These clues that refer to other ones are a bit annoying at first, because it means that certain clues are initially insoluble, but here it was so slight and so well done that it didn’t really matter. I found this to be a typically pleasant example of Phi’s oeuvre, back on Friday as has been customary after some wandering that I could never really explain.
Definitions underlined, in maroon. Anagram indicators in italics.
The theme is the Ring Cycle of operas, indicated by 4dn and 18ac: Das Rheingold, Die Walküre, Siegfried and Götterdämmerung, in their English translations or transliterations.
| Across | ||
| 1 | HIGHBROW | Intellectual greeting on the radio, before b_____ argument (8) |
| “hi” b row | ||
| 6 | STUD | Boss cut reverie short (4) |
| stud{y} | ||
| 10 | CRACKNEL | Biscuit? Opening new line, start to enjoy tucking in (8) |
| crack [opening] n (e{njoy}) l | ||
| 11/30 | RHINEGOLD | 4 18 1 one girl had reviewed, dismissing alto (9) |
| (one girl h{a}d)*, the Ring Cycle Irrigator, if we go by 4 18 1, but although this is one of the operas in The Ring Cycle, one wonders what ‘irrigator’ is doing: well so far as I can see it isn’t, and in fact this is the first opera in the Ring Cycle: Ring Cycle number 1 | ||
| 13 | LOG-JAM | Congested situation? Preserve record first (3-3) |
| jam [preserve] with log coming first | ||
| 14/17 | TWILIGHT OF THE GODS | 4 18 4 in vampire film with ghost foe active around day (8,2,3,4) |
| I can’t parse this one properly, being bewildered by the vampire film: it seems to be (with ghost foe)* round d, but this leaves a loose L, I, G, T — in any case it is clearly Götterdämmerung, the fourth opera in the Ring Cycle [As NeilW@1 says, it’s Twilight with (ghost foe)* round d. Not sure that I’d have got this, not having heard of the ‘Twilight’ series] | ||
| 18 | CYCLE | Start and end of crappy clue not top-class? It gets repeated periodically (5) |
| c{rapp}y cl{U}e | ||
| 20 | IDRIS | I’d hazard ditching King for Welshman (5) |
| I’d ris{k} — a Welsh name, although I knew it better as the apparently thirst-quenching drink (Wiki tells me that it was a brand of ginger beer produced by Britvic) in that wonderfully hopeless advertisement of a while ago: ‘Drink Idris when i’s dri’ | ||
| 22 | SIEGFRIED | 4 18 3 soprano that is good and hot? (9) |
| S ie g fried — Ring Cycle number 3 | ||
| 24 | GIMCRACK | Trivial mechanism’s little good – I’m about to strain (8) |
| g I’m c rack | ||
| 26 | DROP IN | Avoid using one name in visit (4,2) |
| drop [avoid] 1 n — although this parsing may be wrong since it has ‘using’ as a link-word and that seems a bit odd [as Simon S@4 says it’s ‘avoid using’, for ‘drop’ in eg a sporting selection sense] | ||
| 28 | FORUM | Discussion area supporting … I’ve forgotten what (5) |
| for [supporting] um | ||
| 29 | VALKYRIE | 4 18 2 curtailed farewell to Catholic prayer (8) |
| val{e} Kyrie — Ring Cycle number 2 | ||
| 30 | See 11 | |
| 31 | RAYLEIGH | Essex town having year besieged by Elizabethan adventurer (8) |
| Ra(y)leigh — I haven’t checked it on a map, but it seems vaguely familiar as an Essex town | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | IRRIGATOR | Welcome sight in desert islands – reptile circling rivers (9) |
| i(r r)i gator — alligator | ||
| 3 | HECTARE | Cat roaming in this place will cover quite an area (7) |
| (cat)* in here | ||
| 4 | RING | Going on, ignoring Football Association’s call (4) |
| {FA}ring — this, with 18ac, provides the theme | ||
| 5 | WELL-WISHER | I hope for good things, successfully beginning to work with revitalised shire (4-6) |
| well [successfully] w{ork} *(shire) | ||
| 7 | THING | Pondering bumping off family in obsession (5) |
