Pavo appears to be a new setter of Guardian crosswords. Chambers tells me that Pavo is the peacock genus and is also the name of a southern constellation
I’m tending to Pavo as a peacock, as a peacock is a vertebrate. I counted ten other vertebrates in the grid (WOMBAT, LION, HARE, FLEDGLING, FLYING FISH, CALF, LONG-TAILED TIT, DALMATIAN, ORIOLES and DOLPHIN). On the other hand, Pavo may be a setter from the Southern Hemisphere.
I got off to a good start in the NW corner of the grid, but slowed down after that, finishing with FINAGLED at 21 across.
I liked the clue surface and anagram for LONG-TAILED TIT. No doubt Dr Dolittle talked to the birds as well as the animals.
For me, there were other good surfaces as well, such as the clues for MADE UP, GANYMEDE, TRADESMAN, WINE BAR and DALMATIAN.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1 | Aussie native won, overthrowing leader in fight (6)
WOMBAT (Australian burrowing marsupial; Aussie native) W (won) + cOMBAT (fight) excluding the first letter (overthrowing leader) C W OMBAT There is an interesting post on the Guardian site that says WATTLE would also fit the clue. WATTLE [any of various Australian acacias] is native to Australia and would parse as W + bATTLE (fight) excluding (overthrowing leader) B. Of course, the letters T and L wouldn’t fit with the down entries MOSES and ALLUDES. |
| 4 | Very happy due to change in plan (4,2)
MADE UP (informal term meaning ‘highly delighted’; very happy) Anagram of (to change) DUE contained in (in) MAP (plan) MA (DE U*) P |
| 9 | Individuals in population estimates (4)
ONES (individuals) ONES (hidden word in [in] populatiON EStimates) ONES |
| 10 | Greatest part played in his role as one coming out (5,5)
LION’S SHARE (the whole or greatest part) Anagram of (played) iN HIS ROLE AS excluding (coming out) I (Roman numeral for one) LION‘S SHARE* |
| 11 | Humiliated and embarrassed after husband leaves (6)
ABASED (humiliated) ABAShED (embarrassed) excluding (after … leaves) H (husband) ABASED |
| 12 | Moon’s gravity may need to be adjusted (8)
GANYMEDE (largest moon of Jupiter) G (gravity) + an anagram of (to be adjusted0 MAY NEED G ANYMEDE* |
| 13 | Engineer and master mechanic? (9)
TRADESMAN (a mechanic is an example of a TRADESMAN [skilled worker]) Anagram of (engineer) AND MASTER TRADESMAN* |
| 15 | Poke with end of sharp stick (4)
PROD (poke) P (last letter of [end of] sharP) + ROD (slender stick) P ROD |
| 16 | Just over 50 in US city (4)
ONLY (just) O (over) + (L [Roman numeral for 50] contained in [in] NY [New York, US city) O N (L) Y |
| 17 | Baby bird ran away at last clutching fish (9)
FLEDGLING (young or baby bird) FLED (ran away) + G (final letter of [at last] clutchinG) + LING (a fish of the cod family) FLED G LING |
| 21 | Cheated Harry involved in submitted lawsuit (8)
FINAGLED (obtained by guile or swindling; cheated) NAG (annoy continuously; harry) contained in (in) FILED (brought before a court; submitted a lawsuit) FI (NAG) LED |
| 22 | Hide from source of loud beastly sound that is piercing (3,3)
LIE LOW (hide [from]) I.E. (id est; that is) contained in (piercing) (L [first letter of {source of} Loud] + LOW [sound made by a cow; beastly sound]) L (IE) LOW |
| 24 | Aloof second-in-command departs, relaxing aboard marine glider (6,4)
FLYING FISH (a FISH that can leap out of the water and glide in the air for a short time on its long pectoral fins, as if FLYING; marine glider) LYING (relaxing) contained in (aboard) (oFFISH [aloof] excluding [departs] O [second letter {second in} of cOmmand]) F (LYING) FISH |
| 25 | It’s below the knee – a little lower (4)
CALF (thick fleshy part at the back of the leg below the knee) CALF (young cow; little lower) double definition CALF |
| 26 | Soprano, working with a tenor and alto, produces music (6)
SONATA (an instrumental composition; [piece of] music) S (soprano) + ON (working) + A + T (tenor) + A (alto) S ON A T A |
| 27 | Cryptic clues about new family members (6)
UNCLES (family members) Anagram of (cryptic) CLUES containing (about) N (new) U (N) CLES* |
