The usual massive festive grid with a hark-back to some feature or other from the Eye from the previous year – this time, lookalikes. Also, the traditional massive prize for one lucky solver: £250 prize.
Lookalikes are one of the longest serving parts of the mag and I have to admit that I have sent in some in my time, none published however.
Let’s have a look at the Preamble:
12 clues have two letter counts; the first count refers to one of a pair of ‘Lookalikes’ (arrived at by solving the clue) and the second to the other half of the pair (the entry to be made in the grid). These have all appeared in our Lookalikes slots during 2014. Letters of these entries not intersecting with other clue answers are:
AAAAA CC DDDD EEEEEEE F G HH IIIIII K LLLLL M N OOOO PP RRRRR SS TTT UUUU W YY Z
I think the non-intersecting letters list was unnecessary. I certainly didn’t use it till checking the last special entry then I found the list was deficient to the tune of one Cliff Richard!
So, 12 Special clues out of the 75 on the grid.
I went through the puzzle ignoring the Special clues at first. There were many relatively easy “write-ins” and I soon gave up trying to make notes while solving because the clues were slotting in so quickly. After a first pass, ignoring the 12, and a few others I’d missed it turned out, I found I had most of the grid filled.
Going on to look at the Special clues I found many were now solvable from the crossing letters. For some of those I found it harder to work out who was the lookalike from the clue’s wordplay, e.g. Guy Fawkes!
Then I realised that the list of given non-crossing letters was deficient – only 60 letters in the list but 66 unchecked letters in the 12 special answers – the 6 letters missing were found to be the unchecked letters of Cliff Richard: CIFIHR
After satisfying myself the Specials were all correct there were 7 unsolved ordinary clues scattered about with a knot of 3 in the bottom left corner.
77A UNHIDDEN proved to be the LOI.
Then came the fun part of the whole exercise: Going through last year’s Eyes to find the lookalikes that were used. On the way through I wondered if Cyclops had made a mistake when I found an Orangutan lookalike not with Katie Price, but with White Dee, but no, there was a particularly pink primate in an earlier picture pair.
For once I believe I have all the wordplay explained to my satisfaction.
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 12 | EXEMPTION | Immunity of drug-taking former member getting into trouble (9) E (drug) in EX-MP (former member) INTO* AInd: trouble |
| 14/13 | GRAYSON PERRY / PENELOPE KEITH | Actress‘s mobile kept in pee-hole (8,5); (7,5) (KEPT IN PEE-HOLE)* AInd: mobile. From issue 1359 7-Feb 2014  |
| 15 | SCHEMERS | Planners screech “M&S about to go bust!” (8) (SCREECH MS – C)* AInd: about. C removed from the anagram fodder by “about to go” 1st in |
| 16 | CLIFF RICHARD / HALLE BERRY | Model film star‘s orchestra not accented, fruit (5,5); (5,7) HALLE (orchestra not accented – ref. The Hallé Symphony Orchestra of Manchester) BERRY (Fruit). From issue 1375 19-Sep 2014  |
| 17 | ISRAELI | Netanyahu is one old-time PM casting out dead (7) [d]ISRAELI |
| 19 | THE ROYAL WE | Piss almost taken out of Brenda, say, for her grand self-referencing? (3,5,2) as opposed to the royal wee |
| 20 | WIPE CLEAN | WC involved with a penile dysfunction – use a rubber? (4,5) (WC PENILE)* AInd: dysfunction |
| 22 | ARCHIVE | “Bow – one has a record collection” (7) ARCH (bow) I’VE (One has) |
| 25 | DEPOSIT | Put down which Monica got as a parting shot from Clinton? (7) Def and CD in true Eye style |
| 26 | NIGEL FARAGE / GEORGE FORMBY | Royal baby mould via singing comedian (6,6); (5,6) GEORGE (Royal baby) FORM (mould) BY. From issue 1368 13-Jun 2014  |
| 31 | KATE BUSH / PRINCESS FIONA | Royal Bruce, the animated female lead? (8,5); (4,4) PRINCESS (Royal) FIONA (Bruce ref. Fiona Bruce). From issue1374 5-Sep 2014  |
