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Opening puzzle…
Paloma Between Flights · Saturday, 3 October 2026 · Ahhhh!
October 2026
Saturday,
3 October 2026
0:00
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Across
1.
Time the captain announces, then quietly revises, for short (3)
4.
Grumpy after the fourth delay (5)
8.
Fairground ride, or the baggage belt that goes round and round (8)
10.
When, or because (2)
12.
___ transit: status between planes (2)
13.
Craze that's gone by your next holiday (3)
15.
What some red-eye flyers change into, informally (3)
17.
'This is ___!': the cry when boarding finally starts (2)
18.
Kangaroo's partner on Australia's coat of arms (3)
19.
Depend (on), as on thirty minutes of Wi-Fi (4)
20.
Film gangster's word for an informer (3)
21.
Fully satisfy, which a tiny in-flight meal never does (4)
22.
Numbered exit to the aircraft, changed in three languages the moment you sit down (4)
24.
Early bird's opposite, wide awake at 3 a.m. (3)
26.
Ledge lined with snow globes in the gift shop (5)
28.
Wait between flights, fourteen hours if you're unlucky (7)
31.
'Chicken ___ pasta?' (2)
32.
Work out, as the time back home, on your fingers (6)
33.
Woodwind that gives the orchestra its tuning note (4)
35.
Aboard, at last (2)
36.
___-down: security's response when the scanner beeps (3)
37.
Sensible, especially in hindsight (4)
38.
Sandwich filling your seatmate will definitely smell (3)
39.
Quiet room with complimentary snacks, if your ticket allows (6)
Down
1.
Age before smartphones, when a long wait meant one paperback (3)
2.
Reason the departure hall feels like a fridge, briefly (2)
3.
Stone planter flanking a grand doorway (3)
4.
Unclaimed bag doing lonely laps at arrivals (8)
5.
'Don't take off without ___!' pleads a family of five still queuing for coffee (2)
6.
Official being shouted at on the airport bar's TV (7)
7.
'No drama' ___: the calm creature of many a T-shirt (5)
9.
Seat for anyone who hates climbing over strangers (5)
11.
Stretched out awkwardly, like one person taking up four chairs (9)
14.
Shop where you walk through clouds of perfume testers (4,4)
16.
Why a body clock insists midnight is breakfast (3,3)
21.
'___ what?': a seasoned traveller's shrug (2)
23.
Knocked off balance, like anyone who forgets the moving walkway ends (6)
25.
Tale's lesson, perhaps 'Next time, fly direct' (5)
27.
Undone, like the ribbon on a bag by journey's end (5)
29.
Casual yes to 'Still at the airport?' (3)
30.
Parental 'no' to a third doughnut (4)
32.
The armrest, to anyone trying to nap across a row of seats (3)
34.
Large enough to need a train between terminals, say (3)