| Down | |
| 1 | Order brew in a drinking establishment (4,3)
WINE BAR (drinking establishment) Anagram of (order) BREW IN A WINE BAR* |
| 2 | Biblical figure some condemned at foot of cross (5)
MOSES (Biblical figure appearing in the Old Testament Books from Exodus to Deuteronomy) Anagram of (condemned) SOME + S (last letter of [foot of] crosS) MOSE* S |
| 3 | Suggests tall dudes remove their hats (7)
ALLUDES (suggest) tALL excluding the first letter (removing hat) T + dUDES excluding the first letter (removing hat) D – giving TALL DUDES removing hats ALL UDES |
| 5 | Missing worker infected by animal disease (6)
ABSENT (missing) ANT (worker) containing (infected by) BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy; animal disease, often referred to as ‘mad cow disease’) A (BSE) NT |
| 6 | Passing border in record time heading left (9)
EPHEMERAL (short-lived; fleeting; passing) HEM (border) contained in (in) (EP [Extended Play record] + ERA [time period] + L [first letter of {heading} L]) EP (HEM) ERA L Could also be parsed as EP (HEM) ERA in front of [heading] L |
| 7 | Advertisement boards trimmed and put on display (7)
PARADED (put on display) AD (ADvertisement) contained in (boards) PARED (trimmed) PAR (AD) ED |
| 8 | Doctor Dolittle with giant bird (4-6,3)
LONG-TAILED TIT (a bird) Anagram of (doctor) DOLITTLE and (with) GIANT LONG-TAILED TIT* |
| 14 | Boy turned right, fleeing alien, and spotted one with four legs (9)
DALMATIAN (large, short-haired breed of dog, white with dark spots; spotted one with four legs) LAD (boy) reversed (turned) + MArTIAN (alien) excluding (fleeing) R (right) DAL MATIAN |
| 16 | Nothing upsets snuggling love birds (7)
ORIOLES (golden-yellow birds) O (character representing zero or nothing) + (RILES [upsets] containing [snuggling] O [character representing zero [love score in tennis]) O RI (O) LES |
| 18 | Tramp reflecting on unfinished clue for ‘swimmer’ (7)
DOLPHIN (any of a group of small toothed whales belonging to the family Delphinidae; swimmer) PLOD (walk heavily; tramp) reversed (reflecting) + HINt (clue) excluding the final letter (unfinished) T DOLP< HIN |
| 19 | Pasta with American beans (7)
NOODLES (string or ribbon-shaped strip of pasta) NOODLES (North American terms for heads; beans is also an informal term for heads, so NOODLES can be described as ‘American beans’) double definition NOODLES |
| 20 | Small lake in view (6)
SLIGHT (small) L (lake) contained in (in) SIGHT (a view) S (L) IGHT |
| 23 | Top 40 on the radio (5)
EXCEL (be superior to; top) EXCEL (sounds like [on the radio] XL [Roman numerals for 40) EXCEL |
A great experience from this new setter. My only head scratches were “very happy” for “made up” and “offish” for “aloof”. Otherwise nothing too taxing.
Absolutely whizzed through this one which felt more Mondayish than Monday’s. Probably helped by what felt like a lot of anagrams. All cleanly clued, though, so no complaints. No particular faves – the Doctor Dolittle combo was a nice spot and, yes, appropriate to the theme.
Thanks both
Great debut so welcome to Pavo. Perfect early weekday fare for me, mostly steady away but one or two holding me up slightly longer at the finish. Liked CALF (cotd), ALLUDES, TRADESMAN, LONG-TAILED TIT and DALMATIAN.
Thanks Pavo and Duncan
Like GDU, I also don’t get very happy about the made- up clue at 4a, but I was pleased to figure out the stand-offish clue at 24a.
I also share his appreciation for this new setter. I especially liked the theatrical clue at 10a LION’S SHARE, the bird-talking doctor at 8d LONG-TAILED TIT, and the unflappable lovers at 16d ORIOLES. And there were many other interesting stories told in the excellent surfaces throughout this puzzle. I look forward to more from Pavo.
And thanks, duncanshiell, for the clear and comprehensive blog.
I’ve spent more time on my last two in (FINAGLED and ORIOLES – both jorums) than on the rest of the puzzle, which was enjoyable if easy, with some great surfaces. Thanks Pavo (&welcome) and duncanshiell!
