Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of December 12, 2015
Gaff gives us another anniversary/themed puzzle that was, for me, his most enjoyable so far. The theme is the song “New York, New York” which is well known in versions by Frank Sinatra and Liza Minelli, the latter being the theme song of the movie of the same name. This was a theme I warmed to for many reasons: it is a song I have hummed and sung to myself, I was living in New York when the movie and song came out, and I am a Sinatra fan.
Up to the time when I wrote the original version of the blog, I had been unable to connect this theme to any anniversary. Fortunately the first commenter broke the mystery. December 12, 2015 was in fact the centenary of Frank Sinatra’s birth. Many thanks to Steven for that. By the way, I hold fine memories of seeing Ol’ Blue Eyes in concert at Madison Square Garden around 35 years ago.
The themed clues all spell out lyrics from the song. They are 1a, 4a, 9a, 11a, 12a, 15d, 6d, 26a and 27a (“Start spreadin’ the news, I’m leaving today I want to be a part of it: New York, New York”). I am unable to remember a previous crossword that contains the same answer in two different places as this one does (26a and 27a both being NEW YORK) but I see no reason why one should not. Finally, there is a strong clue to the anniversary in the form of a Nina starting with the last letter of 1d. I missed this and Gaff himself brought it to our attention in a comment. It makes the puzzle even more impressive.
There are two clues with obscure words as answers. One 4d (SISKIN) is a bit of a give-away because if you look up “Spinus” from the clue in, for example, Wikipedia, it leads you straight to the answer. The other 2d (AREAL) proved more difficult for me.
My clue of the week is 23a (USE-BY DATE) and I also especially like 13a (GOSSIP) and Gaff’s great cryptic-definition clue 18d (STREAKER). There are a couple of clues that I had difficulty explaining: 4a (SPREADING) and 16a (REEFING).
| Across | ||
| 1 | START |
Opening jump (5)
Double definition |
| 4 | SPREADING |
Making broader education after better arithmetic (9)
SP (better arithmetic, i.e. Starting Price) + READING (education). I am reading ‘better’ in the sense one would more usually read ‘bettor’ but do not see how ‘arithmetic’ fits precisely. Another hypothesis that was suggested to me is that SP stands for Single Precision, which is a form of computer arithmetic, but that fails to fit since there is nothing better in any sense about it. |
| 9 | THE NEWS |
She went mad for today’s stories (3,4)
Anagaram of SHE WENT |
| 10 | SHAMPOO |
Pretend waste is clean (7)
SHAM (pretend) + POO (waste). I have seen this clue or one very like it before, recently too. |
| 11 | IM LEAVING |
Mail given wrong address by one moving away (2,7)
Anagram of MAIL GIVEN |
| 12 | TODAY |
12, 12 for lawyer in miniature (5)
DA (lawyer, i.e. District Attorney) in TOY (miniature) |
| 13 | GOSSIP |
Pigs so disturbed by muck spreader (6)
Anagram of PIGS SO |
| 16 | REEFING |
Winds up having less canvas (7)
In sailing terminology, “having less canvas” does a fine job of defining REEFING but I have trouble seeing how “winds up” works. See comment #6 for more. |
| 19 | IGUANAS |
Mislaid ten terribly nauseating beasts (7)
Anagram of [n]AUS[e]A[t]ING |
| 20 | ATTEST |
Where international cricketers declare? (6)
AT TEST (where international cricketers) |
| 22 | RESAT |
Tried again to pass entire Saturday inside (5)
Hidden word |
| 23 | USE-BY DATE |
Could possibly be Tuesday when life ends (3-2,4)
Anagram of BE TUESDAY |
| 26 | NEW YORK |
Under way, no brake – regular state (3,4)
[u]N[d]E[r]W[a]Y[n]O[b]R[a]K[e] |
| 27 | NEW YORK |
Retired Scotsman with knowledge about city (3,4)
ROY (Scotsman) + W (with) together backwards in KEN (knowledge) backwards |
| 28 | LAYPERSON |
