Merry Christmas, everyone! I’ve been lucky enough to draw the task of blogging the Christmas alphabetical crossword by Maskarade.
The theme is popular bands or singers. Some of these are just surnames (or just a first name in the case of ELTON) and the definite articles band names has been dropped (or else lots would have to be “T”s) except in the case of THE SEEKERS for T.
Figuring out how to fit in all the answers was, as usual with these puzzles, a lovely additional logical challenge on top of what you normally with crosswords – Jenny and I both love figuring out how to assemble the answers in the grid. Writing out all the answers of similar lengths with the letters in aligned columns, such that you can look down a column to see, say, which 5 letter words might have a T as the fourth letter, was very helpful for us:
Maskarade’s clueing style is a bit more liberal than I prefer (I’ve noted a few things along those lines below) but I didn’t feel these detracted from our enjoyment of the puzzle. All in all, this was an excellent challenge for the Christmas break, and we enjoyed it very much.
I’ve marked the bands / singers with a * by the letter, and linked to their Wikipedia pages in the notes below, but the complete list is:
- Adam Ant
- Bucks Fizz
- Cream
- [Sacha] Distel
- Elton [John]
- [The] Four Pennies
- [Juliette] Gréco
- [The] Human League
- INXS
- Jessie J
- Keith Moon
- Leo Sayer
- Manfred Mann
- Morrissey
- [The] Nolans
- Oasis
- Pet Shop Boys
- Queen
- [The] Ronettes
- [Pete] Seeger
- The Seekers
- Ultravox
- Vangelis
- Wham!
- Xenia
- Yazoo
- Z Z Top
Here are the clue breakdowns:
A* One female worker at Savoyard castle (4,3)
ADAM ANT
A DAM = “One female” + ANT = “worker”; also there’s an extra definition: “Savoyard castle” is a reference to Castle Adamant from Princess Ida
A This coarse grass is mixed with ice for Angelica (5)
ALANG
Compound anagram: (ICE + ALANG)* is Angelica
Definition: “coarse grass”
B Bharal is music to miser (4,5)
BLUE SHEEP
BLUES = “music” + HEEP = “miser” – I assume this is a reference to Uriah Heep from David Copperfield. I haven’t read it, but I guess he’s a miser as well as a sycophant?
Definition: “Bharal”
B* County illustrator is on the radio (5,4)
BUCKS FIZZ
BUCKS = “County” + FIZZ = “illustrator is on the radio” (sounds like Phiz)
Definition:
C England cricket captain, tailender, is nearer (6)
CLOSER
CLOSE = “England cricket captain” + [ende]R = “tailender”
Definition: “nearer”
C* Steve embraces Seb finally (5)
CREAM
Steve and Seb here are the atheletics rivals Steve CRAM and Seb COE, so this is CRAM around [co]E = “Seb finally”. It took me ages to get this, because “Seb finally” in the cryptic part would almost always indicate B, and the extra level of indirection threw me. It’s a lovely reference to the two athletes, though, so I can’t help but like the clue.
D Least receptive to advice from anonymous churchman at indulgent party (7)
DEAFEST
I think the “churchman” is a DEAN and “anonymous” means “nameless”, which might be “without N” to give DEA. Then FEST = “indulgent party”. I don’t much like the “anonymous” device here, partly because N = “name” is one of those abbreviations that we know from crosswords but I’ve never seen used elsewhere.
Definition: “Least receptive to advice”
D* Listed building (6)
DISTEL
(LISTED)*
E* John regularly let off (5)
ELTON
(ON LET)* – the ON in the anagram fodder is from [j]O[h]N = “John regularly”
E I see a pup frolicking, having good digestion (8)
EUPEPSIA
(I SEE A PUP)* A minor complaint here is that I don’t think that “having” is a good link word.
