The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26057.
A finely-worked set of variations on themes from Richard Wagner.
| Across | |||
| 1. | Relating to written work, American cutting production of Tristan and Isolde (14) | ||
| DISSERTATIONAL | An envelope (‘cutting’) of A (‘American’) in DISSERTTIONAL, an anagram (‘production of’) of ‘Tristan’ plus ‘Isolde’. | ||
| 8. | Copper, British, in charge of the third degree (5) | ||
| CUBIC | A charade of CU (‘copper’) plus B (‘British’) plus IC (‘in charge’). | ||
| 9. | Passage to hypnotise (8) | ||
| ENTRANCE | Double definition. | ||
| 11. | Drink, at home, one after Meistersinger’s main character protects mastery (7) | ||
| MARTINI | An envelope (‘protects’) of ART (‘mastery’) in M (‘Meistersinger’s main character’) plus IN (‘at home’) plus I (‘one’). | ||
| 12. | See 23 | ||
| – | See 23 | ||
| 13. | See 4 | ||
| – | See 4 | ||
| 15. | Sponsor of baptism, head and priest are not capturing day (9) | ||
| GODPARENT | An envelope (‘capturing’) of D (‘day’) in GO (‘head’, as a verb) plus P (‘priest’) plus AREN’T (‘are not’). | ||
| 17. | Plant short arrow over on Strongbow’s left during advert (6,3) | ||
| AARONS ROD | An envelope (‘during’) of an envelope (‘over’) of ‘on’ plus S (‘Strongbow’s left’) in ‘arro[w]’ ‘short’ in AD (‘advert’). Aaron’s rod is a common plant, also known as mullein. | ||
| 20. | Unseats ordinary American, way back (5) | ||
| OUSTS | A charade of O (‘ordinary’) plus US (‘American’) plus TS, a reversal (‘back’) of ST (‘way’). | ||
| 21. | In file, part of script to Pixar film (director’s cut) (5,2) | ||
| LINED UP | An envelope (‘cut’) of D (‘director’) in LINE (‘part of script’) plus UP (‘Pixar film’). | ||
| 23,12. | Part from old TV broadcast of Bayreuth act incorporating poem (7-3,4) | ||
| CATHODE-RAY TUBE | An envelope (‘incorporating’) of ODE (‘poem’) in CATHRAYTUBE, an anagram (‘broadcast’) of ‘Bayreuth act’. | ||
| 25. | See 4 | ||
| – | See 4 | ||
| 26. | In the morning, Number 10’s Labour surgery? (5) | ||
| AMNIO | A charade of AM (‘in the morning’) plus N (‘number’) plus IO (’10’). | ||
| 27. | Initially, dead rude: Ben Elton cracks English line about sex? (6,8) | ||
| DOUBLE ENTENDRE | A charade of D (initially, Dead’) plus OUBLEENTENDR, an anagram (‘cracks’) of ‘rude Ben Elton’ plus E (‘English’). | ||
| … Down |
|||
| 1. | Gloomy supporting party, Green politician: “Cuts can be broken down” (12) | ||
| DECOMPOSABLE | An envelope (‘cuts’) of ECO (‘Green’) plus MP (‘politician’) in DO (‘party’) plus SABLE (‘gloomy’). | ||
| 2. | Dry tears shed by one, half-heartedly? (5) | ||
| SOBER | SOB[b]ER (‘tears shed by one’) with the double B reduced to single (‘half-heartedly’). | ||
| 3. | Mathematician’s set up hint — left concept on back of publication (9) | ||
| EUCLIDEAN | A charade of EUC, a reversal (‘set up;, in a down light) of CUE (‘hint’) plus L (‘left’) plus IDEA (‘concept’) plus N (‘back of publicatioN‘). | ||
| 4,13,25. | Stirring Lohengrin tune — fight encompasses live masterpiece (3,4,2,3,8) | ||
| THE RING OF THE NIBELUNG | An envelope (‘encompasses’) of BE (‘live’) in THERINGOFTHENILUNG, an anagram (‘stirring’) of ‘Lohengrin tune fight’. | ||
| 5. | Guided the unholy Tannhäuser on Rome expedition — devastated, primarily (7) | ||
| TUTORED | Initial letters (‘primarily’) of ‘The Unholy Tannhäuser On Rome Expedition Devastated’. | ||
| 6. | Adding change to Ring for female part (5) | ||
| OVARY | A charade of O (‘ring’) plus VARY (‘change’). | ||
| 7. | US equips air conditioning — cold son grabs remote (9) | ||
| ACCOUTERS | An envelope (‘grabs’) of OUTER (‘remote’) in AC (‘air conditioning’) plus C (‘cold’) plus S (‘son’). The American spelling of accoutre. | ||
