Category: Weekend Cryptic

12.27. The usual smooth and elegant clueing from Robert.

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.

Lots of fun here. Wild parties (one that goes on for days) and topless drinking!

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!

17:08. I mostly didn’t find this too difficult, but I got myself in terrible trouble by putting in BLUE for 20ac. It’s such a perfect answer that I didn’t consider changing it for ages.

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!

A very tasty assortment!

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

I found this very hard initially, with only a few clues going in after my first pass.

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.