Inquisitor 1119 “T” by Nutmeg

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I found this difficult to start, but easy to finish (the opposite of my last blog!). I spent hours finding my first three down answers and was feeling pretty despondent until I found that my first few across answers were one letter too long. I entered them without their last letter on a guess. I then discovered 30D to be D?AT?. The rubric had flagged a pretty obvious musical theme, so “DEATH and the MAIDEN” by FRANZ SCHUBERT appeared pretty easily (I played the string quartet with friends last week. The manuscript is pictured below.). 

300px-Death_and_the_Maiden_quartet_manuscriptSchubert’s best-known symphony is the UNFINISHED – which explains why the across entries were – well unfinished!

Later, unclued GILLAROO and FINNAC were both names of trout and, as there were five other unclued entries, THE TROUT QUINTET (to be written below the grid) was completed by BULL, BROWN and HERLING.

Ba has suggested that the  title “T” refers to the Unfinished being Schubert’s Eighth (symphony), and the eighth letter of Schubert is T. Pretty cunning I think! 

I found it a very entertaining crossword, the theme being pretty easy for Schubert lovers, though maybe more challenging if classical music was not your thing.

As far as timing was concerned it took me hours to get my first three answers, but about an hour and a half to finish it from there.

Nutmeg has found some interesting words, and you always learn something. My main new piece of information is that CETE is a group of badgers and a SET or SETT is where they live!

I have given the full answer for each of the across answers. Grid entries omit the last letter in each case.

 
Across
 1  TUSHING  Being derogatory: SHIN in TUG
 5  FOLDABLE  Could collapse: OLD in FABLE
 9  PLENARY  Complete: [PLANE]* + (disaste)R + (journe)Y
 10  FIG-TREE  Fruit producer: FIG(H)T (heartless dispute – clever!)+ RE + E
 11  AFORESAID  One already mentioned: Spoonerism of “A Sore Fed”
 12  STONY  Obdurate: STORY with N for R
 13  UNNEST  Cast out from home: [STUNNE(d)]*
 14  ARKITE  Flood survivor: KIT in ERA reversed
 15  LEAN-TO  Shed: (David) LEAN + TO
 16  LONGEST  Odds – least likely: L + ON + [GETS]*
 17  AORTA  Major carrier: AA round ORT
 19  SEA-GIRT  Mid-ocean: SEAT round RIG reversed
 21  CATAYAN  Shakesperean (traditional drama?) word for Chinese: CATALAN with Y replacing L 
 25  MELON  Popular starter: ME + L + ON
 26  HADROME  Woody tissue: A(dvanced) D(ry) R(ot) in HOME 
 28  REALLY  Indeed! LA (note) reversed in RELY (bank)
 30  DAPPLE  Spot: PP in DALE
 31  FANBOY  A lover of comic books: FAN (blow) + YOB reversed
 32  NAHAL  Israeli border settlement: A + HA in NL 
 33  MODEL  Ideal: M(odus) O(perandi) + DEL(ete key)
 34  DECACHORD  Old instrument: DEC(K) + sounds like ACCORD
 35  ALECOST  Plant: CO in [LEAST]*
 36  RETHINK  Have fresh ideas: RE + THIN + (fol)K
 37  LINE-OUTS  Episodes in play: LINES round OUT
 38  THE AYES  Those favouring: AY in [THESE]*
 
Down
 1  TEABAGS  Cup entrants: TEA(M) + BAGS
 2  UPFURLED  Rolled: UP (out of bed) + RU reversed in FLED
 3  INERT  Sluggish: (L)INER + T
 4  NASUTE  Discriminating: N & S round A + UTE
 6  LIVE LOAD  Moving force: [LED VIOLA]*
 7  AT THAT  Moreover: A(scot) + HAT round TT
 8  LENGTH  Section: LENT (advanced – money) round G(erman) + H
 20  ROUNDS  Double meaning
 22  TRANCHE  Block: RAN + C in THE
 23  AT LARGE  Free: T + L after A + [GEAR]*
 24  PRIMAL  First: PAL round RIM
 27  AVOCET  Bird: OVA reversed +  CET(E)
 29  E COLI  Bacteria: LO in ICE all reversed

7 comments on “Inquisitor 1119 “T” by Nutmeg”

  1. I didn’t know much about Schubert before doing this one. On reading the preamble, I guessed that we were looking for a “symphony” and fully expected the unclued work to be BEAUTY and the BEAST. HERLING wanted to be HERRING for so long that it misled me for a while. I think, after a shaky start, I managed to polish it off in about 2 hours.

    I saw the title “T” as T(itle) … i.e. “unfinished” but I quite like Ba’s idea now that I see it.

  2. There are surprisingly few works of a musical nature which are “xxx and the yyy”. That is why “death” gave the maiden so quickly. I was expecting an opera, but apart from “Amahl and the Night Visitors” and “The Old Maid and the Thief” there aren’t any!

  3. Thanks to Hihoba for the blog.

    I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle when I first solved it. I hope to see more of Nutmeg’s puzzles – she can strike the optimum level of difficulty for an Inquisitor.

    BTW, I see from the proof that someone called Jake from Mitcham, Surrey has landed some champers for this puzzle…

  4. I had the title “T” as being the completion of the Unfinished Symphony No. Eight.

    And for 10a, I thought this was ‘heartless’ FIGHT RE (=dispute about) since, for the purist, H is the abbreviation for “hearts”, not “heart” (cf. 22d, with C for “clubs”).

  5. I agree with Mike about Nutmeg. This is her second inquisitor I believe (unless I missed some). Both have been excellent; solvable but enough of a challenge. We look forward to more!

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