Introduction
Today's National Post Cryptic Crossword from Cox & Rathvon (NP 220409) takes us on a trip down Broadway—possibly in two different American entertainment capitals.The puzzle will be posted on the blog next Saturday.
I invite you to leave a comment to let us know how you fared with the puzzle.
Solution to Today's Puzzle
Falcon's experience
┌────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┬────┐
███████████████████████████████████ └────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┴────┘
Legend:
█ - solved without assistance
█ - incorrect prior to use of puzzle solving tools
█ - solved with assistance from puzzle solving tools
█ - solved with aid of checking letters provided by puzzle solving tools
█ - solved but without fully parsing the clue
█ - yet to be solved
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| Symbols and Markup Conventions | |
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| Click here for further explanation and usage examples of the symbols and markup conventions used on this blog. | |
Across
| 1a | Undressed in beatnik // musical (7) |
CA(BARE)T — BARE (undressed) contained in (in) CAT (beatnik)
Cabaret[7] is a 1966 Broadway musical and 1972 film that focuses on the hedonistic nightlife in 1929–1930 Berlin during the twilight of the Jazz Age as the Nazis are ascending to power. The musical is based on English playwright John Van Druten's 1951 play I Am a Camera which was adapted from Goodbye to Berlin (1939), a semi-autobiographical novel by Anglo-American writer Christopher Isherwood. It won the 1967 Tony Award for Best Musical.
| 5a | Musical // attended by a great many (7) |
CAME|LOT — CAME (attended) + (by) LOT (a great many)
Camelot[7] is a 1960 Broadway musical and 1967 film based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from English author T. H. White's 1958 novel The Once and Future King.
| 9a | Made-up word // in some log deciphered (9) |
NEOLOGISM* — anagram of (deciphered) IN SOME LOG
| 10a | Rustic // river and Russian range (5) |
R|URAL — R(iver) + URAL (Russian [mountain] range)
| 11a | French bread // annoying pest (4) |
PAIN — double definition; pain is the French word for bread
| 12a | Not sure, // but I nod excitedly (2,5) |
{IN DOUBT}* — anagram of (excitedly) BUT I NOD
| 15a | Musical // hot trend including country’s McGraw (7) |
RAG(TIM)E — RAGE (hot trend) containing (including) TIM (country's McGraw; American country singer Tim McGraw[7])
Ragtime[7] is a 1998 Broadway musical based on the 1975 novel of the same name by American author E.L. Doctorow. Set in the early 20th century, Ragtime tells the story of three groups in the United States: African Americans, upper-class suburbanites, and Eastern European immigrants. It lost out to The Lion King in voting for the 1998 Tony Award for Best Musical.
* the show had runs in Toronto (1996) and Los Angeles (1997) before arriving on Broadway
| 16a | Musical // popular in the past (7) |
CHIC|AGO — CHIC (popular) + AGO (in the past)
Chicago[7] is a 1975 Broadway musical and 2002 film set in Chicago in the jazz age that is based on a 1926 play of the same title by reporter Maurine Dallas Watkins, about actual criminals and the crimes on which she reported. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal". It lost out to A Chorus Line in voting for the 1976 Tony Award for Best Musical.
| 17a | Musical // continued performance (7) |
CONT|ACT — CONT ([abbreviation for] continued) + ACT (performance)
Contact[7] is a 2000 Broadway musical* "dance play" that consists of three separate one-act dance plays. It won the 2000 Tony Award for Best Musical.
* the show opened off-Broadway in 1999
| 20a | Opening of funnyman Hardy’s // musical (7) |
F|OLLIE|S — F (opening [initial letter] of Funnyman) + OLLIE (Hardy; American comic actor Oliver Hardy[7]) + S ('s)
Follies[7] is a 1971 Broadway musical that deals with a reunion in a crumbling Broadway theatre, scheduled for demolition, of the past performers of the "Weismann's Follies", a musical revue (based on the Ziegfeld Follies), that played in that theatre between the world wars. It lost out to Two Gentlemen of Verona in voting for the 1972 Tony Award for Best Musical.
| 22a | Had a seat before I gobbled // stuff (7) |
SAT|I|ATE — SAT (had a seat) preceding (before) I (†) + ATE (gobbled)
| 23a | Some peace demonstrators // passed with flying colours (4) |
_ACE|D_ — hidden in (some) peACE Demonstrators
| 26a | Nobility // takes a look (5) |
PEERS — double definition
| 27a | One fabricating // fire fails miserably (9) |
FALSIFIER* — anagram of (miserably) FIRE FAILS
| 28a | Something quirky about salon offering independent // musical (7) |
TI(TAN|I)C — TIC (something quirky) containing (about) {TAN (salon offering) + I (independent; politician not aligned with a party)}
Titanic[7] is a 1997 Broadway musical based on the story of the RMS Titanic which sank on its maiden voyage on April 15, 1912. Although the productions are unrelated, by coincidence, the musical opened the same year as James Cameron's epic film adaptation of the story, Titanic. It won the 1997 Tony Award for Best Musical.
| 29a | Read about Ed Harris’s first // musical (7) |
R(ED|H)EAD — READ (†) containing (about) {ED (†) + H (Harris's first [letter])}
Redhead[7] is a 1959 Broadway musical. Set in London in the 1880s, around the time of Jack the Ripper, the musical is a murder mystery in the setting of a wax museum. It won the 1959 Tony Award for Best Musical.
