A puzzle from Phi on a Thursday is unusual. Either another setter has a special reason for getting the Friday slot or Phi has something going on today.
The grid shows that there is something going on today. The unchecked letters in the top and bottom rows highlight that 17th December is the day on which Ludwig van Beethoven was baptised 250 years ago. There seems to be some doubt about the day Beethoven was actually born, so Wikipedia and some other sources just mention the baptism date.
In addition to the top and bottom rows – FIDELIO (Beethoven’s only opera) and EMPEROR (popular name for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 5) , there are entries naming the NINTH Symphony (Choral) at 9 across and MOONLIGHT (Piano Sonata No 14). at 31 across. Beethoven wrote one or two pieces for a TRIO (15 across). There is one further musical term that we can link to the theme – LEGATO.(27 down) Unless Beethoven ate a GINGER NUT whilst driving a DODGEM or smoked a CIGARILLO whilst pushing a STROLLER, I can’t see any other links.
There were two very similar clues placed together at 12 and 13 across with the two references to ousting leaders. Presumably Phi couldn’t resist the opportunity to use the same wording when he saw how they could both be clued. I wondered initially why ALL (13 across) and OAK (29 across) were needed, but looking at the grid the North East and South West corners would have been very isolated without the links to rest of the grid that ALL and OAK provide.
At 4 down, I thought for a time that the definition was ‘got ready’ as in got money’, but I decided in the end that the definition was just ‘got’ when I realised that ‘ready went with ‘to listen’ to define the wordplay element EARED.
| No | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
| Across | |||
| 8 | Be enthusiastic about Democrat leading US state transmission (5,4) |
RAVE (be enthusiastic) containing (about) (D [Democrat] + IOWA [US State]) RA (D IO WA) VE |
RADIO WAVE (means of transmission) |
| 9 | Contribution to run in the last inning? (5) |
NINTH (hidden word in [contribution to] RUN IN THE) NINTH |
NINTH (there are nine innings in a game of baseball, so the last innings is the NINTH) |
| 11 | Biscuit for one turned over in the midst of turning out (6,3) |
(EG [for example; for one] reversed [turned over]) contained in (in the midst of) an anagram of (out) TURNING GIN (GE<) R NUT* |
GINGER NUT (type of biscuit) |
| 12 | Complete club ousting leader (5) |
UTTER |
UTTER (total; complete) |
| 13 | Completely ousting leader of college (3) |
ALL |
ALL (completely) |
| 14 | Road movie? I had little hesitation after years at sea (4,5) |
Anagram of (at sea) YEARS + I’D + ER (expressing a slight hesitation) EASY R* ID ER |
EASY RIDER (1969 road movie starring and written by Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper) |
| 15 | Time of disturbance moved forward for small group (4) |
RIOT (disturbance) with the T (time) moved forward in the word to form TRIO TRIO |
TRIO (small group [of three]) |
| 16 | Drink a lot of salt water? (3) |
TEA TEA |
TEA (a drink) |
| 18 | Puts down record after ingesting medicines? On the contrary (7) |
DOSES (quantities of medicines) containing (ingesting) EP (extended play record) – i.e. the opposite of the wording of the clue (on the contrary) D (EP) OSES |
DEPOSES (sets down) |
| 21 | Mischievous character shown by German soccer team? (3) |
ELF (ELF is the German word for eleven, the number of players in a soccer team) ELF |
ELF (mischievous or fairy-like being, especially a child) |
| 23 | Move over the sea, caught in a lot of foam (4) |
C (caught) contained in (in) SUD (froth of soapy water – the word is usually used in the plural as suds, but it exists in the singular) S (C) UD |
SCUD (of sailing vessels, to drive before the wind; move over the sea) |
| 25 | Smoked item cooked in garlic oil (9) |
Anagram of (cooked in) GARLIC OIL CIGARILLO* |
CIGARILLO (small cigar; an item that is smoked) |
| 29 | Good to hug a tree (3) |
OK (satisfactory; good) containing (to hug) A O (A) K |
OAK (type of tree) |
| 30 | Fellow gave assistance after one dropped out tired (5) |
F (fellow) + A F ADED |
FADED (weakened; tired) |
| 31 | Idiot might, swapping openings, work on the sly (9) |
LOON (idiot) + MIGHT with the two initial letters (openings) L and M being exchanged (swapping) to form MOON and LIGHT MOON LIGHT |
MOONLIGHT (to work outside one’s normal working hours, especially when the income from this is not declared for tax assessment; work on the sly) |
| 32 | Leg joint to irk, run being cancelled (5) |
ANKLE |
ANKLE (the joint between the lower leg and the foot) |
| 33 | Reveal the woman involved in articles from France and England (9) |
SHE (the woman) contained in (involved in) (UN [French form of the indefinite article] + A [indefinite article] + THE [definite article] all together being articles from France and England) UN (SHE) A THE |
UNSHEATHE (uncover; reveal) |
| Down | |||
| 1 | Newspaper employees blocking newspaper? Just a little (8) |
(RAG [informal and derogatory term for a newspaper] + MEN [employees]) contained in (blocking) FT (Financial Times; a newspaper) F (RAG MEN) T |
FRAGMENT (small piece; just a little) |
| 2 | Short film sequences giving one various impressions (6) |
I (Roman numeral for one) + DENTS (hollows caused by blows; various impressions) I DENTS |
IDENTS (short films or sound sequences used in broadcasting to identify the channel or station) |
