Guardian Cryptic 28660 Brendan

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Thank you to Brendan for this crossword with a motif. There are a couple of tricky wordplays.  Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

9. Band, very quiet otherwise, introducing piece of music at appropriate time (9)

OPPORTUNE : O(letter representing a ring/a band) + PP(abbrev. for “pianissimo”, musical direction to play very softly/very quietly) + OR(otherwise, as in “you do this or I will do that”) plus(introducing) TUNE(a piece of music).

10. Rustic piper holding one old instrument (5)

PIANO : [ PAN(Greek mythological god of rustic music who played the panpipes, the instrument of multiple pipes named after him) containing(holding) I(Roman numeral for “one”) ] + O(abbrev. for “old”).

11. Musical sounds — new, in place of fine lady’s bells (5)

TONES : N(abbrev. for “new”) contained in(in) TOES(the place where the fine lady had bells, in the nursery rhyme:

“Ride a cock-horse to Banbury Cross,

To see a fine lady upon a white horse;

Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,

And she shall have music wherever she goes.”

12. Group of musicians runs into singer not allowed in audition (5,4)

BRASS BAND : R(abbrev. for “runs” in cricket scores) contained in(into) BASS(a singer with the lowest adult male singing voice) + homophone of(… in audition) “banned”(not allowed/outlawed).

13. Female composer desires to replace end of stringed instrument (7)

LUTYENS : YENS(desires/longings) replacing last letter of(to replace end of) “lute”(a stringed musical instrument).

Answer: Elizabeth, English composer.

14. Stomach the first piece of music I had to play repeatedly (7)

MIDRIFF : 1st letter of(the first piece of) “music” + I’D(contraction of “I had””) + RIFF(to play repeatedly a short phrase of popular music and jazz).

17. Tore to pieces another composition of Verdi (5)

RIVED : Anagram of(another composition of) VERDI.

19. Chopin, Vivaldi and Scarlatti initially in vogue (3)

FAD : 1st letters, respectively, of(… initially) [ “Frederic”(Chopin) + “Antoni”(Vivaldi) plus(and) “Domenico”(Scarlatti) ].

Defn: …/prevailing style at a particular time.

20. Musical theme in mass sacred work provided (5)

MOTIF : M(symbol for “mass” in physics) + OT(abbrev. for “Old Testament”, collection of sacred work in the Bible) + IF(provided/on condition of).

21. Instrument back in that selection (7)

CELESTA : Hidden in(in) reversal of(… back …) “that selection“.

22. Heavy volume, or medium, in parts of Busoni switched (7)

OMNIBUS : M(abbrev. for “medium”) contained in(in) anagram of(parts of … switched) BUSONI.

Defn: … containing several books previously published separately.

24. Trial cast upset opera producer (9)

SCARLATTI : Anagram of(… upset) TRIAL CAST.

Answer: Alessandro, father of the aforementioned Domenico.

26. Recruit two players from quartet — drum noise heard (5)

ENROL : E,N(abbrev. for “east” and “north”, respectively, 2 out of the 4 players/quartet in a bridge game) + homophone of(… heard) “roll”(drum noise/one of the basic patterns played on a drum).

28. Like couple in song, endlessly? Strong point (5)

FORTE : “for tea” minus its last letter(endlessly) from the phrase “… and two for tea” in the song “Tea For Two”.

29. Trumpets opinions, well-argued, very, very loudly (6,3)

SOUNDS OFF : SOUND(well-argued/based on valid reason) + SO(very/to a large degree, as in “You’re So Square”) + FF(abbrev. for “fortissimo”, musical instruction to play very loudly).

Down

1. Rowdy — with 27 in gradual change from 8 to 24 down (4)

LOUT : Together with the answer to 27 down, found in the series “loud”(answer to 8 down), “lout”, “loft”(answer to 27 down), “soft”(answer to 24 down) with the gradual change of one letter at a time.

2. Instrument made of wood splitting stone (6)

SPINET : PINE(wood from the pine tree, an evergreen conifer) contained in(splitting) ST(abbrev. for “stone”, the unit of weight measurement).

