Theme: Conspiracy Theories
by Roy Arnott & Ken Greatorex
(click on the above grid to enlarge and download)
STANDARD CLUES (Scroll Down for Cryptic Clues)
ACROSS:
1. Prohibit; preclude; forbid; ban [3]
3. Widespread fraternal order, often the subject of conspiracy theories [10]
7. The _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Experiment. Allegedly in 1943, the U.S. Navy ship USS Eldridge was rendered invisible to enemy devices. [12]
11. Unit of electrical resistance [3]
12. Resemblance, similarity, likeness [10]
14. & 17 across & 19 across: This Pope only lasted 31 days; he must have been assassinated! [4, 4, 3]
17. See 14 across
19. See 14 across
22. Caroline Wozniacki, Victor Borge, Brigitte Nielsen, Sandi Toksvig & Hamlet for example [4]
24. Lighter in tone [5]
25. A lossless format for image files that supports both animated and static images [3]
27. Make amends [5]
28. & 29 across: The belief that most cancers can be cured with relative ease but that it is more profitable for pharmaceutical companies to market less effective remedies [6, 8]
29. See 28 across
31. An adherent to the view that former President Obama was not born a US citizen [7]
33. Metric system unit of area equal to 100 m2 [3]
34. Florence’s river [4]
35. Electronic component that conducts primarily in one direction [5]
37. Hearing-impaired [4]
39. Articulated snare [3]
41. Playing field for cricket or Australian football [4]
42. Giant American chemical corporation often cited in conspiracy theories [8]
43. Cord made by twisting together strands of material [4]
45. Recompensed [4]
46. Docked tail [7]
48. Dramatic work set to music [5]
50. Demolition charges claimed to be in evidence by 9/11 “truthers” [6]
53. Wonderment [3]
54. Volatile anaesthetic liquid [5]
58. Destroy comprehensively [4]
60. Tavern or hostel [3]
61. Embrace [3]
62. Ways or tracks established for walking [5]
63. Secret society alleged to conspire to control world affairs by masterminding events and planting agents in government and corporations [10]
65. Fail to impress [10]
68. Insect [3]
69. Clearly defined part of a body organ [4]
73. Obligatory payment; right; fee [3]
76. Empty [4]
76. Small, delicate, elusive humanoid figure with magical powers [3]
78. Cultural element of passed from one individual to another [4]
79. & 81 across: Citizenfour [6, 7]
81. See 79 across
83. Ice houses [6]
84. Element 97’s symbol [2]
86. Having two or more different colours [4]
89. The conspiracy theory which claims that aircraft contrails contain added chemical or biological agents [10]
90. Mesopotamian [5]
91. UFO Central [7]
94. & 95 across: A particular survey often quoted to indicate significant popular support for 9/11 conspiracy theories [5, 4]
95. See 94 across
97. Extreme fear [6]
99. Hard surface on which another object is struck [5]
103. & 105 across: Ufologist who is the original civilian investigator of the so-called Roswell incident [7, 8]
105. See 103 across
108. Scottish culinary conspiracy? [6]
110. Equivalent to private in a British Commonwealth artillery corps [6]
112. Beseech, entreat, implore [3]
113. & 115 across: _ _ _ _ _ _ box; domestic appliance suspected to be implicated in widespread electronic surveillance [3, 3]
115. See 113 across
117. Bid [3]
119. Clean using abrasion and/or detergent [5]
120. Became apparent or prominent [7]
124. Charged atom [3]
127. & 128 across: Mrs Jesus? [4, 9]
128. See 127 across
129. Ridge in the sea OR vein of ore in the Earth [4]
130. Smooth-talking [4]
132. Controlled addition of NaF to a public water supply to reduce tooth decay [12]
134. & 135 across: Small hill that became well-known after the assassination of John F. Kennedy [6, 5]
135. See 134 across
137. & 138 across: 1978 film whose premise was that NASA might be prepared to stage hoax missions. [9, 3]
138. See 137 across
140. Increase or raise rapidly [8]