Definition: “good digestion”
F Open car at Gloucestershire airbase (8)
FAIRFORD
FAIR = “Open” + FORD = “car”
Definition: “Gloucestershire airbase”
F* They are worth under a tanner and could provide the king’s porridge (4,7)
FOUR PENNIES
A “tanner” is sixpence, so FOUR PENNIES are worth under that. The other bit we couldn’t parse at all ourselves, but Gaufrid helped me out with a hint: gr = “king” + oats = “porridge” gives you “groats” and originally a groat was also worth four pence (!!)
G Obscurity of foreign neologisms (10)
GLOOMINESS
A nice anagram: “neologisms”
Definition: “Obscurity”
G* Grey and green (5)
GRECO
I guess this is GR = “Grey” somehow (though that abbreviation isn’t in Chambers) and then ECO = “green”
H Leading radio drama following league reports (7)
HANSARD
R[adio] D[rama] = “Leading radio drama” (assume a minor grumble here!) after HANSA = “league”, another name for the Hanseatic League
Definition: “reports”
H* Foreign secretary once embraced poor Manuel (5,6)
HUMAN LEAGUE
HAGUE = “Foreign secretary once” around (MANUEL)*
I Lower class girl’s disgrace (6)
INFAMY
INF = “lower class” (from “inferior”, I guess? I’ve never seen that abbreviation / sense used, and it’s not in Chambers) + AMY = “girl”
Definition: “disgrace”
I* Overabundant, we’re told (4)
INXS
INXS sounds like “in excess” = “Overabundant”
J* Genealogical tree about me as subject with broad-nibbed pen (6,1)
JESSIE J
JESSE = “Genealogical tree” around I = “me as a subject” + J = “broad-nibbed pen” (Chambers says that a “J-pen” is “a pen with a short broad nib”
J Group seizing power needs most of a month to trace army leaders (5)
JUNTA
JUN[e] = “most of a month” + T[race] A[rmy] = “trace army leaders”
Definition: “Group seizing power”
K* Reviewed The Kimono (5,4)
KEITH MOON
(THE KIMONO)*
K Family gathers round large oven (4)
KILN
KIN = “Family” around L = “large”
Definition: “oven”
L* Dawn goddess always appears in opposite sides (3,5)
LEO SAYER
EOS = “Dawn goddess” + AYE = “always” in LR (left and right) = “opposite sides”
L Financial backer suffers ruin outside city (3,7)
LOS ANGELES
ANGEL = “Financial backer” in LOSES = “suffers”
Definition: “city”
M* German novelist embraces fellow star of New Tricks (7,4)
MANFRED MANN
MANN = “German novelist” around F = “fellow” + REDMAN = “star of New Tricks”
M* Rejecting reply to teacher by Gypsy (9)
MORRISSEY
A reversal of: YES SIR = “reply to teacher” + ROM = “Gypsy” (the singular of “Roma”)
N Surely not HP when doubled (5)
NEVER
NEVER NEVER (i.e. doubled) is slang for Hire Purchase (HP); for example you might buy something “on the never never” or “on the HP”
Definition: “Surely not”
N* Singalong arranged but no gig! (6)
NOLANS
(SN ALON)* – the anagram fodder is from S[i]N[g]ALON[g], i.e. with the letters of “gig” removed
O* Orchids, originally unaltered, as ikebana requirement (5)
OASIS
O[rchids] = “Orchids, originally” + AS IS = “unaltered”. I think the “ikebana requirement” part is an extra definition refering to the moisture-retaining foam that’s often used for flower arranging, from a company called OASIS.
O It’s ours to bear! (4)
ONUS
If something’s ON US, it’s “ours to bear”
P* Booths Pepys dismantled (3,4,4)
PET SHOP BOYS
(BOOTH PEPYS)*
P Gratified with petition receiving some French backing (7)
PLEASED
PLEA = “petition” followed by DES = “some French” reversed
Definition: “Gratified”
Q Landing places are low reefs, it’s said (5)
QUAYS
“low reefs” might be “keys”, which sounds like QUAYS
Definition: “Landing places”
Q* Piece of slate (5)
QUEEN
Multiple definitions: A QUEEN is a “Piece” in chess, and one of the definitions of QUEEN in Chambers is: “a size of roofing slate, 3 feet by 2 (Thanks to Gaufrid for giving me a hint about the “slate” part of the clue!)
