“X-factors” from “Bingo” was our final grid for 2026.
Stats: 63 solvers attempted this puzzle. 34 solvers managed to complete the puzzle and the bonus forms partly or fully. Only 16 solvers got the full score.
Here’s the puzzle:
You are currently logged out. Click here to login and access the puzzle.Bonus Questions:
- Thematic phrase 1? (12, 3 words)
Ans: HAPPY NEW YEAR - Thematic phrase 2? (12, 3 words)
Ans: AULD LANG SYNE
SOLUTION NOTES Unclued letters appear along either diagonal forming an X (the X factors).
The two thematic phrases are:
1) AULD LANG SYNE (diagonal from top left to bottom right)
2) HAPPY NEW YEAR (diagonal from bottom left to top right)
| Annotations (Across) | |||||||||
| Clue/ | Answer/ | Unclued | |||||||
| Ref | Annotation | Entry | Letter | ||||||
| 2 | Bolt after welcoming New Year? We drink (6,5) | BARLEY WATER | |||||||
| def:drink; BAR + LATER outside (Y,WE)* | |||||||||
| 10 | Soup dishes king fed to some youngsters (7) | T(U)REENS | U | ||||||
| def:soup dishes; R inserted in TEENS | |||||||||
| *11 | Heat stirring those in Scotland (4) | THAE | |||||||
| def:those in Scotland; HEAT* | |||||||||
| *12 | Gold finish to decorate border on shield (4) | OR(L)E | L | ||||||
| def:border on shield; OR + decorat(E) | |||||||||
| 14 | Aflame with love, be still at sea (3,2) | LI(E) TO | E | ||||||
| def:be still at sea; LIT + O | |||||||||
| 15 | Power somewhat offensive to Liberal like Grundy (9) | PRUDISHL(Y) | Y | ||||||
| def:like Grundy; P + RUDISH + L | |||||||||
| 16 | Wine code having unwritten rule (5) | MOSE(L) | L | ||||||
| def:wine; MO(r)SE | |||||||||
| 18 | Sounds like female sheep heartlessly ruined tender evergreen (3,4) | YEW TREE | |||||||
| def:evergreen; YEW(hp EWE) + TE(nd)ER* | |||||||||
| 20 | Two different articles that keep working, independent, everlasting (7) | A(E)ONIAN | E | ||||||
| def:everlasting; (A + AN) outside ON, I | |||||||||
| 21 | German physiologist washed-out after school (7) | SCHWAN(N) | N | ||||||
| def:German physiologist; SCH + WAN | |||||||||
| 24 | Peaceful in part without fellow prisoner around end of day (7) | HALCYON | |||||||
| def:peaceful; HAL(f) + CON outside (da)Y | |||||||||
| 26 | Receding section of oral ulcer involving the throat (5) | (G)ULAR | G | ||||||
| def:involving the throat; HIPS in reverse | |||||||||
| 27 | Is it Cain deviously referring to the art of manipulating the upright? (9) | (P)IANISTIC | P | ||||||
| def:referring…upright; (IS IT CAIN)* | |||||||||
| 31 | Tree snake near death out of its depth (5) | ASPEN | |||||||
| def:tree; ASP + EN(d) | |||||||||
| *32 | South American wildcat gutted exterior area (4) | E(Y)RA | Y | ||||||
| def:South American wildcat; E(xterio)R + A | |||||||||
| 33 | Prince among elite troops poops (4) | SAPS | |||||||
| def:poops; P inside SAS | |||||||||
| 34 | One inspired by Charlie wheeling quality fruit (7) | CITRO(N)S | N | ||||||
| def:fruit; I inside C + rev of (SORT) | |||||||||
| 35 | Assist with blot diffusing cells forming tissue (11) | (H)ISTOBLASTS | H | ||||||
| def:cells forming tissue; (ASSIST BLOT)* | |||||||||
| Annotations (Down) | |||||||||
| Clue/ | Answer/ | Unclued | |||||||
| Ref | Annotation | Entry | Letter | ||||||
| 1 | Rounded pool on the summit (4) | (A)TOP | A | ||||||
| def:on the summit; reversal of POT | |||||||||
| 2 | Catch from under to pull root (6) | BURROW | |||||||
| def:root; rev of RUB + ROW | |||||||||
| 3 | Queen Elizabeth’s initial note before each term of Prime Minister Thatcher (6) | REE(D)ER | D | ||||||
| def:thatcher; R + E + E + E + R | |||||||||