3. Changes in volume, namely before coda in revised score (10)

CRESCENDOS : [ SC(abbrev. for “silicet”/that is to say/namely) plus(before) END(coda/in music, the concluding passage of a movement) ] contained in(in) anagram of(revised) SCORE.

Defn: Gradual increase in volumes.

4. Odd note, as in some Cuban music (6)

RUMBAS : RUM(odd/peculiar) + B(seventh note in the music scale of C major) + AS.

5. Last parts of national anthem in various keys, without winds (8)

BECALMED : Last letters, respectively, of(Last parts of) “national anthem” contained in(in) B,E,C,A,E,D(various keys/music scales).

6. Piece of music available in bookshop, usually (4)

OPUS : Hidden in(available in) “bookshop, usually“.

7. So predecessor briefly thanks said composer who accepts a lot? (8)

FATALIST : FA(the syllable preceding/the predecessor of “so” in the sol-fa representation of a music scale) + TA(short for/briefly “thanks”) + homophone of(said) “Liszt”(Franz, Hungarian composer).

Defn: One who accepts his/her lot/luck/situation in life.

8. Showy piece of music learner turned up (4)

LOUD : Reversal of(… turned up, in a down clue) [ DUO(piece of music to be played or sung by two performers) + L(letter displayed by a learner driver) ].

13. Line I cry out as part of song (5)

LYRIC : L(abbrev. for “line”) + anagram of(cry …) I CRY.

15. Stupid suggestion, apart from one name, from 28 to 10 (10)

DIMINUENDO : DIM(stupid/dense) + “innuendo”(a suggestion/an insinuation) minus(apart from one) “n”(abbrev. for “name”).

Defn: Change in volume from “forte”(answer to 28 across) to “piano”(answer to 10 across).

16. Wind instruments like pipes, but higher in volume (twice) (5)

FIFES : “pipes” with twice [ “p”(abbrev. for “piano”, in music, play softer in volume) replacing(but) “f”(abbrev. for “forte”, in music, play higher in volume) ].

18. French author exploded to Ravel about one (8)

VOLTAIRE : Anagram of(exploded) TO RAVEL containing(about) I(Roman numeral for “one”).

19. Loud string player shielding a wind player (8)

FLAUTIST : F(abbrev. for “forte”, musical direction to play loudly) + LUTIST(player of the string instrument, the lute) containing(shielding) A.

Defn: Player of a wind instrument.

22. Noisome and discordant duo is holding no score (6)

ODIOUS : Anagram of(discordant) DUO IS containing(holding) O(letter representing 0/nil/no score).

23. Time spanned by piece of music fine for composer (6)

BARTOK : T(abbrev. for “time”) contained in(spanned by) [ BAR(a short section/a piece into which a whole piece of music is divided) + OK(okay/fine).

Answer: Bela, Hungarian composer.

24. 10 like this, on paper (4)

SOFT : SO(like this/thus, as in “play the piano so”) + FT(abbrev. for the Financial Times, the daily newspaper).

Defn: Answer to 10 across.

25. Told a story in song (4)

LIED : Double defn: 2nd: A type of German …

27. Space for church organ frequently left above (4)

LOFT : OFT(often/frequently) placed below(… above, in a down clue) L(abbrev. for “left”).

93 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28660 Brendan”

  1. The Wordle people will enjoy 1D. If it weren’t for the comments over the past few days I wouldn’t have got this.

  2. Favourites FAD for the inventive use of first names), LOUT (the first clue I think I’ve seen based on that letter change word puzzle), FATALIST (for “So” predecessor) and FIFES.
    The only struggle to parse was FORTE, but it couldn’t really be anything else, so thanks scchua and Brendan for the entertainment.
    Did anyone else notice that there was a bit of a music theme in today’s crossword?

  4. And thank you scchua for 11A. I did know where the lady had her bells. I think this clue is the key for the whole crossword.

  5. Thanks, scchua, for your help with some of the tricksy solutions here. I thought the SCARLATTI double-up in 19a and 24a was a bit unfortunate even if the reference was to a father and son as scchua suggests. Like paddymelon@3, I queried why Elisabeth LUTYENS had to be clued as a “Female composer” – but perhaps the clue is indicative of the fact that women haven’t been recognised fully in the musical world even yet. [BTW – thanks for the link, paddymelon.] My favourite was 5d BECALMED. Thanks to Brendan for the musical theme which I found entertaining throughout.

