Two themes for the price of one!
Popular music and nobility are intertwined in this week’s puzzle from Brendan, possibly inspired by the fact that so many American jazz musicians had or adopted names with aristocratic or noble origins. So we have Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Earl Hines and Lady Gaga, Gladys Knight and Aretha Franklin for the musicians, with King (Lear) and (May) Queen and Baroness all joining the party. I do of course realise that Lady Gaga is not normally considered to be a jazz singer, nor are Gladys Knight and Aretha Franklin. And of course Lear is an anagram of Earl. I suppose Tristan and Isolde may also be thematic, as he was a knight and she was a princess. And we also have an Emperor in Caesar.
I would have thought it impossible for anyone to miss the theme, even for those not familiar with all the musicians mentioned; all are reasonably well-known so not too much specialised knowledge was required. The clues were certainly on the easy side for a prize puzzle, with a couple of easy hidden clues and some simple anagrams. Many thanks to Brendan.
| ACROSS | ||
| 8 | MANACLED |
A salt thrown into sea in chains (8)
|
| A NACL (Na Cl, sodium chloride, a salt) in MED (sea). | ||
| 9 | ICONS |
Idols contributing to music on stage (5)
|
| Hidden in “music on stage”, with perhaps a nod to the theme. | ||
| 10 | AQUA |
Leader in athletics by virtue of being light blue (4)
|
| A(thletics) QUA (by virtue of). | ||
| 11 | DILIGENTLY |
With due care, I quietly put on hat backwards (10)
|
| LID (hat,rev) I GENTLY. | ||
| 12 | TEMPOS |
Rates for musicians as part of system, possibly (6)
|
| Hidden in “system possibly” and a further hint of the theme. | ||
| 14 | TREMBLES |
Maiden surrounded by highly distinctive singers is mover and shaker? (8)
|
| M(aiden) in TREBLES (“highly distinctive singers”). | ||
| 15 | IN LIMBO |
Experiencing uncertainty with one negative reaction about part of body (2,5)
|
| LIMB (part of body) in I (one) NO. | ||
| 17 | TRISTAN |
Tragic knight going astray in transit (7)
|
| *TRANSIT. | ||
| 20 | SANCERRE |
Blunder dividing odd case also containing new wine from Loire valley (8)
|
| ERR (blunder) and N(ew) in *CASE. | ||
| 22 | CAESAR |
Emperor taking drink back in chariot (6)
|
| SEA (drink, rev) in CAR. | ||
| 23 | WELLINGTON |
Wife with one 24 down or another (10)
|
| W(ife) (Duke) ELLINGTON. The first thematic reference. | ||
| 24 | DEER |
A male one could become royal, but never does (4)
|
| “Does” here is the female deer; a royal is a stag with twelve or more points. | ||
| 25 | HINES |
Earl famous for piano playing excels, apart from first piece (5)
|
| (s)HINES. | ||
| 26 | FRANKLIN |
Old American statesman is blunt, taking nothing back (8)
|
| FRANK, NIL (rev). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | MAY QUEEN |
Blossom with rock band as girl selected annually (3,5)
|
| A simple charade; it is of course a coincidence that (Sir) Brian May was the lead guitarist of Queen. | ||
| 2 | GAGA |
Silence a so-called lady singer (4)
|
| GAG A. “So-called” just tells us that the singer is called Lady Gaga, it’s not a derogatory assertion (I think). | ||
| 3 | GLADYS |
Good woman’s soulful knight, so-called? (6)
|
| G(ood) LADY’S; another musical reference, this time to Gladys Knight (and the Pips). | ||
| 4 | ADULATE |
Excessively praise? Grown-up mostly scoffed (7)
|
| ADUL(t) ATE. I assumed that this was a back-formation from the noun adulation, but Chambers does not support this. | ||
| 5 | KING LEAR |
Drama in family, tragically regal (4,4)
|
| KIN (family) *REGAL. Almost an & lit clue; certainly very descriptive. | ||
| 6 | COUNT BASIE |
Rely on foundation that includes one jazz great (5,5)
|
| COUNT (rely on), I (one) in BASE (foundation). | ||
| 7 | ISOLDE |
