Not a puzzle to complete this time, but something rather remarkable which appeared in The Times on 15 September 2022 (here, if you’ve got a subscription). Dr. Desperate takes up the story:
“A cruciverbalist mate sent me a heads-up to today’s Quick Cryptic crossword in The Times of London, which contains a ‘Nina’ (a hidden message which appears in the grid, but is not indicated in any way by the clues; named for the American caricaturist Al Hirschfeld, famous for hiding his daughter’s name ‘Nina’ in his drawings). And here it is…”
Also in this series:
dr desperate
Thanks for posting that, @CtSO! Marty, the setter, is one of the pseudonyms of the Times crossword editor Richard Rogan.
And if anyone feels the need for a quick quiz before tomorrow’s gig, the grid contains words which appear in six other songs.
15 September 2022
grilly
Also 25 across: the clue gives a region worth checking out.
15 September 2022
Lux inferior
@Dr D: Accord; Alas; Altar; Into; Loft; Mini.
15 September 2022
dr desperate
Correctamundo!
15 September 2022
Chris The Siteowner
I was reminded by @FredT!tmus on Twitter that the Independent had got there beforehand, back in 2017, when all of the across clues were straight from the A–Z of HMHB. It was probably mentioned here on the site, but it all becomes a blur at my age.
You can see it here.
…and there’s some amusing discussion here.
19 September 2022
dr desperate
Some (mainly baffled rather than amusing) discussion of the Times one here.
https://timesforthetimes.co.uk/times-quick-cryptic-no-2223-by-marty
19 September 2022