Well, when we saw it was Dac on Monday, we wondered who would appear today, and were delighted when Jambazi showed up.
This is only our second blog of a Jambazi puzzle, but we have enjoyed all his previous offerings, so we were really looking forward to the challenge, and we were not disappointed.
The Bruce Springsteen theme in the clues made life interesting, and we had to admire the inclusion of several of the Boss’ greatest hits and of his name in the wordplay to nine clues, and several other music references. We wondered whether there would be any Springsteen references in the answers, but cannot immediately see any, although we are not totally familiar with his entire repertoire!
As expected, some excellent clues here, although in a few cases the Springsteen references seemed to spoil the surface reading slightly.
While Bert was writing up the blog, Joyce wondered what was so special about June 4th that it meant that Dac was shifted from his normal Wednesday slot. A quick search revealed that the album “Born in the USA” was released on June 4th 1984. You can read more about it here.
All in all, a fun solve – many thanks Jambazi!
| Across | ||
| 1 | Hands over Springsteen’s first songs | |
| PSALMS | PALMS (hands) round or ‘over’ S (first letter of Springsteen) | |
| 4 | Keep mouth shut and sing – monitor’s rubbish | |
| HUMBUG | HUM (keep mouth shut and sing) + BUG (monitor) | |
| 9 | Extended number to fill record | |
| LONG | N (number) in, or ‘filling’ LOG (record) | |
| 10 | Is close to show | |
| NEIGHBOURS | Double definition, the ‘show’ being the long-running Australian soap which featured Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan, (but definitely not Bruce Springsteen!) | |
| 11 | Man key to husband’s condition | |
| HEALTH | HE (man) + ALT (key) + H (husband) | |
| 12 | Hero on film with organ firm for rubber | |
| GOODYEAR | GOODY (hero on film, as opposed to ‘baddy’) + EAR (organ) | |
| 13 | We run production of international beers to drink? | |
| BREWERIES | Cryptic definition – WE + R (run) in, or being ‘drunk’ by an anagram of I (international) BEERS (anagrind is ‘production of’) | |
| 15/22 | Tough, not like Philadelphia? | |
| HARD CHEESE | Philadelphia is a soft CHEESE (and the title of the 1993 film for which Bruce Springsteen wrote the brilliant ‘Streets of Philadelphia’ which won the Oscar for Best Original song) | |
| 16 | Pick E Street band’s leader first | |
| BEST | E ST (street) with B (first letter, or ‘leader’ of Band) first | |
| 17 | Charming place following open country? | |
| FAIRYLAND | F (following) + AIRY (open) + LAND (country) | |
| 21 | Bask in Springsteen, ultimately – ‘Born in the USA’ touring | |
| SUNBATHE | N (last or ‘ultimate’ letter of Springsteen) + B (born) in an anagram of THE USA (anagrind is ‘touring’) | |
| 22 | See 15ac | |
| See 15ac | ||
| 24 | Piece is over by singer, primarily, one cries | |
| SIX-SHOOTER | IS reversed, or ‘over’ + X (by, as in multiply) + S (first or ‘primary’ letter of Singer) + HOOTER (one cries) | |
| 25 | Band backing on it? | |
| TIER | RE (on) IT reversed, or ‘backed’ | |
| 26 | Suggested ‘Dancing in the Dark’ at the start | |
| HINTED | An anagram of IN THE D (first letter or ‘start’ of Dark) – anagrind is ‘dancing’ | |
| 27 | Liveliness in tempo following set of five from Bruce Springsteen | |
| ESPRIT | T (tempo) following five letters in BrucE SPRIngsteen | |
| Down | ||
| 1 | Begin quietly on satellite, ‘Born to Run’ | |
| PIONEER | P (quietly) + IO (satellite – one of Jupiter’s moons) + NEE (born) + R (run) | |
| 2 | Star to make tracks completely entertaining | |
| ALGOL | GO (to make tracks) in, or ‘entertained by’ ALL (completely) | |
| 3 | One taking in Queen’s supporting artist | |
| MUNCHER | ER (queen) after, or ‘supporting’ MUNCH (artist) | |
| 5 | Release northern one’s catchy bit of music | |
| UNHOOK | UN (one in northern dialect) + HOOK (catchy piece of music) | |
| 6 | Arrangement to get it to local by drunk | |
| BOOTY CALL | An anagram of TO LOCAL BY – anagrind is ‘drunk’ – we’d not come across this phrase before – we’ve obviously led very sheltered lives! | |
| 7 | Old Hollywood star, Laurel, might appear in one? | |
| GARLAND | A reference to Judy GARLAND (old Hollywood star) – a garland might include laurel (a reference to Stan of Laurel and Hardy) | |
| 8 | Rear alone? We do Springsteen shot with flag in middle | |
| SINGLE PARENTS | An anagram of SPRINGSTEEN and LA (middle letters of ‘flag’) – anagrind is ‘shot’ | |
| 14 | Place to get clean, like heroin foundation’s drug-free secure housing | |
| WASHBASIN | AS (like) + H (heroin) + BAS |
|
| 16 | Go red over edit, occasionally slightly rude | |
| BLUEISH | BLUSH (go red) round or ‘over’ alternate or ‘occasional’ letters of EdIt | |
| 18 | Album and single |
|
| RECORDS | Double definition | |
| 19 | Sure, result of |
|
| NO SWEAT | We really liked this one! – a reference to ‘Sure’, the deodorant / antiperspirant | |
| 20 | Line when writing hit | |
| STROKE | Double definition | |
| 23 | Record final set of Bruce Springsteen concert show | |
| ENTER | Last letters or ‘final set’ of BrucE SpringsteeN concerT + ER (show – as in the TV series that Joyce was once hooked on) | |
Many thanks Bertandjoyce for the super blog and the kind words.