Princess lied so badly — for her lover, see below (6)
|
| *(LIED SO). The partner of Tristan at 17 across. | ||
| 13 | PRINCELING |
Redesign ring with pencil for minor royal (10)
|
| *(RING PENCIL). | ||
| 16 | BARONESS |
Save your son for noblewoman (8)
|
| BAR (save) ONE’S S(on). | ||
| 18 | ACADEMIC |
eg fellow that’s practically irrelevant (8)
|
| Double definition. | ||
| 19 | RECTIFY |
Make more concrete outside court? Right (7)
|
| CT (court) in REIFY (make more real, or concrete), | ||
| 21 | ARETHA |
A change of heart for 26, queen of her genre (6)
|
| A *HEART; Aretha Franklin, the “Queen of Soul”. | ||
| 22 | CONRAD |
Lord Jim was title for him, misspelt on card (6)
|
| *(ON CARD). | ||
| 24 | DUKE |
One of two used by boxer, titleholder (4)
|
| Cryptic definition. |
Hmm. The clues were almost as obvious as the the theme(s), I’m afraid. I like my weekend puzzles to last until Tuesday, but this one was over soon after breakfast on Saturday. (And I don’t eat a huge breakfast.)
Impeccably and elegantly clued by Brendan (well done for finding another new way to clue KING LEAR!) and equally well blogged by bridgesong. Thanks both.
Thanks bridgesong. A pleasant interlude that was over rather too quickly, it was only the SE corner that held out the longest. REIFY was new to me and FRANKLIN was slow to emerge. I didn’t miss the theme this time but the finer points of it eluded me.
Thanks Brendan for another expertly crafted crossword. Yes, it was easy for a prize but it was nonetheless very enjoyable. My favourites were CAESAR, FRANKLIN, COUNT BASIE, ARETHA, and CONRAD. As usual there were no bad clues. Thanks bridgesong for the blog.
Lots of great ear food here. Saw Gladys Knight 50 years ago, and she’s still touring! Thanks B and b.
When I did this last weekend, I seemed to get onto Brendan’s wavelength early too and enjoyed uncovering the layers of references to musicians/music and the noble/royal titles. Lots of fun! Many ticks but 23a WELLINGTON and 21d/26a ARETHA FRANKLIN were probably my favourites. Brendan is a stand-out setter in my books and bridgesong’s blog was a good read too. Sincere thanks to both.
Certainly on the easy side, but none the worse for that. I’ve seen the titled musicians theme before, with the usual Jazz aristocrats, but Brendan cast his net much wider, and I really liked the addition of the soulful knight and queen. Favourites among the unthemed clues were MANACLED (for the salt) and the (somewhat snarky) ACADEMIC. Nicely clued, Brendan, and nicely blogged, bridgesong.
Thought this was fun although had three at the end that took me ages and didn’t parse one of them – DEER
Liked MANACLED my FOI and the anagram lovers ISOLDE and TRISTAN
Other favourites included: SANCERRE, COUNT BASIE, WELLINGTON, ACADEMIC
Couldn’t decide if the theme was aristocracy or musicians – I see it’s both.
Thanks Brendan and bridgesong
Thanks for the blog, I was very pleased to see GLADYS and Lord JIm in the prize puzzle.
The (W)ELLINGTON idea is common but cleverly done here, also the “does” idea is used often but it was neat to have it right at the end of the sentence for DEER . MANACLED was an elegant use of a chemical formula. One day we will have FRANKLIN clued using the wonderful Rosalind.
Not too worried about “easy for a prize” but a little too easy for our usual Sunday brunch session, perhaps. Like others, I liked MANACLED, and also the Conrad clue.
[Sancerre was topical here because a bottle had just been got out for Sunday evening. Some bottle age is a good thing for Sancerre, I reckon. This was a 2019 and was lovely]
An easy one, as all have said, but thanks, Brendan and bridgesong, all the same. I wondered if there was a nod towards today’s coronation, with all the titled folk – at Edward VII’s, the archbishop put the crown on him back to front (see 11 across).