  7. Brilliantly inventive crossword, thanks Brendan. And thank goodness the theme was obvious. And thank you to scchua for showing to parse several clues.

  10. Perhaps the use of ‘female’ in 13a is there simply to reduce the number of available composers to consider, in the same way that ‘French’ in 18d limits the available authors and ‘wind’ in 16d does the same for instruments.

  12. This was a bit themo collapso in places, with all the loud/soft clues, but tricky in others with the loud/lout/loft/soft sequence, the first names and no less than seven “keys” in BECALMED. Seven letters from the group A-E gives you plenty to choose from, and BECALMED/FAD were my last in.
    By the way, Wordle isn’t a word ladder like 1/8/24/27, though it does look like one.

  13. Thought this was a delight. Inventive, clever and ultimately deeply satisfying.

    Hope MaidenBartok drops in to acknowledge her mention.

    Always said crescendi rather than CRESCENDOS but both are perfectly acceptable.

    If I may be allowed a gentle aside, for those of us fascinated by words in general, I would strongly recommend Guy Deutscher’s book “The Unfolding Of Language”. I had it for Christmas and it’s a gem.

    Many thanks for the brilliant blog, scchua.

  14. I loved the four corner answers – very inventive. In fact, the whole puzzle was outstanding for the number of music related references and answers. Despite that, and despite reciting the Banbury Cross rhyme almost immediately, I ended up with TUNES and not TONES, so a DNF (I wanted to replace an F with an N – but what’s a ‘tofe’? ). I did need a bit of checking, though, not knowing all the composers ann instruments. Thanks, Brendan and scchua.

  15. After an excellent run including last Saturday, I failed on 11ac bunging in Tunes as I couldn’t see the lady’s bells ref. I was hung up with them as a word for bell peppers!! Doh!! I thought this would be a struggle as classical music is largely a mystery to me. However, I did work my way through it (nearly!) The repeat of Scarlatti in 19ac was a very very slight niggle given that there must have been other composers who fit the bill.
    Thanks to Brendan and scchua.

  16. Enjoyed this. Needed some help for trickier parsing. Thanks scchua. Glad that Gladys @12 said something about Wordle and 1d. I was puzzling over comments earlier and thinking I need to read all the blogs I missed earlier this week to see how this clue related to Wordle. Thanks for a great puzzle Brendan

  17. [William @13: I think MaidenBartok is a he (David?). The Maiden is a nod to location, I believe. Somewhat absent from this site of late so I wonder if the reference might tease out a comment… Or even a pun!]

    LUTYENS and, to my annoyance, the interlinked RUMBAS defeated me today so a DNF. Despite a couple of grumbles about the Wordle diversion of yesterday, it turned out to have been timely for some, given earlier comments. Tim C @2 has mentioned most of my ticks; I’d add BECALMED which, whilst acknowledging gladys’s point @12, leaped out once the LM pairing in the middle was identified.

    Thanks Brendan and scchua

  18. In addition to what others have said, I particularly liked the symmetrical grid positioning of PIANO v FORTE, CRESCENDO v DIMINUENDO and LOUD v SOFT.
    Thanks Brendan and scchua

  20. I occasionally compile crosswords, and when someone manages to get every single clue and quite a few solutions reflecting a theme, as Brendan has so brilliantly done, I have to bow in admiration and feel “I could never, ever, manage to do that”.
    I wasn’t familiar with Elisabeth Lutyens, and having looked her up in Wikipedia I don’t think I’m in any great hurry to change that (Wikipedia – “Lutyens is remembered for her intolerance of her better-known contemporaries among English composers including Vaughan Williams, Holst, Ireland, and Bax. She dismissed them as “the cowpat school”…” She also detested the music of Elgar, apparently) but I’m with paddymelon @3 and Julie @5 in wondering why she had to be clued as a “female composer” rather than as a composer.
    Managing an original clue for a short word is often difficult, and I thought 19a was very neat. The progression 8d>1d>27d>24d (again, taking care of a lot of short words) was clever, and I don’t think I’ve seen the idea previously.
    There were a couple I couldn’t fully parse; thank you scchua for explaining how clever 7d really is.
    Even though not too difficult, I thought this was the most enjoyable puzzle of the week. Very many thanks to Brendan and to scchua for the impressively decorated and informative blog.

