Act VI, Scene 1

Bloody Oath

51 solves / 709 incorrect guesses

Solution: OPSHOP

Credits: Zoe Schwerkolt, Daniel Tao

This puzzle initially appears to be a regular (cross-shaped) crossword, alongside a number of clues. The clues quickly reveal themselves to be Australian slang, both in clue wording and in answer, and upon solving a few of them, we quickly notice that the number of letters in the answer doesn’t quite fit with the number of letters in the grid for a large number of the clues. This indicates that some letters may need to be removed, or donated. The title, alongside the Red Cross theme, indicates the concept of blood donations. If we try removing the letters O, B and A (letters used for blood groups) from the answers, they then fit in the grid. The answers to the clues are:

Across	Clue	Answer	Down	Clue	Answer
1	Someone who whinges a lot	SOOK	1	A bushman’s bed	SWAG
3	Where 14-down goes after doing hard yakka	TIP	2	Caught going over the limit	BOOKED
6	“Great!”	BEAUT	4	The chair of the ABC, after Justin	ITA
7	Type of telly program typically shown on SBS	DOCO	5	A member of parliament	POLLY
8	A sheila who plays basketball for Straya	OPAL	8	You might blow your dough playing these machines	POKIES
9	Tucker that you fix in the morning	BREKKY	10	Where you might keep 27-across cool	ESKY
11	“C’mon, ____, C’mon!”	AUSSIE	12	Where you send the ankle biters before they start prep	KINDY
12	Skippy, for example	KANGAROO	13	“Great!”	BONZA
16	Someone who is annoying	NARK	14	Someone whose job involves wheelie bins	GARBO
18	Truckloads or oodles	HEAPS	15	The time of day most people knock off	ARVO
21	Rabbit or waffle	YABBER	17	Buggered or knackered	ROOTED
25	“Great!”	BRAVO	19	Also a middy or a schooner	POT
26	Played by the Pies and the Souths	FOOTY	20	If you do this, don’t forget to Slip-Slop-Slap	SUNBAKE
27	Alternative to a longneck	STUBBY	21	You might catch one in a farm dam	YABBY
28	From Moreton Bay, for example	BUG	22	Passion Pop and VB, for example	BEVS
35	Traditional tucker cooked on 26-down	DAMPER	23	Wild horse	BRUMBY
36	An affectionate insult for an unfashionable person	DAG	24	To ditch class	WAG
39	The captain who rediscovered Straya	COOK	26	Redheads can be used to start this	FIRE
40	“Ow ya goin?”	GDAY	29	A marsupial missing from our dollars and cents	WOMBAT
42	Grog shop	BOTTLEO	30	To be really excited about something	RAPT
43	A government payment you might bludge	DOLE	31	Someone you often hang out with at Chrissie	RELO
44	Not sheilas	BLOKES	32	The night before he ties the knot	BUCKS
45	What tinnies are commonly packaged into	SLABS	33	Bathers or swimmers	TOGS
46	Cheerio or toodle-oo	HOOROO	34	The Yarra has two of these	BANKS
47	Someone who never burns out from burnouts	HOON	37	These are a species of cockie	GALAHS
49	Fruity Lexia, for example	GOON	38	Where someone who uses 1-down might camp	BILLABONG
51	Comfy boot	UGG	41	Snitches	DOBS
52	Pants, commonly trackies	DAKS	43	Someone who is incompetent	DRONGO
53	What a billy can is used to brew	TEA	48	Slagged off or copped a bit of flak	BAGGED
54	Between a kickboard and surfboard in size	BOOGIEBOARD	50	A small corner where you might find a daddy long-legs	NOOK
			52	A Blue Heeler, for example	DOG

The solver might then notice four almost-complete words leading into/out of the central Red Cross: TUCKSH_, NWRRIE_, _UNTSMN, _ERHUSE. Filling the blanks, we obtain the words TUCKSHOP (canteen), NOWORRIES (no problems), HUNTSMAN (a type of spider), OPERAHOUSE (famous Australian landmark). The missing letters of each word is OP, S, H, OP spelling out the final phrase OP SHOP, which means charity shop or thrift shop. This answer is thematic with the puzzle’s concept of donations, Australian slang, and the Red Cross. If unsure whether the O’s should be counted, removing the O's lead to PSHP, from which the final answer should still be deducible.

Author's notes

Thanks to the teams who helped spot the misnumbering of the crossword grid. We hope that Australian teams found this puzzle really enjoyable, and that non-Australian teams enjoyed the chance to learn about our ‘culture’ ;)