| 3 | Shabby party ready to roll? (3-5) |
DO (party) + GEARED (put into a state where the object in question is ready to move) DO G EARED |
DOG-EARED (shabby) |
| 4 | Got ready to listen, perhaps, having received note (6) |
EARED (having EARs, hence ready to listen) containing N (note) EAR (N) ED |
EARNED (acquired; got) |
| 5 | Active gear ripped or lasted (8) |
Anagram of (ripped) OR LASTED LEOTARDS* |
LEOTARDS (skintight garment sworn by dancers, acrobats, etc; active gear) |
| 6 | Medical injury? Put under protection, avoiding A&E (6) |
INSUL INSULT |
INSULT (in America, INSULT is a medical term for trauma, damage or injury) |
| 7 | Note risk when playing at the crease? (2,6) |
Anagram of (when playing) NOTE RISK ON STRIKE* |
ON STRIKE (when a batter in cricket is at the crease, he or she is said to be ON STRIKE) |
| 10 | Present: something received by the recipient (4) |
HERE (hidden word in [received by] THE RECIPIENT) HERE |
HERE (present) |
| 17 | Nobleman, mostly bent, importing diamonds to European country (8) |
ARCHE ARCH (D UK) E |
ARCHDUKE (nobleman) |
| 19 | Instruction to give ’em tonic? (4-2-2) |
PICK-ME-UP could be a cryptic clue or instruction for ‘EM (ME reversed [pick up, as a down entry]) PICK-ME-UP |
PICK-ME-UP (medicinal tonic) |
| 20 | Pushchair getting wave at the end of street (8) |
ST (street) + ROLLER (long heavy sea wave) ST ROLLER |
STROLLER (North American and Antipodean term for a pushchair) |
| 22 | Border row? French willing to be above that (8) |
FR (French) + ON (willing to participate) + TIER (row) FR ON TIER |
FRONTIER (border) |
| 24 | Magistrate with money giving ride to daughter in car (6) |
(DOGE [formerly the title of the chief magistrate in republican Venice and Genoa] + M [money, as in categories of money supply, M0,M1 etc]) containing (giving ride to) D (daughter DO (D) GE M |
DODGEM (small electric cars used at fairgrounds) |
| 25 | Good to stir up complaint (6) |
G (good) + ROUSE (stir up) G ROUSE |
GROUSE (a grumble or complaint) |
| 27 | Smooth support. a tiny bit short (6) |
LEG (long slender support) + ATO LEG ATO |
LEGATO (smusicial term for smooth or smoothly, the notes running into each other without a break) |
| 28 | Historic leader disengaged from area (4) |
OFF (disengaged from) + A (area) OFF A |
OFFA (reference OFFA, King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death in July 796; historic leader) |
Beethoven’s Piano Trio in B flat major, Opus 97, is known as the Archduke Trio (17D). Some very obscure references which I could only guess at, and a very peculiar Americanism in ‘insult’. Much enjoyed anyway, so thanks Phi and Duncan.
Very nicely done, as usual. Thanks to Phi and duncanshiell.
Our last one in was FRAGMENT, hindered by the fact that we had confidently entered SEA for 16a.
That was fun. I know next to nothing about Beethoven (a large, shaggy dog wasn’t he?) so can’t add to the theme.
Thanks for the informative blog, Duncan. I guess if you weep over the amount of salt in a crumpet say, you might just even things out.
That meaning of INSULT was new to me. To add insult to insult as the phrase doesn’t say.
I once heard that you can’t hear sounds in space with either your left or right ears but with your final front ear.
Wonder what Friday has in store.
Now we know why Phi was on.
Happy birthday dear Lud…
Joy
When I was first listening to Beethoven the 17th was the day given, though consensus now seems to favour the 16th (certainly there was a live concert last night in Auckland). Piano sonatas, mainly, and not the piece no-one has spotted yet.
@Phi. Ha! Took me a while to find it. It’s hidden in plain sight. A good start to a rather dreich Thursday. Off for a celebratory cuppa.
Phi@5is that the Archduke Trio?
late to the feast ..I can add 1 more .. thanks for heads up ScottieJan@6 n Phi@5
oops.. n thanks to Duncansheill n Phi…
Phi @5 – just spotted Grosse Fuge. Sehr gut.
Eek. Thanks to Duncansheill and Phi.
As soon as we saw it was Phi on a different day, and knowing the anniversary, we said to ourselves, ‘Aha, Beethoven!’ Actually the first clue to catch our eye was 33ac which, before we saw the word length, suggested ‘Leonora’ but, once we started solving, it was some time before any themed answers emerged, with TRIO being our first but then we soon saw ARCHDUKE. Having seen EMPEROR in the bottom unches we then took a punt on the top unches being FIDELIO, which then helped us with the top half of the grid where we had been struggling a bit.
Some great clues, too, in the non-themed department. We particularly liked FRAGMENT, LEOTARDS and FRONTIER.
Thanks, Phi and Duncan.
We managed this with a few beers and a bit of cheating (strategic use of the error checker in the web app). Enjoyable puzzle and as ever we appreciated the theme after Duncanshiell pointed it out! Slightly shame faced for two lifelong violinists…
Thanks to blogger and Phi!
Also violinist. Also shamefaced. I was busy today, is all. Filled the bottom half fairly readily. Didn’t see the Emperor, though he was there. Must not be distracted by Christmas shopping! When I came back to it, loved 16a and 1d, in particular. Thanks to Phi and Duncan.
I’m very late to the party (having somehow overlooked this last Thursday), and there’s little hope anyone’s still reading, but I’m still not clear whether all the Ninas have been identified. The messages suggest there is still something in addition to the ones highlighted, Archduke and Grosse Fuge. Is there a “Ginger Nut Sonata” I don’t know about?