  21. Thanks Brendan, I loved this inventive & dynamic musical treat (worthy of Stamitz & the Mannheim school), with neat symmetry as mentioned above. Thanks to scchua for colourful blog.

  22. Thanks Brendan and scchua
    In my wheelhouse, so a rapid solve. Favourite the neatly hidden CELESTA.
    Despite them being father and son, a bit odd to have Scarlatti in both a clue and a solution.
    I thought “various keys” for BECAED was rather lazy.

  25. A most congenial theme, beautifully executed: Brendan really is a master grid-filler. Once again, the whole is more than a sum of the parts. I enjoyed working out the ingenious wordplay in a number of the answers and found the whole solve immensely satisfying.

    I won’t attempt to list my favourites – far too many – but will just say that I smiled at the economical 25dn, after the lengthy discussion of LEADER / lieder on Wednesday!

    Many thanks to Brendan for an excellent start to a rather grey day and to scchua for the blog – though I wished you hadn’t used the answer to 20ac in your preamble. 😉

  26. I enjoyed this one. But wasn’t convinced by ‘lutist’ in the parsing of 19d. I always thought it was ‘lutenist’

  27. Admirable invention and, as Eileen says, masterful grid-filling more than make up for any of the quibbles identified above. For 1 down, did anyone else google LOPT to see if it was a word?

  28. Brilliantly inventive. Very enjoyable.

    Only minor niggles are the two clues obliquely referencing song lyrics. There are a few songs about couples (28A) and as for “fine lady’s bells” … I’m shocked anyone got that, I assumed it was N replacing F in something (a plant?) named “lady’s bells”. Crossers weren’t overly helpful either Tones/tunes/tings all kind of fitted the definition.

    Loved the inventive Loud -> Soft word ladder clue.

    thank you Brendan and Scchua

  30. Wot Eileen said – and such a lovely ending to the week! Thank you Brendan, such clever clueing, no idea how you do it, and thank you scchua for some of the trickier parsing.

  31. Phew, I can put down yesterday’s failure as a blip. Today was a romp for me, with some very easy clues (but of those, both NOTES and FAD could have held me up much longer). My other favourite was FATALIST for the wordplay. General knowledge around the theme was very helpful, so this puzzle may have been a struggle for some.

    I think it’s a sign of a good setter when the more obscure solutions are pointed to by reasonable wordplay, for example LUTYENS, SPINET, CELESTA.

  33. Very clever work from Brendan. Played to my strengths, though to my shame I didn’t know Elisabeth LUTYENS but managed to work her out. RIVED is not a word often heard, but “riven” led me to it. Favourite was FATALIST when the solfa clue clicked. I did go looking for Brahms after that.

    I still have reservations about themed crosswords. I know I’m in the minority on this. If you’re not into classical music would you know that Fred, Ant and Dom were the given names of the composers in FAD without googling, any more than I would know the names of rock band members.

    Nevertheless, very enjoyable. Thanks Brendan, and scchua for the illustrated blog. I always enjoy the pics.

  34. Thanks Brendan and scchua

    Tim C @ 2 & NeilH @ 20: a few years ago there was a graun puzzle, possibly by Brendan, which had (I think) 8 solutions in the grid which changed WHITE to BLACK (or vice versa) one letter at a time. A vague memory suggests that to cap it all they were in sequence in the grid, though I may be wrong on that.

  35. I found the parsing of 28ac difficult, as I pronounce “forte” as “for Tay” rather than “for tea”.

  37. I share Crossbar’s @33 reservations about themed crosswords — but it happens that I am much more familiar with classical music than I am with football stadia or rock band members, so I rather enjoyed today’s. And if a setter is going to theme the puzzle, then it would be hard to do it better than Brendan did here: the thoroughness and ingenuity in utilising the theme impressed me greatly. I agree with Monkey@31, too, about the well crafted wordplay helping with the less accessible solutions. Really great fun.

