Financial Times Christmas Crossword 2016 by Gozo

Prize puzzle from the Weekend FT of December 24, 2016

I was pleased to find that this year’s Christmas puzzle is a traditional cryptic and not one where one has to build a grid or anything like that.  It is not a straightforward cryptic however but one with a theme and many cross-references.

The unstated theme is the D’Oyly Carte Opera company — which is largely synonymous with the works of Gilbert and Sullivan.  (Thanks to Malcolm Caporn for pointing out that the former fits better than the latter.)  I imagine that for fans it will have proven a good contest and for non-fans at least a learning experience.  I am in the middle ground — I like Gilbert and Sullivan’s operettas but I knew rather little about them.  Certainly I could not have completed the puzzle without looking up a lot of information — which I did on Wikipedia.

I think Gozo is to be congratulated for stuffing so many G&S-related names into his grid.  I find some of his cluing a bit rough and questionable though.  In particular, it bothers me that some themed clues are effectively identified as such by a cross-reference to the name of an operetta (as in 41d) while others are not (as with 44).

The cross references in the clues match as follows:  6 across Princess Ida, 10 Iolanthe, 54 The Mikado, 63 Operettas

ACROSS
1 The pull about sex appeal and lust in song from 54 (3,6)

TIT WILLOW – IT (sex appeal) + WILL (lust) in TOW (the pull).  If Wikipedia is to be believed then the proper title of the song in question (from The Mikado) is “On a tree by a river” and it is also known as “Willow, tit-willow”.  But little matter, surely anyone who knows the song will accept “Tit willow”.  Then again, as psmith insightfully suggests (see comment #1), if we take the definition as being “in song from 54″ then it works better.
6 One of 63 making sidecar spin (8,3)

PRINCESS IDA – anagram (making) of SIDECAR SPIN
13 American range or another (9)

APENNINES – A (American) + PENNINES (range)
14 He’s left Scottish islands for 57’s marriage partner (5)

BRIDE – [he]BRIDE[s]
15 See 48
16 Cereal from a Cinque port (3)

RYE – double definition
17 10’s shepherd scattered ring endlessly (8)

STREPHON – STRE[wn] (scattered endlessly) + PHON[e] (ring endlessly)
18 The cheek of being the only one in pub and church (9)

INSOLENCE – SOLE (the only one) in INN (pub) + CE (church)
20 Settles on one solution across, finally (7)

ALIGHTS – A (one) + LIGHT (solution) + [acros]S
22 Backward view of Sir Joseph returning embracing soprano etc, maybe (10)

RETROSPECT – S (soprano) in PORTER (Sir Joseph) backwards (returning) + anagram (maybe) of ETC.  This Sir Joseph Porter is a character in H.M.S. Pinafore.
24 Abandoned building (4)

SHED – double definition
26, 1 down Subtitle of 10 Diana swapped with three quietly, twice
(3,4,3,3,4)

THE PEER AND THE PERI – I do not fully understand the wordplay here.  The answer, which is is the subtitle of Iolanthe, is an anagram of DIANE (not DIANA) THREE P THREE P (three quietly, twice).  Probably a mistake?
29 Cross girl (8)

LORRAINE – double definition
34 Subtitled king backing two sailors’ song (9)

BARATARIA – AB (one sailor) + TAR (a second sailor) both backwards + ARIA (song).  The Gondoliers is subtitled “The King of Barataria”.
36 Not quite four years at the exhibition hall (7)

OLYMPIA – OLYMPIA[d] (not quite four years).  We mostly think of ‘Olympiad’ as referring to an Olympic Games but it also has the meaning of the time between successive games.
38 Stanley’s daughter at ebbing waters at Holyhead (5)

EDITH – TIDE (waters) backwards (EDIT) + H[oly].  Edith is the daughter of Major General Stanley in “The Pirates of Penzance”.
39 See 19
40 One of 63 pages in dissertation (7)

THESPIS – P (pages) in THESIS (dissertation).  “Thespis” is the name of Gilbert and Sullivans’ first collaboration.
42 See 48
43 Company clothing suggested for part of a computer’s memory (8)