R First off, dictator ordered cheese (7)
RICOTTA
(ICTATOR)* the anagram fodder is [d]ICTATOR = “First off, dictator”
Definition: “cheese”
R* Maskarade gets up, holding on (8)
RONETTES
SETTER = “Maskarade” reversed around ON
S* Prophet eating egg, mostly (6)
SEEGER
SEER = “Prophet” around EG[g] = “egg, mostly”
S Sports attire young John English stowed in equipment on board (3,7)
SKI JACKETS
JACK = “young John” + E = “English” in KIT = “equipment”, all in SS (from “on board”)
Definition: “Sports attire”
T Shepherds steer into capital of Hautes-Pyrénées (3,5)
TAR BOXES
TARBES = capital of Hautes-Pyrénées around OX = “steer”
Definition: “Shepherds” – “tar box” to mean a shepherd wasn’t something I knew, but it’s in Chambers
T* Postgraduate works including supplement with touch of resignation (3,7)
THE SEEKERS
THESES = “Postgraduate works” around EKE = “supplement” + R[esignation] = “touch of resignation”
U* Even parts of sunlit areas on the reverse side — that’s wrong! (8)
ULTRAVOX
[s]U[n]L[i]T [a]R[e]A[s] = “Even parts of sunlit areas” + VO (verso) = “the reverse side” + X = “that’s wrong”
U To have lost consciousness is meaningless (8)
UNSENSED
Double definition: “to have lost consciousness” and “meaningless”
V* Leading vocalist with a poor single (8)
VANGELIS
V[ocalist] = “Leading vocalist” + A + (SINGLE)*
V Tidy light bovine (4,4)
VERY NEAT
VERY = “light” as in a Very light, a flare fired from a Very pistol + NEAT = “bovine”
Definition: “Tidy” – I don’t think VERY NEAT is a very good answer for a crossword clue, so I guess this was forced by the grid construction.
W* King leaves Welsh town for a bang (4)
WHAM
WREXHAM = “Welsh town” without REX = “King”; “bang” is a bonus definition
W Old way to make fun of small Mafia members (4,4)
WISE GUYS
WISE = “old way” (i.e. an archaic word for “way”) + GUY = “to make fun of” + S = “small”
Definition: “Mafia members”
X* Characters returning in the rain, exposed (5)
XENIA
Hidden reversed in “[r]AIN EX[posed]”
X Woody tissue destroyed elm after ten years (5)
XYLEM
(ELM)* after X = “ten” + Y = “years”
Definition: “Woody tissue”
Y* Youth leader circles round Azed (5)
YAZOO
Y[outh] = “Youth leader” + OO = “circles” around AZ + “Azed”
Y As Wisden is, with two Yorkshire openers catching out Laker (not Knight) (6)
YEARLY
YY = “two Yorkshire openers” around (LAER)* – the anagram fodder is “Laker (not Knight)”
Definition: “As Wisden is” (referring to the annual cricket almanac)
Z Algerine pirates’ vessel finding last vestiges of breeze on short stream (5)
ZEBEC
[bree]ZE = “last vestiges of breeze” + BEC[k] = “short stream”
Definition: “Algerine pirates’ vessel” (more commonly spelled ‘Xebec’, I think)
Z* Not completely sound asleep with one of the Spinners (1,1,3)
Z Z TOP
ZZ[z] = “Not completely sound asleep” + TOP = “one of the Spinners” (i.e. a (spinning) TOP is an example of a spinner)
This is the third ‘double alphabetical’ by Maskarade that I have enjoyed solving over the last year – they are right up my street and I love them. After entering my first four words (the S’s and W’s) in the only possible places in the grid, I found that two of the four 10-letter words and two of the four 11-letter words were also forced into their places, and the rest of the puzzle came out quite readily. I started the grid when I had 34 out of 52 clues solved, and as the crossers gradually went in the more obdurate answers became (for me) solvable.
