Today is theme day, and Knut has not disappointed, producing a tribute puzzle to 5D.
It would be interesting to know if Knut had submitted this puzzle for publication prior to 5D’s death at the end of November, as it bears all the hallmarks of a crossword that had been worked on and perfected over time, and not one that had been put together quickly over the last fortnight.
There are perhaps more references to the man and his work here than I have spotted, and I am sure that solvers will point them out. It makes perfect sense for the less widely known cruciverbal talent of the great man also to be marked here in this puzzle at 3.
My favourite clue today, and by some margin, was the utterly brilliant semi- & lit. at 5. I also very much appreciated the misdirection around “Gates” at 1D; the smoothness of surface at 14; and the saucy humour at 18. I hope that my parsing at 10 does justice to the clue.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01/05 | WEST SIDE STORY | Show with established soprano that is gold – the ultimate in Broadway
W (=with) + EST. (=established) + S (=soprano) + ID EST (that is, i.e.) + OR + <broadwa>Y (“the ultimate in” means last letter only); Stephen Sondheim wrote the lyrics to the 1957 Broadway musical West Side Story. |
| 09 | CLEANED UP | Made a fortune, having been in Bath
Cryptic definition: the “Bath” of the definition refers to a bath tub in which one gets “cleaned up”! |
| 10 | EXTRA | Minor actor that’s listed in the book along with 1D?
On a cricket scorecard, the extras will be listed alongside the wickets (=entry at 1D) for a given bowler |
| 11 | ENNUI | Burden, nuisance, a feeling of listnessness within
Hidden (“within”) in “burdEN NUIsance” |
| 12 | LENA HORNE | Jazz legend’s more slimmed down trumpet sound?
Homophone (“sound”) of “leaner (=slimmed down) + trumpet (=horn)”; the reference is to the US singer and actress Lena Horne (1917-2010) |
| 14 | SHYSTER | Dodgy lawyer retiring, rest ordered
SHY (=retiring, timid) + *(REST); “ordered” is anagram indicator |
| 15 | MONOPOD | Married Yoko, proud every now and then to get out camera attachment
M (=married) + ONO (=Yoko, i.e. the Japanese-American artist) + P<r>O<u>D (“every now and then” means alternate letters only are used); a monopod (or unipod) stands on one leg, as opposed to a tripod on three |
| 16 | FLOWERS | France reduces growth expected next spring
F (=France, in IVR) + LOWERS (=reduces) |
| 18 | PROSAIC | Capri; so terribly dull
*(CAPRI SO); “terribly” is anagram indicator |
| 20 | LADY-LOVES | Boy! Saint-Laurent admits 50 old mistresses!
L (=50, in Roman numerals) + O (=old)] in [LAD (=boy) + YVES (=Saint-Laurent, the French fashion designer)] |
| 21 | DREAM | Crazy about … about … about vision
RE- (=about, regarding) in DAM (MAD=crazy; “about” indicates reversal) |
| 22 | IN-LAW | Tiny flaws exposed part of one’s extended family
<t>IN<y> <f>LAW<s>; “exposed” means that first and last letters are dropped from both words |
| 24 | GOLDEN ERA | Game Leander played in halcyon days?
GO (=game, from China) + *(LEANDER); “played” is anagram indicator |
| 25 | SAXES | Son cuts reeds
S (=son) + AXES (=cuts); saxophones are wind instruments with a reed |
| 26 | ODOMETRY | Measurement of distance covered by assembling Tory demo
*(TORY DEMO); “assembling” is anagram indicator |
| Down | ||
| 01 | WICKETS | Western conspiracy nutter starts to taunt super-rich Gates
W (=Western) + ICKE (=conspiracy nutter, i.e. former weatherman David Icke) + T<aunt> S<upper-rich> (“starts to” means first letters only); wickets are small gates, openings |
| 02 | SWEENEY TODD | 17 Fleet St tradesman
Cryptic definition: Sweeney Todd was the demon barber of Fleet Street, hence a savage (=entry at 17), in the 1979 musical with lyrics and music by Stephen Sondheim |
| 03 | SEND IN THE CLOWNS | Work of famous compiler: ten down “Chinless bastard”
*(TEN DOWN CHINLESS); “bastard (=false, abnormal)” is anagram indicator; the song was written by Stephen Sondheim, an accomplished crossword compiler, for the 1973 musical A Little Night Music |
| 04 | DIDDLER | Con artist enemy of Batman changing US party allegiance initially
RIDDLER (=enemy of Batman); “changing US party allegiance initially” means the R (=Republican) at the beginning of the word becomes a D (=Democrat)! |
| 05 | STEPHEN SONDHEIM | He opens the mind in a creative way, embodying singular genius
S (=singular, in grammar) in *(HE OPENS THE MIND); “in a creative way” is anagram indicator; the ultimate semi- & lit. clue, referring to the multi-talented American composer, lyricist and crossword compiler, who died on 26 November 2021 at the age of 91 |
| 06 | OFT | Golf GTI shedding the odd bits frequently
<g>O<l>F<g>T<i>; “shedding the odd bits” means that all odd letters are dropped |
| 07 | YEAR-END | Longed for Geordie to do a turn at Hogmanay
YEARNED (=longed for); “Geordie (=NE, i.e. from north-east of England) to do a turn” means letters “ne” changes places |
| 08 | EPONYM | Like Knutsville named after Knut? Knut raised about £25
PONY (=£25) in EM (ME=Knut, i.e. today’s compiler; “raised” indicates vertical reversal) |
| 13 | REPLACEMENT | Reforming Temperance League, at first secured successor
*(TEMPERANCE + L<eague>); “at first” means first letter only is used in anagram, indicated by “reforming” |
| 16 | FOLLIES | Foreign Office spreads untruths about Liberal vanity projects
L (=Liberal) in [FO (=Foreign Office) + LIES (=spreads untruths)] |
| 17 | SAVAGE | Wild herb found around Virginia
VA (=Virginia, i.e. US state) in SAGE (=herb) |
| 18 | PESTLED | How I got my nuts crushed? Cheapest lederhosen trousers
Hidden (“trousers (=pocket)”) in “cheaPEST LEDerhosen”; e.g. hazelnuts could be crushed using a pestle and mortar |
| 19 | COMPANY | Carbon monoxide poisoning’s beginning to permeate numerous soldiers
CO (=carbon monoxide) + [P<oisoning> (“beginning” means first letter only) in MANY (=numerous)] |
| 23 | LAX | US airport weak on security?