| 10. | Cryptic setter’s not getting love tablet: something for sex drive? (12) | ||
| TESTOSTERONE | An envelope (‘getting’) of O (‘love’) in TESTSTERON, an anagram (‘cryptic’) of ‘setters not’ plus E (‘tablet’). | ||
| 14. | Director and topless celebrity against denial (9) | ||
| TARANTINO | A charade of [s]TAR (‘celebrity’) without its first letter (‘topless’) plus ANTI (‘against’) plus NO (‘denial’), for Quentin Tarantino, the director of Pulp Fiction and many other films. | ||
| 16. | U-turn on side (5-4) | ||
| ABOUT-FACE | A charade of ABOUT (‘on’) plus FACE (‘side’). | ||
| 18. | Delight of artist with start of Parsifal — prelude not over (7) | ||
| RAPTURE | A charade of RA (‘artist’) plus P (‘start of Parsifal’) plus [over]TURE (‘prelude’) without (‘not’) ‘over’. | ||
| 19. | Figure caught in The Flying Dutchman — doomed Senta (soprano) ultimately going off (7) | ||
| DECAGON | An envelope (‘in’) of C (‘caught’) in DEAGON, an anagram (‘going off’) of the last letters of ‘thE flyinG dutchmaN doomeD sentA sopranO‘. | ||
| 22. | Daughter to pass water bottle’s top for Yankee nerd (5) | ||
| DWEEB | A charade of D (‘daughter’) plus WEE (‘pass water’) plus B (‘Bottle’s top’). | ||
| 24. | Had one drawn with parts (5) | ||
| OWNED | An envelope (‘parts’) of W (‘with’) in ‘one’ plus D (‘drawn’). | ||
I liked 1a, 9a, 14d, 3d.
New words for me were AMNIO, ACCOUTERS (last in).
I could not parse 19d, 1d, 21a (never heard of the movie “Up”), 24d.
Thanks Tramp and PeterO.
Thanks Peter. At first gallop through this was daunting for a musical philistine but I did work out NIBELUNG early enough, and no special knowledge was needed for the other references. The length of the answers called for some exertions, but on the whole it was straightforward. Needed you for the Pixar answer, though I saw and liked UP. Not keen on drawn=D at the very end.
Thanks PeterO.
Please, Hugh, please, please, please no more Wagner this year, or preferably, decade, or even, ever.
Thanks PeterO and Tramp
I didn’t enjoy this very much. I thought a lot of the surfaces didn’t really make much sense, and too many of the parsings were very intricate – several I guessed the answer, “checked” and left it at that. (I know that many do appreciate complicated parsings and regard a crossword as unfinished if they haven’t been worked out. In this instance I wasn’t sufficiently engaged to be bothered.)
I did like DWEEB and DOUBLE ENTENDRE (both of which I did parse!)
I suppose that I got off to a poor start by confidently trying to enter “The ride of the valkyries” for the long one, only to find that it didn’t fit – and yes, I had seen that there wasn’t a V in the anagram; I can’t explain why I tried this.
Thanks PeterO and Tramp. I found this very contrived. And Dave Ellison – Hear, hear! Why can’t we have some Verdi – it’s his centenary too.
I rather liked this – that makes it four in a row this week (I announced “two in a row” yesterday, rudely forgetting the relief at seeing Chifonie standing in on Monday). Do you think the Kite Mark people are in? Or OfXWord? Can we make it a good puzzle on Friday and then an excellent prize effort? Will we make it? The tension mounts…
Thanks PeterO and Tramp.
Wasn’t familiar with SABLE for gloomy, and OWNED resisted all attempts at parsing.
Nothing to complain about here, just not my cup of tea. The clueing seemed to suffer slightly for having to be shoehorned into the Wagnerian setting. Started to feel a bit setter-indulgent in the end.
Nevertheless, an interesting challenge and some new things to learn, so thank you Tramp.
Thanks Tramp and PeterO.
I struggled quite a lot with this. Finished in the end but there were plenty that I gave up trying to parse properly.
