I think this was toughest prize puzzle we’ve done in a while, although that was partly due to putting in the wrong answer in 23 down (see below) – lovely clues, though, and the theme of famous operatic arias is a very nice one. Thanks, Paul!
I’ve linked to YouTube versions of at least one performance of each of the arias below.
Across
1, 21, 20. A treasonous emu I, wandering in to seduce beauty in aria (6,3,2,6,7)
L’AMOUR EST UN OISEAU REBELLE
(A TREASONOUS EMU I)* in LURE = “seduce” + BELLE = “beauty”
Definition: “aria” – also known as “Habanera” this is one of the most famous arias from Bizet’s “Carmen”
6. Spike Milligan’s third one (4)
LACE
[mi]L[ligan] = “Milligan’s third” + ACE = “one”
Definition: “Spike” (as in “to spike a drink”)
8. Strong singer about to go down for high singer (8)
FALSETTO
F = “Strong” + ALTO = “singer” around “to go down” = SET (as in “the sun sets at 5pm”)
Definition: “high singer”
9. Head carrying knock, one’s exposed (6)
NUDIST
NUT = “Head” around DIS = “knock” (slang for “to treat with disrepect or contempt” (Chambers))
Definition: “one’s exposed”
11. Where fox may be, one with a camel ultimately burying head in sand? (2,6)
IN DENIAL
IN DEN = “Where fox may be” + I = “one” + A + [came]L = “camel ultimately”
Definition: “burying head in sand?”
12, 22 down. Entering finale, all three starting in sensational style, unforgettable in opera aria (6,5)
NESSUN DORMA
END = “finale” around SSU = first letters of “sensational style, unforgettable” in NORMA = “opera”
Definition: “aria” – referring to “Nessun dorma” from “Turandot” by Puccini – the surface reading refers to The Three Tenors, whose performance of this became very famous around the 1990 World Cup, due to the aria having been used as the theme to the BBC’s coverage (though that version was just Pavarotti).
15. An image awfully full of love, narcissism (8)
EGOMANIA
(AN IMAGE)* around O = “love”
Definition: “narcissism”
16. Sinner finally incarcerated, calling for heavy beating (8)
DRUBBING
[sinne]R = “Sinner finally” in DUBBING = “calling”
Definition: “heavy beating”
19. Nation today and for ever containing capital in Rome (6)
NORWAY
NOW = “today” + AY = “for ever” around R[ome] = “capital in Rome”
Definition: “Nation”
22. When foaled, discard horse (6)
DOBBIN
DOB (date of birth) = “When foaled” + BIN = “discard”
Definition: “horse”
24, 10. Aria where boy’s a darling in mezzo-soprano, say? (3,3,6)
VOI CHE SAPETE
HE’S A PET = “boy’s a darling” in VOICE = “mezzo-soprano, say?”
Definition: Aria” “from “The Marriage of Figaro” by Mozart
25. Happy close to death, sang about it (8)
THRILLED
[deat]H = “close to death” in TRILLED = “sang”
Definition: “Happy”
26. Man perhaps, one and only, lacking nothing (4)
ISLE
I = “one” + S[o]LE = “only lacking nothing”
Definition: “Man, perhaps” referring to the Isle of Man
27. Tongue in, well inside case of strawberries, beginning to eat (9)
SINHALESE
IN + HALE = “well” in S[trawberrie]S = “case of strawberries” + E[at] = “beginning to eat”
Definition: “Tongue”
Down
1. Beast saying prayer? (5)
LLAMA
Sounds like (“saying”) “lama” (a Tibetan priest) who might be saying a prayer (I think that’s it, anyway?)
