A slow start for me today, but once I got going (or perhaps once I’d woken up properly) it all fell into place.
It’s Tuesday so we’re looking for a theme – in this case a musical theme, which wasn’t hard to spot because it covered half of the entries. I’ve highlighted the obvious ones in the grid below, but we could perhaps add KEYNOTE (which isn’t defined musically here, but could be), VIENNA (home or workplace of a number of composers, including both of those referenced in 11a), and VERDI as part of 8d. As a piece of grid-filling that’s 24a.
Some old favourites here: priest = lama, stag party = man do, one of the standard three-letter rivers, cricket slang, and barman = composer. But plenty of new ideas to enjoy too, especially for music-lovers like me. Thanks Radian for the fun.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | LAMBADA |
Priest guards naughty steps in Rio (7)
|
| LAMA (priest in Tibetan Buddhism) containing (guarding) BAD (naughty).
A dance from Brazil = dance steps in Rio. |
||
| 5 | EVASIVE |
Roundabout very like one’s stuck in the night before (7)
|
| V (very) + AS (like) + I (one in Roman numerals), all stuck in EVE (the night before).
Roundabout (adjective) = evasive = indirect. |
||
| 10 | OPUS |
Ring our lot about piano piece (4)
|
| O (ring) + US (our lot), around P (p = piano = musical term, Italian for “soft”, meaning quiet).
Opus = a piece of music or other artistic work; in music the term is used in catalogues of a composer’s output, so Opus 1 is the composer’s first published piece. |
||
| 11 | SCHOENBERG |
US composer‘s chosen eccentric Austrian one (10)
|
| Anagram (eccentric) of CHOSEN, then BERG (Alban Berg, Austrian composer).
Arnold Schoenberg: Austrian-born composer, lived in Germany, but had to flee from the Nazis and ended up becoming a US citizen, so the definition just about works. (There is also a US composer called Adam Schoenberg, but I assume Radian is thinking of the better-known one.). |
||
| 12 | JOANNA |
Miss a grand perhaps (6)
|
| Double definition. Joanna is a girl’s name (Miss); it’s also slang for piano (a rhyme for the Cockney pronunciation “piana”), which could perhaps be a grand piano. | ||
| 13 | MANDOLIN |
Picky types hold this stag party, getting nothing back (8)
|
| MAN DO (a party for men = stag party), then NIL (nothing) reversed (back).
A musical instrument played with a plectrum (pick), so mandolin players could be described as picky types. |
||
| 14 | ENRAPTURE |
Parent adrift approaching river entrance (9)
|
| Anagram (adrift) of PARENT, then URE (river in North Yorkshire, very useful to crossword setters).
Entrance (as a verb, with the stress on the second syllable) = enrapture. |
||
| 16 | AMATI |
They designed fiddles somewhat melodramatically (5)
|
| Hidden answer (somewhat) in [melodr]AMATI[cally].
Family of violin makers, 16th – 18th century; the eldest, Andrea Amati, created the standard design of violins, violas and cellos as we know them today. |
||
| 17 | STOCK |
Handle plant store, standard goods and cattle (5)
|
| Would you believe it, six definitions! The word has many and various meanings.
1: The handle of a whip, fishing-rod, or similar. 2: A scented flowering plant. 3: Verb, as in “stock up” = to build up a store of something for later use. 4: As in “stock answer” = standard, non-specific. 5: Related to 3: what a shop has available for sale. 6: Cattle, pigs, sheep etc on a farm. |
||
| 19 | PYGMALION |
Greek king, insignificant person, almost a hero (9)
|
| PYGM[y] (small or, metaphorically, insignificant person; almost = without the last letter) + A + LION (hero).
In Greek mythology, a king and sculptor who fell in love with a statue he had carved. (George Bernard Shaw reinterpreted the myth for a play of the same name; Lerner and Loewe later reinterpreted that as the musical My Fair Lady.) |
||
| 23 | LIBRETTI |
Product of Gilbert, heading off with it (8)
|
| Anagram (product) of [g]ILBERT (heading off = first letter dropped) with IT.