I did like CATHODE-RAY TUBE and DOUBLE ENTENDRE (lovely spot that Ben Elton can be mixed in there), and thought OVARY and DWEEB were neatly done.
I have no problem with the Wagner stuff. THE RING OF THE NIBELUNG was one of my first in (brilliant &littish anagram) and as has been pointed out no knowledge of opera was required at all for the other references.
AARON’S ROD and DECAGON were the last in, and I think the setter has gone a bit too far with the latter. The last letters of a phrase + another letter cryptically referred to making up the anagram fodder? Ouch!
Hat’s off to PeterO – great job filling in all the blanks.
Thanks PeterO for the excellent blog and thanks to all for your comments.
I wrote this to appear on the bicentenary of Wagner’s birth but, due to a mix up, I couldn’t have that date so it was moved to the autumn. Wagner was a horrible man but his music is from another world. I’ve been fortunate enough to have gone to the Bayreuth festival twice and this was my attempt at a tribute. Perhaps I should stick to Scooby Doo puzzles!
I think there are a couple of good clues in this but a lot of it I’m not happy with, on reflection. DECAGON is a shoehorn too far, I agree.
Tramp
A challenging puzzle but I agree that the surfaces were often unsatisfactory – I particularly disliked the definition in 26a – amniocentesis (amnio) is a procedure which is only performed early in pregnancy, so hardly ‘labour surgery’!
Thanks for the blog, PeterO.
And so the good run continues. [Perhaps some people are beginning to feel a little dyspeptic after so much rich food this week.]
As always with Tramp’s puzzles, the theme lies almost entirely in the clues, rather than the answers, and any knowledge of it simply adds to the appreciation, rather than being essential for the solve. Tramp happens to be a Wagner enthusiast, so this is not just in aid of the centenary, and we did get Verdi in Araucaria’s great Bank Holiday double puzzle [but I wouldn’t mind some more!].
What stood out for me in this puzzle was the well-spotted anagrams: as Mitz says, the Ben Elton one is brilliant but what about combining Tristan and Isolde with the addition of just one letter? And getting Lohengrin into THE RING OF THE NIBELUNG was pretty nifty, too. As was the BAYREUTH ACT – a great clue and a reminder of the dread of the tube ‘going’!
I also liked 6dn and 10dn.
Many thanks to Tramp – I found it a rather tougher workout than usual but a real tour de force.
[I see that I’ve spent so long typing this that I’ve been overtaken by others, including Tramp himself, but, having written it, I shall post it all the same!]
ChrisS: my apologies. My eyesight must be failing as I missed the fullstop in Chambers and thought that ‘amnio’ could be short for ‘amniotomy’ when in fact the ‘amnio’ refers to the previous entry of ‘amniocentesis’ which, I guess, happens long before labour. Sorry.
Thanks PeterO and Tramp
It was very good to see Tramp’s own information and (over)modest comments.
A tough puzzle in places but satisfying to solve. I failed to parse ‘sober’ exactly though the general idea and the answer were clear enough.
As Eileen implies the Wagnerian theme was nicely misleading in places.
I always enjoy this site. Thanks Tramp and Peter O. I particularly like seeing what mood the regulars are in. I think one of the reasons we are so addicted to these puzzles is that they immediately tell us something about our brain’s acuity (or lack of) that day and what emotional state we are in. I was on Tramp’s wavelength today and so had a great time. Therefore it must also have been a great puzzle despite Tramp’s protestations 😉
A must-solve for me as I’m one with Tramp on the man and his music. That said, I’m also pleased that he’s come here and owned up to some over-complexity; far more than often, I was putting in words because nothing else fitted, rather than knowing why they were right. And ACCOUTERS is an Americanism too far for me.
A shame, for at its best (1a, 23, 4 13 25, 27) this puzzle is excellent.
@Trailman – the clue for ACCOUTERS clearly states “US equips” so I have no problem with it. It mislead me – I spent far too long trying to mangle “US” into a solution, thinking the “equips” meant it had to be inserted into some other wordplay.
I am wiyth Chris S, cholecyst, Mitz et al who found this too much of a dance in the Subsidaty Indication. Yes you can ALWAYS get nmeaning from words if you smash them up enough, but it is not always the best way. An the literals were plentniful.
@Mitz – I knew it was US usage, just out of my knowledge (and I guess that of others), unlike eg caboose, sidewalk.
Thanks all
Muffin @4 (first para) has saved me from posting.3
Thanks Peter. There were quite a few that I couldn’t (or cba) to parse today, so thanks for explaining them all.