Ad lib player’s no amateur (9)
Anagram of PLAYERS NO |
| 29 | DONOR |
Perhaps Jim Morrison keeps name he’s given (5)
N (name) in DOOR (Jim Morrison) |
| Down | ||
| 1 | SETTINGS |
Backgrounds that determine picture quality (8)
Double definition |
| 2 | AREAL |
Antenna broadcast in space (5)
Homophone (“aerial”). Areal is an adjectival form of ‘area’ used in classical mechanics |
| 3 | THETA |
Included in rent he takes from letter (5)
Hidden word |
| 4 | SISKIN |
Member of family – family Spinus (6)
SIS (member of family) + KIN (family). Spinus is a family of birds that includes the finches and ones called siskins. I do not recall hearing of siskins before. |
| 5 | RESIGNED |
Tolerating climbing does involve caution, maybe (8)
SIGN (caution maybe) in DEER (does) backwards |
| 6 | A PART OF IT |
Included second-in-command in separate attack (1,4,2,2)
APART (separate) + [c]O[mmand] + FIT (attack) |
| 7 | IMPUDENCE |
Cheek reddens primarily from lack of discretion (9)
IMPRUDENCE (lack of discretion) with R[eddens] removed |
| 8 | GLORY |
Praise head of grey parrot (5)
G[rey] LORY (parrot) |
| 14 | SIGNS AWAY |
Gives up on paper – device caught on permanently (5,4)
SIGN (device) + SAW (caught on) + AY (permanently) |
| 15 | I WANT TO BE |
Gaff has desire to live a bit now, the heartless rogue (1,4,2,2)
I see two ways to parse this clue. My original take on it was that it was unconventional in having two sets of wordplay and no definition. This way we have: I (Gaff) + WANT (desire) + TO (to) + BE (live). And: anagram of A BIT NOW T[h]E. The other way, which a commenter pointed out (thanks Pelham), is to take “Gaff has desire to live” as the definition. I am thinking now that that is the better option. |
| 17 | MAZURKAS |
Dances in blue mostly wearing grotesque mask (8)
AZUR[e] (blue mostly) in anagram of MASK. A mazurka is a Polish folk dance in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo |
| 18 | STREAKER |
Runner stripped of sporting fame (8)
Cryptic definition |
| 21 | PENNON |
State University on flag (6)
PENN (state university) + ON (on) |
| 22 | RENAL |
Children allowed portion of kidneys (5)
Hidden word |
| 24 | YAWED |
Veered sideways and slightly backwards (5)
Reverse hidden word |
| 25 | ACORN |
Might source be old computer? (5)
Double definition |
Ol’ Blue Eyes was born on 12 December 1915 so the anniversary referred to in the puzzle of 12 December 2015 was the centenary of his birth!
After 30 mins I had solved 9 clues. After another 30 mins I had failed to solve another so I gave up.
4a Even if you read SP as being “better arithmetic”, it makes no sense as the starting price is just an assessment of the prices available on course at the off. Gaff usually stops by, so no doubt he will enlighten us.
27a I thought Scotsmen were Ian, Iain, Hamish or Jock. Roy is a new one to me
4d Unknown
17d Unknown
Outclassed here -thanks for the enlightenment
Thanks Gaff and Pete
15dn: I think you can take the whole of “Gaff has desire to live” as the definition – this resolves the problem of the verb form WANT.
I have seen the same answer twice at least once before. I cannot remember where, but I am sure it was required by a theme as is the case here. Tiniest of quibbles is that the clues may have been better the other round – my understanding is that “New York, New York” means “New York City in New York State”.
Thanks, Pete – right up your street, this one, then.
I’d heard on the radio before getting up that it was Sinatra’s hundredth birthday and I’d solved Arachne’s tribute puzzle immediately before starting this one but, not being as familiar with the words of the song as you, it took me a while to see what clever stuff was going on. I did think I’M LEAVING and I WANT TO BE were rather curious answers in a crossword. It was suddenly seeing START SPREADING THE NEWS that made the penny drop.