Scratching the Surface
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|---|---|
| Ed Harris[7] is an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter. He has received four Academy Award nominations, three for Best Supporting Actor and one for Best Actor. |
Down
| 1d | Jailbird’s illegal copying // plot (10) |
CON|S|PIRACY — CON (jailbird) + S ('s) + PIRACY (illegal copying)
| 2d | Playing a horn, // Crosby takes bass (7) |
B(LOW)ING — BING (Crosby; American singer and actor Bing Crosby[7]) containing (takes) LOW (bass)
| 3d | Returning, secure // chamber (4) |
ROOM< — reversal of (returning) MOOR (secure [a ship or boat])
| 4d | One Conservative in your // precarious situation (4,3) |
THIN (I|C)E — {I ([Roman numeral] one) + C(onservative)} contained in (in) THINE ([archaic term for] your)
| 5d | Company doc // with a sense of humour (7) |
CO|MEDIC — CO (company) + MEDIC (doc)
| 6d | Some mammals // wrecked a Paris slum (10) |
MARSUPIALS* — anagram of (wrecked) A PARIS SLUM
| 7d | Singer Lynn // to alter travels (7) |
LORETTA* — anagram of (travels) TO ALTER
| 8d | Ring // tax (4) |
TOLL — double definition
| 13d | New aspirin tab // supported by both sides (10) |
BIPARTISAN* — anagram of (new) ASPIRIN TAB
| 14d | Thought // I’d censored wrongly (10) |
CONSIDERED* — anagram of (wrongly) ID CENSORED
| 18d | Just starting // northern route to the summit (7) |
N|ASCENT — N(orthern) + ASCENT (route to the summit)
| 19d | Communication // if craft gets wrecked (7) |
TRAFFIC* — anagram of (gets wrecked) IF CRAFT
| 20d | Weaker // bee caught by antenna (7) |
FEE(B)LER — B (bee) contained in (caught by) FEELER (antenna)
| 21d | Lean // in with singer Patsy (7) |
IN|CLINE — IN (†) + CLINE (singer Patsy)
| 24d | Dispute // second butter amount (4) |
S|PAT — S(econd) + PAT (butter amount)
| 25d | German song // was misleading (4) |
LIED — double definition
Epilogue
Today's puzzle features a review of over four decades of Broadway musicals from 1959 to 2000 as well as a nod to Nashville which has its own Broadway entertainment district.
References
Key to Reference Sources:
[1] - The Chambers Dictionary, 11th Edition
[14] - CollinsDictionary.com (COBUILD Advanced English Dictionary)
[15] - CollinsDictionary.com (Penguin Random House LLC/HarperCollins Publishers Ltd )
Signing off for today — Falcon
Good day friends from sunny SW FL.
ReplyDeleteThis Saturday C&R offer us their own version of the musical Sound of Music. And every musical is seven letters to boot. Very neat and symmetric. Are there any seven letter musicals left to be clued?
20a was last in. I blocked for a bit on the funnyman's first name. 17a and 29a were unfamiliar to me as musicals.
One thing I fail to do often enough with a C&R puzzle is to pause to admire the surface reading of their clues. 16a and 5d, to name two, are just so clever.
Thanks to Falcon for posting. The time he puts into his blog is much appreciated.
For those interested in a gentle variety cryptic from C&R, the WSJ has their current offering this weekend:
https://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/SatPuz04092022.pdf
Have a good weekend all and enjoy the coming week. See you all next Saturday.
Richard
With 20a, my immediate thought was Oliver! which does have seven characters -- if not letters -- in the title.
DeleteGood morning from Winnipeg where we have gone from Winter to Pothole Season!
ReplyDeleteA very detectable theme today although there were three of the eight thematic answers that I had not heard of and needed confirmation.
As Richard says, all seven letter single word titles and they were also symmetrically located in the grid.
Of the non-musical clues I really liked 1d and 18d.
Thanks to C&R for a very entertaining challenge and to Falcon.
Good morning to all - grey and dreary north of the GTA but amazingly green from yesterday's rain. Spring is here!
ReplyDeleteAs others have noted, there is a beautiful symmetry to today's puzzle that once again, highlights C&R's prodigious skill. I found this offering enjoyable and straightforward - a one cupper! I needed to verify a few answers - 17a (which sounds very interesting and not sure why I missed it when it was playing) and 29a. Favourites included 22a, 18d, and 20d. LOI was 20a -- I too was distracted - Hardy boys, Hardy Amies, hardy as in tough -- and always so obvious when the answer appears. I do love these puzzles and the sharing of scraped knees so-to-speak. Thank you, Falcon, for the privilege.
Please take care out there and have a good week. See you next time.
Best always, Heather
Good morning,
ReplyDeleteI agree with all of the comments above. Re 2d: Crosby plays centre, not wing (just kidding!). Too bad C & R didn't get Stan Laurel into the puzzle. Have a good weekend!!
Peter
A classic C&R! A perfect accompaniment to the song birds passing through my back yard. Heather, add Thomas to the list. LOI 20a. Fave 27a. I too hadn't heard of 17a and 29a. Will have to Youtube it.
ReplyDeleteHello Falcon and friends,
ReplyDeleteLots of great musicals, some new to me but easily discerned from the clues. For 20a, I kept thinking it was the musical Oliver (as in Oliver Hardy). Favourite was 20d and LOI was 29a.
Thank you for posting Falcon. Have a great week everyone!
Cheers,
MG
Me too with 20a (see my reply to Richard).
DeleteThe hills are alive, with the sound of music, for example. I could copy and paste (likely illegally) the above comments for my own. LOI were 17a and 20a for the same reasons as above.
ReplyDeleteFalcon, in 9a, 'in' is part of the anagram.
Otherwise, great job!
And as always, thanks to C&R.
Have a great week everyone (short for some).
Thanks, Henry, now fixed.
Delete