Despite not having heard of quite a few of the themed answers, I had no great difficulty with any of the clues, which were of the usual high quality. The only one I had trouble with was DISTEL (‘Listed building?’), which I thought at first was DES RES. I also took some time over JESSIE J (a band I didn’t know), which was a cracking clue. TAR BOXES, which had to be that from the clue, is not known to many references, and it seemed strange to include that word in this puzzle, as the setter was not forced to do so by any themed answers in that vicinity.
There is a commendable economy about the clues created by this setter, but there is still wide variety in the wordplay and in the level of challenge – from the straightforward to the tricky.
Thanks to both Maskarade and mhl.
So glad the solution is finally published! I have been eagerly anticipating it.
I found the last MASKARADE alphabetical very dispiriting so my heart sank when I saw the Christmas special. But in the end curiosity got the better of me.
Unlike Alan B@1, I held back until I had solved about half the clues before I approached the grid (not a very logical approach I know). Well done, Alan, for using a more logical approach to the patterning of the puzzle. I do like your strategy of listing the same-length clues in columns, mhl, so will remember that for future such challenges.
I really relished this theme, as popular music since the 60s is a passion of mine, so this puzzle was a lot of fun for me.
Maskarade must have some special powers of prescience, as when the puzzle was set, George Michael, ex-WHAM, would have been still alive. Then reports came through that he had died on Christmas Eve. An amazing coincidence!
I failed on two guesses with Y and Z, bunging in YEMEN and ZADOK instead of YAZOO and ZEBEC, not having heard of the band YAZOO and desperate to make these last two fit. On the other hand, can I say ZZ TOP was one I managed to get early on in the exercise.
I did go up a dry gully at one point with FOUR SEASONS instead of FOUR PENNIES.
Lots of unknowns and therefore I resorted to several other guesses and online assistance at times. Had not heard of ALANG, BHARAL, BLUE SHEEP (as a band), CLOSE (as a cricket captain), EUPEPSIA, Juliette GRECO, FAIRFORD, HANSA or ZEBEC.
A very clever puzzle and a great blog, so many thanks to Maskarade and mhl for such an enjoyable Christmas gift, the pleasure of which has gone on well beyond its first unwrapping.
Thanks mhl. I Went straight to M and MORRISSEY jumped out at once. With an idea of the theme I did them in order and got a third quickly enough. With only four each of the longest ones it did fall into place eventually but there were some really far-out clues/answers that only Google could resolve. Phew.
I really enjoyed this, perfect for a Christmas break. I usually have a very systematic and logical approach to filling alphabeticals but this time, as an experiment, I just wrote in the answers as I went along wherever it felt right. I was surprised that it all worked out first time, and I wonder if I have wasted too much time in the past by being over-cautious.
I knew all the bands/musicians except XENIA, which came as a great surprise as I don’t much interest in pop music at all. The rest of the words were either familiar or guessable from the clues. My favourite clue was “Listed building” for DISTEL, a super clue.
Thanks to Maskarade for a great puzzle and to mhl for the blog.
Not bad for a Maskarade. Probably his least dull offering but still woeful compared to the entertaining and imaginative offerings we used to have from the late great Araucaria 🙁
This was my first Guardian puzzle for many a week.
To avoid the even greater tedium of counting the number of 8 letter words etc I entered all the answers into a spreadsheet. (Initially in the form AAAA AAA, AAAAA, BBBB BBBBB, BBBBB BBBB, ….. etc) Then I could set up dynamic statistics of word counts and lists in word count order. (Sorry if that means nothing to you!)
Where is the solution by the way. I have a solution which fits all these words into the grid but perhaps it’s not unique! This is the Guardian after all!
