The Programmer’s Revenge

A picture tells a thousand words…

A Bun in the Oven

The things you learn...

Easter is not an especially Christian word. English-speaking Christians adapted it from a pagan festival that was already celebrated in April in their neck of the woods; they kept the name, but dropped the fertility goddess Eostre. It’s thought that this is why those Easter bunnies keep breeding each year, despite the vigorous efforts of countless children to exterminate them - they, along with their eggs, are fertility symbols that were held over from the old festival. Easter is after all about new life, so the symbols still worked, even if in a different way.

A fertility goddess named Eostre - well, it made me wonder about oestrogen, the hormone that’s so crucial in enabling women to bear children. Surely the
term came from the same source. And that, of course, made possible the delightful pun at the top of this article. Unfortunately, my guess was wrong. Oestrogen comes from the Greek term for gadfly or madness.

Don’t blame me, the Internet said it, so it must be true!

How to Sound Interesting

This one's worth remembering every now and then.

I think I rely too much on some of these and not on others. That ought to change.

This One’s For Ryan, Because He’s Got Too Much Time On His Hands (Right?)

Here's the trick: clues marked with an asterisk need to be 4-across before entering them.

But relax - 14, 23-across applies.

Across

1 Make no sound (5)
4 Voicing opinion reveals OK Corral itself (9)
8* Too‐hip cat is florid (9)
9 Unknown driver takes pole in tricky manoeuvre (5)
10, 1‐down* Heathen erred all over the place?! (4, 3, 5)
11* Roughly how fast plenty of 27‐down‐ing could make you, at best (5, 1, 4)
14, 23‐across For sure the reader preserves a yellow‐throated hake, initially at Niagara Falls, but not even fair to use tin! (3, 3, 3, 4, 5)
16* Wonder from the pits (3)
17 Top class business backer (1. 1.)
20 What she held back (2)
22* Small leak (3)
23 See 14‐across
25 Police have the right to take it for a spin?! (10)
26* Part of our digital culture?! (4)
28* Did Thomas find Henry hard to satisfy? (4)
29 King Herod to provide the appetisers (9)
30 Add standard condiments to mashed pear: wet or dry? (9)
31* Source of water everywhere: it's ice! (4)

Down

1 See 10‐across
2 The study of a heretic worth the cost of 29‐across, perhaps? (8)
3 On top of Cleveland grout (4)
4 With nod to Bond girl(s), we look fearful (7)
5 Tight end drew flag for holding (7)
6* Time for 17‐across' trailer, perhaps? (2, 6)
7* Think about gravity failing, sir! (6)
12 Game with no first turn (3)
13* Creature could be a real find (4)
15 A silent remnant (3)
16 Could spend packet blaming second language (4)
18* Also known as a stone fruit, inappropriately (10)
19* Like All in the Family?! (8)
21* Chop nut in half (3)
22* Extra gold plating after 25‐across started up! (4)
23 Climber's final rest could not be more fey (3, 4)
24* He lets one put bet in ‐ at our odds… ?! (1, 6)
25* ...Two‐to‐one's the spot for this hound (6)
27* Almost the length of the bath (3)

One for the Fans

Not quite so cruel this time – I’ve even included a hint! The six pink boxes in the upper right corner of the grid, reading from the left and then turning down, spell out the inspiration for this one in an appropriately non-linear way…

And yes, the numbering is correct.

Across

1 Carry odd empty pot to tomb (5)
2, 14, 26-across One who takes along the fish designed to reach the stars?! (5,2, 5)
4 See 25-down
5 One that did not return, one that did, top chap, honest (5)
7 For some respect I've found a new angle on things (11)
11 Model sparred a round without red herring (5)
13 Speak cattily about me or Green (6)
14 See 2-across
17 Half of what Tom said to the setter (2)
18 To knock around with Jo and Uncle Noel (6)
19 Dense sound (5)
21 Drunk pig rattles harpy in stonework (11)
23 Lone wolf to take lad in?! (5)
24 His rector would settle for his singing! (9)
26 See 2-across
27 Angel, the psychic, has gout and amputates (5)

Down

1 Pin one out of pride - that's a thought! (7)
3 A multi-level home that sounds like you'd never feel comfortable? (5, 2, 6)
6 Roommate ships out for a complete change (13)
8 To go out and about - may return without a measure of material in regular pattern (13)
9 Got half a dozen points right for inspector (6)
10 Print club hurt (7)
12 Salesman covers area of cold-blooded types... (8)
15 …receives setback to his goal at first, instead offering new season patterns (13)

16 Set off boredom in unearthly fashion? (8)
20 The first rat already ate every layer (6)
21 Set off boredom in unearthly fashion? (8)
22 Make a mockery of medicine - or unhappy ending (7)
25, 4-across Eagle reports inns in disarray, impossible shapes designed 8-down (7, 9)

A Diversion

How might one profitably spend a day off? I don’t know, but this certainly was fun…

* I should probably mention that there is a theme, and that the theme affects how 15 of the grid entries appear. Not 16, though it could have been. And not 15 of the answers, because some answers are split on the grid.

Across

5 The underhanded action that strained trans‐Tasman relations rose, perhaps? (4)
7 Before rink widened alarmingly, 10‐down played there (2, 4, 6)
9 Sit around all weekend and sketch (4)
11, 26‐down In the manner of 4‐down, how to share a pair of model vases taken to a fight (4, 3, 4, 5)
12, 10‐down Actor from Casino influenced by 31‐across, perhaps (4, 5)
14 Live with decent Cage film (2, 3)
15 13‐down on trial, done for speed (8)
17 Near purchase 14‐across (2)
18 Can Orient Express carry this luggage ‐ it could go either way! (9)
20 A two‐way street leads to house, for example (2)
23 See 21‐down
25 Consider 32‐across upset about nothing (5)
26 Songwriter for Valli's group didn't use 5/4 as an outlet (4)
28 At the Beginning, God was eons creating, with this the likely result! (2, 4, 2, 3)
29 The note says what to do in a lifeboat (4)
31 Accurate from the start?! (5, 2, 5)
32 Great Dane had to go for a walk on the beach, or go 21‐down! (4)

 

Down

1 Take a stick to put down insurrection, and you'll end up with a shambles (8)
2 Father hangs around mixed pairs with kin, then takes off with ground pepper (7)
3 False attitude to entail getting into team (5)
4 Reflecting the sense of 16‐down, appropriately (9)
5 A group usually represented by its elders, so not about to take direction! (1, 1, 1)
6 9‐across a brilliant vehicle to turn into an art form (5)
8 All over with principal Oz dog found in capital after tipoff (4, 4, 2, 3)
10 See 12‐across
12 Positive hamburger is available in jail (2)
13 Come aboard yacht at the outset to reach the isle (3)
16 Now take the theme! (9)
19 Averse to a drawback?! (8)
20 The inspiration for first Beatles' hit, some say (1, 1, 1)
21, 23‐across A place to shelter from the storm, when muffled thunder on several sides surrounds the street (5, 3, 5)
22 Material used in shipping 18‐acrosses comprised of brown, unfinished paper (7)
24 Reported for intra‐venous drug use (2)
26 See 11‐across
27 Influenced by the vibe of the king's choice of footwear... (5)
30 … I met cobbler at his store (3)