At 17a, I treated the anagram as of ‘tragic n [= knight]’, and first entered ‘carting’ (for transit??). So it was helpful that 7d put me right.
Good clues for KING LEAR, DEER and others – I thought CONRAD was a bit too easy.
Trademark Brendan overlapping themes, very satisfying. KING LEAR was a brilliant clue-as-definition.
Just like sjshart, I was initially confident that 17a was CARTING – anagram of “tragic” and chess knight N, definition “transit”. It seems to work perfectly!
(Thanks Roz @8 – I did like 22d 🙂 )
Many thanks Brendan and bridgesong.
Always a treat to see a Brendan puzzle and this was no exception. The theme of jazz aristocracy was right up my street and the Wellington solution took me back over 60 years. I was having a conversation at work about “the Duke” when a passing colleague enquired, “Are you referring to Elly or Welly?” I’ve made the connection between the two ever since, so it was pleasing to see that after all this time it had eventually served some purpose.
Thanks to Brendan for the pleasure and for reviving the memory of the wit of a long deceased colleague.
Fairly straightforward for a Prize puzzle but enjoyable, nonetheless.
TILT is reify. I’ve got used to seeing does and thinking of DEER, but that was a good clue anyhow. I also enjoyed the semi-&lit KING LEAR.
Thanks Brendan and bridgesong.
Liked GLADYS.
New for me: jazz pianist Earl HINES.
After solving the puzzle, I saw the theme of (mostly jazz/black) musicians and singers – Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Earl Hines, Aretha Franklin, Lady Gaga, Prince.
Thanks, both.
CHAPEAU!
Michelle @2: I’d missed the fact that Prince fits into both categories.
I enjoyed this while it lasted. When I first started doing Cryptics, I used to look for the “hiddens” as a way in. Now they are often the last to solve, as was the case with TEMPOS here.
Thanks, Brendan and bridgesong. This was fun, and mostly easy except for DEER, which I couldn’t solve until I got to the check button. I thought it was “duck”, with there being a special word for a male one. And that, of course, kept me out of ACADEMIC.
Thanks, both.
Couldn’t swear, but I’m pretty sure the travesty of Rosalind’s erasure has been aired here before, Roz @8.
A 4-letter singer ending in A had to be ELLA until I
got the other crosser. Was Brian MAY of QUEEN meant to be part of the musical theme?
I tried to think of others who might have fitted but onlly came up with three, King Oliver, Sir Charles Thompson and Lord Beginner of calypso fame (“those two little pals of mine, Ramadhin and Valentine”).
Thanks to Brendan for a theme that unusually I spotted and that was within my GK and to bridgesong.
A double theme so well chosen and well implemented. I particularly liked the clue to WELLINGTON, giving us two dukes with great economy.
Thanks to Brendan and bridgesong.
I thought this was too fun to be worried about it being too easy.
ginf @4: I saw Gladys Knight in concert just two years ago. Still great. [It was at Ravinia, the summer home of the CSO; we figured an outdoor concert would be a decent return from Covid isolation after we’d gotten our shots. Anyway, she’s now in the phase of her career (the revered elder statesman phase) when she plays places like Ravinia.]
[I’ve also seen Lady Gaga live. Missed Prince, Queen, and Aretha, and I’m fairly sure the others here were dead before I had heard of them.]
Should’ve mentioned I was expecting Nat “King” Cole to put in an appearance, but was of course disappointed.
Well, for obvious reasons I also liked GLADYS! (Thanks Brendan). Haven’t met ADULATE or REIFY before, but no problem with either – in fact, few problems with this at all. I even spotted the salt. Nice to see a wine that isn’t ASTI, too. Favourites DEER and KING LEAR.
Was it Brendan’s choice to make this a prize puzzle? If it had been a regular weekday one, I suspect there would have been fewer complaints that it was too easy. At least everyone agreed that it was elegantly clued and the thematic content was well done and enjoyable.
Brendan remains for me the best grid-filler around, and his puzzles, regardless of degree of difficulty, are always a source of great pleasure.
Thanks B&B for the fun.
