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)