Definition: “Beast”
2. Seafood, a smaller quantity in total that’s hauled up (7)
MUSSELS
LESS = “a smaller quantity” in SUM = “total” reversed (“hauled up”)
Definition: “Seafood”
3. Top broadcaster, free (5)
UNTIE
[a]UNTIE = “Top broadcaster” (“Auntie” is an affectionate nickname for the BBC)
Definition: “free”
5. Terrible start and horrid end in an earlier clue made less shocking (5,4)
TONED DOWN
T[errible] = “Terrible start” followed by [horri]D = “horrid end” in ONE DOWN = “an earlier clue”
Definition: “made less shocking”
6, 4. Youth using phone catching every second of insane aria (2,5,1,6)
LA DONNA È MOBILE
My favourite clue of the puzzle: LAD ON MOBILE = “Youth using phone” around [i]N[s]A[n]E = “every second of insane”
Definition: “aria” from Verdi’s “Rigoletto”
7. Performers very inspired by uplifting opera aria (5,4)
CASTA DIVA
CAST = “Performance” followed by V = “very” inside AIDA = “opera” reversed
Definition: “aria” – from “Norma” by Vincenzo Bellini
13. Wrong number held by user, or otherwise (9)
ERRONEOUS
(USER OR)* around ONE = “number”
Definition: “Wrong”
14. Silent, as sizeable frame in painting breaks head (9)
NOISELESS
S[izabl]E = “sizeable frame” in OIL = “painting” all in NESS + “head”
Definition: “Silent”
17. With vigour, cook cut bread (7)
BRIOCHE
BRIO = “vigour” + CHE[f] = “cook cut”
Definition: “bread”
18. Pig flying at last, heading for terminal in airport (7)
GLUTTON
[flyin]G = “flying at last” followed by T[erminal] = “heading for terminal” in LUTON = “airport”
Definition: “Pig”
23. Goddess of desire, Nephele (5)
IRENE
This is the one that held us up most: it’s fairly clearly a hidden answer, but we though it would be “siren” (since colloquially both “siren” and “goddess” might colloquially refer to someone attractive) rather than [des]IRE NE[phele]
Definition: “Goddess” – an alternative spelling of Eirene
After last week’s debacle, and knowing little about opera, I immediately looked up the most popular aria names. Which gave me so many letters that the rest of the puzzle only took a few minutes.
I bet the operistas enjoyed this tho…
Thanks mhl. That all makes sense now. I too got 23 down wrong which left the South East corner unsolved, and the arias were a bit of a struggle but I got there in the end. Just one additional query. Shouldn’t the letter count for L’Amour be (1’5) rather than (6)?
Thanks to Paul and mhl. I’m another who initially had siren instead of IRENE but I caught on fairly quickly and to my surprise finished more rapidly than usual for a prize. I got DOBBIN but did not catch DOB = date of birth and had some trouble with the aria from Carmen (like others I know that one as habanera) but, though I’m certainly not an operista, I supplied the other three without too much hassle. Great fun.
Thanks mhl. I had just about all the non-themed answers in before I had to seek help with the last of the arias but I didn’t find it the toughest prize in a while. I thought the previous three at least were more of a challenge.
I too took it in 1d that PRAYER was somebody who prayed, in this case a lama.
Many thanks Paul and mhl
I love the loony – and appropriate – variant of “A wand’ring minstrel I” in 1,21,20 (which, until it proved otherwise, led me to think the arias were in G&S territory). All the arias were familiar, except that I had to check the opening of the Habanera, so the puzzle was not too difficult for me.
Thanks mhl. Surprisingly easy (no aids needed) for a non-opera-buff: a tribute to fine clueing. Only afterwards did the d-o-b penny in 22A drop.
For once, a prize crossword that played to my strengths – not that remembering the words to operas is usually seen as much of a strength! I got the arias reasonably quickly, but had to come here for the parsing for Nessus Dorma and voi che sapete. The surfaces for both of these were great, evoking the three tenors, as already noted, but also the clue for Voi che sapete, which is a sung by a female singer (iusually a mezzo soprano role) playing a boy who at one point has to dress as a girl – and it’s all there in the clue, so I didn’t care that I couldn’t parse it.
Well done, Paul, and thanks for the blog, mhl
Thanks MHL and Paul. I am another who had a list of famous arias handy in order to compete this. I know all the tunes but have never had any reason to know or remember the names so would have been impossible without.
I rarely have any issue with homophone clues since close enough works and am often amazed that rhotics aren’t more aware that most speakers of English don’t pronounce those internal “r”s. But today’s example raises my hackles. The animal at 1dn is pronounced “yama”, not even close to the monk.