[ Cellomaniac@25 please note that I did NOT say it was too easy following previous discussions with you ]
Thanks, bridgesong and everyone. I don’t have any control over what days my puzzles appear.
Very nice X-word, not hard even for me; great to see some more obscure musicians (and a less known Wine!) get some airtime
My LoI DEER – it took a while for the PDM! Worth the wait Though on reflection I’m sure the word-play of DOES as noun and verb has been round a while (my suspicion is it lo v predates cryptic crosswords).
Thanks Brendan and bridges on and all the other contributors on this noblest (!) of blogs
In 1D, we couldn’t understand how “blossom” translated into “May.” Or are we missing something?
Pianola, I had the same question. It turns out that there are in fact several different flowering plants called either the may flower or the mayflower.
Pianola @29: the third meaning of the noun May in Chambers is May blossom (but only when uncapitalised).
MAY is the blossom of the Hawthorn tree or bush , incredibly white and beautiful.
” Ne’er cast a clout til May is out ” May here referring to the hawthorn blossom which will be out very soon.
Brilliant as ever.
Good fun. Roz @32, funnily enough I used that phrase last week but didn’t realise it referred to the flower. So thanks for that TILT along with reify.
Ta Brendan & bridgesong.
Very enjoyable. Although the name Earl HINES was registered somewhere in my brain, allowing me to solve 25ac with the N and S, I didn’t realize what a brilliant musician he was and I’m grateful to Brendan for bringing him to the forefront of my attention.
Always thought “till may be out” referred to the end of the month of May, so thanks to Roz@32 for setting me right.
Can’t be many words containing the sequence NACL giving the opportunity to clue it with “salt” (not ‘a salt’).
24dn is a double definition: DUKE is (American?) slang for fist (two of which are used by a boxer).
Tony Collman @35: how about TABERNACLE and BARNACLE? The latter word in particular would seem to lend itself to a salty clue.
AlanC and Tony , I love the old sayings , the farms around us have hawthorn hedgerows so will look spectacular soon , a bit late this year with the cooler spring.
Bridgesong , BARNACLE would be ideal for a Cyclops puzzle.
Tony , NACL could be salt, it is commom table salt , or it could be A salt, there are numerous others . For this clue the A is actually separate.
10 Across. The clue unifying both themes seems to have been missed by all. Aqua, the Europop band famous to a generation for their song ‘Barbie Girl’. Ken and Barbie were often characterised as aristocracy, most notably in the Camelot set. Oops, can’t find my tongue, it must be somewhere in my cheek I think…
Bridgesong@36, good spots!
Roz@37, yes, thank you, I have my O-, A- and S-levels in Chemistry. I meant in the clue, of course. Is BARNACLE ideal for Cyclops because the part that isn’t NACL is BARE?
Salt on board with nothing on that’s an impediment (8)
NACL ‘on board’ BARE
def: that’s an impediment (since it causes hydrodynamic drag)
Tony@39 I never knew that you were so fond of philately.
I can think of clues for BARNACLE that would only really be suitable for Cyclops.
[Roz, maybe something about clinging one’s bottom? Do tell. I have a friend called Barnacle and I’d like to send him a juicy one.]
Nothing like a dodgy homophone to spark lively debate in comments:
One grips the bottom with gloves off, I thought you said? (8)
Late to the show but will check back to see if Roz @39 explains her “philately”. Enjoyed Brendan’s noble-jazz puzzle too. Has the brilliant songsmith McTell ever been clued or themed?
Tony@42 you are much better than me at writng clues.
Choldunk@44 – All science is physics , the rest is just stamp collecting – Ernest Rutherford.
[Roz, having qualifications in ‘philately’ helped me win a place to study Physics. Thanks for your philattery; I was surprised when you said you could write clues in the style of Cyclops, as you’ve always said you’re no good at setting, only solving.]
[Choldunk@44, Ralph, or Blind Willie?]
[Very late to check back. Thanks, Roz and Tony C. Starting out as a mathematician who hated physics, the Rutherford comment never registered with me. “Stamp collecting” didn’t feature much in the hydrology I ended up in. It was fun telling a patient vicar … visiting to explain baptism … of some of the amazing properties of H2O.]