  38. What Eileen said apart from the fact that here in East Kent it is a gloriously sunny, if quite chilly, day

    Thanks very much to Brendan for the usual cleverly-themed masterpiece and to scchua

  39. Tough but fair. I am certainly not a classical music expert, and as such guessed at the parse of 19A rather than knowing it, and similarly I’d never heard of LUTYENS, SCARLATTI, or SPINET.

    Themed crosswords are hit and miss for me, not least because setters’ go-tos are often not in my sphere of knowledge. But this was a very good example of how to be as fair as possible to the non-expert. And my LOI was in fact 22D, which was only held up by my wondering if O-NIL-UD was some sort of musical term.

    Thanks Brendan, and scchua

  40. Thank you scchua, I pronounce Forte the same as Devilspoint@35 but in any case am unfamiliar with the song so had no idea how to parse.
    Thank you Jay@18 for that observation too – do we know if Voltaire was a fatalist? Crossbar@33 I would say that classical music is one of my weakest areas but found this within my GK with google to confirm CELESTA and LUTYENS, plus Monkey@31 makes a very good point. Speaking of which, good to see you back on form, the nature of Monkey is irrepressible!
    Eileen@25 is spot on again except for my highlight being LOUT – haven’t done a word ladder in years but used to love them. Thanks Brendan for another brilliant puzzle.

  41. Excellent puzzle. Not much to add to what has been said.

    Having SCARLATTI as a solution as well as part of a clue is a bit unfortunate, even though the references are to father and son respectively. Brendan could have plumped for (Domenico) Cimarosa, who is probably almost as well known as Domenico Scarlatti – and better known than Alessandro S? Nevertheless FAD was my favourite clue 🙂

    Many thanks to S&B

  42. Definitely on the easier side, especially the across clues, but another exquisite puzzle from the best. The four corner clues are just wonderful.

    Ta Brendan & scchua for the colourful blog

  43. I loved this, but could not parse FORTE, the old Latin joke comes to mind…

    Caesar adsum jam forte
    Brutus aderat
    Caesar sic in omnibus
    Brutus sic in at

    Thank you Brendan for the fun and scchua for the illustrated blog

  44. Yes, Brendan the master grid filler is back again.

    I didn’t know LUTYENS but it was clearly clued. I didn’t twig on the fine lady’s bells; I thought it was a replacement of ‘fl’ by n. The distinction of TONES from tunes was only achieved via the Check button. I’m no expert on classical music but once I had the F in 19A it was easy as I’d certainly heard of the three mentioned composers.

    Lots of good clues and a thoroughly entertaining solve.

    Thanks Brendan and scchua.

  45. Thanks to Brendan for an engaging and entertaining puzzle and to scchua for the usual illuminating and illuminated blog.
    Once again I find myself indebted to 15^2 for parsings, in this case of LOUT, TONES and FORTE, which were beyond my capacities. OMNIBUS got my blue riband – with its misleading use of ‘volume’ amid the CRESCENDOs, DIMINUENDOs et al I had to suck my pencil (figuratively) quite hard before the parsing crashed home. ‘Busoni’ was new to me so a TILT also.
    Bravi!

  46. Many years ago Araucaria used the word ladder idea to change MAJOR into SMITH.
    The fact that John Major was PM and John Smith was leader of the Opposition tells you how long ago it was.
    It was a brilliant construction, and for added difficulty it had misprints in the clues.

  47. Love Brendan’s puzzles and this one with its brilliant exploitation of a music theme was fabulous.
    Like Jerry G and Gervase I was a little disappointed with the appearance of Scarlatti in a clue which soiled the otherwise superbly clued SCARLATTI.
    May I offer Dmitri Shostakovich as an alternative!

    Thanks all

  48. Thank you, Brendan; and thank you, scchua, for parsing LOUT and TONES. As to the latter, all I could think of was something involving no fine ladies:

    Sure, I’ve got rings on my fingers,
    Bells on my toes;
    Elephants to ride upon,
    My little Irish Rose.
    So come to your Nabob
    And, next Patrick’s Day,
    Be Mistress Mumbo Jumbo Jijjiboo J.
    O’Shea.

