With Phi appearing earlier in the week, I wondered who would appear on Friday. Hob takes to the stage
It was always likely that there would be anniversary to celebrate if Phi was moved. So it was no great surprise to see a tribute puzzle.
Today, 8th March, is the 150th anniversary of the death of French composer HECTOR BERLIOZ. There are a number of thematic references in both the grid and the clues.
HECTOR BERLIOZ appears in the bottom row of the grid as 27 and 28 across. He composed the SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE that is entered at 6 down and 11 down. He also composed three operas of which two are referenced in the clues – Benvenuto Cellini; (3 down) and Béatrice et Bénédict (13 down). The third is Les Troyens (The Trojans) and we have both the specific HECTOR and the generic TROJAN in the grid. The orchestral work Harold in Italy is referenced in the clue at 12 across.. and BERLIOZ‘s Requiem gets a mention at 1 across. Finally BERLIOZ‘s full first name is LOUIS-HECTOR and we have LOUISE in the grid which in turn is shortened to LOUIS in the wordplay for KING (5 down).
This was a puzzle with stronger arts leaning than science as BOZ (Charles Dickens) also got in on the act at 26 down. The scientists did get a look in thought with STROBE and WEB BROWSER
I enjoyed this and during research for the blog. I learnt quite a bit about the star of the puzzle that I didn’t know before
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
| 1 | Prolong note at start of Requiem, having a pedal problem (4,3) |
D (musical note) + R (first letter of [start of] REQUIEM + A + GOUT (disease in which excess of uric acid in the blood is deposited as urates in the joints, etc, with swelling especially of the big toe; hence, a pedal {of the foot} problem]) D R A G OUT |
DRAG OUT (prolong) |
| 5 | Loves "taking five" on island in Balkans area (6) |
KOS (Greek island) + ([O {zero; love scores in tennis} + O {zero; love score in tennis}] giving ‘loves’, containing [taking] V [Roman Numeral for five]) KOS O (V) O |
KOSOVO (partially-recognized state and disputed territory in the Balkans) |
| 8 | Rotter seducing one waitress in road movie (6) |
LOUSE (rotter) containing (seducing) I (Roman numeral for one) LOU (I) SE |
LOUISE (reference the road movie, Thelma and LOUISE, portraying a timid housewife (Thelma) and an independent waitress [LOUISE] on a short fishing trip) |
| 9 | Tenor – man breaking into a trill? (8) |
Anagram of (breaking) TENOR MAN ORNAMENT* |
ORNAMENT (a melodic ornament consisting of a rapid alternation between a principal note and the note a whole tone or semitone above it) |
| 10 | Cultural objects from travelling fair where water turned to wine (8) |
Anagram of (travelling) FAIR + CANA (location of the first miracle where Jesus reportedly turned water into wine) AFRI* CANA |
AFRICANA (objects of cultural and / or historical interest that originated in Africa) |
| 12 | Show featuring first half of Harold in Italy? On the contrary (4) |
I (International Vehicle registration for Italy) contained in HAR (first half of HAROLD) This is the opposite of [contrary] ‘first half of Harold in Italy’ HA (I) R |
HAIR (reference the musical [show], HAIR, first staged in the late 1960s) |
| 14 | Kennel’s only inhabitant, one visibly affected by fighting (6) |
NELSON (hidden word in [inhabitant] KENNEL’S ONLY) NELSON |
NELSON (reference Admiral Lord Horatio NELSON who lost an eye in battle at Calvi during the French Revolutionary Wars; one visibly affected by fighting) |
| 16 | Note choir member delivered (6) |
TENNER (sounds like [delivered] TENOR [singer; member of a choir]) TENOR |
TENNER (ten pound note) |
| 17 | Rate singers, except their lead soprano (6) |
BASSES (singers) excluding (except) the first letter (their lead) B + S (soprano) ASSES S |
ASSESS (rate) |
| 18 | Sailor dispatched elsewhere? (6) |
AB (able seaman; sailor) + SENT (dispatched) AB SENT |
ABSENT (not present, hence elsewhere) |
| 20 | Cut made by 27, having lopped a third off (4) |
Anagram of (made) HECTOR (entry at 27 across) excluding (lopped off) OR (2 of the 6 [one third] letters of HECTOR) ETCH* |
ETCH (make a deep or irremovable impression) |
| 21 | Note 27 produced in court (8) |
Anagram of (produced) HECTOR (entry at 27 across) contained in (in) CT (court) C (ROTCHE*) T |
CROTCHET (musical note)
|
| 24 | Small motorbike, about right as transport for cops (5,3) |
S (small) + QUAD (small, powerful four-wheel-drive vehicle) + CA (circa; about) + R S QUAD CA R |
SQUAD CAR (police car) |
| 25 | Sort of lighting getting best room half lit (6) |
Anagram of (lit; drunk) BEST and RO (half of ROOM) STROBE* |
STROBE (flashing light) |
| 27 | Extremely tragic hero represented by one of the 4s by 28? (6) |
Anagram of (represented) (TC [first and last letters [extremely] of TRAGIC and HERO) HECTOR* |
HECTOR (TROJAN [4 down]. The TROJANS is an opera by BERLIOZ [28 across] in which the ghost of HECTOR plays a part) |
| 28 | Barman getting back capital after trading silver for oil (7) |
ZAGREB (capital of Croatia) reversed (getting back) and replacing (trading) AG (chemical symbol for silver) with OIL (BER LIO Z)< |
BERLIOZ (reference Hector BERLIOZ [1800 – 1869] French composer (he wrote musical bars; barman]) |
