The story so far…
In Thirteen Across (Part 4 – the NOCAYCHSGYFHC crossword …attempted) our intrepid correspondent Dr Desperate attempted to solve the No-one Cares About Your Creative Hub So Get Your Fuckin’ Hedge Cut album sleeve crossword. Finally, more than three years after the release of NOCAYCHSGYFHC, we get the correct solution from the setter himself, a Mr Nigel Blackwell of Birkenhead.
Yes, really.
Dr Desperate writes:
When, after a six-month struggle, I posted my own attempt at a solution, I admitted that my answers were largely conjectural, and I’m pleased to say that only a third of them were incorrect. I make no apologies for not guessing the made-up word IRAN-ABLE or the made-up racehorse SPLEENWORT, though as Nigel pointed out, I should really have got the PNE goalie ROY TUNKS. Perhaps I’d have had more success if I’d answered 6 down (“Dreadful”) with MRS BROWN’S BOYS rather than HAWAIIAN SHIRT.
Nigel freely admits that he didn’t get it quite right, especially 12 down (where was the clue?), and concludes “Should’ve just done a Wordsearch”…
Down | |||
---|---|---|---|
1 | MA | Rainey, ‘Mother of the Blues’, real name Gertrude Pritchett. | |
2 | GOWER | An actual cryptic clue! Cricketer David, Welsh peninsula. | |
3 | WOOD | A Malagasy hardwood, scientific name Dalbergia maritima | |
4 | TIER | Synonym for ‘echelon’. | |
5 | CORABELLE | A British thoroughbred. Never ran in the Melbourne Cup. | |
6 | MRS BROWN’S BOYS | Definition of ‘dreadful’. | |
8 | FUCKING (WRETCH) | See 3 across. Black Yaris abuser. | |
9 | SHEA | Iconic New York stadium, demolished 2009. | |
* | ILL | (Unclued, un-numbered entry) | |
12 | MYE | (Unclued entry, Norwegian for ‘a lot’) | |
14 | PILLOCK | Description of Len Goodman (see note above). | |
17 | RANK | Synonym for ‘position’. | |
19 | SPA | See 22 down (not across). | |
21 | SUPERIOR | “Mother Superior jumped the gun” from ‘Happiness Is A Warm Gun’ (The Beatles). | |
22 | (SPA) TOWN | Resort such as Bath, in Avon (not Birkenhead). | |
24 | ALLO ALLO | A personal opinion of the sitcom (see 11 across). | |
27 | INRI | “Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum” – inscription on the (non-MDF) crucifix. | |
29 | RHIENI | ‘Parents’ in Welsh. | |
31 | SHITE | Description of Chessington theme park. | |
32 | BRYN | Wem over-drinker, best steered clear of. | |
34 | DROY | Massive Chelsea defender, Player of the Year 1978. | |
36 | DAFT | Nickname of Forfar Athletic fans (see 26 across). | |
38 | DOD | Charlotte Dod, 5-time Ladies’ Wimbledon champion. | |
Across | |||
3 | WRETCH | See 8 down. | |
7 | AFIOSO | An invented Italian name. | |
10 | I-O | Old MacDonald had a farm… | |
11 | GRIM | See 24 down | |
13 | WHOPPER | Len Goodman, celebrity nonentity. | |
15 | SLY | British 3000-metre runner. Silver medallist at 1984 Olympics. | |
16 | CREED | Religious belief. | |
18 | IRANABLE | Made-up word. (Ahvaz is the capital of the Iranian province of Khuzestan.) | |
19 | SKARA | Skara Brae, Neolithic settlement on Mainland, Orkney. | |
20 | PIN | Pin press, bike tool used to remove cottered cranks. | |
21 | SPLEENWORT | See 5 down. (CORABELLE’s sire was really called Coronach.) | |
23 | ANKA | Singer Paul: first 4 letters of Turkish capital Ankara. | |
25 | LUPIC | An ingenious invention. Wolves play at Molineux; Serbian names usually end in -ić. (The real word for ‘Wolf-like’ is lupine.) | |
26 | LOON | See 36 down. | |
27 | IL | Abbreviation for Illinois. | |
28 | SGN | Literally, initials of Stuart Grainger’s Nan. (The star of ‘King Solomon’s Mines’ was spelt Stewart Granger.) | |
30 | NO | Let’s not. | |
33 | RAPID | Sportklub Rapid Wien, Viennese football team; Rapid Discount Outlet, collapsed Liverpool hardware store. | |
35 | HARWOOD | Acting Petty Officer George Albert. The Cammell Laird-built submarine Thetis sank in 1939, with the loss of 99 lives. | |
37 | EDIL | Random letters (or the name of a Finnish wrestler). | |
39 | OR | ‘Alone Again Or’, song by Love. | |
40 | NO | I’m not. | |
41 | ROY TUNKS | Wuppertal-born keeper who played over 300 games for Preston North End. “The boy with the golden gloves.” | |
42 | IDIOT | Unneighbourly description. |
dr desperate
If I could draw the attention of all cruciverbalists to this…
16 August 2021
EXXO
I’ll ignore this as still haven’t received the copy of the CD I ordered in 2018 and it just got too late to ask Miles about it, but who knows one day I might have a chance to give it a go.
16 August 2021