The Biggie
Phwoar – it’s a whopper! Enjoy your puzzling
What links musician Paul McCartney and comedian Bill Bailey? To find out, solve the crossword then read down the shaded squares to find the two-word prize answer.
ACROSS
1 Mild illness (7) 5 Leading, chief (8) 9 Between (4) 13 Come apart, break (5) 14 Becomes aware of (7) 15 Item in tea set (4,3) 16 Eat away (5) 17 Dangerous snake (5) 18 Island, capital Nicosia (6)
20 Operate car (5) 21 Stomach area (7) 23 Half‑attached
house (4)
26 Animal
enclosure (4)
27 Not
straight (7)
30 Provide
money for (7)
34 Grant of public
money (7)
36 Bandit (6)
37 Feel
longing (5)
39 Tatty, shabby
(4,2,4)
40 Simple wind
instrument (3,7) 42 Used
broom (5)
43 One who
pays rent (6)
44 Faithful,
accurate (7)
46 Pickled cucumber (7) 47 Troublemaker, agitator (7)
48 Behold (4)
53 Brad ...,
US film star (4) 54 Countryside
views (7)
55 Cake’s sugar
coating (5)
58 Be rude to (6)
60 Youngster (5)
62 Balearic
island (5)
66 Not in
any place (7)
67 Colourful arc
in sky (7)
68 Grown‑up (5)
69 Titled
nobleman (4)
70 Hay‑fever trigger (8) 71 Faithfulness (7)
DOWN
1 (Travelling) quickly (2,5) 2 Bounding awkwardly (9) 3 Held in admiration (8) 4 Armoured vehicle (4) 5 Destiny (4) 6 Right‑hand page (5) 7 Fungus used in cooking (8) 8 Japanese wrestling (4) 10 Important, leading (5) 11 After‑dinner drink (8) 12 Is excessively sweet (5) 19 Durable jeans material (5)
22 Intake of air (6) 24 Magician (9)
25 Tangle of intricate ways (9)
26 Counter
with till (4,4)
28 Musical beat (6) 29 Bicycle’s distance gauge (8)
31 Calamities (9) 32 Water‑filled
heater (8)
33 Carpet’s
backing (8)
35 City
headgear (6,3) 38 Dozen (6)
41 Prison guard (6) 45 Brother’s
daughter (5)
49 Relating to
human soul (9) 50 Voluntary, non‑ compulsory (8) 51 Being boss (2,6)
52 To do with
army (8)
56 Awful,
shocking (7)
57 Electronic
sound (5)
59 Large drain (5) 61 Being
dishonest (5)
63 Part of
fishing kit (4)
64 Port in Argyll
and Bute (4)
65 Missing from
army (inits) (4)