Maybe not one Tramp’s best, but I did like SOBER. I too am a bit Wagnered out – if you do more than one daily cryptic on a regular basis, you’ve probably had your fill by now.
Anyway, thanks to Tramp – look forward to the next one.
Quite tricky in parts. I agree with Eileen, though, that you don’t need to know a lot about the music to solve the clues. Thanks to Tramp for coming here – the AMNIO was a nice idea – I just read it as ‘surgery’ and was confused why the Labour was there! 🙁
Thanks PeterO; I did like the Tristan and Isolde in 1A. DOUBLE ENTENDRE had a very good clue and I liked TESTOSTERONE although I must be lacking some today as I was flagging half-way through. I also liked the SOB(b)ER. 🙂
Tough but fair, thanks Tramp (and PeterO)
Over Tramp’s last 6 puzzles, it’s;
P6, W3, T1, L2
(“not keen on drawn = D”)
I usually like Tramp’s puzzles but I found this one to be below his usual standards.
I agree with Eileen@11 that the way Tramp was able to construct some of the anagrams was nothing short of excellent, but the downside of the puzzle, for me at least, was that I could confidently enter too many answers without bothering to completely parse the clue. In that category I include THE RING OF THE NIBELUNG, AARON’S ROD, DECAGON, DOUBLE ENTENDRE, CATHODE-RAY TUBE, DISSERTATIONAL, DECOMPOSABLE, TARANTINO and LINED UP.
However, I did need the wordplay for my LOI, ACCOUTERS.
morphiamonet @22
(“not keen on drawn = D”)
Why??
Eileen @ 24, see molonglo @ 2
Mine, clearly, an unsuccessful attempt at irony 🙂
Thanks PeterO and Tramp
Another very good crossword in a good week. However I agree with several posters that the parsing of some of the clues was over-complicated. No ‘ah-hah’ moments.
No complaints about the theme. Wagner was an appalling man but wrote sublime music. Like Tramp I’ve managed to get to Bayreuth twice, but even better was the Barenboim Ring cycle at the Proms last month. No one who was there will forget it. Tristan and Parsifal weren’t bad either.
I’m with muffin. We’ve had far more enjoyment from Tramp than this.
If a theme’s to be kept up at expense of clue quality it’s not worth it.
Thanks all.
Pleased to have solved it; some excellent anagrams, but agree with general tenor of earlier posts concerning some contrivances, but many thanks to self-deprecating Tramp & PeterO
Nice comments by Tramp – thanks. But my beef (and not just with him by any means) is the sheer length of clues. For me brevity is the soul of wit, and I love clues that just seem to click into place. Some setters seek to “difficultise” their puzzles by making clues 3 or even 4 lines long. It’s no substitute for wit. Sorry Tramp – that’s a general rant which has been brewing for a long time!
Some lovely surfaces here for anyone who knows the operas (poor Senta in 19d proably best)- but solvable if you don’t. I don’t think the clues were particularly long. None is over 12 words. I think john mccartney may have been misled by the fact that some of the German words are rather long, but that in itself doesn’t make the clues difficult or verbose, does it? The pdf version does spread one (the Senta one) over 4 lines, but three of the four lines only have 2.5 words each! Thanks to Tramp for a very pleasurable solve, and to Peter O.
Just finished this and although it was rather contrived in parts I quite enjoyed it.
Got off to a good start and soon got most of the Wagner entries. Although I thought it was “of the Nibelungs”. (It is in German anyway!)
Held up by DISSERTATIONAL and some of the top. I knew the anagram fodder but only got the “inspiration” this morning and polished it off.
Thanks to Tramp and PeterO
Brendan — as I posted to someone on the Guardian blog yesterday:
it’s a long time since my German A-level days (I was never any good anyway) so I might have this wrong but I figured “des Nibelungen” is the genitive case of Der Nibelung which refers to Alberich (singular). Please correct me if I’m wrong.
It seems I was right and the complainer later apologised.
It’s a long time ago for me too Tramp.
I’m a bit confused now though, if it were singular (as my search suggests it should be), it looks like it should be “Nibelungs” or “Niebelunges” in the German. It seems it was a typo in that, but many seem to be misled by the superficial similarity with the French genitive plural.
http://www.pauljoycegerman.co.uk/abinitio/chap12-8.html
I’m with you that the English should be as per your solution though.