Hello bloggers and setters. I’d like to join you, but I’m in Philadelphia and I was just across the pond in Sweden a month ago (I actually was composing the annotation while in the lounge at Heathrow coming home). Maybe some future year.
Dalibor is both an S and a B (whichever way you like to finish them), and he’s provided us with a tidy diversion.
Link to puzzle: https://fifteensquared.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Final-Dalibor-York-2026-handout.pdf
Degree of difficulty: moderate: comparable to a Telegraph prize puzzle. A good warm-up for the S&B crowd.
| Across | ||
| 1a | SPRINGFIELD | Well, life changed dramatically at first for a girl called Dusty |
| SPRING (“well”) + *LIFE (anagram indicated by “changed”) + Dramatically (first letter indicated by “at first”).
Popped the first three in straightaway. |
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| 7a | BOB | Style of overtures from Brahms or Beethoven |
| Brahms Or Beethoven (first letters indicated by “overtures.” | ||
| 9a | AUDIO | Sound of car approaching roundabout? |
| AUDI (“car”) + O (“roundabout”). | ||
| 10a | ENERGISER | Rock singer amidst unopened beer and Red Bull? |
| *SINGER (anagram indicated by “rock”) contained in (“amidst”) bEER (omission of first letter indicated by “unopened”). | ||
| 11a | STEVEDORE | Jobs ultimately saved so far: one, a docker |
| STEVE (“Jobs,” the Apple co-founder) + saveD +sO + faR + onE (last letters indicated by “ultimately.”)
Hopped on this one from the definition. |
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| 12a | SUOMI | “Finland for the Finns” unanimously backed? Only for about 50% |
| <unanIMOUSly< (hidden word indicated by “only for about 50%,” reversal indicated by “backed.”
Easy if you’re an ice hockey fan: the Finns’ sweaters read “Suomi.” |
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| 13a | ORLEANS | False reason to impress large university city |
| *REASON (anagram indicated by “false”) containing (“to impress”) L (“large’).
Took a while to get this one: a lot more cities I would associate with a university first. |
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| 15a | TREE | Perhaps plane’s oddly targeted |
| TaRgEtEd (alternate letters indicated by “oddly”) | ||
| 18a | JAMB | Post-punk rock band listened to |
| ~JAM (“rock band,” homophone indicated by “listened to”).
My LOI: I have a decent GK of music, but hadn’t heard of “The Jam.” |
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| 20a | CHICAGO | Leonard Marx’s welcomed a grand Broadway production |
| CHICO (“Leonard Marx”) containing (“welcomed”) A + G (“grand’).
On the other hand, I nailed this one, recognizing both the third Marx Brother and the 1980s musical. |
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| 23a | OXEYE | Love, kiss, look for a flower |
| O (“love”) + X (“kiss”) + EYE (“look”). | ||
| 24a | FLASHBACK | Expose your body’s rear part – that has happened before |
| FLASH (“expose your body”) + BACK (“rear part”). | ||
| 26a | ALICE BAND | Girl group that might be in shock |
| ALICE (“girl”) + BAND (“group”).
We don’t use that term for a headband in the US, but it you solve cryptics, you’ve seen it before. |
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| 27a | BEECH | Wood, English conductor, taking off time before noon |
| BEECHam (“English conductor,” removal of AM (“before noon”) indicated by “taking off”). | ||
| 28a | ONE | 1, 2, then 3, finally |
| twO theN threE (final letters indicated by “finally”). | ||
| 29a | SPONSORSHIP | Backing of posh prisons abandoned |
| *POSH PRISONS (anagram indicated by “abandoned”). | ||
| Down | ||
| 1d | SNAPSHOT | Bridges pulled up in what takes just one click? |
| <SPANS< (“bridges,” reversal indicated by “pulled up”) + HOT (“in”). | ||
| 2d | REDBELLY | Fish, wine and bread basket |
| RED (“wine”) + BELLY (“breadbasket”). | ||
| 3d | NO ONE | Not a soul singer who made his name as Herman |
| §NOONE (Peter Noone of Herman’s Hermits).
Got this one easily because I’ve listened to Noone’s satellite radio program. What’s your favorite Hermits’ song? |
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| 4d | FLEXORS | Rough sex for about a pound, showing some muscles |
| *SEX FOR (anagram indicated by “rough”) containing (“about”) L (“pound”). | ||
| 5d | ELEMENT | He is one but she is not |
| Cyptic definition: He is the symbol for the element helium.
Great clue: the penny dropped with a clang! |
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| 6d | DE GASPERI | French painter’s got the spirit to become an antifascist |
| DEGAS (“French painter”) + PERI (“spirit”).
The painter was easy, but I had to guess at the rest, not knowing the Italian PM or “peri.” |
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| 7d | BOSTON | Lincolnshire town’s fairly good promotion ditched after review |
| <NOT SO Bad< (“fairly good,” omission of AD (“promotion”) indicated by “ditched,” reversal indicated by “after review”) | ||
| 8d | BERLIN | Black magician sending maiden off in 18th century carriage |
| B (“black”) + mERLIN (“magician,” omission of M (“maiden”) indicated by “sending off”).
