Another highly enjoyable geographically themed puzzle in the FT’s Sunday series. Find it on the FT website to print or solve interactively, or use the FT’s smartphone app.
The preamble: “A cryptic puzzle themed on one particular country. The name of the country should be inserted at 4 down. Work out the name of the country by solving the *asterisked clues, all undefined – their solutions have some relevance to the country, such as its places, famous people, culture, language”
I like to get these blogs out early but was held up this morning by the puzzle not being available to import to the blogging utility, so I had to type out all the clues manually. There seems to be some glitch on the FT website – last Sunday’s News Puzzle by Neo has appeared in today’s slot so at the time of writing you can only solve using the app.
Anyway, technical stuff aside, I very much enjoyed this puzzle, helped by the country coming to me early with one of the first clues I solved, 10a NECKAR. I do enjoy Gozo’s light and breezy style, though there are a few details that purists won’t like. Still, the fun factor far outweighs any gripes for me.
Gozo has managed to cram a very impressive 18 thematic entries into the grid, including the key word GERMANY at 4 down – 19 if you include the punning wordplay at 9a. Favourites for me were the lovely anagram at 6/22 UNTER DEN LINDEN with the misleading use of 19 (not a cross-reference to another clue, as I first thought) and 22d WURST for its neat wordplay and amusing surface.
Thanks, Gozo!
| ACROSS | ||
| 8 | YULETIDE |
We hear you will get linked at this time of year (8)
|
| Sounds like (we hear) “YOU’LL” (you will) + “TIED” (linked) | ||
| 9 | HANDLE |
Sounds like thematic composer will deal in stolen goods (6)
|
| Sounds like “HANDEL” (thematic, ie German composer) | ||
| 10 | NECKAR |
* Part of the Dvorak centenary retrospective (6)
|
| Hidden (part of) and reversed (retrospective) in dvoRAK CENtenary
A major river that flows through SW Germany. |
||
| 11 | MERCEDES |
* This compiler at onset of rubella, gives up
|
| ME (this compiler) + first letter (onset) of Rubella + CEDES (gives up)
German luxury automotive brand, owned by the Daimler group. |
||
| 12 | IDOLISING |
Dig in soil when greatly admiring (9)
|
| Anagram of DIG IN SOIL
Easy enough to deduce though the clue appears to be missing a conventional anagram indicator. |
||
| 13 | EDITS |
Polished text of Kidnapped it seems
|
| Hidden in kidnappED ITSeems
The definition works best if you consider EDITS as a noun. |
||
| 15 | STRAUSS |
* Find out about abstract art (7)
|
| SUSS (find out) containing (about) an anagram (abstract) of ART
Richard Strauss, German late Romantic/early Modern composer, best known for his tone poems and operas. His Vier Letzte Lieder are a personal favourite of mine. |
||
| 17 | ASININE |
Stupid, like one number (7)
|
| AS (like) + I (one) + NINE (number) | ||
| 20 | BLITZ |
* Second-rate literature by unknown (5)
|
| B (second-rate) + LIT (literature) + Z (used to denote an unknown number in algebra)
German word for lightning or flash, used by British media to describe the German WWII aerial raid on Britain in 1940-41. |
||
| 21 | PACHELBEL |
* Drunken chap left after 7 (9)
|
| Anagram (drunken) of CHAP + ELBE (solution to 7) + L (left)
Johann Pachelbel, German organist and composer of the Baroque period, best known for his Canon in D. |
||
| 24 | MAX BRUCH |
* Crashed a BMX before game by church (3,5)
|
| Anagram (crashed) of A BMX + RU (game = rugby union) + CH (church)
German composer of the Romantic period, best known for his violin concertos. |
||
| 26 | MUNICH |
* Noisily eat food about one (6)
|
| MUNCH (noisily eat food) about I (one)
Third-largest city in Germany and capital of Bavaria, famous for its October beer festival among many other things. |
||
| 27 | BRAHMS |
* Old lines from M*A*S*H (6)
|
| BR (old lines – British Rail, the national rail company pre-privatisation) + anagram of MASH
Johannes Brahms, another German Romantic composer – they did rather churn them out, didn’t they? Again the clue seems to lack a conventional anagram indicator (“from”?) but this didn’t hold me up too long. |
||
| 28 | UNNEEDED |
Unnecessary development of dune and dene (8)
|
| Anagram (development) of DUNE DENE | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | JUGENDSTIL |
* Milk container with tips lit up (10)
|
| JUG (milk container) + ENDS (tips) + reversal (up) of LIT
Early 20th-century German art movement, counterpart of the French Art Nouveau. The name literally means “youth style”. |
||
| 2 | MERKEL |
* Low-ranking RAF officer with wood, cycling (6)
|
| ERK (low-ranking RAF officer) + ELM (wood) cycling the last letter to the start
Angela Merkel was German Chancellor from 2005 to 2021. ERK is old RAF slang, a diminutive form of Aircraftman, the lowest rank in the early days of the RAF, but also used generically. |
||
| 3 | DIARISTS |
Bad joints reported by regular writers (8)
|
| Sounds like (reported) “DIRE WRISTS” (bad joints)
This may be one of those homophones that doesn’t work perfectly for everyone but it amused me. |
||
| 4 | GERMANY |
* [See Setter notes] (7)
|
| The thematic lynchpin of the puzzle. | ||
| 5 | THERE |
Consolation, if repeated, at that point (5)
|
| THERE, THERE (the solution if repeated) is a comforting phrase typically used by a parent to a small child. | ||
| 6,22 | UNTER DEN LINDEN |
* 19 Lund Rd getting rebuilt (5,3,6)
|
| Anagram (getting rebuilt) of NINETEEN LUND RD
The boulevard in the German capital Berlin that runs from the City Palace to the Brandenburg Gate, so-called for the Linden trees that line it. |
||
| 7 | ELBE |
