Spectator 1911

[greyfox]

Hi to all Specciephiles. 'Musical' by Dumpynose is this week's offering.

http://www.spectator.co.uk/article_assets/arti cledir_7147/3573906/crossword.pdf

[cruciverbali]

Thank you greyfox for your dependable posting !

[kayakamina]

Thanks for the link greyfox.

For most of the time I had the wrong composer in my head.

[mad max]

Many thanks for link

[slaney]

Thanks greyfox for the early link.
The penny did drop, eventually.

[AHearer]

Thank you, greyfox. I was wrongfooted for a while by 19d, but got there in the end.

[DocHH]

Thank you for the link Greyfox, took longer to twig the Musical than complete the grid.

[greyfox]

Glad to be of service all. Agree with you AHearer re. 19 dn. Wordplay didn't work for me either: Blackguard = sweep, or have we missed something?

[AHearer]

Yes, that was my first thought, greyfox: the indications from the wordplay seemed so precise I assumed that it was the definition that was a bit slack. The entry I ended up with fitted the definition precisely, but I thought vituperate didn't precisely fit blackguard. It would be interesting to know whether Dumpynose had a change of mind at some point when constructing the puzzle.

[DocHH]

But doesn't Blackguard=a synonym for a roofing tile!

[bathtub]

It may well do, but it's not a definition supported by Chambers.

The component parts of the actual answer are, but I agree it's a very misleading and problematic clue. Nothing to do with sweeps or tiles, exactly, but everything to do with vituperate, synonymous with a well-known and usually Welsh product.

It's also possible to construe the clue as a word meaning honest + b (black) + guard = reak (syn with care/guard), which leads you up yet another garden path when it comes to the last syllable.

I'm not sure whether Dumpynose has been inspired, confused or unlucky here.

[Helveticus]

Although I have a full grid, the penny is refusing to drop. I am tearing my hair out and have to beg for help. Could some kind person give me a hint about where to find the composer's name? If the first letter is too obvious, could you perhaps say in which direction the name reads? I have tried left to right and top to bottom, but to no avail.

[AHearer]

For me, at least, the composer was unknown: I had to come at the name by getting the name of the musical and googling (other web search engines are available!).

[greyfox]

Like AHearer, once I had the musical's title, I had to google to find the composer. Assuming you have his name it reads from left to right horizontally. Shouldn't be too difficult to see?!

[Helveticus]

Thanks greyfox. The composer's name was unfamiliar to me, but I have now found it, thanks to Google, bless it.

[jamesah]

Thanks, Greyfox. Never heard of either the musical or the composer!

[cruciverbali]

Enjoyed 1912 a lot, haven't seen the musical yet. Couldn't see a problem with 19 Down, the definition is supported here.

On a similar theme, don't forget to take a look at this month's Azed Competition Puzzle _ Girth a Woe !