Loved this one. So much lateral thinking! Was pretty much defeated by the clock, though, and only managed one group *sighs*

Good answer explanations as well.

Couldn't think of the links. Thought one of them may have been seven but I was only going on the folding paper for that and another things that spin!!. Thanks a lot my brain had a spin o

Genius and true 'Only Connect' style!

Not even if there were two months of Sunday's would I have completed it. I saw BB in concert, brilliant. Frank you velly much for the oriental crues. Well done toast.

What a fantastic grid, thanks. I play infrequently these days but loved the variety in this. Pleased with getting 2 rows (one for the wrong reason)

Very nice grid.

Brilliantly fiendish, loved the pronunciation line

Good stuff.

Enjoyed this ... managed only one row but enjoyed the challenge

INCORRECT - the two Ss in surprise sound the SAME TO ME, but, I am a scouser

No surprise that I got that wrong . I'll have to listen more carefully next time I'm up there. On the other hand I'll probably just get ratted in the company of a bunch of incomprehensible locals like all the other times and forget it all. Cheers hp.

obscure and tenuous connections

Congrats on your phonetics - spot on !

Surely Scousers don't say surprice ?

Surprise doesn't work

Working out the explanation in the answer was a challenge itself

Love the mars group. Very clever.

Love this grid. A very nice challenge. Very close to Only Connect style.

nice one

The word one is totally tenuous at best...

Brilliant! (Didn't get a thing, but brilliant!)

Difficult but I liked it. I only got the Japanese words ands the musicians.

The S in "surprise" is the same in my dialect. The Japanese one was too easy. The Mars was too difficult since we don't have "Celebrations" in my country.

got 0 points but the connections were so big brained it's funny
good one

I solved the grid due to sheer luck except the Japanese terms. Couldn't guess the other connections.

The repeated letters one felt a bit tenuous to me. Got the Japanese one right away :)

That 3rd row was horrific! Well done :D

nice

Should have been Roman GOD surely?

No Chippy - Gods is correct. These are not things that Mars IS - they are things Mars is IN. It is embedded IN Marshmallow, it is one of the planets IN the solar system. It is one of the bars IN celebrations, and it is one of the gods IN the whole set of them.

Definitely earned the ‘fiendish’ difficulty, but unlike some on here, there’s not a set that I’d question

Sorry but Surprise doesn’t work for me

Surprise didn’ t work..but otherwise quite good

Tricky but interesting

Really enjoyed this. Genuinely interesting answers

Good one with mars.

Speaking of 'one', that is All the points I got ;'(

4/10... very tough but enjoyable....thanks