I’d vowed not to write yet another cross-word-based post, but this one is altogether too spooky to ignore. I found it rather diffcult, but when Karkleen led the way, words started to fall into place. The clues are quite tricky and demand a wealth of general knowledge and Cryptic lore to unravel.
I was particularly stuck on 16 across: “great time on holiday, when mission begins”. What is this about mission? OUT is ok for on holiday. (No it’s not. because 9 down is “green=fingered”)
The correct answer is BLAST-OFF. Blast, meaning Great and Off meaning on holiday. I saw BLISS-OUT because of my own past, traceable online:
Newsweek 19 Nov. 157: Initiates learn to see a dazzling white light, hear celestial music, feel ecstatic vibrations […] The process is called ‘blissing out’.
This specific entry from Newsweek in 1973 is often cited by dictionaries, such as the Oxford English Dictionary, to track the term’s transition from spiritual/meditative contexts (referring to Divine Light Mission initiates) into the broader slang for reaching a state of euphoria or profound relaxation.
I’ve described my own experience elsewhere. I don’t suppose there’s another person in the world who’d have done today’s crossword and made this connection.
As Paul Simon sings in The Boxer.
…..
Still a man hears what he wants to hearAnd disregards the rest
…