    Why that didn’t point me back to the original source, I don’t know! Presby-something-or-other, I shouldn’t wonder.

  49. Thank you Brendan for a beautiful creation, full of symmetry and poise – and no sign of lesser compilers’ slightly-iffy clues to fit a theme.
    I’d have managed just fine without “french” in 18d, and “female” in 13a – for the anagram of the former is pretty clear, and although Edwin was a multi-talented chap he’s chiefly known for architecture not music – but I’m assuming Brendan included the adjectives to make the clues a smidgeon easier.
    What a generous and classy fellow he is!
    Thanks also to scchua for help parsing FORTE: I’d guessed it largely due to its position with PIANO, but hadn’t a clue which twosome in which song. Funnily enough, I’m drinking an earl grey at the moment…

  50. Devilpoint@35 I’m with you. Also, the stress in “forte” is on the first syllable, where in “for tea,” it’s on the second.

    crossbar#36 “Te” is not an alternative spelling for “ti” in the diatonic scale, it’s a different note. It’s the flatted seventh, while “ti” is the sharped one, the usual one in the scale. In the key of C, “ti” is B and “te” is B flat.

    I agree with all the plaudits, and thank scchua for the help and the pictures.

  51. I had forgotten SCilicet in CRESCENDOS, and I’m fairly sure it will return to being forgotten until the next time some clever-dick setter uses it!

  52. Well I usually love Brendan’s puzzles, and today I really liked many people of the individual clues, but not the puzzle as a whole. Sorry to be a grouch, but there was so much interconnectedness, what with the open theme, the symmetries and multiple Scarlattis, lutes and bands that there was, I thought, much less of a challenge than normal.

  54. Valentine @50 My Chambers has te as an alternative spelling of ti for the seventh note of the solfa scale. But then it isn’t a specialist musical dictionary. But you have me confused. If te is the flattened note and ti is the sharpened, what is the natural?

  56. Liked DIMINUENDO, BARTOK, FIFES, FAD, FATALIST (loi).

    I could not parse 28ac, 11ac.

    New for me: composer Lutyens, Elisabeth.

    Thanks, both.

  57. I’ve missed contributions from MaidenBartok. Do hope all is well.
    As others have said, this was a very clever crossword (how do they do it?), very fairly clued for someone like me who knows very little about classical music, and I didn’t find it too challenging. So why didn’t I enjoy it very much? Maybe just not an interesting theme for me. So not my day today. Never mind. You’re still one of my favourites, Brendan.

  58. Thanks Brendan for another finely crafted crossword, and thanks for the blog scchua – I worked out LOUT had to be the answer for 1d but didn’t fully fathom how the clue worked, so appreciate the explanation.

    DevilsPoint @35 / Valentine @50 – I would guess most people pronounce FORTE the same way, but it’s neither here nor there since the clue doesn’t rely on a homophone. The two meanings of LIED also have different pronunciations. This kind of thing comes under “fair misdirection” – a key part of the setter’s arsenal in trying to fox us. Although on the whole I thought this was the gentler side of Brendan today – to be enjoyed and appreciated for the inventive wordplay rather than for being exceptionally difficult.

    crypticsue @38 – after a gloriously sunny morning, it’s now somewhat overcast in my part of East Kent. Boo!

  59. Thanks both,
    A very elegant and beautifully contrived puzzle.
    DevilsPoint@35 OED gives no fewer than 7 pronunciations for ‘forte’. An Old Etonian friend always used to pronounce it ‘fort’ in the non musical sense, which makes me wonder if the pseudo foreign pronunciation has driven out the previous dominant U.K. form, much like ‘nitch’ and ‘neesh’.

  61. Is it just me that didn’t really have a problem with the pronunciation difference of FORTE? It has ‘endlessly’ in the clue, so surely it’s just about chopping a letter off the end, in the same way that yesterday’s puzzle had JEAN as ‘short trousers’ – nobody thinks that ‘jean’ and ‘jeans’ are homophones. Am I missing something?

    I liked this puzzle and even I somehow spotted the theme. Thanks Brendan and scchua!