Thanks Paul and mhl
I wasn’t able to find “a list of famous arias”, so I had to try to work them out individually. This caused a majpr problem with the Carmen one, as I had made the unjustified assumption that they were all in Italian, and I couldn’t find anything to fit the last word to turn up in an Italian aria.
MTB @2
I agree that logically “l’ampur” should be given as “1,5”, but the Guardian doesn’t – it never indicates apostrophised letters explicitly.
For me, this puzzle was total gobbledygook until I started googling famous operas and arias. (My knowledge of opera is parlous, although somehow I did recall NESSUN DORMA 12a 22d for some reason.)
I am in awe of those who solved this without any reference aids: bravo!!!!
I am another solver who was lured away by seeing the hidden SIREN at 23d, even though I remember thinking, is a siren actually a goddess? When I got IRENE finally, that freed up the SE.
Clever setting Paul, and excellent explanatory blogging, mhl.
Lovely theme. Like others I only know the Carmen aria as Habanera so I got rather stuck on that for a while.
Re 8: Chambers and Collins Online both give the pronunciation of LLAMA as starting with an L sound. AFAIK the original Spanish is pronounced “yama” but the anglicised version is standard usage in English.
The one-l lama,
He’s a priest.
The two-l llama,
He’s a beast.
And I will bet
A silk pyjama
There isn’t any
Three-l lllama.
— Ogden Nash
I couldn’t have done this without a list of arias, which rather detracted from my enjoyment. A clever puzzle which was well clued, but not well enough for me!
Knowing almost nothing about opera, I thought I would never finish this one when I saw what the theme was, but — having some French and Italian, and knowing the sort of thing arias might concern — I was able to guess enough bits and pieces to make the answers googlable without using a list. The surface for 12,22d, NESSUN DORMA, helped with the one aria I had heard of (for the obvious reason outlined by mhl). As a bonus to the pleasure of solving the puzzle, I enjoyed listening to the arias as I solved them and in fact recognised most of the tunes, if not all.
Thank you Paul and mhl.
A lovely puzzle. Like PeterO @5, I at first thought we were in for Gilbert and Sullivan, the words of 1a bringing “A Wand’ring Minstrel I” to mind, but then NESSUN DORMA went in and I realised we must be dealing with opera arias – L’AMOUR EST UN OISEAU REBELLE was the last one solved since I was looking for an Italian entry, as did muffin @3. IRENE did not catch me out since the clue wording suggested the folk song “Goodnight Irene” to me.
Despite the famous arias, I found this extremely difficult, even with the aid of the check button today.Thanks to the blog, the parsing that eluded me is now clear, revealing Paul’s brilliance and ingenuity. Many years ago I saw a memorable performance of Turandot in Verona. As the prince stood at the top of the steps of the amphitheatre, the moon started to rise in the deep blue sky behind him – a thrilling sight. When he finished singing Nessun Dorma, a fine rain began to fall and the performance had to be stopped because of the risk of damage to the musical instrumemts. Even friends of mine who weren’t keen on opera would be won over by the sheer power of the music and the glorious spectacle of an open-air production at the Arena.
For me this showed the best and worst of Paul’s clueing. 5ac was delightful and elegant, 1ac painful and convoluted. It’s bad enough having a theme I know nothing about, then adding in a non-English anagram where half the letters come
from a loose synonym that’s virtually impossible to deduce without the solution and throw in a nonsense surface to shoehorn the anagram letters in.
For me this type of clue is fun for the setter rather than the solver – but clearly I’m in a minority of one – so having had my rant I’ll thank Paul for his inventiveness and mhl his doggedness and explanations.
At first glance today’s prize looks like it’s going to be a tussle – and hopefully fun.
@ Julie in Australia
Thanks for the awe, Julie, but I feel the same as you when the theme is ornithology, football or nuclear physics!
This time I waltzed through with the practised ease of a participant (who BTW knows no-one who calls 1a anything other than the Habañera)……till the non-theme clues began to trip me up. DOBBIN, MUSSELS, SINHALESE and GLUTTON needed some brain-bashing, well-clued as they were.
A masterly production by Paul, who probably does his own lighting and set design!
Grazie and merci to him and mhl.