In Australian shearing sheds, tar was (and may still be) used to stem the flow of blood when shearers inadvertently cut the akin of a sheep. There was often a “tar boy” who responded to a call from the shearer by running up with a bucket of tar, since the shearer’s time was valuable – at least to the shearer, who is paid by the number of sheep. I am not sure if the tar had any antiseptic or disinfectant quality, like coal tar soap.
I don’t know if this provides any explanation of “tar boxes”, an expression which I had not heard
Thanks to Ian Weldon@6 for the Australian reference re the T for TAR BOXES clue. I got this through some kind of thought association with the Australian folk song “Click go the Shears”.
I think the shepherds in this clue were the only vaguely Christmas reference, unless we can count QUEEN for the traditional Christmas Message, which she was lucky enough to record before she became ill, and perhaps CREAM, which we had with our traditional plum pudding and pavlova.
I do recall a memorable Araucaria puzzle with a Christmas theme, back when I was a less regular solver, so I sympathise with BNTO@5, whose spreadsheet sounds amazing! However I think we should continue to celebrate great setters like Maskarade, who, IMHO, are continuing the work of the Reverend in a wonderfully intriguing way.
Thanks to Maskarade and mhl for a testing puzzle and a comprehensive blog.
Grateful for the extra days to complete this. I solved most of the clues before trying to fit them in the grid (apart from the S and Ws). I started by finding a place for the B and Y in PET SHOP BOYS. I was side-tracked by entering FIVE PENNIES which was also the name of a band and nearer to a tanner. I couldn’t work out king’s porridge. Who apart from Gaufrid did?
The Oxford Companion to English Literature says that Uriah Heep was guilty of fawning humility, forgery, and theft but doesn’t mention meanness.
Another masterpiece of grid-filling. I found this easier than many of Maskarade’s holiday specials, and was able to finish it in a couple of hours, possibly because most of the themed entries were familiar (not quite all though – XENIA and the FOUR PENNIES were new to me, as was ALANG and TAR BOXES, and I think ZEBEC was only familiar from a previous crossword – Araucaria used XEBECS in a jigsaw 25748 in 2012).
Thanks to Maskarade and mhl
Alan B @1 – Jessie J is a solo act not a band – I don’t follow recent chart stuff at all, but her “Price tag” was difficult to avoid a few years ago. It definitely helped to be an 80s teenager…
Pino @8
Good point re FOUR PENNIES.
The setter must have found GR+OATS irresistible to use for the wordplay, but, as the phrase about the king’s porridge is a clue to a clue rather than a clue to the answer, it did nothing for the solver, or at least most solvers, except to show a bit of cleverness after the fact.
Incidentally I had either FOUR PENNIES or FIVE PENNIES as my answer until one of them was forced.
Also incidentally, FOUR PENNIES is a groat, not groats.
I would just add that the crossword as a whole was brilliant, as I said earlier.
Just added this one to my clues spreadsheet, which just leaves the new years eve one more to complete the 2016 list – CREAM joins the joint leaders ADIEU, ENDLESS, EVENS, ISLE and STUD on 5 appearances each.
26 of the solutions were first appearances, but 19 of those were themers (all except BUCKS FIZZ, CREAM, ELTON, NOLANS, OASIS, QUEEN and WHAM). The others were ALANG, BLUE SHEEP, DEAFEST, FAIRFORD, TAR BOXES, VERY NEAT and ZEBEC.
Thanks Maskarade and mhl
This looked daunting, but in fact fell out pretty easily, though I did have a letter wrong – a tentative ONES instead of ONUS; silly, because I’ve seen a similar clue before.
I assumed that Maskarade had confused Uriah Heep with one of Dickens’s miserly characters – Scrooge, obviously, or possibly Micawber, though he was more financially incompetent than miserly.
One of my very rare contributions.
Too many obscure references for me, although I enjoyed having a go.
Maybe it was an Auracaria thing but I thought that in an alphabetical across clues always came first so over-complicated the positioning of ‘w’
Thanks, mhl and Maskerade.