Clue-as-definition, though the last four words don’t really contribute to it as far as I can see. Libretti = plural of libretto = the words for an opera; W. S. Gilbert wrote lots of these, with his collaborator Arthur Sullivan writing the music. |
||
| 24 | NOT BAD |
Fair to be arranged with sign outside (3,3)
|
| TBA (abbreviation for “to be arranged”), with NOD (a sign of agreement or permission) outside it.
Not bad = fair = “good but not excellent”, or (in a different tone of voice) British understatement for “actually very good”. |
||
| 26 | MUSICOLOGY |
American in charge of old journal blocks my study (10)
|
| US (American) + IC (in charge) + O (old) + LOG (as in log book = journal), all inserted into (blocking) MY.
Study involving research and analysis of music, as distinct from studying to perform it. |
||
| 27 | TRIO |
Section of choir temporarily recalled group (4)
|
| Hidden answer (section of . . .) in [ch]OIR T[emporarily], reversed (recalled).
A group of three, in particular three musicians performing together. |
||
| 28 | KEYNOTE |
Leading economist briefly goes over books (7)
|
| KEYNE[s] (John Maynard Keynes, economist; briefly = last letter dropped) around (over) OT (Old Testament = books).
As in “keynote speech” = featured or important. |
||
| 29 | ADMIRAL |
One in drama at sea, line astern? (7)
|
| I (one in Roman numerals) in an anagram (at sea) of DRAMA, with L (line) at the back (astern).
Clue-as-definition: admiral = commander of a fleet of fighting ships. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | ALPHORN |
Poet’s current service inspires old long-distance caller (7)
|
| ALPH (a fictional river in the poem Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, so “poet’s current”) + RN (Royal Navy = one of the armed services), containing (inspiring, in the sense of breathing in) O (old).
Long wooden horn from the Alps, supposedly developed for signalling across valleys, but now more often used as a musical instrument. |
||
| 3 | BASIN |
Bowl brilliant opener when batting (5)
|
| First letter (opener) of B[rilliant], then AS (when) + IN (cricket slang for currently batting). | ||
| 4 | DESCANT |
Soprano’s brought in to transfer top notes (7)
|
| S (abbreviation for soprano in musical terms) brought into DECANT (transfer from one container to another).
A musical line sung with the main melody but at a higher pitch. |
||
| 6 | VIENNA |
After contest, woman raised capital (6)
|
| VIE (contest, as a verb = compete), then ANN (a woman’s name) reversed (raised = upwards in a down clue). | ||
| 7 | SUBNORMAL |
Below par albums Ron scrapped (9)
|
| Anagram (scrapped) of ALBUMS RON.
Of course “below par” is a good thing in golfing terms (completing a hole or course in fewer strokes than expected), but in most other contexts it’s used to mean “not as good as usual” = subnormal. |
||
| 8 | VERDICT |
Court supporting Italian barman’s decision (7)
|
| CT (abbreviation for court), after (below, in a down clue = supporting) VERDI (Italian composer = man who wrote bars of music = bar-man). | ||
| 9 | THE MERRY WIDOW |
Who’d rewrite my revised 10? (3,5,5)
|
| Anagram (revised) of WHO’D REWRITE MY.
Reference to 10a OPUS, a musical work: title of an operetta by Franz Lehar. |
||
| 15 | ACCORDION |
Agree with boss, pointing up instrument (9)
|
| ACCORD (as a verb = agree), with NO. I (number one = boss) reversed (pointing up, in a down clue). | ||
| 18 | TRIBUNE |
Champion melody impressing member (7)
|
| TUNE (melody), including (impressing = taking in) RIB (a supporting member in a structure).
Tribune = champion in the sense of a person upholding the rights of the public. |
||
| 20 | MONEYED |
Well-off male like Polyphemus losing heart (7)
|
| M (male) + ONE-[e]YED (like Polyphemus, a one-eyed giant in Greek mythology; losing heart = middle letter dropped). | ||
| 21 | OCARINA |
Music-maker’s old vehicle, trendy one (7)
|
| O (old) + CAR (vehicle) + IN (trendy) + A (the indefinite article = one).
