JUMBO CROSSWORD
Stuff To Watch editor James Croot takes a look at what’s new this month.
ACROSS
1 Young dog (5)
4 Refuse stubbornly to move or be persuaded (3,4,5,2) 11 Avian creatures (5) 14 Organ controls (5) 15 Distracted from the main topic (11)
16 Messy writing (8) 19 House maker (7)
20 Row of shrubs (5)
21 Fit to live in (9)
24 Copy (9)
26 Soak (6) 27 Confound (6)
31 Soft hat (5)
32 Food of the gods (8)
34 Not keeping confidences (10) 38 Rectify (7) 39 Separate into parts (6) 40 Motor fuel (6)
41 Pastry type (4) 42 Bewitch (7)
45 Money laid out with an expectation of profit (10) 50 Firearm (7)
54 Poverty (4)
55 Emergency (6)
56 One and only (6)
57 With patches of colour
(7)
60 Hard to believe (10) 61 Waterproof overshoes
(8)
62 Freewheel (5)
65 Screed (anag)(6) 66 Usher in (6) 67 Happening repeatedly
(9)
72 Cooked outdoors (9) 73 Crowbar (5)
74 Dog breed (7)
79 Tyre grip (8)
80 Intricate, involved (11) 81 Shipping box (5) 82 Frighten off (5)
83 Sheer impudence (4-5,5) 84 Lid (5)
DOWN
2 False (6)
3 Student (5)
5 Eye part (4)
6 Dine to excess (7) 7 Anger (6)
8 Horse for ordinary riding (4) 9 Raised (8)
10 Trance (anag)(6) 11 Great brightness (10) 12 Gemstone (4) 13 Apparition (7) 17 Kingdom (5)
18 Unhitch (10)
22 Rascal (5) 23 Donation (8)
25 Dig up (7)
26 Local tongue (7) 28 Addictive drug (6) 29 Praise (anag)(6)
30 Arm muscles (6)
33 Rule over (5)
35 Prickle (5)
36 Glance over quickly (4) 37 Border (4)
42 Boredom (5)
43 Held tightly (8)
44 Root vegetable (6) 45 Bankruptcy (10) 46 Flower holder (4) 47 Blurred (7)
48 On the whole (6) 49 Naming words (5) 51 Leader (4)
52 Tropical storm (7) 53 Nervous (6)
58 School boss (10) 59 Raise objections (5) 63 Become gradually less (5,3)
64 Debate (5)
65 Talked informally (7) 68 Facial hair (7)
69 Soak up (6)
70 In arrears (6)
71 Calm (6) 75 Performed slowly (mus)(5) 76 Walk (4)
77 Long narrative poem (4) 78 Festival (4)
March offers a huge range of options for TV lovers. Free-to-air viewers’ choices on TVNZ include body positivity celebration Naked Education and new seasons of Kiwi reality series Renters, Motorway Patrol (all March 14 on TVNZ 2) and Attenborough’s Dynasty (March 12, TVNZ 1), while Sky Open has Kiwi dark comedy Spinal Destination (March 27) and Whakaata Māori boasts the Pio Terei-hosted Kainga Whenua (March 12).
Online, Netflix’s line-up includes new instalments of Girls 5 Eva (March 14), Young Royals (March 11), Physical 100 (March 19) and professional golf docuseries Full Swing (March 6); ThreeNow takes us to the chilling Platform 7 (March 24) and delivers more Playboy Murders (March 18); Disney+ has a second season of fantasy-comedy Extraordinary (March 6) and the 20th round of long-running medical drama Grey’s Anatomy; Neon invites us to join in on the political drama of The Girls On The Bus (March 17); Apple TV+ boasts more Fraggle Rock: Back To The Rock (March 29) and The Reluctant Traveler (March 8); and Prime Video brings viewers the secondhalf of the second season of animated superhero series Invincible (March 14), debuts the sophomore season of US drama American Rust (March 28) and introduces teen comedy Davie and Jonsie’s Locker (March 22).
However, after looking through the schedules, Stuff To Watch has come up with a list of the 10 shows we’re most excited about seeing that are coming to a screen near you over the next few weeks.
Apples Never Fall (March 15, TVNZ+) New Zealand’s own Sam Neill joins Annette Bening, Alison Brie and Jake Lacy for this seven-part adaptation of the 2021 novel of the same name by Liane Moriarty (Nine Perfect Strangers, Big Little Lies).