I enjoyed this. Thanks to Pavo for an easy but fun puzzle. As PostMark @2 says it felt like a Monday puzzle.
I was slowed up by thinking there were two e’s in fledgling. Loi ONLY when the misdirection fooled me AND I wrote in OSLO then had a rethink.
Favourite DALMATIAN.
Thanks also to duncanshiell for the excellent blog.
Felt very smooth and certainly not like a new setter though most of the definitions or synonyms led me straight in the right direction, which is either luck, a “wavelength thing” or a sign that the setter has yet to get her/his really devious socks on yet…
Last couple in were “flying fish” (offish…hmm…”stand-offish” is familiar) and “finagled” as, fortunately, all the creatures were familiar.
My only niggle is that “g” does not equal “gravity”. “g” can be the “acceleration due to gravity” and “G” can be the “gravitational constant” (both are in Chambers) but neither of those is “gravity” which is a phenomenon. At best it could be “gravitational” as in “G-force” (gravitational force equivalent). Other setters have made this same error, so it’s understandable but my inner pedant had to come out and comment.
Many thanks Duncan for the supremely clear blog and Pavo – welcome and thank you.
If were going with vertebrates, then Tradesman, Moses, and Uncles could also be included.
Like the crossword, thanks Pavo and Duncanshiell – I like the way the clues are explained. Very clear.
I failed to solve 4ac.
Favourite: DALMATIAN.
Yes, found this fairly straightforward until I got to the interconnecting ORIOLES, ONLY and FINAGLED. Which last one, a nho before for me, strictly qualified me for dnf. Thought 23 down EXCELlent, though this device may have been used before. I wouldn’t know. Loved the LONG TAILED TIT, though haven’t seen one in my small back garden for a while…
Great stuff and a strong debut from Pavo who I highly suspect is Liari who set in the Independent yesterday. Very similar style of clueing and she did say in her blog she would be debuting in a national newspaper late this month. If true that is a great addition to the Guardian stable.
Enjoyed LONG-TAILED TIT, WOMBAT and FLYING FISH.
As with a previous commenter the ORIOLES and FINAGLED crossing answers were my only source of real trouble with this. Both known but far down the synonym list.
Thanks Pavo and Duncan
Staticman1 @11: yes, Liari has confirmed on BlueSky that she is the compiler of this puzzle. The style did feel familiar as I solved but I hadn’t twigged at the time. Certainly explains the birds.
Having blasted through the North East, I wound up spending an extra 10 minutes in bed to clear up the South before heading to the gym. Although it was a quick solve, I had to revisit a couple of parsing. A quality debut for Pavo, they’ll be MADE UP with the reviews.
Thanks Pavo and Duncan
Thanks Pavo and duncanshiell
This looked impossible at first, but it turned out to be much easier than I expected. Lots of great clues – MADE UP (Trump was made up to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize?), ABSENT, and DALMATIAN favourites.
Look forward to more from this new Guardian setter.
I put an “S” on the end of parsings twice in my comment above, but it wasn’t to be. Phones try too hard to be clever sometimes. They’d probably fit in around here!
As with Jack Of Few Trades@7, I found that quite a lot – maybe 1/3 or more – of the answers went in pretty much straight from the definition or synonym, easily distinguishable from the clue, with a glance at the wordplay bit to confirm. So what was intended to to be a peek before bedtime to make a start turned into a romp through the lot. Pleasant enough, but I did feel slightly unchallenged until the last half-dozen or so.
LOI was FINAGLED, where the crossers helped a lot, shortly after NOODLE, where I couldn’t see the parsing – so thanks duncanshiell for that and some others.
I liked EXCEL – a neat use of the “Roman numbers” and “soundalike” tricks; and GANYMEDE; I note my fellow-scientists quibble about “G”, but I think (with my ex-pilot’s hat on) expressions like “pulling 2G in a steep turn” give it some legitimacy.
Thanks Pavo – I look forward to more.
Enjoyed this! Couldn’t parse flying fish…
Thanks Pavo and duncanshiel
Enjoyed this puzzle from a new setter. Also fell down the WATTLE, WOMBAT trap and enjoyed doing so. Thanks Pav, whoever you may be.
Like others, I had a slight “hmm…” about MADE UP but overall I thought this was delightful.
Particular favourite LONG-TAILED TIT (brilliant spot) but there was much else to enjoy. In particular, some really smooth surfaces.
