Guardian Prize 27,298 / Crucible

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This is the third Crucible puzzle on the theme of the evening’s event that I have blogged – and I’m certainly not complaining.

Three years ago, Crucible clued LAST NIGHT OF THE PROMS with the stunning &lit, ‘Gosh, isn’t the platform busy tonight!’, which is in my Little Book of All-time Top Clues and I make no apologies for citing it yet again here. And I’m going to repeat, too, what I said of his puzzle on the same theme two years ago : ‘A real joy from start to finish but over too quickly for me – but then I say that about all puzzles that I really enjoy.’

This time, the puzzle was not exclusively about the Last Night but almost all the clues or answers had a musical reference, which is quite a feat, I think.

I’m quite prepared for the ‘too easy for a Prize’ comments but I know several people who buy the Guardian only on a Saturday  – a couple of them primarily for the crossword – and I know that they will have enjoyed it as much as I did.  If you felt it was over too quickly, I recommend going back to savour the craftsmanship of the clues  and, in every case, their lovely surfaces.

My thanks to Crucible for another delightful puzzle.

Across

9 He conducted opera in backward province (9)
TOSCANINI
TOSCA [opera] + a reversal [backward] of IN + N[orthern] I[reland] [province]

10 Old blowers regularly play these (5)
OBOES
O [old] + B[l]O[w]E[r]S: almost &lit – but they’re not all [including my daughter] old

11 Contribution from Vanessa-Mae’s troubling conductor (7)
MAESTRO
Hidden in Vanessa-MAES TROubling

12 French composer considers cutting speed (7)
DELIBES
DELIBE[rate]S [considers, minus rate – speed]

13 Left Gershwin tackling British scales (5)
LIBRA
L [left] + IRA [Gershwin] round B [British]

14 Member of top brass better with French first lady (9)
TRUMPETER
TRUMP [better – how refreshing to see this word with no reference to the POTUS!] + ET [‘with’ French] + ER [first lady]

16 I prefer tonight’s controversial ballet (3,4,2,6)
THE RITE OF SPRING
Anagram [controversial] of I PREFER TONIGHT’S:  what a pity this work didn’t feature tonight! – but a lovely clue, all the same

19 Comedienne Phyllis beset first person with retorts (9)
DISTILLER
DILLER [Comedienne Phyllis ] round IST [first]

21 Instrumentalist picks this big name to tour India (5)
SITAR
STAR [big name] round I [India]

22 Crew occasionally hush popular violinist (7)
MENUHIN
MEN [crew] + [h]U[s]H + IN [popular] – this is going back a bit but, if I were asked to name a violinist,
this one would come to mind more readily than Vanessa-Mae, as being the first one I ever heard of

23 Composer‘s place full of filthy lucre (7)
PURCELL
PL [place] round an anagram [filthy] of LUCRE

24 Norma maybe rejects section of a report (5)
OPERA
A hidden reversal in A REPOrt

25 Briefly try old doctor, one with special instruments (9)
TROMBONES
TR[y] O [old] + MB [doctor] + ONE + S [special]

 

Down

1 Pretended to keep time, given a prod (10)
STIMULATED
SIMULATED [pretended] round T [time] – as a member of a choir, I loved this surface

2 Meet regular members of sestet during walk (8)
ASSEMBLE
S[e]S[t]E[t] in AMBLE [walk]

3 Ray preserves rare Hindu incantation (6)
MANTRA
MANTA [ray] round R [rare]

4 Queen performed overture to opera (4)
DIDO
DID [performed] + O[pera] – ‘Dido and Aeneas’ is an opera by 23ac

5 10 perhaps more certain to come across fellow boarder (10)
WINDSURFER
WIND [oboes – 10ac perhaps] + SURER [more certain] round F [fellow]

6 Sweet old man follows the money, as stated (8)
LOLLIPOP
POP [old man] after a homophone [as stated] of lolly [money]: perhaps a nod to Sir Thomas Beecham’s light encores, known as ‘lollipops’ – apropos 1dn, when I looked this up to check, I found that he apparently once said to a musician, “We cannot expect you to be with us all the time, but perhaps you could be good enough to keep in touch now and  again”

7 Maiden interrupts county cricketer’s fight (6)
COMBAT
M [maiden] in CO [county] BAT [cricketer]

8 River goddess lives around South Island (4)
ISIS
IS [lives]  around S [South] I [Island] – double definition: the River Thames at Oxford and an Egyptian goddess

14 Suite probed by mariners and pioneers (3,7)
THE PLANETS
Double /cryptic definition, referring to space probes Mariner and Pioneer, which should perhaps have a capital letter – and  Holst’s suite, The Planets

15 Elgar fiddled with dress, whatever the conditions (10)
REGARDLESS
Anagram [fiddled] of ELGAR and DRESS

17 Girl meets hunk, ditching second guy from Cork? (8)
IRISHMAN
IRIS [girl] + H[e]MAN [hunk, minus its second letter]

18 Mean to welcome ambassador eventually (2,3,3)
IN THE END
INTEND [mean] round His/Her Excellency [ambassador]

20 Operas in German too much for vocalist (6)
SINGER
Hidden in operaS IN GERman

21 Writer‘s copy found in Home Counties (6)
SCRIBE
CRIB [copy] in SE [South East – Home Counties]

22 Low note creates atmosphere (4)
MOOD
MOO [low] + D [note]

23 Play back-to-front concert (4)
PROM
ROMP [play] with its last letter moved to the front

29 comments on “Guardian Prize 27,298 / Crucible”