SISKIN is a quite common crossword bird – most recently two days later in the Indy and Pierre supplied a picture of it http://www.fifteensquared.net/2015/12/14/independent-9100punk/,
Absolutely nothing wrong with 15dn: Gaff has desire = I want.
Many thanks to Gaff for an excellent puzzle.
Thanks, Gaff, and Pete.
Bamberger at #2, don’t forget about Rob Roy.
PB at #3, the very first crossword on 21 Dec 1913 in the “New York” World had DOVE as an answer twice (with clues of “Bird” and “Pigeon”) but the idea did not catch on.
Here it’s thematic of course and was for me the key to getting the idea. I twigged the exact centenary only quite a while after I’d solved the puzzle – remembering some recent publicity.
In answer to a couple of points about this puzzle :
4A SP=better arithmetic. When I’m putting a bet on at 6-4, then the SP provides me with the arithmetic to work out what I will win (or not as the case mostly is), which is what I meant by ‘better arithmetic’.
16A ‘Winds up’ means it’s blowing harder (so I need to get reefing).
@3 Pelham – I have to confess that I had not realised that “New York, New York” was a reference to the city and the state, I thought it was just repeated out of sheer exuberance. So it was a complete accident that I clued one as the city and the other as the state, and just a shame that I got them the wrong way round!
Finally, if you are minded to dig out the completed grid, there is a Nina starting at the end of 1D.
Thanks Peter for your excellent blog and to all for your feedback. Gaff is back again tomorrow with a Christmas Eve puzzle which requires sherry, mince pies and other refreshment!
Happy Christmas to all
Gaff
Gaff@6 – thanks for dropping in and filling the gaps. I had not seen the Nina going diagonally down from the last letter of 1dn, and almost certainly would not have found it without you telling us where it was. On the meaning of the repeated “New York”, it could well be just to fit the metre of the song in this instance, but I am sure it refers to the city and state on some occasions. I look forward to tomorrow’s challenge.
nms@5 – thanks for the information about the first ever crossword. I think there has also been a more recent case of a deliberate repetition being part of the theme.
… and I should have said “meter” not “metre” @7.
… except that I was right first time, and wrong @8. The Americans have an easier time with the word meter.
Thanks all for the comments. They have helped even more than usual in clarifying some aspects of a fairly complex puzzle. Thanks especially to Gaff for his message.
I’m with Bamberger on this one – except that I did know siskin and mazurka, and took my usual week before i gave up. Never heard of a Nina before
Thanks Pete and Gaff.
Re Bamberger ‘s comment, does that make me a token Scotsman?
Anyway, not sure whether I preferred this or the Arachne prize in the Guardian on the same day on the same theme.
This was far more creative in the clueing and getting the first line of that song in is a real achievement. On the negative side, I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many hidden words – 3dn, 22ac & 22dn, backwards hidden in 24dn plus the intermittent at 26ac.
So I’m in two minds.
On the whole, this was more fun and, whatever, resoect to Gaff for putting this together.
Thanks Gaff and Pete
A pleasant puzzle, and on the same day as Arachne’s similarly themed puzzle in the Guardian. Even though I had started hers and seen the theme there, a week on I had forgotten about it and had to go through the whole discovery process from scratch again ! 😮
As with Eileen, it took a re-look across the top to see START SPREADING THE NEWS, that reminded me of the Frank Sinatra birthday centenary. An impressive effort to get so much of the first verse into the grid.
Like Hamish, was surprised at the number of hidden answers that were lurking in the solution. There were three clues that I did not parse:- the compound anagram with IGUANAS (my last one in), the charade with SIGNS AWAY and the anagram of I WANT TO BE. The SINATRA nina passed me by as well.
Liked the anagrams for USE BY DATE and LAYPERSON.