At an impromptu Manchester crossword do in July 2012 I got talking to Arachne’s partner (now husband), Nick, about crosswords. He told me that he’d only have a go at solving a crossword if someone ever wrote one on Bruce Springsteen (or Withnail and I). As Nick’s a top bloke I thought I’d give it a go so I drafted some clues. It took me over eighteen months to get round to finishing the puzzle. I’m not a fan of The Boss so I had to resort to Wikipedia quite a bit. On doing so, I discovered that Born in the USA was released on the 4th June 1980, so I asked Mike if he could put the puzzle in the slot to mark the thirtieth anniversary; he kindly agreed.
I admit some of the surfaces are strained as I shoehorned in references to The Boss. The clue for “single parents” is supposed to evoke an image of photographing the cover to Born in the USA which features Springsteen’s rear in front of the Stars and Stripes.
Thanks, Neil
Sure-ly in 19d if you do use it there’s NO SWEAT? Or perhaps I’m going mad today, quite possible.
Did spend too long trying to force GARBO into 7d.
Nice puzzle thanks Neil & B&J
Thanks, B and J, for the blog, and Jambazi for another great puzzle.
I thought the clues were, if anything, rather easier than usual for a Jambazi, but found the puzzle as enjoyable as ever, though I was never going to appreciate all its nuances, not knowing much about the theme.
I particularly liked SUNBATHE, HINTED, ESPRIT, SINGLE PARENT, NO SWEAT and BOOTY CALL [though, like B and J, I’d never heard of it!]
[I hope you enjoy the puzzle, Nick 😉 ]
Thanks Jambazi for explaining the background to the puzzle. We hope that Nick enjoys the solve as much as we did!
I found this trickier than other Jambazi puzzles, but maybe that was because of the wordplay that was used to accommodate the Springsteen titles. Being a big fan of Springsteen was obviously of no help at all in completing this puzzle, and it is quite scary that Born in the USA was released 30 years ago. I was slowest in the NW and ALGOL went in from the wordplay, although it was actually HUMBUG that was my LOI when I finally saw the wordplay. A tough challenge but enjoyable.
Well, where to start? Dodgy sexual encounters in BOOTY CALL; guns in SIX SHOOTER; TV in NEIGHBOURS and ER; male erections in 12ac; and a nod to drugs in 14dn. The setter perhaps needs to have a look in the mirror and reflect on his lifestyle.
Unlike Eileen, I found this 15ac. I know I’m just about the only one who goes on about this, but the grid was very solver-unfriendly: a puzzle of two halves, and a number of clues with less than 50% checking, yada yada yada …
But the theme was fine: you didn’t have to know about The Boss to complete it, and it’s hardly an unknown album in the popular genre.
PSALMS was my favourite today because it appealed to my religous side and slightly assuaged my concerns about the wilful sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll references.
Thanks all three.
And more seriously, I meant to say that I liked GARLAND. Perhaps B&J were implying this, but it’s a reference I’m sure to phrases like RESTING ON ONE’S LAURELS, and indeed NOBEL LAUREATE and POET LAUREATE.