Thank you and welcome Pavo; thank you for the blog duncanshiel
DtS@16: But “pulling 2g” is not “pulling 2 gravity” is it? It’s a sloppy equivalence, not accurate or supported by the dictionary, which is why I object to it. I know scientific terms are often used differently in normal speech (e.g. “mass” vs “weight”) and this is fine as language is about how it is used, but there is no layman justification for “g” as “gravity” on its own that I can find.
No, I couldn’t parse FLYING FISH either, and didn’t know that NOODLES were particularly American – I wasted time there trying to find something involving A or US. I started off with the NW corner going in very quickly, but didn’t find the rest as easy as others did.
A nice debut from Pavo – I liked all the creatures great and small (and not too obscure) especially CALF, LONG TAILED TIT and DALMATIAN (once I remembered to ignore the misleading commas).
FINAGLED into a DNF. Enjoyed it though. Welcome Pavo, and thanks both.
p.s. pavo is Spanish for turkey.
OG = Original Gravity ergo G = gravity?
A strong start from Pavo – top half flew in but the bottom took a bit more thought. Top ticks for FLYING FISH, EXCEL
and LOI FINAGLE – lovely word 🙂
Cheers D&P
‘Pavo’ is the Spanish term for a turkey, and a slang term for a teenage boy (at least in some countries). A peacock is a ‘pavo real’ (i. e. a royal turkey).
That meaning of ‘made up’ is new to me, though it’s in Chambers.
I don’t see how ‘lawsuit’ fits in 21a. Yes, a submitted lawsuit may be filed, but ‘filed’ can’t be substituted for ‘submitted lawsuit’ in the text of the clue.
A fun solve. I knew MADE UP from somewhere, I think it is from a younger generation than mine. The parsing of NOODLES eluded me, and I took an absurdly long time to figure out ONLY.
And a warm welcome to Pavo.
poc@24: Past participle of the verb “(he) submitted (a) lawsuit” = “(he) filed”?
bodycheetah@23: Can you split up abbreviations though? B=bovine, s=spongiform on their own because BSE? In some cases (F for fellow, M for member) they are in Chambers as separate entries but I think allowing parts of abbreviations opens the door to just using the first letter of anything.
Great début, Pavo, but then I’ve always been a sucker for plausible surfaces. Spent ages trying to justify FLYING FISH on the grounds that the adjective FLY (=surreptitious according to Chambers) seemed to fit ALOOF in the clue. I should have known better… The penny did drop in the end. One of my (most) memorable moments of a visit to Sri Lanka was taking a tiny boat to an island that was absolutely brilliant for snorkelling and, on the return journey, being raced for several minutes by a flying fish.
Thought this was a really lovely grid. Top half went in quite easily, the bottom half required more thought but I got there eventually. Couldn’t parse Flying Fish at all, but I had enough letters to work out that that must be the answer.
Like others, started off fast and slowed down. Good puzzle, no quibbles but can setters give lower (and flower) a rest?
Thanks both.
Very enjoyable. LONG-TAILED TIT was my favourite for the clever use of Doctor Dolittle. (I seem to remember a Round the Horne take-off of the film in which the character was called Doctor Dosweet BA.)
My impression is that MADE UP to mean very happy is relatively recent. I think I first heard it about 10 or 15 years ago and then seemed to hear it everywhere, often in the context of “I’m made up for you”. Was it maybe regional and then became more widespread? Does anyone know?
Many thanks Pavo and duncanshiell.
I think Pavo is more likely to be from Merseyside than the southern hemisphere – “I’m made up” is how scousers say they’re happy.
Pavo is indeed Spanish for turkey, but this was very far from one! Gentle but a lot of fun, with the surface for DALMATIAN my stand out.
Welcome Pavo and thank you for the crossword! And to duncanshiell for the blog.
A lovely debut with excellent surfaces throughout lending it a pleasurable grace. I’m surprised so many seem unfamiliar with ‘made up’ as an expression meaning ‘happy’. It’s a common usage in Northwest England (or at least the South Lancashire/Merseyside region in which I grew up), and as I’m something of a greybeard it’s certainly not a younger generation invention, Ace@50.
Copland@31 is right – listen to a comedian like John Bishop or any Liverpool player actually born in the city and you’ll be sure to hear the expression ‘made up’.