| 33 | BLETHER | Salmond’s twitter: “Blair broadcast off air” (7) BL[air] (broadcast, as in air, off) ETHER (air, another sort of air) |
| 34 | TREATISE | Paper T-shirt front and tie arse’s sporting (8) T[-shirt] (TIE ARSE)* AInd: sporting |
| 37 | BIANCA | Jagger, back of cab, in a pissed state? (6) [ca]B, (IN A)* AInd: pissed, CA (state, California) |
| 38 | CHAINED | Balls stuck to right of chin, a sad victim of a dominatrix? (7) ED (Balls, an Eye crossword is not complete without an appearance by the Shadow Chancellor), after (CHINA)* AInd: sad |
| 42/40 | TENNIS BALLS | They’re served by court activity? Bollocks! (6,5) TENNIS (court activity) BALLS (bollocks!) |
| 43 | BUTTOCK | Nevertheless, as timely grandfathers go, not a complete arse (7) BUT (nevertheless) TOCK (as timely grandfathers do – tick tock) |
| 44 | EAVES | Going topless, pulls – hangover results (5) [h]EAVES |
| 45 | VOLUBLE | Verbose book, bizarrely blue (7) VOL (book) BLUE* AInd: bizarrely |
| 49 | COBALT | Blue shade of political party suffering reverse (put in somewhere to rest) (6) LAB< inside COT |
| 51 | TRACK | Shabby stuff, including the end of Bieber’s recorded item (5) [beibe]R inside TACK (shabby stuff) |
| 52 | DROWNED | Overwhelmed, toppled when Labour’s right wing intervenes (7) [labou]R inside DOWNED (toppled) |
| 53 | FRIARY | Righteous community dipping end of todger in Fairy liquid (6) [todge]R inside FAIRY* AInd: liquid |
| 54 | REPRIEVE | Peer: “I’ve played with leader’s butt” – pardon? (8) (PEER I’VE [leade]R)* AInd: played with |
| 56 | MAESTRO | Eminent performer, but head from Madonna rates poor zilch (7) M[adonna], RATES* AInd: poor, 0 (zilch) |
| 58 | STURGEON | First Minister Salmond’s first time in front of press (8) S[almond] T[ime] URGE ON (press) Ref. the relatively new leader of the SNP Nicola S |
| 60 | ALEX SALMOND / GEORGE ROBEY | Osborne right to do as told for the “Prime Minister of Mirth”? (6,5); (4,7) GEORGE (Osbourne) R[ight] OBEY (do as told) Music Hall man known as “the Prime Minister of Mirth”. From issue 1373 22-Aug 2014  |
| 62 | DRASTIC | Bloody hell, Boris finally gets in! (Independent Conservative Radical) (7) Def. Radical. [bori]S inside DRAT! (Bloody hell!), I[ndependent] C[onservative] |
| 63 | HEAVE HO | The old salt’s ejaculation means dismissal (5-2) Double Def. |
| 67 | ATTACK | Belligerent action from Russia ultimately: time to change course? (6) [russi]A T[ime] TACK (change course) |
| 69 | LOW MORALE | Feature of Clegg’s lot currently? Depressed on getting a lesson from experience, energy reduced (3,6)LOW (depressed) MORAL (a lesson from experience) E[nergy] |
| 71 | LUIS SUAREZ / DONKEY | Animated Dyke on “ass” (6); (4,6) (DYKE ON)* AInd: animated. From issue 1370 11-Jul 2014  |
| 74 | LAUDA | Sing the praises of Farage’s second fast-track man (5) LAUD (sing praises) [f]A[rage] |
| 75 | BLOW JOB | Waste an opportunity and work for head (4,3) BLOW (waste an opportunity) JOB (work) |
| 76 | NORMAN MAILER | Tebbit: ‘Tabloid Queen’, sexist writer? (6,6) NORMAN (Tebbit) MAIL (tabloid) ER (queen) |
| 77 | UNHIDDEN | On show, large body on Scots girl restraining double Ds – Cyclops dives in (8) Last answer UN (large body – United Nations), then I (Cyclops) and DD (double Ds) inside HEN (Scotsgirl) |
| 78 | PORTRAY | Play new Tory app “Powerless without Right” (7) (TORY APP – P[ower] + R[ight])* AInd: new |
| 79 | ENHANCING | Nine changes rendered and drugs removed – airbrushing? (9) (NINE CHANGES – ES (drugs))* AInd: rendered |
| Down | ||
| 1 | WEALTH | Money corrupted the law (6) (THE LAW)* AInd: corrupted |
| 2 | SET FORTH | Lay out gusset for thong’s mid-section (3,5) Hidden in gusSET FOR THong |
| 3 | LINCOLN | City gets sod all raised by Colonel North (7) NIL< (Sod all raised) COL[onel] N[orth] |