FIRMWARE – FIRM (company) + WARE (homophone of “wear” for clothing).  In the context of computers, one normally thinks of memory purely in terms of hardware.  With that understanding, firmware is something that is stored in memory, not memory itself.  However if we think of memory more generally, in the way we do of human memory, then a computer’s firmware is indeed part of its memory.
44 Cornish brigand operating illegally having relations with German leader (6,4)

PIRATE KING – PIRATE (operating illegally) + KIN (relations) + G[erman].  The Pirate King is a character in “The Pirates of Penzance”.
49 Part of 44 down and 37 when together (4)

ROLE – indirect hidden word (in “Plaza Toro lei”)
50 Monarch in 6 across from Delhi worried by stigma (10)

HILDEBRAND – anagram (worried) of DELHI + BRAND (stigma).  King Hildebrand is a main character in Iolanthe.
52 Turning round, he placed one in diagram of old city (7)

NINEVEH – I (one) in VENN (diagram) backwards + HE (backwards)
55, 65 Song from one of 63 originating from Newcastle, Elbe, Oahu and Italy (2,4,3,5,4)

WE SAIL THE OCEAN BLUE – anagram of NEWCASTLE ELBE OAHU I (Italy)
57 One of 63 when keeping one’s cool in dock (8)

PATIENCE – triple definition.  Originally I was unable to explain this but a commenter gave me the necessary tip — thanks, ub.  It had not occurred to me to consider ‘dock’ in the sense of a type of plant, although I certainly know of it.  Turns out that there is a type of dock called “patience dock” (Rumex Patientia).
59 Pulse puree from valley out east (3)

DAL – DAL[e] (valley out east)
61 Outdoor work – rain affected out east (4,3)

OPEN AIR – OP (work) + E (east) + anagram (affected) of RAIN
62 Three cheers for the West Indian cricket captain (5)

BRAVO – double definition, the second referring to Dwayne Bravo
63 Poetaster rewrote 10, 45 and 6 across, say (9)

OPERETTAS – anagram (rewrote) of POETASTER.  So, we have circular references but, fortunately, an easy anagram.  By the way, the word ‘poetaster’ means a poet who is, well, not much good.
64 One of the 63 Rochester adapted with Her Majesty (3,8)

THE SORCERER – anagram (adapted) of ROCHESTER + ER (Her Majesty)
65 See 55
DOWN
1 See 26
2 10d and shilling for nurses (5)

TENDS – TEN (10) + D (d) + S (shilling)
3 Gives the cold shoulder to east Italian fellow cycling (7)

IGNORES – E (east) SIGNOR (Italian fellow) with character circularly shifted (cycling) two places.
4 Bright red variable star could possibly be a pulsar (2,7)

LA SUPERBA – anagram (possibly) of BE A PULSAR.  I had not heard of this star before.
5 Like geese which might bow to feed (3-6)

WEB-FOOTED – anagram (might) of BOW TO FEED
6 Average out one and two (4)

PAIR – I (one) in PAR (average)
7 Ancient Brits held in police nick (5)

ICENI – hidden word
8 Flat race form is critical, for starters (7)

CLASSIC – CLASS (form) + I[s] C[ritical]
9 Wraps from G.B. and Lowry! (6)

SHAWLS – SHAW (G.B.) + LS (Lowry)
10 Poor theologian has no go for one of 63 (8)

IOLANTHE – anagram of THEOL[og]IAN
11 Feather-brains are radio bosses, it seems (8)

AIRHEADS – double definition
12 Colonel’s civil communication (7)

FAIRFAX – FAIR (civil) + FAX (communication).  Colonel Fairfax is a character in The Yeomen of the Guard.
19, 39 Theme suggested by napkin truck (6,5)

D’OYLEY CARTE – DOYLEY (suggested by napkin) + CARTE (suggested by truck).  The D’Oyly Carte Opera Company was the light opera company that staged all of Gilbert and Sullivans’ operettas in their time.  How Gozo might justify the spelling D’Oyley here, I have no idea.  I am also unsure how ‘theme’ serves as a definition.
21 Proposition giving injection to doctorate (10)