It revolves around the Delaney family, whose seemingly perfect life falls apart when matriarch Joy (Bening) disappears.
Chicken Nugget (March 15, Netflix) Based on a webtoon, this 12-episode South Korean comedic-drama follows the fallout from a fatigued young woman who is accidentally turned into the eponymous foodstuff by a machine at her father’s company.
As he and an intern who has a crush on her desperately attempt to reverse the process, they uncover some truly unexpected secrets.
The Gentlemen (March 7, Netflix) Guy Ritchie returns to the criminal world he created for the 2019 film of the same name with this eight-part spin-off.
The central figure here is Theo James’ (The White Lotus, Divergent) Eddie Horniman, who has inherited a large estate from his father, but discovers that the land has become part of Mickey Pearson’s (Matthew McConaughey’s character in the original movie) vast weed-growing empire.
Look out for Kaya Scodelario, Joely Richardson, Peter Serafinowicz, Max Beesley, Ray Winstone and Vinnie Jones among Ritchie’s traditional roll-call of rogues.
Manhunt (March 15, Apple TV+)
James L. Swanson’s 2007 New York Times best-seller provides the basis for this seven-part conspiracy thriller which homes in on the aftermath of one of the best-known, but least understood crimes in history – the assassination of US President Abraham Lincoln by John Wilkes Booth.
Created by Monica Beletsky (The Leftovers), the series stars Tobias Menzies (The Crown), Anthony Boyle (Masters of the Air) and Hamish Linklater (Midnight Mass).
Palm Royale (March 20, Apple TV+) Kristen Wiig (Whip It) headlines this 1969-set, 10-episode drama about Maxine Simmons’ attempts to break into Palm Beach high society.
Inspired by Juliet McDaniel’s 2018 novel Mr & Mrs American Pie, the show’s deep bench of acting talent also includes Allison Janney, Ricky Martin, Josh Lucas, Leslie Bibb, Bruce Dern and Carol Burnett.
The Regime (March 4, Neon)
Kate Winslet reunites with her A Little Chaos co-star Matthias Schoenaerts for this six-part political satire penned by Succession and The Menu screenwriter Will Tracy.
Also featuring Andrea Riseborough, Hugh Grant and Martha Plimpton, it depicts the increasing tension within the palace of a crumbling “MiddleEuropean” authoritarian regime. Paranoid and unstable, chancellor Elena Vernham (Winslet) engages volatile soldier Herbert Zubak (Schoenaerts) as an unlikely confidant.
Renegade Nell (March 29, Disney+) Bafta award-winning screenwriter Sally Wainwright (Happy Valley, Gentleman Jack) is the brains behind this eightpart fantasy-adventure starring Derry Girls’ Louisa Harland.
She plays Nell Jackson, a quickwitted and courageous young woman, who suddenly becomes 18th-century England’s most notorious outlaw, after she’s framed for murder.
However, when magical spirit Billy Blind appears, Nell realises her destiny is bigger than she ever imagined.
3 Body Problem (March 21, Netflix) Chinese science-fiction author Liu Cixin’s 2008 book (the first in his Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy) forms the basis for this eight-part adventure-fantasy.
Initially set in 1960s China, the wider story focuses in on a tight-knit group of brilliant scientists, who must join forces with a dogged detective to stop a significant threat to humanity after the laws of nature inexplicably unravel.
The international cast includes Doctor Strange’s Benedict Wong, Alita: Battle Angel’s Eiza Gonzalez, Game of Thrones’ John Bradley, The Crown’s Jonathan Pryce and The Brokenwood Mysteries’ Jess Hong.
Having previously investigated the events that led to – and the fallout from – the terrorist attacks on America on September 11, 2001, this anthology docu-series now turns its attention to the creation of the atomic bomb and the spread of nuclear arms over the following decades.
Told over nine instalments, director Brian Knappenberger’s (The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz) creation features more than 100 interviews conducted in seven nations.
X-Men 97 (March 20, Disney+)
This 1990s-set, 10-episode animated show sees Marvel’s band of mutants challenged like never before, as they are forced to use their uncanny gifts to protect a world that hates and fears them from a dangerous and unexpected new future.
A revival of a series that ran for five seasons during the last decade of the 20th century, it picks up the action following Professor X’s supposed death.