Alan Connor celebrates a musical legend and punctures a simian myth in his pick of the best cryptic clues
A hidden theme from Raich in last Friday’s Independent. 32 across (yes, this puzzle has 35 clues jammed into a 15-by-15 grid) gave a hint ...
31ac The Spanish six put in extra note showing bony frame (6)
[ Spanish “the” + Roman numeral “six”, inside abbrev. for an “extra note” at the end of a letter]
[ EL + VI, inside PS ]
25ac Questionable South American film is covering Open University (10)
[ abbrev. for “South” + abbrev. for “American” + synonym for “film” + “is” surrounding abbrev. for “Open University” ]
[ S + US + PIC + IS surrounding OU ]
30ac Notices doctor embracing popular son (5)
[ abbrev. for “doctor” around synonym for “popular”, then abbrev. for “son”]
[ MD around IN, then S ]
2d/7d Freezing cold bum pinched by two brothers? Yes, in play (5,7)
[ slang for “bum” inside an abbrev. for “brother” and a synonym for brother, then an anagram of “Yes”]
[ ASS inside BR and MONK, then EYS ]
there is no substantiating evidence for this rather unlikely story.
11ac Imitate sidekick of Rod Hull (deceased) (7)
[ Rod Hull’s puppet + synonym for ‘deceased’ ]
[ EMU + LATE ]