141. Female designated to carry out a deceased person’s wishes [9]
DOWN:
1. Divide into two [6]
2. Love based on emotional attachment [7]
3. & 38 down: Covert operation meant to appear as though carried out by entities other than the real perpetrators. (A common conspiracy theorist claim for 9/11, for example) [5, 4]
4. Learned, scholarly [7]
5. List of things-to-do
6. Incarcerates [9]
7. Stopper, bung [4]
8. Thirteen Popes had this name [3]
9. One popular theory claims that the British Royal Family are shape – shifting
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ from the Draco Planetary System who adopt the appearance of influential humans [7]
10. Malady with alternating periods of chills, fever, and sweating [4]
11. Sole [4]
13. & 40 down: Top-selling author whose genré is milking conspiracy theories [3, 5]
15. Make a specific choice from that which is available [3]
16. & 55 down: Australian Prime Minister claimed by conspiracy theorists to have been picked up by a Russian submarine, rather than drowned [6, 4]
18. The only inanimate sign in the Zodiac [5]
20. Repeated sound [4]
21. & 71 down: Attempts to dispute or minimise the extent of NAZI genocide [9, 6]
23. Continent [6]
26. Keke Rosberg, Paavo Nurmi, Jean Sibelius & Mickey, for example [4]
30. Cleaved [7]
32. Anti-Semitic conspiracy theories claim that this family controls the world’s wealth and financial institutions [11]
36. & 72 down & 87 down: The alleged authors of the notorious Protocols [6, 2], 4]
37. Twosome [3]
38. See 3 down
40. See 13 down
44. Allowing access [4]
46. & 88 down: Undefined region in NW Atlantic where aircraft and ships are said to have mysteriously disappeared [7, 8]
47. & 92 down: This conspiracy contends that at least part of the World Trade Centre’s 9/11 destruction was due to deliberate fire damage rather than aircraft impact [8, 5]
49. Element 85’s symbol (rarest naturally occurring element in the Earth’s crust) [2]
51. More formal version of “on” [4]
52. & 70 down: Term for a government which attempts to exercise total control over its citizens: (literary allusion) [3, 7]
53. Assisted [5]
55. See 16 down
56. Mixture of shortening and flour to make sauce [4]
57. & 82 down: Real Roman Catholic organisation implicated in conspiracy by Dan Brown et al [4, 3]
59. & 77 down & 102 down: Claimed prospective international system of government being brought about covertly by powerful forces. The phrase was used by George W Bush in public speeches, thus lending the theory more credence [3, 5, 5]
63. Coloured fluid or paste used for writing [3]
64. Positively charged terminals [6]
66. Pain in the muscles and joints of the lower back [7]
67. Patient, long-suffering, forbearing [4]
70. See 52 down
71. See 21 down
72. See 36 down
74. Decorate enthusiastically [7]
75. Bulwer-Lytton’s Universal Life Force, claimed by Conspiracy Theorists as the inspiration for Nazism [4]
77. See 59 down
80. Egyptian god represented as a bull [4]
82. See 57 down
85. & 100 down: A product cynically said to have been invented to create nostalgia for and thus increase sales of traditional Coca Cola [3, 4]
87. See 36 down
88. See 46 down
89. Private accommodation on a ship [5]
92. See 47 down
93. & 118 down: An highly restricted remote section of Edwards Airforce Base which has historically been associated with UFO sightings [4, 8]
96. Stately piece of music [5]
97. Men’s decorative apparel [3]
98. & 131 down: Scornful term for the Warren Commission’s theory that the bullet that killed President Kennedy also wounded Governor John Connally [5, 6]
100. See 85 down
101. & 126 down: Conspiracy theory regarding governance of the city of Washington DC; to wit, that some whites have plan to “take back” the city to counter the gradual increase in the proportion of elected black officials [3, 4]
102. See 59 down