| 4 | Jacob’s son left facing depravity slaughtering line (4) | LEVI | |||||||
| def:Jacob’s son; L + EVI(l) | |||||||||
| 5 | Limits to transport cycles (4) | ENDS | |||||||
| def:limits; SEND undergoing cycling | |||||||||
| 6 | Present tips covering bared belly rightfully earned (4-3) | WELL-(W)ON | W | ||||||
| def:rightfully earned; rev of NOW outside (b)ELL(y) | |||||||||
| 7 | Kafka’s book thrown at Hitler (3,5) | THE TRIAL | |||||||
| def:Kafka’s book; (AT HITLER)* | |||||||||
| *8 | Vet hero’s part? Easy for Spenser (5) | E(A)THE | A | ||||||
| def:easy for Spenser; HIPS | |||||||||
| 9 | Essence of agreement, say key contract clause (8) | (R)EOPENER | R | ||||||
| def:contract clause; (agre)E(ment) + OPENER | |||||||||
| 13 | Hot date packs radiance (5) | SHEE(N) | N | ||||||
| def:radiance; SEE outside H | |||||||||
| 16 | Leave out boiled ham slices with starter of hearty salmagundi (8) | MISHMASH | |||||||
| def:salmagundi; HAM* inserted in MISS + H | |||||||||
| 17 | Priest less bothered about church procedures involving strain (8) | SCHLE(P)PS | P | ||||||
| def:procedures involving strain; (P LESS)* outside CH | |||||||||
| 19 | Set on saving seconds, wasted time on nothing (3,4) | LA(Y) INTO | Y | ||||||
| def:set on; (s)LAIN + T + O | |||||||||
| *20 | Absolutely not like wild oxen (5) | (A)NOAS | A | ||||||
| def:wild oxen; NO + AS | |||||||||
| 22 | They consider Sun a spirit rising filled with energy (6) | MU(S)ERS | S | ||||||
| def:they consider; E inside rev of (S RUM) | |||||||||
| 23 | Scottish children exercising brains (6) | BAIRNS | |||||||
| def:Scottish children; BRAINS* | |||||||||
| *25 | Is it set up very musically? (5) | ASS(A)I | A | ||||||
| def:very musically; rev of (IS SA) | |||||||||
| 28 | Duck gobbling a catch (4) | NAIL | |||||||
| def:catch; NIL outside A | |||||||||
| 29 | Greek character returning from Ogygia to Ithaca (4) | IOTA | |||||||
| def:Greek character; HIPS in reverse | |||||||||
| 30 | State hospital denied money (4) | CAS(E) | E | ||||||
| def:state; CAS(h) | |||||||||
Here’s the list of Top Scorers (For the full list, please check the Leaderboard in the Hall of Fame)
Out of 63 solvers, 34 completed almost fully and only 16 got the full score. Each of the following scored 150 points (Grid Score – 144, Bonus – 6).
Anirudh Sahni
Debasmita Basu
Ian J VanderSchee
Lakshmi A J Vaidyanathan
Lakshmi Prakash
Mona Sogal
Nilesh Parmar
P. Venkatesan
Panyam Tejas
Paul Henderson
Prakash Arumugam
Ramki Krishnan
Ratna Rao
Ratnakumar V
samit kallianpur
Venkatraghavan S
Congrats to the toppers and to all the solvers who participated.
Grid Rating: The puzzle got a terrific rating of 9.2. It was rated a perfect 10 by 15 out of the 28 folks who voted (54%). The lowest rating was 5.
Favourite Clues: The Top clues were
- 16D Leave out boiled ham slices with starter of hearty salmagundi (8) – 7 votes
- 27A Is it Cain deviously referring to the art of manipulating the upright? (9) – 7 votes
- 2A Bolt after welcoming New Year? We drink (6,5) – 7 votes
- 15A Power somewhat offensive to Liberal like Grundy (9) – 5 votes
- 6D Present tips covering bared belly rightfully earned (4-3) -5 votes
Thanks Bingo for a perfect treat to end an year of spectacular grids at 1ACross. The Nina in X format in a barred grid was a really amazing to spot. Hats off.
PS: The solvers comments are in the comments thread in the post itself.
Sorry for the delay in posting the solutions and leader boards due to travel and other circumstances beyond my control. We shall be back with the new season on Sunday 18th January.
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