  62. widdersbel@58 that duplicity of pronunciation re LIED got me thinking at the time, as I can’t see a way to discern whether Lied(cried) is the wordplay and LIED (creed) is the definition or vice versa – obviously no problem in filling the grid but if you were reading the clue and solution out to a blind friend which would you plump for? I think wordplay “in” definition this time, but not necessarily. Alternatively we can see it as one of those cases where there are two equally valid solutions, neither of which can be ruled out by crossers (nor in fact by non-crossers) as they both use exactly the same letters! (which then got me thinking of Borges’ uniquely precise 1:1 scale map)

  63. Gazzh @62 – I just took it as per the blog: a straight double definition with equal weighting for both – the spelling is the same, so it doesn’t matter. (It’s not like one of those ambiguous homophone clues where both versions have the same letter count and you’re not sure which to enter in the grid.)

    LJ @61 – I don’t know if anyone apart from DevilsPoint did have a problem with it. Fwiw, I didn’t read DevilsPoint’s comment as any kind of complaint, just explaining why they had trouble parsing the clue.

  64. Thanks Brendan for a wonderful crossword. Since my musical knowledge is limited I thought about skipping this puzzle but I’m glad I gave it a go — the expert cluing helped me immensely in completing this gem. I knew of Edwin LUTYENS so I correctly guess the composer. I had many favourites including OPPORTUNE, BRASS BAND, FATALIST, and LOFT along with its corner mates. Thanks scchua for parsing.

  65. I enjoyed this, thank you Brendan and scchua especially for explaining 1d! And for reminding me of the wonderful connection between bells and toes (I had not parsed 11a).
    However the appearance of the unnecessary “female” not once but twice this week is disappointing: today’s “female composer” as well as Paul’s “female player” in cryptic 28,658!

  66. As Elisabeth LUTYENS is less well known than the other composers who pop up in the puzzle (which seems to be borne out by the comments above) my surmise is that Brendan added the ‘female’ just to make the clue a bit easier.

  67. Well crafted, but I also didn’t enjoy it as much as I usually do with Brendan.
    The SCARLATTI placement in the FAD clue seems deliberate, as there have to be so many alternatives available. I hope it’s not a new Guardian idea to make the puzzles that bit easier by giving away the odd answer. This is not the first time it’s happened.
    I vaguely remembered the Lady’s toes from the rhyme, but the Tea for Two reference went over my head. I had my doubts about Noisome and ODIOUS as synonyms.
    Faves were DIMINUENDO and RIVED.
    Thanks, Brendan and scchua.

  68. A momentous day. The first time I’ve ever completed a Friday crossword.

    I didn’t parse CRESCENDO, but what else could it have been? My Grade V theory helped greatly here, as did remembering ‘Ride a cock horse to Banbury Cross’ from my childhood!

  69. Not being very musical (apart from morris dancing) I was apprehensive about the obvious theme. However I do have my 70 year old nursery rhyme book so the location of the bells was an obvious way in for me and I both enjoyed it and learnt a bit too!

  70. Thanks, Gervase at 66, that was my intention. I have as much unconscious sexism as the next person, but consciously do my best.

  71. Really enjoyed this clever puzzle, and I’m not ashamed of having had recourse to Professor Google once or twice. Well ok, maybe more than once or twice. I blame the weather, it’s a balmy -18 deg C outside as I write this. I have to agree that “female” in 13 ac is unnecessary. If my (male) mind automatically searches for male composers then perhaps I should be nudged into the 21st century by a humiliating LOI struggle.

  72. Thanks for the blog, well set but not my type of crossword and I am still annoyed about the Franck clue in the FT .

  73. Not surprisingly, this one hit my sweet spot, and it goes down as one of my all-time favourite puzzles. Every clue, and symmetry too.

    Two sub-themes? Dynamics (loud/soft, forte/piano, crescendo/diminuendo), and keyboard instruments (piano, fortepiano, celesta, spinet).

    I was about to defend Brendan’s use of “female” in 13a, but Gervase @66 and Wellbeck@49 have done so. (Adding the adjective assists with the googling.) I would only add a personal editorial comment that Luytens is lesser known for a good reason – if the music is forgettable, so is the name.

