The hidden theme of this excellent crossword is “Composers”: most uses of the letter C in the clues should be read as “composer” for the clue to make sense. This perhaps wasn’t as tricky as the last couple of Genius puzzles, but a good challenge nonetheless. (To give credit where it’s due, solving this was a joint effort between me and my partner.)
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 8. | BORODINO | BORODIN (= Alexander Borodin) + O; the “historical engagement” is the Battle of Borodino |
| 9. | APART | A + PART (= Arvo Pärt) |
| 10. | IVES | (L)IVES; the “C[omposer]” is Charles Ives |
| 11. | TRAVEL CARD | RAVEL (= Maurice Ravel) + C in DRAT reversed |
| 12. | GLASSY | GLASS (= Philip Glass) + Y = “unknown” |
| 14. | BERGAMOT | BERG (= Alban Berg) + A + MOT; the fruit is the Bergamot orange, apparently reponsible for the distinctive smell of Earl Grey tea |
| 15. | VERDICT | VERDI (= Giuseppe Verdi) + CT = “court” |
| 17. | ADVANCE | V = 5 in A DANCE = “a C[omposer]’s work” |
| 20. | REPROACH | R = “recipe” in REPOACH = “Once again, cook”; the definition is “opprobrium”, with “incurring” as a link word |
| 22. | CASTOR | CA = “about” and then T in SOR (= Fernando Sor); the definition is “twin” as in Castor and Pollux |
| 23. | FALLACIOUS | FALLA (= Manuel de Falla) and then OU = “educators” in SIC = “so” reversed (“on reflection”) |
| 24. | KEPI | Hidden answer; a kepi is a hat, so “Top Gear” |
| 26. | BRAHMANS | This should be read as “AN, C[omposer] put out[side]” to give AN in BRAHMS (= Johannes Brahms). Chambers gives Brahman as an alternative spelling for Brahmin. |
| Down | ||
| 1. | CONVULSE | (LV OUNCES)* |
| 2. | LOOS | Double definition; the author is Anita Loos |
| 3. | WINTRY | TRY = “bid” after WIN = “success” |
| 4. | COPAIBA | COP + A1 + BA; the definition is resin |
| 5. | CAREERED | CARE + E + RED |
| 6. | BACCHANALS | C in BACH (= Johann Sebastian Bach, or one of the other composers in his family) + ANAL = “obsessive” + S = “s[mack] head”; “wild parties” is the definition |
| 7. | STEREO | (SIDEROLITE – LIDI)*; a stereo might be a “transmitter of C[omposer]’s work” |
| 13. | SIDEROLITE | SIDE = “page” and then LO = “look” reversed in RITE; according to Chambers this is “a meteorite made up partly of stone and partly of iron”, so it’s something that travels in space |
| 16. | CHARCOAL | “C[omposer]’s bow” is ARCO, which is written in scores to mean “use the bow” – it’s literally “bow” (the weapon) in Italian. This is in CHAL[ice] (“defrosted cup?”) |
| 18. | CHOPPING | P and G in CHOPIN (= Frédéric Chopin) |
| 19. | THEORBO | THE ORB O = “Pluto’s last”; the theorbo might also transmit a composer’s work to the audience |
| 21. | ELAPSE | (PLEASE)* |
| 22. | CASUAL | USA = “federation” reversed in CAL = California (“one of its components”) |
| 24, 25. | KAMA SUTRA | (A MUSKRAT A)* |
Thanks mhl. I found this one hard going, but worth the effort, and it reminds me that it’s been a while since we’ve seen Shed in the daily puzzle – in fact it seems not since 2nd October 2008.
Yes, it’s a shame. The most Guardian crosswords he’s done in a year (not including the Biggles ones) was 24 in 2003, but in 2007 and 2008 it was only 8 and 9…
I think I was lucky with this one to guess the theme early on, from IVES.