Fez’s second appearance as the featured puzzle in MyCrossword.
I found this rather tricky in places, but a fun challenge. I almost gave up on 24a and 21d, where the definition was fairly obvious but I couldn’t make sense of the parsing; the penny finally dropped on the well-disguised 21d, and after that I was determined to work out 24a. Lots to enjoy: now that I understand 21d I think it’s fiendishly clever, and I also liked the anagrams in 13/30 and 27 and the straightforward construction of 16d.
The across entries start with BUDDY and finish with HOLLY, which is a fairly good clue to a theme, especially when we also have his band the CRICKETS in the grid. THAT’LL BE THE DAY is one of his best-known songs, and along with NINETY it reminds us that today would have been his 90th birthday. There are also references to several other Buddy Holly songs in the clue text, which I’ve indicated with green text. (While researching this I was interested to find that his real surname was Holley, but someone got the spelling wrong in his first record contract . . . you probably knew that, but I didn’t.) Thanks Fez for an enjoyable puzzle.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters; green text indicates Buddy Holly song titles.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | BUDDY |
Rich, perhaps infinitely, but occasionally dodgy (5)
|
| BU[t] (infinitely = not finishing = without the last letter?) + alternate letters (occasionally) of D[o]D[g]Y.
Jazz musician Buddy Rich. |
||
| 4 | CALABASH |
Rave on about location of Hollywood Bowl (8)
|
| BASH (rave = a party), after (on) CA (abbreviation for Latin circa = about = approximately) + LA (abbreviation for Los Angeles = location of Hollywood).
A bowl made from the outer shell of a dried gourd. |
||
| 9 | OPUS DEI |
Turned out damage is claimed by pious criminal to be the work of God (4,3)
|
| D[amag]E (turned out = contents emptied out), contained in (claimed by) an anagram (criminal) of PIOUS.
Latin phrase meaning “the work of God”: the title of an organisation within the Roman Catholic Church. |
||
| 10 | ANGUISH |
Ridiculously hot in USA – good grief! (7)
|
| Anagram (ridiculously) of H (abbreviation for hot, on water taps) + IN USA + G (abbreviation for good). | ||
| 11 | DIDO |
Sample of Bo Diddley’s backing singer (4)
|
| Hidden answer (sample of . . .), reversed (backing), in [b]O DID[dley]. | ||
| 12 | OPEN |
Free Love author (4)
|
| O (zero = love, in tennis scoring) + PEN (author, as a verb = to write). | ||
| 13, 30 | SWEET NOTHINGS |
Rogue won’t sing these words of love (5,8)
|
| Anagram (rogue) of WON’T SING THESE.
Whispered words of affection (often more or less nonsense) between lovers. |
||
| 15 | NOCTURNE |
Expressive piece of music from rap act on the radio (8)
|
| Sound-alike (on the radio) of KNOCK (rap = hit) TURN (act = a stage performance).
A lyrical piece of music, especially one written to evoke night-time. |
||
| 17 | SOCIAL |
Very regressive secular gathering (6)
|
| SO (very), then LAIC (relating to lay people rather than clergy, but not necessarily “secular”) reversed (regressive).
Social, as a noun = slang shortening of “social event” or similar = a party. |
||
| 19 | NINETY |
Number Ten cool lying about Partygate, essentially (6)
|
| TEN (from clue text) + IN (cool = slang for fashionable), all reversed (lying about), then the middle letter (essentially) of [part]Y[gate]. An unpleasant reminder of irresponsible politicians during the Covid crisis. | ||
| 20 | TRUE-BLUE |
Faithful, but rule out suggestion of extremism (4-4)
|
| Anagram (out) of BUT RULE + first letter (a suggestion = a tiny amount) of E[xtremism].
Faithfully supporting a particular cause or party; in UK usage the phrase is usually associated with support for the Conservative Party, but it can be a more general term. |
||
| 22 | GOLLY |
Finally starting to feel extremely lucky – oh boy! (5)
|
| Last letters (finally) of [startin]G [t]O [fee]L, then the end letters (extremes) of L[uck]Y. | ||
| 23 | OUCH |
Cry of pain from unrestrained French kisser (4)
|
| [b]OUCH[e] (French word for a mouth = “kisser” in slang) without the end letters (unrestrained). | ||
| 24 | RASH |
Acting on impulse? Take second to think it over (4)
|
| R (abbreviation for Latin recipe = take, in old-fashioned prescriptions), then the second letter of [t]H[ink] + SA (it = slang for sex appeal) reversed (over). I’d have to say it took me a lot more than a second to think this one over before I finally saw the parsing. | ||
| 27 | ANTONYM |
Not many moving left to right? (7)
|
| Anagram (moving) of NOT MANY.
