Author: branch

I enjoyed the hints of 20th century power plays, although we may sink into a possible replay in the 21st century.

René Descartes was a great philosopher, mathematician and scientist, but he appears in this crossword only because he was French, as far as I can tell! C’est la vie.

There were a few unknowns here, including the sonnet and the stew, but all of them solvable.

Several things here I’d never heard of: snooker venue? NHO. British telco? NHO. Rings round clouds? NHO! More than made up for by three delightful mathematics references, which admittedly may have failed to delight some of our group! End result: rather a slow solve.

As it happened, I solved this online for once. (So much TV sport, so little time!)

I finished comfortably under 30 minutes. It must have been easy – though I was helped by an unfamiliar answer I’d met for the first time only the day before!

I got off to a “flying” start on this one, by biffing an ill-considered guess in 11 across. That shrouded the NW corner in fog until the answer to 1 down forced a review!

One glance at this puzzle had me ready to burst into song:
In the Philippines there are lovely screens, to protect you from the glare,  
In the Malay states there are hats like plates, which the Britishers won’t wear

As the title says, wine, songs, fairy tales, and more: everything you need for a Saturday night? Actually, this is a pleasant middle of the road Saturday challenge, which you might well have finished before lunch.

A few clues caused momentary brain seizures – particularly 20ac, as discussed below, and 24dn. Overall, though, the solve flowed rather smoothly, with pauses for thought at 28ac and 14d. I enjoyed the reference at 13ac!

A few clues today stretched my general knowledge. The most mysterious was the Shakespearean character that I’d never heard of; various sources suggest he might sometimes be spelled with a J or a G rather than an I.