| 4 | UNSAFE SEX | High seas fun, late, is risky for lovers (6,3) (SEAS FUN)* AInd: high, EX (late) |
| 5 | KATIE PRICE / ORANGUTAN | A grunt? No, a windy tree-dweller (9); (5,5) (A GRUNT NO A)* AInd: windy. From issue 1368 13-Jun 2014  |
| 6 | OSTRICH | Country’s leader intervenes in this, or disaster? It won’t fly (7) C[ountry] inside (THIS OR)* AInd: disaster |
| 7 | ANNEXE | Sticking points in chopper, as Hitler was prone to do (6) NNE (points) inside AXE (chopper) |
| 8 | ASSIGNMENT | Steaming in, pissed – “sex for one is a chore” (10) (STEAMING IN swap S for an I (sex for one))* AInd: pissed |
| 9 | CHAPEL OF REST | Getting laid here for almost the very last time could make fleshpot race (6,2,4) (FLASHPOT RACE)* AInd: could make |
| 10 | IMITATOR | Parrot – or a tit I’m wobbling? (8) (OR A TIT I’M) AInd: wobbling |
| 11 | ORANGE | It’s thick-skinned like certain Irishmen (6) Double Def |
| 14 | GO DOWN ON BENDED KNEE | Beg to have oral sex – bishop finished with a joint (2,4,2,6,4) GO DOWN ON (oral sex) B[ishop] ENDED (finished) KNEE (a joint) |
| 23 | RAKE IN | What greedy MP expense-claimers do – i.e. rank badly (4,2) (I.E. RANK) AInd: badly |
| 24 | VIBRANT | Pulsating TV in for repair (front cover wedged inside) (7) BRA (front cover) inside (TV IN)* AInd: for repair |
| 27 | IRRELEVENT | Resistance evident in dire Blair event – head off, it’s off-topic (10) R[esistence] inside ([b]LAIR EVENT)* AInd: dire. Edit: Obviously the correct spelling is irrelevant |
| 28 | GOSSIP | Scandal-monger? Piss off, piss off! (6) GO (piss off) PISS* AInd: off |
| 29 | ASHCROFT | Actress has screwed, with credit, many a time, as the Bard would put it (8) HAS* AInd: screwed, CR[edit], OFT (many a time (Shaks.)). Dame Peggy A |
| 30 | THE BISHOP OF STEPNEY / GUY FAWKES | The dummy getting fired for failing to elevate Westminster? (3,6); (3,6,2,7) Def. and Cryptic Def. for Guy Fawkes gives us two elements of his story – elevate in the sense of Blow Up! From issue 1365 2-May 2014. I didn’t get Guy Fawkes till finding the Lookalike in the old issue. I knew it must be the Bishop of Stepney from the grid but I didn’t know who he is now. I remember Trevor Huddleston, but he pegged out years ago. The current Bish is Adrian Newman. Tricky bugger to google as Adrian Newman is also the boyfriend of Dannii Minogue so naturally dominates the internet but doesn’t look like an anarchist.  |
| 32 | TONY BLAIR / MR BURNS | Simpson’s boss married Scotland’s bard, formally (2,5); (4,5) Def. and Cryptic Def for “Mr” (Rabbie) Burns. From issue 1365 2-May 2014  |
| 35 | TANGERINE | Orange order entering to secure Ian’s heart (9) (ENTERING + [i]A[n])*AInd: order |
| 36 | BACKGAMMON | Support a bit of a pig’s board activity (10) BACK (support) GAMMON (a bit of a pig) |
| 39 | DAVID | Maybe Miliband acted … to secure a 25% share of vote (5) A V[ote] inside DID (acted) |
| 41 | SOLIDITY | Idiot messed with Sly’s hard, firm state (8) (IDIOT SLY)* AInd: messed with |
| 46 | BY FORCE | Alongside cops collectively using strong-arm tactics (2,5) BY (alongside) FORCE (cops collectively) |
| 48/21 | FRENCH LETTER | Foreign (permissive type) johnny (6,6) FRENCH (Foreign) LETTER (permissive type) |
| 50 | THE FALKLANDS | Which, in fact, came to Thatcher’s rescue? Thank Ed’s fall out (3,9) (THANK EDS FALL)* AInd: out |
| 55 | ED MILIBAND / KEN DODD | Comedian King nodded off (3,4); (2,8) (K[ing] NODDED)* AInd: off. From issue 1363 4-Apr 2014  |
| 57 | THREADBARE | Study into the bra elastic that’s most worn (10) READ (study) inside (THE BRA)* AInd: elastic |
| 59 | PILLORIED | Made to look an idiot, coming in pissed, Eye lost, I roll about (9) (I ROLL)< inside PIE-[eye]D |
| 61 | X-RAY UNIT | Rogue taxi run round ‘Journey’s End’ – lots of broken bones on view there? (1-3,4) [journe]Y inside (TAXI RUN)* AInd: rogue |
