Musiclues

Nightowl · 2024-08-10T00:03:05+00:00

This thread is for people who enjoy crosswords and playing piano (not at the same time - that would be silly). Cryptic crosswords often have clues which involve music terminology - I like to call these Musiclues. Here are some musiclues which other crossword/piano fans might enjoy solving. Scored smoothly, cricket side at Oval, initially (6) Reluctant to give details when ape not quiet (3) Examine soft dress (5) It's a type of piano, honest! (7) Quietly mention favour (6) Quiet deed brings truce (4) Loud greeting from American turning up regional gift (3) Article about a performance of music (7) Please don't post your answers here (I will post them in due course, once people have had time to solve them), but feel free to add further music related clues if you encounter them.

ShiroKuro

So pardon my ignorance, but are the answers a single word, and do the numbers in parens refer to the number of letters in the word?

rsl12

ShiroKuro yes. (7) means the answer is a 7-letter word, and (4,3) means the answer is a 4-letter word followed by a 3-letter word.

You will probably need more knowledge before you can really enjoy cryptic crosswords. Here is a guide designed for Americans:

https://www.newyorker.com/puzzles-and-games-dept/articles/a-starter-pack-for-the-cryptic-crossword-curious

PS. the New Yorker cryptics are wonderful! They are the only ones that I know of designed for an American audience. Cherish them--they stopped publishing them a year ago. After you have exhausted them, you will be forced to learn a lot of British/Australian culture in order to play.

PPS. I took another look at the 8 clues at the top of the page. I'm up to 4 solved!

ShiroKuro

rsl12 thanks for the explanation and the link! I didn’t realize it was a British thing.

I’ll take a look at tmrw morning. I do my puzzles at breakfast. I usually do NYT Connections and a few others. Sometimes I do the mini crossword but usually not the full one, there are too many US pop cultural references that I have zero knowledge of. I probably won’t be much better with British ones…

MRC

I was totally stuck with number 7 of the OP, so I finally asked the Internet. It spat out the answer, which I'm sure I would never had got on my own. It's a word I had never heard of.

It's worth pointing out that this clue was certainly for a vertical word in the original crossword puzzle.

rsl12

ShiroKuro Sometimes I do the mini crossword but usually not the full one, there are too many US pop cultural references that I have zero knowledge of. I probably won’t be much better with British ones…

The good news is that cryptics have WAAAY less pop culture trivia in them. And for 95% of the clues, being American isn't a handicap (and on occasion is even a benefit). Every clue you solve in a cryptic will feel like an accomplishment, so don't worry if you can't solve everything.

You may be narked by how many Britishisms pop up. It may feel like such a faff, but soldier on, and you will be chuffed when you've got the knack, because then Bob's your uncle.

ShiroKuro

rsl12 You may be narked by how many Britishisms pop up. It may feel like such a faff, but soldier on, and you will be chuffed to find your abilities (and vocabulary) growing.

Oh dear...

😆

rsl12

MRC I was totally stuck with number 7 of the OP, so I finally asked the Internet. It spat out the answer, which I'm sure I would never had got on my own. It's a word I had never heard of.

Because of what you wrote here, I was able to figure out #7!! (This happens often to me--"Hmm the clues say that xyz is the answer, so xyz must be a word".) A pretty new word to foist on my Scot friend (if I ever get one). 5/8 solved!

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