Saturday, October 24, 2009 - Music Hall

Introduction

Today's puzzle, a musically themed creation by Cox and Rathvon, covers a broad range of musical genres, a variety of musical instruments, performances - both live and recorded, and venues from Times Square to a famous London concert hall.



Solution to Today's Puzzle

Legend:	"CD" Cryptic Definition; "DD" Double Definition
	"*" anagram; "~" sounds like; "<" letters reversed
	"( )" letters inserted; "_" letters deleted

Across

1a TREBLE* - BELTER out (anagram indicator)

4a CAS(SET)TE - SET (group of songs) penned by (contained in) CASTE (Indian group)

9a ALTERABLE* - punk (anagram indicator) {ERA BALLET}

11a _TORCH_ - in (hidden word indicator) thaT ORCHestra

12a HARM(ONICA P|LA)YER* - {A RHYMER} oddly (anagram indicator) [=HARMYER] holding (containing) AL PACINO back (reversed) [=ONICAPLA]

13a _SI|DE B_ - BED (plot) IS reversed

15a CELL(IS)T - IS (composes) in (contained in) CELL (room) T (temperature)

19a {NEW YEAR}* - {NY WE ARE} rearranging (anagram indicator)

20a EARLY - DD (with the second one cryptic); EARLY (ahead of the beat) and (like Earl: legendary jazz pianist Earl "Fatha" Hines)

22a {SINGING THE BLUES}* - revamped (anagram indicator) {BIG ENGLISH TUNES}; legendary blues singer Bessie Smith

26a I|M (B)AD - I (one) B (note) in (contained in) MAD (crazy)

27a _ASSIST|IN|G_ - bASSIST IN Group keeps (hidden word indicator)

28a EL|BOWING - EL (the [in] Spanish) BOWING (violin technique)

29a AL(B)ERT - ALERT (warning) about (containing) B (British); Royal Albert Hall - concert hall in London, England

Down

1d T(EA CH)EST - TEST (trial) about (containing) EACH

2d {ENTERED IN}* - reorganization of (anagram indicator) {ENTIRE DEN}

3d L|ARGO - L (Latin) ARGO (ship of old)

5d ARE(N)A - AREA (space) accommodating (containing) N (nation's first [letter])

6d S(A|TELL)ITE - A TELL (bowman: legendary archer William Tell) in (contained in) SITE (place)

7d TARRY - DD

8d E(THE)RS - ERS (Emergency Rooms) stocking (containing) THE

10d BRIOCHE - BRIO (zest) on (before [in a down clue]) CHE (revolutionary Cuban: Latin American revolutionary Che Guevara)

14d BOW W(IND*)OW - BOW WOW (bark) admitting (containing) wild (anagram indicator) DIN [=IND]

16d L|ARCHES - L (large) ARCHES (curves)

17d TURQUOISE* - bananas (anagram indicator) {QUITE SOUR}

18d E(YES)IGHT - EIGHT (octet) maintaining (containing) YES (sure)

21d ASP|IRE - CD; IRE (wrath) of a ASP (serpent) {or, in other words, ASP IRE}

23d NAB|OB - NAB (catch) OB (short obstetrician)

24d GR(A)IN - GRIN (seem amused) about (containing) A

25d BASIL* - BAILS out (anagram indicator)

Signing off for today - Falcon