| Down | |||
| 1 | Couple hosting posh Party (3) |
DO (party) containing (hosting) U (upper-class; posh) D (U) O |
DUO (couple) |
| 2 | Some had it in for the Mother of the Gods (5) |
ADITI (hidden word [some] in HAD IT IN) ADITI |
ADITI (In the Vedas [any one of, or all of, four ancient holy books of the Hindus.], ADITI) is mother of the gods) |
| 3 | One such a Benvenuto Cellini, put up in Sydney’s place (5,5) |
OPERA (Benvenuto Cellini is an OPERA by HECTOR BERLIOZ) + HOUSE (to shelter; to put up) OPERA HOUSE |
OPERA HOUSE (well known landmark [place] in Sydney, Australia) |
| 4 | Slightly discontented janitor, originally a hard worker (6) |
Anagram of (originally) JANITOR excluding one letter (slightly dis-content-ed) I TROJAN* |
TROJAN (hard worker) |
| 5 | Man 8 tailed, for example (4) |
KING (LOUISE [8 across] excluding the final letter [tailed] E results in LOUIS. There were many KING LOUIS in France from 814 till 1848 [counting LOUIS-PHILLIPE]) KING |
KING (piece [man] in chess) |
| 6 / 11 | Piece from Fame a quintet plays, with hypnosis involved (9,11) |
Anagram of (from …(plays, with … involved ) FAME A QUINTET and HYPNOSIS SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE* |
SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE (composition [piece] by HECTOR BERLIOZ) |
| 7 | Special treat – I’ve gin in salad dressing (11) |
Anagram of (special) TREAT I’VE GIN VINAIGRETTE* |
VINAIGRETTE (mixture of oil, vinegar, seasoning and herbs, used as a salad dressing) |
| 13 | Beginning of Beatrice and Benedict’s quarrel interrupts River Safari, perhaps (3,7) |
(B [first letter of [beginning of] BEATRICE + B [first letter of [beginning of] BENEDICT + ROW [quarrel]) contained in (interrupts) WESER (river in Germany) WE (B B ROW) SER |
WEB BROWSER (Safari is a WEB BROWSER supplied with Apple products) |
| 15 | Despair as the role unravels (4,5) |
Anagram of (unravels) AS THE ROLE LOSE HEART* |
LOSE HEART (despair) |
| 19 | Beetle in which a Beatle started following Cliff (6) |
SCAR (cliff) + A + B (first letter of [started] BEATLE) SCAR A B |
SCARAB (type of beetle) |
| 22 | My present? Leaving behind newspaper for a man’s best friend (5) |
COR (gosh!; my!) + GIFT (present) excluding (leaving behind) FT (Financial Times; newspaper) COR GI |
CORGI (breed of dog; man’s best friend) |
| 23 | One adding decoration, perhaps, within ricercare (4) |
ICER (hidden word [within] in RICERCARE) ICER |
ICER ([cake] decorator) |
| 26 | Pseudonym overused in 28’s case (3) |
BOZ (letters 1,6 and 7, forming[used over] the case of BERLIOZ [28 across]) BOZ |
BOZ (pseudonym of the English novelist Charles Dickens [1812 – 1870] when he first published stories in newspapers) |
Super puzzle from Hob and great connecting notes from duncanshiell . I loved the Berlioz/Boz riff-I’ll check the dates now.
Surely 26d is a lift-and-separate: O[ver] “used in” B[erlio]Z
Thanks for a super blog, Duncan.
At the moment, I’m [almost] speechless in admiration of this puzzle – sheer brilliance, not only in the ingenious inclusion of so much thematic material but also in the excellence of many individual clues. Huge thanks to Hob.
[I parsed 26dn as Andrew did.]
Thank you to Duncan for explaining all the themed connections – thank you also to Hob for a great crossword – my favourite being 14a
The GK here is not in my field of interest but Hob always provides an entertaining brain exercise. Failed to get a few answers in the NW, not helped by assuming 1a would be an anagram of R + A PEDAL. A bit of misdirection that beat me – can’t win ‘em all.
On a side note, I’ve never liked QUAD, as in 24a, referred to as a motorbike, rather than a motorcycle. For me, bike means bicycle which means two wheels. Nevertheless, it is common usage to talk of quad bikes.
I’m a bit of a Berlioz fan – even went to Paris last year just to see Benvenuto Cellini – so I was pleased to see the theme. I’d forgotten Louis was part of his name, though, so 8ac was my LOI.
Technically, 27ac doesn’t actually appear in the opera 4dn as he’s already died when the action starts, but his ghost puts in an appearance.
@2 Andrew, @3 Eileen
Yes, that’s a more sensible parsing than my rather laboured attempt to explain ‘overused’
@6 Dormouse
The ghost got a mention deep in the blog at 27 across!
Good crossword where relative lack of knowledge about BERLIOZ did not hinder the solve because the clues were fairly precise.
I ticked DRAG OUT, NELSON and WEB BROWSER. I thought BOZ was a pseudonym for BERLIOZ, doh!
Thanks Hob and Duncan.
So he did. Misread it.
Thank you Hob for this excellent celebration of a great composer. Out of respect I listened to the Requiem this evening (LSO/Davis, 1969 version which still sounds fresh today). Fantastique stuff, Hob.
Late to the party as we were away for the weekend and deliberately out of reach of the internet. But we printed the puzzle before we went and found it most enjoyable even with the mention of Harold and Cellini in the clues giving the theme away at once – but then one of us has been mugging up Berlioz for a Recorded Music Society presentation this week. So as cruciverbophile said, Thank you Hob for this excellent celebration of a great composer. (Thanks to Duncan as well, of course).