| 64/18 | VLADIMIR PUTIN / VOLDEMORT | ‘You-Know-Who’ screwed old Rev. Tom (9); (8,5) (OLD REV TOM)* AInd: screwed. From issue 1362 21-Mar 2014 Possibly my favourite lookalike from these 12  |
| 65 | CONJURE | Do a Paul Daniels, getting firm with a bunch of hacks right on Debbie’s tail? (7) CO[mpany] (Firm) NJU (bunch of hacks) R[ight] [debbi]E. Hang on, the union is the NUJ National Union of Journalists not National Journalists Union – Looks like clue is slightly deficient |
| 66 | PIRANHA | Toothy thing managed to squeeze into a “hip creation” (7) RAN (managed) inside (A HIP)* AInd: creation |
| 68 | TALENT | Booze-swilling explosive sexually attractive types (6) ALE (booze) inside (swilling (in)) TNT (explosive) |
| 70 | WHOOPS | Wife rings: “I’ve made a bit of a balls-up” (6) W[ife] HOOPS (rings) |
| 72/47 | SIMON COWELL / ROBIN THICKE | Twitter disaster pop star, some heart-throb in thick earmuffs (5,6); (5,6) Hidden in thROB IN THINK Earmuffs. From issue 1358 24-Jan  |
| 73 | ENERGY | Liberal ‘green’ Tory at last? Go! (6) GREEN* AInd: liberal, [tor]Y |
I found one of the lookalikes I sent in. I saw the Duchess of Alba at her 2011 wedding which made me realise that most TV royalty is related:
I suspect it wasn’t used because there had already been similar lookalikes:
Oh, it’s brilliant that you tracked down all the lookalikes and included them! (I recycle Private Eye whenver the new one arrives so didn’t have anything to refer to, and there were a few where we got the grid entry, but I couldn’t get the clued person, e.g. Penelope Keith – for some reason we missed “mobile” as an anagram indicator.)
Anyway, this was a lot of fun, I thought.
Many thanks, beermagnet!
Failed to finish this – Didn’t have the back issues, and was thrown completely by the short list of letters: didn’t think to count them like you did. There was also some missing / dodgy clue numbering on one of the late down clues as I recall (don’t have the copy with me)
That aside, I thought the cluing was truly great throughout. Cyclops really pulls out the stops for these year-enders.
Matt
Thanks for tracking down all the lookalikes – there were several I didn’t find, although I did finish by guessing the right person. (e.g. Simon Cowell, even though clue was numbered wrongly – and have just had to google Robin Thicke, who I’ve never heard of!)
Great work, BeerMagnet, and many thanks to Cyclops for yet another Christmas tour de force. Smirk after smirk as the lookalikes were remembered, and plenty to enjoy all over.
PeterM – consider yourself fortunate!
Small oops: You have the anagram fodder, but mistyped IRRELEVANT at 27d.
Thanks for clearing up all of this colonist’s ?s.
Small! SMALL!! That’s why I didn’t get the £250 yet again.
Blog will be updated as soon as I recover the will to live…
I only sat down with this this morning – my copy arrived late here in Germany (it often does) but I really enjoyed it (despite the overuse the “first letter” type clues). I decided to solve the vanilla clues and see what was left (I don’t keep my back copies and wasn’t able to check the pics) and found it fairly staightforward to complete the grid without really needing to solve the wordplay of the specials. Until I bunged in Kate Moss at 32. Pillock.
Thanks for the blog, happy new year everybody
Another welcome plus was the Across Lite version, the first I think for a biggie, though I still transcribed the entries to email. I assume some simply attach the file, or a screenshot?
Thanks Beermagnet and cyclops
I am wondering who robin thicke is – but not sure I care
All very enjoyable
“lemming says:
January 14th, 2015 at 8:42 pm
Another welcome plus was the Across Lite version, the first I think for a biggie, though I still transcribed the entries to email. I assume some simply attach the file, or a screenshot?”
I used to attach the completed file to an email but I don’t bother any more. I never won so have no idea if they were read successfully or not.