LAX is the abbreviation used for Los Angeles International Airport |
I agree, brilliant and amazing to be set in such a short time, 10 days actually, but presumably it has to be got to the editor for checking etc a few days beforehand. It seems most unlikely that it would have been set coincidentally before the great man had died. SHYSTER reminds me of the great 1930s radio comedy “Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel” featuring Groucho and Chico Marx in the original, but adapted for BBC Radio in the 1990s. Thanks Knut and RatkojaRiku.
A splendid tribute – thanks to Knut and RR
Knut tweeted earlier that he set this on 29th November, and EiMi fast tracked it into publication. I’m not particularly familiar with Sondheim, but knew enough to get most of the references. 5D really must be in the running for clue of the year. And as RatkojaRiku said, this really didn’t look like something put together in a day or two.
Follies and Company are both Sondheim musicals. Haven’t spotted any others. Very enjoyable. Thanks to Knut and RatkojaRiku
What a great tribute. I am sure Mr Sondheim would have enjoyed solving this one. Thank you, Knut and RatkojaRiku.
A wonderful tribute indeed. I wonder whether any of Mr. Sondheim’s own puzzles are still available?
Thanks RatkojaRiku because your introductory line as it appears on the homepage enticed me into attempting the crossword without giving the game away specifically, which I appreciate – agree a fine tribute and great puzzle (good to learn about Lena Horne, nicely and fairly clued and like Tatrasman@1 I appreciated the reminder of earlier genius!) with lots of witty clues, thanks Knut.
Alliacol@6 there was an article in the Grauniad recently which may have some useful links:
https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/crossword-blog/2021/dec/06/stephen-sondheims-other-job-crossword-setter
Thanks for the blog, dear RatkojaRiku, and thanks to those who have commented.
It is the case that I only filled the grid for this puzzle on the day of Mr Sondheim’s death and wrote the clues the next morning, when I sent the puzzle to Eimi. The clue blogged above for SEND IN THE CLOWNS is as I originally submitted it…however, feedback (from a Mr J Henderson of York) suggested that the surface was rather unpleasant for a tribute puzzle and Eimi suggested a change to: Work of famous compiler “Resort twinned with Loch Ness” which I think we can all agree is much better. But for some reason, this change doesn’t seem to have been made in the final version.
Best wishes to all, Rob/Knut
Loved 11a, 14a; awestruck by 3d and 5d; took me ages to parse 1d.
I too wondered if this had been produced earlier than November, for the same reasons as RatkojaRiku; but I do know (and am often amazed) that Knut is awesomely capable of generating a very timely crossword in short order.
Funny, I had “Flywheel, Shyster and Flywheel” going throgh my head too!
Cheers Knu and RR.
Great puzzle and tribute.
I just wanted to add my appreciation. Thanks to Knut and R.
I’m something of a Sondheim fan – been listening to several of his shows the last week – so this was a pleasure to do. (When I got 1/5 I wondered if the puzzle might have been engendered by the new film version.)
An enjoyable solve and an appropriate tribute. We had a little trouble at first in the SE corner as we bunged in an unthinking ‘golden age’ for 24ac – but realised our mistake when we got COMPANY. Apart from the themed entries we liked DREAM, ODOMETRY and EPONYM.
Thanks, Knut and RatkojaRiku.
Just spotted this puzzle tonight, on the way to my bowls game. Needed something to do on the bus, and I’m still waiting for the book I reserved to be transferred to my local library.
Super puzzle from RJ, not terribly difficult, but a superb tribute to SS.
I don’t think there is much that I can add.
The opener 1/5ac and 5dn are marvellous clues, both with a totally apt surface for a tribute puzzle (that’s why I think they, in particular, stand out).
Unfortunately, I am somehow allergic to musicals in general but I won’t question Stephen Sondheim’s mastery in that area and what he meant to the world of music.
There are or were probably not many famous Americans with a knack for British crosswords, so I see why we should have a tribute to celebrate his life.
Even if, years ago, Arachne did it before (as did, as I read in the Guardian blog, Mr J Henderson of York himself).
Let’s say that Knut’s in good 19dn.
Of the non-thematic clues I very much liked 20ac and the playful 21ac that follows it (and others).
Many thanks to RatkojaRiku and Rob/Knut.