  1. Thanks Eileen. Most of these answers just wrote themselves straight in, especially after the theme revealed itself, and left me with a vague feeling of dissatisfaction. 9a took me longer than it should have and I spent a bit of time looking for a cryptic dimension in 14d. I had to conclude it just wasn’t there so thanks for the space probes which had quite eluded me. I liked the 14a surface.

  2. Thanks to Crucible and Eileen. I needed help parsing THE PLANETS, but yes, to my surprise this prize was easier than several this past week (for the first time I finished a Saturday puzzle in one sitting). However, I much enjoyed the musical theme and have no complaints.

  3. I read 8 dn as IS around SI, rather than Eileen’s interpretation, but whatever. thoroughly enjoyed this, and as she says, over all too soon…..

  6. I liked all the musical references even though my taste is more rock’n’roll, blues, country rock etc and not the sort of music featured or referenced here. So I am pleased to say that I had heard of 9a TOSCANINI, 12a DELIBES, Ira Gershwin for LIBRA at 13, 16a THE RITE OF SPRING, 22a MENUHIN and Elgar in 15d. However my musical knowledge has been very much broadened since I started tackling The Guardian Cryptics and reading 15² on a regular basis at the beginning of last year. I have the experience to thank for knowing both Norma in 24a and DIDO (and Aeneas) at 4d as operas, as well as 14d THE PLANETS suite by Holst. Today I added PURCELL and the “lollipop story” to my knowledge bank. All in all I feel my education in music outside my usual interests has been broadened.

    Thanks for a clever puzzle, Crucible, and an interesting blog, Eileen. I agree with the praise for 14a TRUMPETER from you, Eileen, and BigglesA@1.

  7. What a well-crafted introduction to your blog Eileen which made me re-appraise my initial “too easy” judgement. The reality seems to be there is always more to a puzzle than meets my eye – and coming to 225 (don’t know how to do superscript on a phone JinA) gives me a second bite of the cherry – or the chance to taste the icing on the cake :-). Thanks to Crucible as well.

  8. A pleasant enough puzzle but way too easy for a prize.

    Some people may only buy the paper Saturday for the puzzle (although this would seem to be odd when they can do the puzzle free online!). Unfortunately the fact that some of these people appreciate an easier puzzle doesn’t alleviate my disappointment with a virtual write-in!

    I wasn’t over impressed by the “smooth surfaces” either as clues which use such obvious wordplay are much easier to manipulate into “good surfaces”.

    It’s even more more galling when yesterday’s Brummie was eminently more suitable for the prize slot!

    Hmmmph! 😉

  9. I rather agree with BNTO and that doesn’t happen often I think Brummie’s puzzle would have made a better prize. I wouldn’t say this was a write in but I had quite a lot of the grid completed on the first pass. RITE OF SPRING was so.obvious that I thought it must be wrong! However,I can’t say I didn’t enjoy the puzzle but—!
    Anyway, thanks Crucible.

  10. Thank you Eileen.

    I’m French and although I completed the grid, the only solution I couldn’t parse properly was 14 across.
    Needless to say I started to question my knowledge of my own language and culture (French first lady? or a word for lady in French? Eter? Really?)

    I may have forgotten too quickly that there was a “with” in the clue, but it wouldn’t have helped. “with French” does not make a “et”. “and French” does. Sorry to be so fussy 🙂
    I really loved this crossword. Thank you Crucible.

  11. Thank you Crucible and Eileen.

    This puzzle was perfect for me, I love classical music, and, being a slow solver, it was a pleasant change to be able to finish in a reasonable time. I guess an easy prize puzzle now and again gives poorer solvers a chance to win, fair enough.

    As for favourites, far too many to list, such lovely clues.

  12. Hi Manu @10 – I’ve seen ‘and’ clued as ‘with’ a number of times: I don’t think I’ve seen this extra step to French before but it didn’t bother me.

  13. Hi Eileen. That was just me being too rigorous 🙂
    But I still think that despite being close in terms of meaning, “and” and “with” (“et” and “avec”)
    are very distinct and cannot be clued one for the other, at least in clues involving a foreign language.
    Proof is, I spent the weekend thinking about it and the penny never dropped 🙂
    But this was my last post on the topic. Because I don’t want to sound like a maniac hahaha

    Best regards

  14. I am a Saturday solver. I usually finish it in a couple of hours, spread over the weekend. If it is too hard and I don’t get finished on Sunday night… then I may come back to it in the week but probably wont.

    I have never entered the competition.

    This one was easy for me. I am not into classical music and I have never heard of Delibes or Diller. But it was easy because the theme was obvious from the start and none of the clues were very taxing.

