GAFF kicks off the week with an anniversary puzzle…
The anniversary in question being the birth of Buddy Holly (who wore glasses). That’ll Be The Day, True Love Ways, Everyday, Heartbeat, and, It Doesn’t Matter Anymore, being some of his songs. I may have missed some other references.
Thanks GAFF!
ACROSS
1. Battled healthy criminal? You’ll be lucky! (6,2,3,3)
THATLL BE THE DAY
(BATTLED HEALTHY)* (*criminal)
9. Grant could be for classic work (7)
ULYSSES
Double (cryptic) definition (referring to Ulysses S. Grant)
10. Silesian city — macabre slaughterhouses (7)
BRESLAU
[maca]BRE SLAU[ter] (houses)
11. Check sweetheart’s embracing acceptable second cousin (4,4)
LOOK OVER
LOVER (sweetheart) embracing (OK (acceptable) + [c]O[usin] (second))
12. Celebrated that my end has started badly (6)
HYMNED
(MY END H[as] (started))* (*badly)
14. Turning every unending turn (4)
VEER
(EVER[y] (unending))* (*turning)
15. Started hole with a method that’s outlawed (5,4)
DROVE AWAY
DROVE (started hole) with A + WAY (method)
18. Trump — maybe cheer? (4,5)
TAKE HEART
Double (cryptic) definition
20. Top batter exhausted (4)
BEAT
24. Tragically lose US fliers (6)
OUSELS
25. Petrol’s final extra input into hybrid’s manifold (8)
MULTIPLE
([petro]L (final) + TIP (extra)) input into MULE (hybrid)
27. Currency leads to oblivion from lack of transparency (7)
LEUCOMA
LEU (currency, Romanian) leads to COMA (oblivion)
28. Good girls may be shot (7)
GLASSES
G (good) + LASSES (girls)
29. Never mind inmates trotted out (2,6,6)
IT DOESNT MATTER
(INMATES TROTTED)* (*out)
DOWN
1. Opening up every lunchtime in store shows real devotion (4,4)
TRUE LOVE
U[p] E[very] L[unchtime] (opening) in TROVE (store)
2. What dinner host may ask nowadays (7)
ANYMORE
Double (cryptic) definition
3. Spindles I only partly wound (6)
LESION
[spind]LES I ON[ly] (partly)
4. Request to take part in live attempts at wickerworks (10)
BASKETRIES
ASK (request) to take part in BE (live) + TRIES (attempts)
5. You leave a content creator to listen to instrument (4)
TUBA
“[you]tuber” = TUBA (content creator, YOU leave, “to listen to”)
6. Scottish island contains real common (8)
EVERYDAY
EDAY (Scottish island) contains VERY (real)
7. Falcons’ home lacking a hunter (7)
ATLANTA
AT[a]LANTA (hunter, lacking A)
8. Start to develop extremely dishy friend (5)
BUDDY
BUD (start to develop) + D[ish]Y (extremely)
13. Spending too much is obvious holding move (4,6)
OVER BUDGET
OVERT (obvious) holding BUDGE (move)
16. Rich source of excitement (4-2-2)
WELL-TO-DO
WELL (source) + TO DO (excitement)
17. Hair in tonsorial centre is an aggravation (8)
STRESSOR
TRESS (hair) in [ton]SOR[ial] (centre)
19. Offensive fool gets no tip for poor service (7)
ASSAULT
ASS (fool) + [f]AULT (poor service, gets no tip)
21. Talk at length about being left out of drunken sex with pilot (7)
EXPOSIT
(SEX PI[l]OT (L (left) out))* (*drunken)
22. Hand in religious Christmas decoration (5)
HOLLY
L (hand) in HOLY (religious)
23. Section of orchestra taking A level (6)
STRATA
[orche]STRA TA[king] (section of)
26. For starters, where are your social manners? (4)
WAYS
W[here] A[re] Y[our] S[ocial] (for starters)
Lovely way to start the week! I’m afraid the game was up, though, with my first entry, one across. I know this singer’s oeuvre pretty much by heart because he was one of my Dad’s favourites. It has left me with assorted earworms today… which simply will ‘not fade away’! What, no Peggy Sue?
Thanks to Gaff and Teacow.
That was fun – and liked the theme
And yes Diane @1 I was also looking for Peggy Sue once I got the theme.
Favourites included: MULTIPLE, TRUE LOVE, BASKETRIES, STRESSOR, OVER BUDGET
Thanks Gaff and Teacow
Fun puzzle. I am another for whom THAT’LL BE THE DAY gave away the theme, but my knowledge of Buddy Holly’s music is far from comprehensive, so the theme didn’t actually help with any answer other than HOLLY.
BRESLAU has been Wrocław (and Polish, more to the point) for 75 years now; maybe an indication of the historic nature of the clue might have been appropriate.
Fun puzzle. I think there is a bit of a goof in 23D, with STRATA being plural and level being singular. I thought maybe the clue was supposed to say “levels,” and parse as STRAT + A.
Liked GLASSES
I could not parse BEAT or DROVE AWAY
Thanks Gaff and Teacow
I agree with the points above. I’ve worked in Wroclaw a couple of times. The theme was immediately apparent and helped a bit. I too looked for Peggue Sue, crickets etc. Then returned to first principles.
Thanks all.