Thanks Pavo and DS
A very good debut
I’ve known ‘made up’ as happy for at least 50 years, originally in NW England.
The same experience as many others; I started fast and then slowed down for an entertaining solve. I liked the FLEDGLING clutching a fish, the LIE LOW piercing sound (makes a change from Li-Lo), the aloof FLYING FISH, the EPHEMERAL border, the good anagram for LONG-TAILED TIT, and the not-alien, spotted DALMATIAN. I wasn’t familiar with the use of MADE UP, but then I’m a Southerner.
Thanks Pavo and ds.
“Made up” brought back memories of watching Brookside in a previous century. I think it is used in the Liverpool area.
My endeavours to parse NOODLES were impeded by the presence of ‘with’ in the clue, which still seems clumsy. I wonder if ‘Pasta and beans in America’ would have been better. Pasta e fagioli is, of course, an Italian classic: I first had it in a kind-of workers’ lunch cafe in Florence 40 years ago and in a sublime version in a restaurant n Sorrento more recently. I went back the next day for more. I make a version occasionally.
JOFT@26 I think that abbreviation stable door has been open for some time in the Guardian 🙂
This Londoner didn’t know made up=happy until fairly recently: I thought it must be a regional thing that has spread, so interested to hear where it comes from.
[bodycheetah@39: Ah well that will give me something else to be grumpy about! 🙂 ]
@gladys
It’s a Liverpudlian phrase AFAIK
Lord Jim@30 There’s a (quite touching) scene in The Royle Family 2000 Christmas special where a character is “absolutely made up” when asked to be a godfather. That would fit with others’ comments that it was a northern expression originally.
Splendid debut; I look forward to more displays from the peacock. Varied constructions and good surfaces. The anagram for LONG-TAILED TIT is most serendipitous.
As a Liverpudlian myself, MADE UP was very familiar and is a long-standing and commonly used Scouse expression. However, although it may have become more widely known through the speech of actors, comedians and footballers, I don’t recall ever hearing it from the mouths of non-Merseysiders. Despite not being labelled as such by the red book, I think it remains a regionalism.
Thanks to Pavo and duncan
An absolute pleasure.
A great combination of easier and harder clues, with good smooth surfaces. I loved the constructions in FLEDGLING and LIE LOW, enjoyed imaging Dr Doolittle with his giant bird, and smiled at the penny drop moment for NOODLES.
FINAGLED was also my last one in and a barely known word to me, but it was all fair because it was possible to work out from the clue.
I hope we see more from Pavo, and thanks to duncanshiell for a well laid out blog.
Great puzzle. Quite doable but not a walkover, with fine surfaces. I agree with duncanshiell that there were a lot of excellent clues, many of them solved from the wordplay, which is very satisfying. Like gladys@21 I filled the NW first, and then worked around to the NE. Hard to pick favourites, although 8d LONG-TAILED TIT (“Doctor Dolittle”) may be a standout. 9a ONES was smoothly hidden (“population estimates”). 13a TRADESMAN the anagram was very nicely incorporated into the surface. 2d MOSES had a remarkable surface. 3d ALLUDES was funny. Some nice surprises, like 4a MADE-UP (I also didn’t know this meaning, but the wordplay was clear), 17a FLEDGLING (“clutching” misdirection), 21a FINAGLED (NAG instead of HAL for Harry), 7d PARADED (“Advertisement boards…”)
Didn’t look for a theme. Why would there be one? 🙂
poc@24, JOFT@26 for example, “filed / submitted lawsuit for divorce”?
Thanks both. Looking forward to more from Pavo!
The expression MADE UP may well be Liverpudlian, as others have mentioned above. At least in Liverpool it is not at all new: I had a Scouse mate when I was at university and he was the first person I’d ever heard using it. That would have been in about 1981.
A gentle debut from Pavo, to whom, and to our blogger, my thanks.
Made up by this even tho I was forced to finagle 21
If I’d been asked to identify the Americanism in this crossword, I’d have plumped for “Filed” for “submitted a lawsuit” rather than NOODLE=head. I tried SUED and PLED or PLEADED long before FILED came to mind.
When I was asked to turn combat into WOMBAT, I got this image in my head of Mortal Wombat, which would be the classic video game but with cute marsupials doing all the Kung Fu moves. (And then when the bout is nearly over, in a squeaky little wombat voice you’d hear, “Finish him!”) I had that to giggle over for the rest of the puzzle. I’m weird, y’all.