| thin{kin}g | ||
| 8 | DYE | Red and yellow would cover it (amongst many others) (3) |
| If Red and yellow are placed together, it’s a hidden: ReD YEllow, &lit. | ||
| 9 | FROLIC | Soldiers turned up in most of film escapade (6) |
| f(ro)lic{k}, the or being (OR)rev. | ||
| 12 | BLOOMING | Wretched book soon to appear? (8) |
| b looming | ||
| 15 | TRENDING | Stop following transactions popular on social media (8) |
| tr. ending | ||
| 16 | LOOSE COVER | Vague insurance for upholstery item (5,5) |
| loose [vague] cover [insurance] | ||
| 19 | CRIPPLING | Cold, like a stream, freezing usual movement? (9) |
| c rippling | ||
| 21 | SHRIMP | Weak character’s quiet tear about male (6) |
| sh ri(M)p | ||
| 23 | FORSYTE | Member of fictional family, say, lacking heart, but surrounded by strength (7) |
| for(s{a}y)te — one’s forte is one’s strength — referring to the Forsytes in John Galsworthy’s classic series of novels | ||
| 25 | MORAL | Man having no time for practical lesson (5) |
| mor{t}al | ||
| 27 | PLAY | Work to bring in a drama (4) |
| pl(a)y | ||
| 28 | FOG | Obscure lake avoided by hawk? (3) |
| f{L}og — hawk = flog in the selling sense | ||
*anagram
Thanks, John.
My daughter was a big fan of the TWILIGHT books and (subsequent) films – they’re about vampires, of course. So it’s just TWILIGHT followed by an anagram of ghostfoe around d.
Theme easy to spot but parsing gave me RHEINGOLD which held me up. Language mix-up. Otherwise the them sped the solve up. Thanks Phi and John.
Thanks NeilW. Blog amended. As I say there, not sure that I’d have got this.
Thanks Phi and John
In 26, I think DROP = ‘avoid using’ (eg in a sporting selection sense), so ‘using’ has a full function and isn’t a link word.
Thanks Phi and John. This was at the easier end of the Phi spexctrum, given the quickly-spotted theme. However, I take issue with ‘Rhinegold’ as nowhere could I find 4 18 1 spelled this way online, and I’m surprised it passed muster. I can think of alternative clues in NE corner that would have allowed ‘Rhein’ at 11A (scot, Clegg, tin) and surely the German spelling of the river would be allowed. Any comments?
Yes Simon S I think you’re right and shall in a moment amend the blog. Your point at 5, Tatrasman: at first I thought yes it was a good one, but I Googled Rhinegold Wagner and although I was asked if I meant ‘Rheingold’ one of the videos on the first page says ‘The Rhine Gold’ and another of them says ‘The Rhinegold’, so it seems to be OK.
Tatrasman @5
To reinforce what John has said, Wikipedia has “Das Rheingold (The Rhinegold)” on both its Ring Cycle page and that for the individual opera.
Like Tatrasman we spotted the theme at once (and wondered for a moment if a Klingsor – aka Alberich – puzzle had got in accidentally instead of the intended Phi). So the themed answers were write-ins and we were well on the way and solved the rest without any real problems, though a few answers, such as GIMCRACK, took a little while.
Favourite was FORUM.
Thanks, Phi and John.
Not too difficult after spotting the theme though I had to guess what the number after the RING CYCLE bit of the def. in the themed clues referred to.
I liked the ‘freezing usual movement’ def. for CRIPPLING and the reminder of The FORSYTE Saga in glorious B&W on TV long ago.
Thanks to Phi and John
Tatrasman@5: I have the famous Reginald Goodall recordings of the Ring in English on CD and the first of the set is clearly labelled The Rhinegold.
References to the Twilight Saga seemed to be everywhere a few years ago. I thought it would have been hard to miss. Maybe it’s just that I’m a fan of vampire fiilms (although I’ve never seen any of the Twilight films).