  15. I used to be a Saturday solver, and didn’t mind the occasional easy puzzle. Over about 15 years I managed to win the prize 3 times. I now have a fine collection of assorted dictionaries. The non-dictionary prizes don’t appeal.

    Since retirement I have a go most days, but it has to be in the paper. Somehow doing it online or even printed out is not the same. Is this just me?

    Anyway, enjoyable puzzle. Thanks Crucible and Eileen.

  17. I’m afraid it’s even worse than that, Eileen @16. It has to be ink (fountain or gel pen). Biro and pencil just won’t do.

  18. Maybe not too difficult, but I thought the cluing was beautifully tight (pity about Pioneers and Mariners, though). I really liked “person with retorts” for 29a, DISTILLER.

    @BNTO

    I’m one of those who buys the Guardian on Saturday. Not only do I prefer to fill in the crossword in the paper (in pencil!), but it also makes it easier to dismiss the begging letters when I read articles online the rest of the week.

  19. COD was THE RITE OF SPRING. Wonderful anagram, beautiful surface.

    And delightful blog! Thank you Eileen — and Crucible too, of course.

  20. Thanks Crucible, Eileen
    I enjoyed the puzzle, though it was basically a write-in. After solving ‘THE RITE OF SPRING’ I checked the program for the evening and, like Eileen, was disappointed to find it missing. It had been performed about a month earlier by the National Youth Orchesra, though. Would have been a nice trick to have got the puzzle out on that day, since although we have ‘PROM’, there’s no specific reference to ‘last night’
    Interesting to compare with Enigmatist’s classic fm puzzle, both having musical clues: hard/easy/slick/spiky
    I agree with Manu about ‘with’ for ‘et’. ‘With’ for ‘and’ in English is a single step, whereas adding the element of translation makes it a double jump, for me.

  21. That rarity – a beautifully clued themed crossword. Miserably failed to parse TRUMPETER: the best clue IMO.

  22. Clearly a mixed reception for this crossword.
    I’ll have to admit that it didn’t take me much longer than two cups of coffee, yet it was a good puzzle from a cryptic point of view.
    Because Saturday a week ago it was the day of the Last Night of the Proms, this was a wholly appropriate crossword and therefore any comparison to Brummie’s puzzle is a bit out of order.
    That said, on previous (LNotP) occasions Crucible did make my brain cells work much harder (if I remember well).

    I solve so many crosswords in a week that I do not make a distinction between weekdays and weekend.
    Does anyone really buy the Saturday Guardian (£2.90, unless you shop at Waitrose 🙂 ) just for the crossword?
    Well, Eileen, if you say so.

    The one I didn’t understand was THE PLANETS (14d).
    Yes, ‘mariners’ and ‘pioneers’ should really be capitalised.
    But I’ve seen Crucible (usually more or less Ximenean) breaking this ‘rule’ before, so I should perhaps have known better.
    I didn’t think of space travellers, mea culpa.
    In the early seventies, at university, I studied astronomy as an additional subject.
    Believe it or not, I didn’t watch the moon landing live on TV ….

    I am also a naysayer when it comes to ‘with (in French)’ = ET.
    But I couldn’t really be bothered too much and just moved on.

    TROMBONES (25ac) took me back to about five or six years ago when I wrote a Christmas crossword for my colleagues.
    One of them was Tom Bonser.
    Get it?

    After Paul Lewis’s stunning performance of Beethoven’s 4th piano concerto (gosh, was it really 2010?), my enthusiasm for the Occasion became a bit less.
    For example, I didn’t like Juan Diego Florez (was it last year?) at all.

    Anyway.
    Many thanks Eileen for a glowing blog [ 🙂 ].
    I share your thoughts about ‘that’ Crucible clue.
    Thanks to Crucible too, for the entertainment, short though it was.

  24. I was too busy last weekend, and since, to give this a go, but I tried it today on the recommendation of a friend, and I’m glad that I did.

    The topical theme was right up my street, and my knowledge of the subject might have helped me to complete the crossword pretty quickly. I enjoyed it nevertheless and appreciated all the musical references.

    TRUMPETER was my second-last in (COMBAT being my last), and I needed to come to this page to fully understand it.

    Thanks to Crucible and Eileen.

  25. Hear hear, Eileen. I thought this was a lovely puzzle. I found it quite easy because classical music is one of my interests, but certainly not too easy. (No puzzle can be too easy for me.) In fact I was expecting complaints that the puzzle required specialist knowledge and therefore was too difficult!

  26. I agree with everything you said Eileen. Disappointing that your attempt to preempt them didn’t deter the usual curmudgeons. A very enjoyable puzzle…

  27. @cruciverbophile

    I don’t know much about classical music (I’m with Julie in Aus on that score), but I didn’t have any real problems. Had to find a French composer that fitted the checkers and confirm that Tosca was an opera, that’s all.

    @Alan B
    Ha! I had suspected you were a musician from other comments you’ve made in the past.

  28. Tony @27
    [Yes – I’ve been rumbled. I’m an avid listener of classical music but now only an occasional concert-goer. I’m a ‘musician’ more by my interest in music than by playing, in which I’m not very advanced.]

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