Definition by example: antonyms = words with opposite meanings, such as left and right. |
||
| 29 | ENTERED |
Pierced middle of steak, surprisingly tender (7)
|
| Middle letter of [st]E[ak] + anagram (surprisingly) of TENDER. | ||
| 30 |
See 13a
|
|
| 31 | HOLLY |
Plant root and branch, with leaves (5)
|
| [w]HOLLY (root and branch = completely), removing the W (abbreviation for with). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | BROBDINGNAGIAN |
Colossal presence on Swift’s fantastic tour? (14)
|
| Cryptic definition: we’re not talking about Taylor Swift here, but Jonathan Swift’s novel Gulliver’s Travels and his visit to the land of Brobdingnag which is inhabited by giants. “Brobdingnagian” has come to mean colossal = very large, so you could read this as a double definition – but that doesn’t really work when one meaning is clearly derived directly from the other. | ||
| 2 | DRUID |
E.g. Reading University dons tricked ancient priest (5)
|
| R (Reading, one of the “three Rs” of basic education along with ‘Riting and ‘Rithmetic) + U (abbreviation for university), contained in (dons, as a verb = puts on) DID (slang for tricked or deceived). | ||
| 3 | YODA |
Little fellow, rather green, throwing up some bad oysters (4)
|
| Hidden answer (some . . .), reversed (throwing up = upwards in a down clue), in [b]AD OY[sters]. The surface is unpleasantly familiar to those of us with a shellfish intolerance.
A character in the Star Wars universe he is; like this he talks. |
||
| 4 | CHIRPING |
Government subordinate to contribute, defending right winger’s output? (8)
|
| G (abbreviation for government), after (below, in a down clue = subordinate to) CHIP IN (contribute), containing R (abbreviation for right).
Sound made by a bird = winger, in crossword terms, because it travels on wings. |
||
| 5 | LEARNS |
Discovers Harry regularly kept in contact (6)
|
| Alternate letters (regularly) from [h]A[r]R[y], contained in LENS (contact = short for a contact lens). | ||
| 6 | BEG |
At last grab the eye of Peggy Sue (3)
|
| Last letters of [gra]B [th]E, then the middle letter (eye, perhaps as in “the eye of the storm”) of [pe]G[gy].
In older usage, sue = to plead earnestly for something, not necessarily in a legal context. |
||
| 7 | SPICE GIRL |
Maybe Baby Jesus’ Heart – Ireland’s inspiring image, say (5,4)
|
| Middle letter (heart) of [je]S[us] + IRL (abbreviation for Ireland), containing (inspiring = breathing in) PIC (short for picture = image) + EG (e.g. = for example = say).
Definition by example: Baby Spice (Emma Bunton), the youngest member of the Spice Girls. |
||
| 8 | THAT’LL BE THE DAY |
As if they had time to be worried about ballet dancing! (6,2,3,3)
|
| Anagram (worried) of THEY HAD + T (abbreviation for time), around another anagram (dancing) of BALLET.
As if! = that’ll be the day! = expression meaning that something would be desirable but will probably never happen. |
||
| 13 | SPOKEN |
Bar name discussed (6)
|
| SPOKE (one of the radial bars in a wheel) + N (abbreviation for name). | ||
| 14 | SULTRY |
Sticky end for yours truly, unfortunately (6)
|
| End letter of [your]S + anagram (unfortunately) of TRULY.
Unpleasantly hot and humid, like quite a lot of Summer 2026 in the UK. |
||
| 16 | CANALETTO |
Wedding venue hired out to artist (9)
|
| CANA (wedding venue in the Gospel of John, where Jesus turned water into wine) + LET (hired out) + TO (from clue text).
18th-century Venetian painter. |
||
| 18 | CRICKETS |
Jumpers from sport shop originally (8)
|
| CRICKET (a sport) + first letter (originally) of S[hop].
Crickets = insects that jump. |
||
| 21 | COMMON |
Everyday for the most part, nothing new! (6)
|
| This is really sneaky! COMM[a] (it’s there as a punctuation mark in the clue) without the last letter (for the most part), then O (zero = nothing) + N (abbreviation for new). | ||
| 25 | APRIL |
Cost of borrowing rising £1 / month (5)
|
| APR (abbreviation for annual percentage rate, the annualised total of interest payable on a loan = cost of borrowing), then L (£ = abbreviation of Latin librae = pounds) + I (one in Roman numerals) reversed (rising = upwards in a down clue).. | ||
| 26 | ITCH |
Desire leads to increased tension and capricious heartbeat (4)
|
| Leading letters of I[ncreased] T[ension] C[apricious] H[eartbeat].
Itch = desire = yearning. |
||
| 28 | NOH |
Said to be familiar with Japanese drama (3)
|
| Sound-alike (said) of KNOW (to be familiar with).
Classical Japanese theatre, and a crossword favourite. |