And yes, I’m another who hadn’t seen that meaning of MADE UP; fortunately the wordplay was clear as crystal.
mrpenny@53 ha ha, Mortal Wombat!
I heard “made up” in this sense when I was at Liverpool Uni in 1974. I seem to remember that it was used quite often.
As my comment @14 made it obvious, I’m very familiar with the “made up” expression too. However, I live in Lancashire 🙂
Seeing that the expression at 4A purports to be a NW-English regionalism, I looked for confirmation from a likely source. Sure enough, from an interview with Ringo shortly after his marriage to Maureen Cox in 1965:
Q: “What do the other Beatles think of your marriage?”
RINGO: “John and George were at the wedding, and they were MADE UP, you know. They’re happy. But we don’t know about Paul yet, ‘cuz he’s away on holiday.”
Thanks Pavo for a wonderful debut. I sailed through this and ticked many favourites including FLEDGING, SONATA, MOSES, ALLUDES, ABSENT, LONG-TAILED TIT, ORIOLES, DOLPHIN, and EXCEL. I didn’t give a second thought to MADE UP because after a decade of attempting British crosswords I’m still coming across words, expressions, and idioms that are brand new to me. Thanks duncanshiell for the blog.
Like PhilB, I had OSLO at 16a. I justified it as O so = just (just/o so perfect) in the US (probably not true) around L. ONLY is obviously better.
JOFT@ 7, I think gravity is often the abbreviation for acceleration due to gravity, as in questions like “what’s the gravity on Mars?” Most people would understand what the question is asking.
Fine puzzle, quite light (apart from Oslo!)
Thanks, Pavo and duncanshiell
both a great puzzle and a perfect blog. thanks to both
Bravo Pavo, much enjoyed! Pitched perfectly for Tuesday, 👏 Editor. Suspect vertebrates are coincidence (like the day I convinced myself racehorse names were a theme) but enjoyed blog too 🙏Duncanshiell.
MADE UP was my first one in, though I didn’t immediately spot the parsing, so got all the crossers before writing it in, at which point the parsing became obvious. This was the way quite a few solves happened for me, but unusually I got EPHEMERAL entirely from the word play – at least I did once I had eliminated eprimeral as a possible word. 🤔
Struggled with FINAGLED, and I’m not entirely happy with ‘Harry’=NAG, or at least I wasn’t until I checked NAG in my thesaurus, and there it was: harry. 😁
Thanks to Pavo and to Duncan.
Managed this one OK. The only ones I couldn’t parse were TRADESMAN and EXCEL.
I hadn’t spotted the anagram or realised the definition for TRADESMAN. It was just a guess for me.
I had to reveal EXCEL because I could not think of an answer that fits nor a phoneme for 40. ‘XL’ never occurred to me even though I know roman numerals.
Thanks very much duncanshiell you are really good at solving these. Thanks too to Pavo. A nice one.
Had to reveal MADE UP in the end, as I didn’t spot the anagram and had somehow never noticed the expression if I’ve heard it in any UK films or TV.
Thanks for the very clear explanations. I hadn’t parsed FLYING FISH or FINAGLED, so it is good to see what I missed.
Southerner here, who’d never heard of Made Up until a university mate in 1969 from Mansfield used it, quite frequently.
FINAGLED defeated me today as I couldn’t see the wordplay, but a very good debut.
Looking forward to the next one.
Thanks both.
Larry Niven’s Belters swear by FINAGLE. Possibly a way of implying another F-word, or maybe Niven just thought it sounded good.
Didn’t finish this as I couldn’t sort out ONLY and FINAGLED. Thought it was very good though, great surfaces throughout. Favourite EXCEL.
Pavo is the Latin for peacock and hence also the scientific name.
We found this straightforward and almost managed to do it in numerical order! FINAGLED was LOI. But we hadn’t heard MADE-UP meaning “very happy”—Australians who’ve not spent time in the Merseyside area (and have not noticed it on all the British TV we watch. Very clear parsing, though, as throughout. Welcome Pavo!
Bravo, Pavo.
Frank @70 – Pavo is a she 😁
Both ‘G’ and ‘g’ are physics constants. Big ‘G’ is the gravitational constant which relates the strength of a gravitation field to the mass which causes the field. Little ‘g’ is the acceleration provided to a falling object by earth’s gravity.
Nice grid for me.
Thanks Pavo and Duncan (the explanations are at another level).