* Coming from Heidelberg (4)
|
| Hidden in (coming from) heidELBErg
Major European river that rises in Czechia and flows through Germany to reach the North Sea near Hamburg. |
||
| 14 | TENDENCIES |
Awfully indecent and best-limited inclinations (10)
|
| Anagram (awfully) of INDECENT + middle letters (limited) of bESt | ||
| 16 | AUTOBAHN |
* Car embargo outside hospital (8)
|
| AUTO (car) + BAN (embargo) containing (outside) H (hospital)
German for motorway and the name of a 1974 album by German electronic music group Kraftwerk. |
||
| 18 | SCHUMANN |
* Spoke of the worker at last (8)
|
| Sounds like (spoke of) “SHOE MAN” (worker at last)
Robert Schumann, yet another German composer of the Romantic period and famous as a virtuoso pianist. “Shoe man” is almost a literal translation of his name. |
||
| 19 | BAUHAUS |
* Vehicle circling gold hall. Not half (7)
|
| BUS (vehicle) containing (circling) AU (chemical symbol for gold) + HA (hall, not half)
German art school designed by Walter Gropius, and the movement of the 1920s named after it that combined principles of craft and fine art, notably in the fields of design and architecture. |
||
| 22 |
See 6
|
|
| 23 | WURST |
* Lowest quality university replaces Oxford at the top (5)
|
| WoRST (lowest quality) with U (university) replacing the O (Oxford at the top)
German for sausage, a food item of which the country famously has many, many varieties. |
||
| 25 | ACRE |
Dover-Calais’s back-up port (4)
|
| Hidden (indicated by the possessive ‘s) and reversed (back-up) in dovER-CAlais
Port city in Israel. |
A lovely puzzle and an excellent blog.
Thanks, Gozo and Widdersbel!
Liked SCHUMANN. The ‘last’ trick may not be new. Still, it
misled me for a while.
I hadn’t tried one of these Sunday FT puzzles before so it was a pleasant surprise to find it doable and entertaining. Like Widdersbel NECKAR got me started off in the right direction. Pleased to see so many musicians and only one reference to the war.
For the first time I found the listing of clues available on the app to be of use as it enabled a quick overview of the clues with asterisks. Just in passing I find the FT the most user friendly solving interface on the phone (although the Indy’s confetti is also fun).
Liked the surface for ACRE. I have a soft spot for good lurker clues. Erk was new to me. Tx Widdersbel and Gozo.
I’m in complete agreement with Widdersbel both in his assessment of Gozo’s signature style and the impressive number of themed entries in this grid.
I did this in random fashion with MERCEDES my key to unlocking the theme. It was a boon to fans of classical music especially, though my own interests were reflected more in JUGENDSTIL and BAUHAUS; it might have been nice to see more names from the art and literary worlds but that’s my own bias and no complaint.
UNTER DEN LINDEN was lovely and I also enjoyed THERE (surface), WURST and NECKAR.
Thanks to Gozo for your ever entertaining style and Widdersbel for a super, detailed blog.
I also agree with Nick@ 2 re the FT’s online format. I still prefer hashing the crosswords out on paper but I do look forward to the news/country-themed grids here.
Nick@2 – Basil Fawlty: “Listen, don’t mention the war. I mentioned it once, but I think I got away with it all right.”
FrankieG@5 ?
Sorry ? supposed to be smiley:)
You have to leave a space before the “:)” (or “;)” for a wink)
😉 🙂 😀
A shame Gozo didn’t manage to shoehorn in Beethoven’s Ninth (often a way to clue an “N”).
Meine Frau und ich were at this free open-air concert in Berlin in 2019, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the demolition of the wall.
https://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/en/titelgeschichten/20192020/open-air-concert-at-the-brandenburg-gate/
Here’s Fiona Maddocks of The Observer‘s five-star review:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/aug/31/berlin-philharmonic-kirill-petrenko-brandenburg-gate-inaugural-concert-beethoven-9-ninth
I’ve loved the music since being introduced to it by Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange in 1971.
For STRAUSS I thought of the dreadful Franz-Jozef former leader of the CSU, as I mistakenly thought all the musical Straußes were Austrian.
Other STRAUSSes – some of them German – are available here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strauss
‘In classical music, “Strauss” most commonly refers to Richard Strauss or Johann Strauss II.’
Johann II’s 1866 Blue Danube Waltz and Richard’s symphonic poem Also sprach Zarathustra are both in Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey
“Struz” or “Strutz” is the North-German form of the word “Strauss”, which is the modern German word for ostrich.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ostrich#Etymology
From ,,, Vulgar Latin austruthio, from Latin avis (“bird”) + str?thi? (“ostrich”), from Ancient Greek strouthiokamelos (strouthós, “sparrow”) + (kamelos, “camel”).
Compare Spanish and Portuguese avestruz.
str?thi? -> struthio
Late to this so little point in commenting other than to commend Gozo, in particular, for the impressive thematic density in the grid. ELBE was my way in as I encountered it before NECKAR. UNTER DEN LINDEN was particularly delightful.
Thanks Gozo and widders
Just a comment on the technical issues. I’ve arrived here today as this was published on the website today. Seems the web and app and got themselves a week out of sync…
George Dawes @14 – thanks for the update. I suspect the problem arose because the Sunday series is on a four-week cycle but there were five Sundays in July. There was no new Sunday puzzle this week, as far as I can see, so hopefully they’ll be back in sync now.