Use the force, Luke… ‡ |
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| 14d | AWARENESS | Having knowledge of a conflict with A Capone’s nemesis |
| A + WAR (“conflict”) + E NESS (federal agent Elliot Ness, “A[l] Capone’s nemesis). | ||
| 16d | NAZARETH | Extremists in Tehran demolished Middle Eastern town |
| AZ (“extremists) contained in (“in”) *TEHRAN (anagram indicated by “demolished”) | ||
| 17d | BOOKSHOP | Waterstones disapproves of hard work over the weekend? |
| BOOS (“disapproves of”) + H (“hard”) + OP (“work”–opus) containing weeK (last letter indicated by “end.”
Luke makes a return, since I didn’t know the bookseller chain. Nice tidy rebus with a “lift and separate.” |
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| 19d | BUFFALO | Polish opera singer spending time in lakeside city |
| BUFF (“polish”) + ALtO (“opera singer,” omission of T (“time” indicated by “spending”).
“Opera” is arguably superfluous. |
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| 20d | CSARDAS | Traditional dance game interrupted by South American on two separate occasions |
| CARDS (“game”) containing (“interrupted by”) S (“south”), and A (American) in two different places (“on two occasions”).
Another new one for me: it’s a Hungarian folk dance. I suspect I wasn’t alone in trying to fit SA into something. |
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| 21d | MONACO | Across the Channel my old accountant promoted a tax haven |
| MON (“my” translation to French indicated by “across the Channel”) + O + AC (“accountant,” preceding the O indicated by “promoted). | ||
| 22d | VENICE | Place on the Adriatic’s really enjoyable but not extremely really |
| VEry NICE (“really enjoyable,” omission of (“not”) RY (“really,” first and last letters indicated by “extremely”)) . | ||
| 25d | HABER | Nobel Prize winner from Hungary (but German) |
| H (“Hungary”) + ABER (“but,” translation to German indicated by “German”)
Needed help with this one: Fritz Haber won the chemistry Nobel for finding a method for synthesis of ammonia, and I didn’t know the German word for “but.” |
Legend: “*” anagram; “~” sounds like; “<“ letters reversed; “( )” letters inserted; “_” or lower case: letters deleted; “†” explicit in the clue, “^” first or last letter or letters, “{“ relocated letter or letters; “§” heteronym, “/” letters exchanged, “¶” letter bank.
‡–“Use the force, Luke” is what I’ll say when answer is obscure but the wordplay is obvious. Trust your instinct on the wordplay.
I solved this with Eccles and Bluejacket on the day and we spotted a lot of US cities in the grid, but Sil hinted there was something more. So then we thought it was a musical theme. CHICAGO and BOSTON are bands, Irving BERLIN, Eccles also identified BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD. Maybe others can spot more?
A very enjoyable puzzle, even if we were stuck on last one in JAMB for quite a while. Thanks Sil and Braze
Good to see Dalibor/Sil back in cracking form. And with a cracking puzzle; quite a lot of GK needed but it all came together in the end. I did need to google to confirm 6d. Favourite was FLASHBACK, partly because the surface of the clue suggested something based around ‘moon’.
Thanks, Dalibor and Braze.
PS Sorry I couldn’t be at York; maybe I’ll manage it next year.
The last puzzle set by Dalibor that I solved was exactly a year ago, and I enjoyed this one just as much, with its well-crafted clues and clever touches.
The setter may not have been aware that SALERNO is an alternative answer to ORLEANS at 13a. With only the ‘L’ in place at that stage in my grid, I duly entered it. Naturally, I then got into a bit of a muddle around that wrong answer before I realised the error.
My poor GK (possibly) slowed me down at the end, as (like Charlie) it took some time to complete the grid with JAMB.
Thanks to both Sil (Dalibor) and Braze.
Braze, a belated but no less sincere thank you for blogging my York crossword. Very fine indeed (despite having used a clue at 28a that’s different from the one on the handout. This was from a previous version, mea culpa.
I was aware that Salerno’, like Alan said @3, would be an alternative to Orleans. That is why I used ‘university city’.
Charlie @1 hinted (after a bit of help from me myself at York) at a (ghost) theme.
The grid has many cities which are not randomly chosen. They are all names of bands that had, apart from one, at least one major hit in the US or UK charts. Charlie mentioned already Boston (More Than A Feeling) and Chicago. There are also Berlin (Take My Breath Away, from the film Top Gun), Orleans and Buffalo Springfield. Plus from the UK Seventies hard-rockers Nazareth and Monaco (formed in 1995 by bass player Pete Hook as a side project of New Order).
West Coast band Venice is the odd one out. No major records but a great live reputation, especially on mainland Europe.
As ever the what I call n.h.o.-brigade will probably complain about obscurities and/or too much GK but to be fair to me, it was a ghost theme, not necessary for solving the crossword.
Many thanks to everyone who gave it a try.
Dalibor/ Sil.
I’m delighted to be told that there was a ghost theme, as fully explained by the setter (and hinted at by Charlie above). I never would have got it, even though there was clearly a ‘city’ element to it. On ORLEANS, I realise now that SALERNO was possibly a less-than-perfect fit, purely because Salerno University is actually outside the city of Salerno. On JAMB, my difficulty was that I don’t know any punk bands, and I can have a good laugh at myself now on recalling that on searching online for post-punk rock bands the name The Jam was (very helpfully) presented to me before I even realised that I needed to separate ‘post’ from ‘punk’ in order to get the true cryptic construction of the clue.
Thank you, Sil, for your comment above.