Musical instrument: usually made of pottery, a rounded shape with finger-holes, played like a whistle. |
||
| 22 | UTMOST |
Mike opens fizzy stout, the greatest (6)
|
| M (Mike in the radio alphabet), inserted into (opening) an anagram (fizzy) of STOUT. | ||
| 25 | TUTTI |
Old king has what’s needed erected all at once (5)
|
| TUT (old king = alternative name for Tutankhamun), then IT (what’s needed, as in “that’s it!”) reversed (erected = upwards in a down clue).
Musical term indicating that all the musicians should play or sing together (as distinct from passages for a soloist or smaller group). |
A lovely puzzle, with a theme right up my street, too.
I’m fairly sure I’ve never seen a sextuple definition before, so that, along with so many themed answers, was pretty impressive.
I enjoyed the whole puzzle, with its many allusions – the Greek and Egyptian kings, Gilbert and Sullivan, one-eyed Polyphemus, the poet’s current and, of course, my favourite North Yorkshire river, in whose Dale I was this time last week – and it would be invidious to pick out particular favourites.
Many thanks to Radian for the entertainment and to Quirister for a fine blog.
Encore!
Great fun which bought plenty of pieces of music to mind, even if I did fail on JOANNA as CRS for ‘a grand perhaps’ at the end. Learnt a bit of Greek mythology along the way, including that PYGMALION was a ‘Greek king’ (I’d only ever heard the word in connection with the George Bernard Shaw play) and that ‘Polyphemus’ was a one-eyed giant.
Favourites were the ‘Picky types hold this’ def for MANDOLIN and of course the excellent STOCK sextuple def. Getting close, but not quite there yet, to Hoskins’ octuple def (in another guise and place) earlier this year.
Thanks to Quirister and Radian
We found this theme very much to our liking – and spotted it early on. What’s more we heard an ALPHORN on Radio 3 this morning. And, of course, there’s another musical reference in the clue for 18dn – ‘melody’ for ‘tune’. Favourite was MANDOLIN.
Thanks, Radian and Quirister.
Another fan of the theme.Loved Polyphemus, the picky types and the grand miss. Hanging my head in shame for forgetting Alph, the sacred river, which I got but couldn’t parse. Thanks to Radian and Quirister
Thanks both. To provide a balance to the comments so far, the theme is so much not up my street, it is in a neighbouring county, but most answers I regard as general knowledge, or fairly clued, though a fictional river clued as ‘current’ in ALPHORN (which I knew only as alpenhorn) was quite a stretch
Thanks Radian and Quirister.
I decided to comment here today as I predicted the nitpicking and outrage in the comments on the guardian blog would annoy me after a fine offering from Nutmeg (I read it all anyway – mea culpa). I must say Radian didn’t disappoint either!
To go against the grain of the theme my favourite today was ADMIRAL. I thought line astern was genius both for indicating L as the last letter but also as the line of battle following the flagship. Possibly my favourite clue of all time for its elegance.
On the whole not too difficult, but 2dn defeated me. Just couldn’t see it.
Really enjoyed what I found a pretty tough solve. Am finding the Indy puzzles quite a step up from the DT Cryptic & Toughie but am getting better. Fell 4 short in the NW – ought to have got LAMBADA & JOANNA but ALPHORN (only knew as alpenhorn) & DESCANT I’ll forgive myself for. My Greek myth is iffy at best so they needed confirmation & unable to parse a couple so thanks for the explanations
Took my time but the theme helped a bit.. not to mention the lovely cluing.. agree with Blah@7 that the surface of 29ac was splendid… also liked seeing LAMBADA in same puzzle as Schoenberg! .. interesting bedfellows..
I had STEER instead of STOCK for a while.. but it only ticked 2 or 3 of the definitions… failed to parse ALPHORN but not surprised when I saw the construction.. all in all a great puzzle..
Thanks Radian n Quirister