104. 9/11 Conspiracy Theorists claim evidence of deliberate demolition using this incendiary process [8]
105. Honouring or entertaining lavishly [5]
106. Aircraft piloted remotely [5]
107. Bill _ _ _ , “the Science Guy” [3]
109. & 136 down: The belief that Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad has been framed by the West for chemical weapons attacks on his own people [5, 4]
111. Usual, typical, or standard [4]
113. Car for four or more people [5]
114. (Science Fiction) Instantly transport across space [8]
116. Irrational ratio
118. See 93 down
121. Followers of the religion of Islam [7]
122. One of the three named archangels in the Bible [7]
123. Changed colour by impregnation with pigment [4]
125. Decrees [7]
126. See 101 down
131. See 98 down
133. Formerly [4]
134. Radiate light [4]
136. See 109 down
139. Prefix meaning “former” [2]
CRYPTIC CLUES
ACROSS:
1. Pub found when end cut from farm shed [3]
3. Safe sermon adapted for lodge members [10]
7. Prince consort to the oracle at first- what a state [12]
11. Half a mho = two _ _ _ [3]
12. Edits Ilium to get a likeness [10]
14. & 17 across & 19 across: Jonah Loupen as a tridentine fan [4, 4, 3]
17. See 14 across
19. See 14 across
22. What’s in a name? God will judge.[4]
24. Lighter French speak [5]
25. Image of fruit taken aback [3]
27. A440 (Stuttgart pitch) [5]
28. & 29 across: Oncology cure denial – “If you tell the same lie enough times, people will believe it; and the bigger the lie, the better.” (Joseph Goebbels) [6, 8]
29. See 28 across
31. When it comes to Obama, the nee does not have it [7]
33. Present indicative plural defines plane [3]
34. Current cruciverbalist partly in Italian river [4]
35. A poem to a dead princess is a one way device [5]
37. Musical notes create possession of anacusis [4]
39. Network in new ebony [3]
41. The set of all points in a plane such that the sum of the distances from T to two fixed points F1and F2 is a given constant, K [4]
42. Place from where retreated with insect and oxygen to create chemical giant [8]
43. Door opens to find S or Z laid yarn [4]
45. Soft assistance settles the bill [4]
46. Follower of Robert docked [7]
48. Where a guy gets stabbed in the back and, instead of bleeding, he sings [5]
50. Which French note in ship chickens out [6]
53. Be in wonder at sound of mineral [3]
54. Lower in position, but lacks direction. It’s a knockout [5]
58. Regret hotel sounds dilapidated [4]
60. Blameless loses no money and finds accommodation [3]
61. Enormous, but without energy to embrace [3]
62. Irish chap takes hydrogen and sulfur to find a way [5]
63. Unit aim ill but produces enlightened people [10]
65. Hem run weld fails to impress [10]
68. Short aerial formed a biblical division [3]
69. Hello Bessy, you have cerebrum parts [4]
73. Timely sounds precipitous [3]
76. Whole lot of nothing [4]
76. Sprite from Dutch pottery town [3]
78. The same French provides a unit carrying cultural idea [4]
79. & 81 across: Wonders dawned for leaker [6, 7]
81. See 79 across
83. Normal gravity dunnies create frozen accommodation [6]
84. Hamburger chain located in the transuraniums [2]
86. French foot is multi-coloured [4]
89. Affected camel shirt to leave ice in wake [10]
90. Irish organisation with Fry/Toksvig show in modern day Sumeria [5]
91. They say no ET landed here. But they would say that [7]
94. & 95 across: Change Albanian King by parrot. What do people think? [5, 4]
95. See 94 across
97. I am without wine’s environmental factors. It is frightening [6]
99. In forge in roman villa [5]
103. & 105 across: And faint monster morphs into ufologist [7, 8]
105. See 103 across
108. Great chieftain o’ the puddin’-race! [6]
110. Portfolio responsibility of Saint Barbara [6]
112. To ask for something with an earnestness proportioned to the belief that it will not be given [3]
113. & 115 across: Uppermost social group controls TV [3, 3]
