothish Balakrishnan | Superb puzzle with highest level of intricacy. |
| Lakshmi Vaidyanathan | Wonderful grid . Enjoyed solving. |
| Madhup Tewari | Magnificent puzzle with lovely clues and a compelling theme! Vintage Bhala! Way to go! |
| Nilesh Parmar | Challenging as always from this setter |
| Prakash Arumugam | A brilliantly crafted puzzle concealing joyful messages within its many intricate layers. Work of a pure genius! |
| Raj Jayaram | Another great challenge from Bingo! Amazing construction |
| Rathnakumar V | Yet another classy stuff from Bingo |
| Venkatesan P. | Exemplary work. Extremely difficult clues, so beautifully constructed to yield the thematic solutions. HAPPY NEW YEAR! |
| Venkatraghavan S. | Super grid, but easier than usual. 🙂 |
| Ashit Hegde | Another outstanding wicked devious puzzle from Bingo |
| Harish T.K. | Interesting puzzle, learnt some new words |
| Ian VanderSchee | Very challenging but fair puzzle! Loved many of the lesser known words. |
| Koteswar Rao | BRAIN-STORMING |
| Madhusudan H | Excellent grid, as always from Bingo. Seasons’ greetings and a happy 2024. The final four letters were elusive to me. |
| Nagendra Prasad R. | TOUGH NUT TO CRACK |
| Narayanan Rangamani | QUITE TOUGH & CHALLENGING |
| Ramki Krishnan | As challenging as ever but satisfying solve. |
| Sandhya Paruchuri | A real brain teaser! |
| Tejas Siddharth | Enjoyed doing it as usual 🙂 Nice and challenging 🙂 |
| Max Jackson | Some nice unusual words. 10dn puzzling.I’m not sure of the extra letters. |
| Mona Sogal | good brain work… enjoyed the endgame |
| Narayana Swamy D | Difficult to make out the missing letters |
| Samit Kallianpur | Good one to finish the year… a great bonus! |