This was my first attempt at a Jambazi, though I’m familiar with and usually enjoy his alter ego Tramp – this wasn’t noticeably easier or harder than most of those, but after Picaroon it was the second treat of the day. As always not much knowledge of the theme was needed (I’m not a fan of the “Boss” either). Last in was TIER. Liked BOOTY CALL (which I have heard of but don’t know where from), ESPRIT and SUNBATHE…
Thanks to B J & J
I found this one of the hardest weekday puzzles for some time. Managed only half a dozen clues all day and have finally given up on it. Just couldn’t get on to its wavelength.
Another good crossword from Jambazi.
It did remind me of Anax’s Blur & Oasis puzzle in which the solver didn’t need to know anything about their music etc.
Just like some others I found this considerably harder than other Js or Ts.
GOODYEAR was one of the last ones in but I should have remembered that our beloved setter likes mentioning brand names (unlike me, as the solution, that is).
Very last one in was SIX-SHOOTER, great clue.
It is always difficult to make the surfaces perfect when one restricts himself to (in this case) just one artist and his works. But Jambazi did a good job.
While I hope Nick was pleased about this, I cannot say that for me ‘Born in the USA’ is the album that deserves all this. Yes, it put Springsteen on the (commercial) map but ‘The River’, ‘Darkness on the Edge of Town’ and ‘Tunnel of Love’ appealed more to me.
Many thanks, B&J.
Interesting puzzle, many thanks Jambazi. Nice blog as ever, Bert and Joyce, but I disagree with your parsing of 18dn. It’s “single” not “singles” (certainly in newspaper version) and, I believe, a (little) charade not a double definition as you suggest: record (“album”) + s (“single”) = records (“charts”)
Or am I missing something?
Thanks for the comment William F P.
Looking at 18d again Bert apologises for including the extra ‘s’! When Joyce checked the blog we even discussed the possibility of it being a triple definition but discarded the idea when we realised that ‘album’ was in the singular! Neither of us checked the paper copy!
We think it could be viewed either way though but will correct the blog later this afternoon.
Thanks again.
Thanks, B and J, but think you missed my point. To me, it’s far more likely that “single” gives the ‘s’ in “records” and the clue is a charade as I explained. (I know Jambazi
viewed your blog but easy for him to miss).
I also think my parsing makes a better, more elegant clue.
I may be a weeny bit pedantic, but I wouldn’t disturb my favourite couple over a simple typo!
Well, that’s how I see it…..
As you are our favourite commenter, we bow to your interpretation despite the fact that it may be a tad pedantic – at least that’s what Bert wanted me to add! Joyce is just happy to curtsey!
You may be curtseying – but it is I who is weak at the knees! Thanks for being so sweet – we should all follow your example. The more we smile at this funny world of ours, the less will it sneer back. Respect dudes!
William F P: Bertandjoyce have correctly stated the parsing as I intended — I didn’t know “S”= single: according to Chambers it can mean “singular” but it’s a bit esoteric.
Thanks for comments. I’d just like to add that it isn’t easy writing a puzzle to include thematic material such that no subject knowledge is required of the solver. There’s a lot to think about: grid, ease of solving (not being to easy or too hard), overuse of clue types, use of esoteric words, overuse of initial letters, clue length, use of words you’ve clued before, … . It’s nigh on impossible to satisfy all of these constraints.
Thanks again
Neil
Oh my gosh! I am, and feel, a prize idiot (nothing new there – but where are the prizes?!)
To Bernard and Joyce: Forget the curtseying; I am prostrate with humility at your worthy feet. In all seriousness, I do apologise for having wasted your time in this manner.
Neil: I am sorry to have caused you to be dragged into this, though I am naturally very grateful that you have. But it gives me an opportunity to thank you properly for your super puzzle. I certainly do understand what a tough job you have to keep so many disparate folk satisfied – such is the nature of art I’m afraid. And make no mistake, I believe what you do is sheer artistry. The variety and brilliance of your clues, and the general deftness of your creation overall, offer me such pleasure that, now I am seriously reflecting on it, I wonder if perhaps I did something very good in a previous life! As for satisfaction, the better and best of my cryptic diet (and I firmly include this latest Jambazi here) leave me replete with nourishment.
A couple of PSs:
To B and J – I shall never doubt you again (in fairness, that was the first, and last, time!)
To Neil – I’ve looked back at some of your recent puzzles (I’ve only been addicted since John Graham joined that Greater Grid) and they are fantastic even exquisite in places. In fact, a look back has reminded me that your Tramp clue for “pothead” (‘Primarily pointing out Tim Henman’s earlier answer: “Djokovich is grass lover”‘) – as just one example of your talent – deserves its own frame in this summer’s RA exhibition, in my view. And I’m not joking.
Again – heartfelt thanks.
Topically warm regards to all three (and Gaufrid too for allowing my verbosity!)
William