No late split word trap as in the last seasonal puzzle.
Keith Moon was the clue that led to the theme for me.
Very enjoyable.
I enjoyed this puzzle, and think I finished it, but it has been a couple of weeks! Wikipedia helped with all the entertainers, as I’m not upto date with popular musicians!
Thank you to Julie@6 for your kind comment.
I have to admit that I can offer no etymological support at all for my suggestion. However, when I look up “tar box” in an online urban slang dictionary, I find a far less attractive explanation for the expression, which I am quite sure that Maskerade cannot have intended. At least I can claim that my version was relatively wholesome.
Thanks mhl and Maskarade.
We were confused by WHAM which is defined so doesn’t fit the instructions.
Well up to the high standard that this setter has set himself. I got the theme quite easily but what a motley collection they are!
I can’t think who would go to a festival with this bill. Who would enjoy JESSIE J,SACHA DISTEL and PETE SEEGER? I have some fond-ish memories of the FOUR PENNIES whose lead singer,Lionel Morton helped me with the demos of some songs I’d,well, concocted is probably the term. This was at Apple in Baker St and the songs were so successful that I became a college lecturer! Actually I am assuming that it the answer refers to that FOUR PENNIES rather than the American girl group of the same name.
Anyway,lovely puzzle.
Thanks MASKARADE.
I got most of the answers before putting them into the grid then I got into a real pickle. The right side went in like a dream but couldn’t get anything to fit on the left. it was several hours before I realised the my printout had chopped off the left column of the grid! I blame the printer – or the festive gin!
Ironically, the W’s and S’s were LOI for me. Even though “bang” made me speculate about WHAM and the possible theme very soon after getting KEITH MOON, it seemed that couldn’t be right as the themed clues weren’t supposed to have definitions (I didn’t fully understand “Savoyard castle”). Not helped by the fact that WISE GUYS (the definition of which as Mafia members I didn’t understand initially) is also a (very successful, German) band. It wasn’t till I resorted to a map of Wales and saw Wrexham that I was sure. However, what then occurred to me (but no one else here, apparently) is that “bang” may not be a definition, but a reference to the (ugh!) “!” in the name “WHAM!”.
XENIA was obvious from the wordplay, but who is she? Quite a few bits and pieces of clues I didn’t understand (including “groat”, though I pencilled in FOUR PENNIES quite early on), so pleased to have, nevertheless, completed it.
Tar-box – that’s the only online reference I’ve found. A lovely puzzle that went into the grid fairly easily. A definite teatray moment with ‘GR’s oats’ – sneaky.
Thanks setter and blogger.
Xenia is a 1980’s Croatian band, btw. No, I’ve never heard of them either.
C* Steve embraces Seb finally (5)
CREAM
Being Australian, knew all about tar and sheep, but this one defeated me. “Solved” it by removing “Seb” from “embraces” to get an anagram of “Cream”. Made no sense at all to parse it that way, but it worked for me.
For bang as “!”, that may not be in the dictionary, but see wikipedia (at Slang and other names for the exclamation mark).
Tony @21 – bravo! I couldn’t explain the unwonted definition of WHAM, but as you rightly point out the name of the band was actually WHAM!
I am very familiar with “bang” meaning an exclamation mark from computer programming. An interesting derivative of this is “shebang” meaning the pair of characters #! (hash-bang) which is often found at the top of shell scripts.
@PeeDee
Cheers. I thought I knew it as printers’ slang and, on reflection, looked in the old Chambers to verify that, without success.
“Shebang” is nice. I’ve seen an amusing poem or something that uses those programmers’ nicknames. It looks like a string of non-literal characters but means something when you read them by their nicknames. Or something. If I find it again, I will link you, in case you don’t know it (but I think it’s well-known in Unix circles, perhaps).
Very belatedly, after my explosions last time, I am very happy to say I thought this was a really good crossword puzzle. Thanks for listening anyone who did!