115. See 113 across
117. Not on the Queen for a bid [3]
119. Scrub 100 in acid tasting [5]
120. Deem erg appeared [7]
124. The end of a reaction [3]
127. & 128 across: My adrenal game modified for woman in Biblical write up [4, 9]
128. See 127 across
129. Left over right and right over left – what knot? [4]
130. Lithium in UK is smooth [4]
132. Modify Afro dilution for dental application [12]
134. & 135 across: Adjust sly grog rank to get to vegetated hillock [6, 5]
135. See 134 across
137. & 138 across: Single goat is a hoax [9, 3]
138. See 137 across
140. Act as lee to rapidly increase [8]
141. Thy will be done, she said [9]
DOWN:
1. To split bismuth focussed religious group
2. An article for which there is no demand as it is not quoted in the market – Bierce [7]
3. & 38 down: As fag fell it became fraudulent vexillology [5,4]
4. Scholarly rude tie [7]
5. Finish in the stove, make a list [6]
6. jails psi minors [9]
7. Promotion is soft on the ear [4]
8. Shale outcrop hides cat [3]
9. Some are blind and legless [7]
10. Unfocussed, missed the start and became febrile [4]
11. French city is singular [4]
13. & 40 down: Writer modifies own brand [3, 5]
15. Pot re-organised – now choose [3]
16. & 55 down: Ironic pool [6, 4]
18. Lithium support gives balance [5]
20. Glee chorus provides reverberation [4]
21. & 71 down: Rejecter of truth could be a distorted halo delusion act [9, 6]
23. Morality in _ _ _ _ _ _ today is herd-morality – Friedrich Nietzsche [6]
26. Fair Irish name for Scandinavian [4]
30. Strict 500 split [7]
32. Decay, high speed, infant and direction all come together in wealthy family [11]
36. & 72 down & 87 down: Change den floor size. It is said to be a Jewish conspiracy [6, 2, 4]
37. Pair from Disney character without doctor [3]
38. See 3 down
40. See 13 down
44. Spanish-American labourer treated to allow access [4]
46. & 88 down: Things are said to disappear in tropical shorts with ménage-a-trois [7, 8]
47. & 92 down: Edifice VII 9/11 [8, 5]
49. Halogen extracted from solemn promise [2]
51. On international body including Italian river [4]
52. & 70 down: Be bright or change for large sibling [3, 7]
53. Woven without bromine assisted [5]
55. See 16 down
56. We hear regret for sauce [4]
57. & 82 down: A religious organisation got Oedipus mixed up [4,3]
59. & 77 down & 102 down: Drown lower red new order, new order [3, 5, 5]
63. Soft colour without soft for writing [3]
64. Don Sea terminals [6]
66. Flower lacking phosphorous produces back pain [7]
67. Earth inheritor [4]
70. See 52 down
71. See 21 down
72. See 36 down
74. So often decorate [7]
75. Masters of Triumph of the Will [4]
77. See 59 down
80. Italian city redeveloped for Egyptian god [4]
82. See 57 down
85. & 100 down:
87. See 36 down
88. See 46 down
89. Accountant has storage for on board accommodation [5]
92. See 47 down
93. & 118 down: Aerial modified ordinal space [4, 8]
96. Music of Solar gold [5]
97. Clothing draw [3]
98. & 131 down: Alt luge ICBM is a fantastic projectile [5, 6]
100. See 85 down
101. & 126 down: Then pal comes up with a scheme [3, 4]
102. See 59 down
104. White ant absorbs hydrogen and becomes explosive [8]
105. If gent organised there would be a party in his honour [5]
106. Does no work but wins the Queen [5]
107. The science chap sounds near [3]
109. & 136 down: Confused as hairy ox spread chemical story [5, 4]
111. Regular guy [4]
113. A car for South Australian town? [5]
114. Repel Tot at Kirk’s Despatch Point [8]
116. Ratio from expectoration without ends [2]
118. See 93 down
121. The angle of mils sum for believers [7]
122. Holy messenger on matters obstetric had a gig as a trumpeter [7]
123. Sounds like colour change was fatal [4]
125. Orders nor said otherwise [7]
126. See 101 down
131. See 98 down
133. Is enough [4]
134. Sinking lower but has light [4]
136. See 109 down
139. y is a function of it [2]