HYPOTHESIS – HYPO (injection) + THESIS (doctorate).  While one has to write a thesis for an earned (as opposed to an honorary) doctorate, I do not see how one can define the other.
23 He drops in on exercise on top of tower wall (7)

PARAPET – PARA (he drops in) + PE (exercise) + T[ower].  Or is ‘top’ intended to clue the T by itself?
25 Liner taken out to Swiss town (10)

INTERLAKEN – anagram (out) of LINER TAKEN
27 Chap gathering skirt lifted in capital (6)

HARARE – RARA (skirt) backwards (lifted) in HE (chap).  We have seen this ‘rara’ in one of these Weekend FT puzzles before.
28 Faux pas having arrived during silent uprising (7)

ERRATUM – ARR (arrived) in MUTE (silent) all backwards
30 6 across’s fortress for unyielding popstar (7)

ADAMANT – triple definition, the first referring to Castle Adamant in Princess Ida and the third to Adam Ant
31 Surprised amateur defender (5)

ABACK – A (amateur) +BACK (defender)
32 Raving mad in Ayrshire town (6)

GIRVAN – anagram (mad) of RAVING
33 Top to bottom, the abode of the dead remains (5)

SHADE – HADES (the abode of the dead) with the ‘S’ moved to the top.  Except that ‘top to bottom’ seems to indicate the opposite move.  I did not originally see how ‘remains’ could clue SHADE and have Steve to thank for pointing out (in a comment below) that it is in the sense of a ghost.  I remain uncertain about this interpretation and also find appealing an alternative offered by ernie in another comment.
35 French philosopher fashioning a red alb (7)

ABELARD – anagram (fashioning) A RED ALB
37 Garland from Stoneleigh (3)

LEI – hidden word
41 Former pupil on Twitter upset ward in 54 (4-2)

PEEP-BO – PEEP (twitter) + OB (former pupil, i.e. old boy) backwards (upset).  PEEP-BO is a character in The Mikado.
44 Square root worked by thematic grandee (5-4)

PLAZA TORO – PLAZA (square) + anagram (worked) of ROOT.  Plaza Toro is the name of the royal family in The Gondoliers.
45 One of 63 suggesting bloody blood (9)

RUDDIGORE – RUDDI (suggesting bloody) + GORE (blood)
46 Untoward criminal encouraged to talk at length (5-3)

DRAWN-OUT – anagram (criminal) of UNTOWARD
47 Elegy rewritten about fool’s ocular (5,3)

GLASS EYE – ASS (fool) in anagram (rewritten) of ELEGY
48, 42, 15 Subtitle – Voilà! She’d lost heart, involved with a salt (3,4,4,5,1,6)

THE LASS THAT LOVED A SAILOR – anagram (involved) of VOILA SHED LOST HEART A SALT.  “The Lass that Loved a Sailor” is the subtitle of “H.M.S. Pinafore”.
51 Caught in it, lad looked jaundiced (7)

ICTERIC – C (caught) in IT (it) + ERIC (lad)
52 Material for grannie’s damaged knee (7)

NANKEEN – NAN (grannie) + anagram (damaged) of KNEE
53 Star of The Boat (7)

VEDETTE – double definition.  I know ‘vedette’ from French in which it means something close to ‘diva’.  I had not known that the word is used with a similar meaning in English and is also a type of boat.
54 Kardashian upset over a party in one of 63 (6)

MIKADO – KIM (Kardashian) backwards (upset) + A (a) + DO (party)
56 Just a glimmer at the end of three months (5)

EMBER – the end of SEPT, NOV and DEC
58 Equine novelist lost son in Surrey town (5)

EWELL – [s]EWELL (equine novelist lost son).  The novelist is Anna Sewell who wrote “Black Beauty” which I read a a boy.
60 Study Latin on express (4)

LAIR – L (latin) + AIR (express)