I take your point, White King, and you are not in a minority of one. My comments are favourable because I don’t regard myself as an expert solver. The Quiptic is more my level, and very long cryptic clues can be offputting. Paul, for me, is one of the toughest setters, yet it is clear that many solvers thrive on this level of challenge . Until not long ago I groaned at the sight of a Nutmeg puzzle, but now I find her much easier. I doubt whether I’ll ever be fully on Paul’s wavelength, but it doesn’t matter – I will still enjoy the bits I can do.
Thanks to Paul and mhl. Most enjoyable.
Like others I didn’t know the full words of the habanera. At first I tried to fit L’amor e un ladroncello (sung by Dorabella in Cosi fan Tutte, which also should be “e amore un”). Long before the World Cup I remember Ian Wallace suggesting that Nessun Dorma (None Shall Sleep) would be a suitable signature tune for NHS hospital wards. And talking of signature tunes, I remember The Hollies having a hit with the Berlin Philharmonic’s, “Hey Karajan What’s Your Game At (Can Anybody Play)? At least that’s what it sounded like to me.
HKRunner @8
The large majority of the 300-odd million North American Anglophones would dispute your assertion that “most” speakers of English are non-rhotic. The majority of Indian English dialects are rhotic as well, and anywhere that American influence predominates (e.g., Latin America, East Asia), English spoken as a second language is usually rhotic.
And it’s not like we’re unaware of British pronunciation. It’s just that when a homophone clue doesn’t work in your dialect, it’s kind of grating. (Side note to this side note: when I come upon one of those clues where I need to drop all kinds of R’s to make it work, I think of it in a New England accent, not a British one, because that amuses me.)
But I really don’t know anyone, from either side of the Atlantic who pronounces llama (in English) as if it were still a Spanish word.
The crossword? Oh, yeah. I liked it. I am a bit of an opera fan, but even so, I didn’t remember the actual name of the Habanera. The rest were familiar.
mrpenney @21
I was interested in your comment. The subject of homophones in cryptic clues is a minefield, both for setters (although not all of them may realise it) and evidently for some solvers as well.
I’m sure there’s no problem with today’s example (llama), but the co-existence of rhotic and non-rhotic English dialects in the world is likely to cause a problem in clues that depend on a homophone or ‘sound-alike’ of that sort, and differences in some vowel sounds can be just as problematic or more so. One setter not long ago even tried to equate an English vowel with a French vowel, with what I remember was a very unsatisfactory result.
I had to miss this crossword, unfortunately, not having found the time even to start it, but what an interesting theme I missed! Thanks to mhl and all for the interesting blog and comments.
Found this pretty tough mostly due to lack of theme knowledge – I only knew two of them and L’AMOUR… took ages. Fortunately most of the non-themed ones were quite accessible.
Thanks to Paul and mhl
As an opera buff I should have found this easier than I did, but it turns out that I couldn’t recall the words to the Carmen and Figaro arias, however well I know them. But got there in the end. An excellent puzzle, for which thanks to Paul (and mhl).
I can never hear LA DONNA E MOBILE without recalling Denis Norden’s translation : ‘My bird’s got a motorbike’.
G larsen@24
A colleague had it as a ringtone. Another clue that doesn’t work for our American friends? LA DONNA E CELLPHONE?
I’m with WhiteKing @ 17 on this one. Paul is my favourite setter and I admit that my problems stemmed from my ignorance of the theme. That said, I found it difficult trying to unravel some of the parsing when the target answer was in French (which I can speak) or Italian. Generally, I love difficult clues which slowly give way as words (which may be unfamiliar) start to emerge but, in this case, they didn’t. I’m afraid that I ended up Googling famous arias and looking for those which matched the word counts or crossing letters. All very clever stuff but, for me, unsatisfactory.
Thanks as ever to both.
Very devious indeed…. 23 Down… I will be watching out for this trick again, properly caught me out for ages.
Should have guessed it was a bit easy finding siren first!
Nice one Paul.
I agree with Whiteking and Aox….
Some of the linguistic pleasure disappears when it is a non-English puzzle!
I agree with Whiteking and Aox….
Some of the linguistic pleasure disappears when it is a non-English puzzle