    I too miss MaidenBartok’s contributions (especially the puns, PostMark). I hope he saw this puzzle – it was right up his alley, including the shout-out at 23d.

    Unlike other commentators, I thought Brendan was being cheeky with his two Scarlatti’s. (“Ha! You think I’m using the same word twice, but I’m not, because one is A and one is D.”) I liked both clues.

    NeilH@20 and Jim@46, besides Auracaria’s Major to Smith, word progression, Brendan himself has used this device on at least two other occasions – in #27,367 he went from HARD to EASY in 6 steps, and in #26,026 he went from BLACK to WHITE in 8 steps.

    Thanks Brendan for the gem, and scchua for the excellent and colourful blog.

  74. [widdersbel@: Reference your news @78 in General Discussion: I finished it!; it’s great! Please take a bikkie from the barrel. (Oh! – I’ve taken them all…(but I deserved them – that was a toughie enoughie)).

  77. After yesterday’s “concrete brain” (see #90) I was relieved to be able to solve this very clever puzzle in about 40 minutes. As ever, a nice, relaxing beer or three helped me to unblock. I appreciated the various (and varied) devices, and the theme was right up my street. Last in was the location of the lady’s bells: very smileworthy!

    phitonelly @67. Chambers has both ‘noisome’ and ODIOUS as synonyms for offensive, so I think it’s fair (though for noisome Chambers has ‘offensive to sight or smell’, so it’s not quite a one-to-one relationship).

    Thanks to Brendan (and thanks for dropping in @70) and scchua.

  78. Brian Greer @70
    “I have as much unconscious sexism as the next person, but consciously do my best.” Bless you. 😉

  80. Gervase @66 – the only way it helped me was knowing that I was looking for the name of a female composer I’d never heard of, rather than a male composer I’d never heard of. I cracked it from the exemplary wordplay, helped by the crossing letters, not that extra information.

    Brian/Brendan @70 – to put a more positive spin on it, thank you for including a woman composer in your crossword. Many wouldn’t. Having now read about Lutyens, I want to listen to her work. (Unlike NeilH @20, her comments about her contemporaries put her in a very positive light for me.)

    Alphalpha @74 – thank you, glad you enjoyed it! (Roz @76 – no, it’s not the same one you’ve seen.)

  81. Like others, I am amazed that the homophone ogre raises its head over a clue that neither mentions, nor requires, a homophone!

  83. In the absence of Brendan’s confirmation, I’m not buying that the two Scarlattits were deliberate, just careless, I think. Why not Shostakovich?

  85. muffin @83. Does it matter? It certainly didn’t bother me – my solve was neither more nor less easy, neither more nor less enjoyable.

  87. SH @85
    I saw the anagram for SCARLATTI, but I doubted that it was the solution as it appeared in another clue. I think that solutions to clues shouldn’t appear in other clues – there was another example quite recently, I think.

  88. Cellomaniac @ 82

    No apology necessary. I was genuinely glad to have my memory confirmed, and also that I’d got the W>B/B>W order the wrong way round

    Thanks!

  89. Finishing it one thing parsing them a whole different ball game – I was ill equipped for the latter & needed the review to fully understand a number of bung ins.
    Thanks all.

  90. Thank you Brendan and Schuaa,
    Very elegant as always and the symmetry is always a delight. Scarlatti senior’s additions to the opera repertoire were new to me. Brendan was so kind in not referring to his seniority.
    I wonder how Evelyn Waugh and his first wife would have fared in 2022.
    The next time I get viciously attacked in the street – the next time will be number four – I must remember that, however helpful it might be to the constable, it might be politic not to mention my attacker’s gender.

  91. If we’d been in Italian, we’d have have been dealing with the ever so problematic compositrice.

  92. Good point il principe dell’oscurità @90. Languages which mark nouns and articles for gender may have it all over English. Then everyone is in the know. Are there Italian cryptic crosswords? (Genuinely interested.)
    Sorry for your experiences of being viciously attacked.

  93. I liked the theme well sort of. A little too concentrated perhaps.
    Didn’t get the LOUT as thought the instruction was to replace loud with soft..giving LOPT or LOST
    The word ladder concept ….?
    Thanks both belatedly

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