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The Cryptic Quiz sheet – the results!

Thanks for everyone’s support! We raised over £600:  £350 from on-line sales including donations, and £250 odd from the printed version sold in and around Hastings.

It seems that this year’s cryptic quiz was fairly hard, or at least, there were two questions (nos. 20 and 64) that caused a lot of bother, even to hardened quizzers.

The following scored 70/70:

Rebecca Bird, Lynnie Porter, Kevin Doherty, Tim MacDonald, Maddy Coelho, Anna Foster, Clive Buddle, Margaret Macdonald, Kath Manning, Ian Papworth, Hilary Oughton, Chris Chantler, Patsy Watkins, Ray Foxell

As usual, it was difficult to choose between the tie-breakers, but based on aptness, inner logic etc, the prizes go to

1. Lynnie Porter: Naff harmonic ruined my composition! (12)                                  Rachmaninoff

2. Maddy Coelho: His cheap bell was melted down and made into a cannon (9)         Pachelbel

3. Ian Papworth: Family flee Austria to find customhouse in a mess (3,5,2,5)           The Sound of Music

Summa cum laude among the 70/70 tie-breakers:

Chris Chantler: Russian virtuoso plays harmonica note very loudly (12)                        Rachmaninoff

Tim MacDonald: One of her vacuous rhapsodic variations could be played on this instrument (11)   harpsichord

Anna Foster: Beethoven rues life structured around a bagatelle  (3,5)                                           Für Elise

Clive Buddle: Blue light call-out to epic hotel (3,6)     The Police.

For my extra prize from all the clues submitted:

Ray Foxell’s (very neat ) Not long till we graduate (7)                                            Bassoon

Here are the answers and explanations:

  1. BACH. Cab (reversed) + H
  2. BEETHOVEN.  Bee + t (starting towards) + H + oven
  3. RICHARD WAGNER. Anagram of Grand Reich war
  4. MOZART  (initial letter of modern) + Oz art
  5. VIVALDI. Viv(at) + Aldi
  6. CHOPIN. C(ar) + hop in.
  7. BRAHMS. HM in bras.   (Bang go my hopes of a knighthood)
  8. TCHAIKOVSKY. Homophones: chai + coughs + key
  9. VERDI. Drive anagram
  10. HILDEGARD VON BINGEN.  (anagram)
  11. MONTEVERDI. (anagram)
  12. HANDEL   Give = hand + el
  13. HAYDN. Homophone: (a good) hid’n’
  14. ELGAR.  (anagram)
  15. STRAUSS.  (anagram)
  16. GUSTAV MAHLER (anagram)
  17. BERNSTEIN.  Spoonerism: stern bean. (Bernstein rhymed his name with mean, not mine, in the American rather than the German way, at least early on)
  18. GILBERT AND SULLIVAN.  (anagram)
  19. DELIBES   Des (O’Connor) around bile reversed
  20. CHARPENTIER. His Te Deum in C major is the Eurovision theme tune, opens the event. I couldn’t see why quite a few plumped for Humperdinck, the German composer. Even the singer with the same name only came 25th out of 26…
  21. AIR ON THE G STRING. (Need I explain? Strictly speaking, it’s the not a G-string))
  22. TROUT QUINTET   Quiet tutor (anagram) around N(ew) T(estament)
  23. THE THREEPENNY OPERA  (Brecht)
  24. A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC- anagram. [Eine Kleine Nachtmusik]
  25. LARK ASCENDING (Vaughan Williams)
  26. ENIGMA VARIATIONS.  (Elgar) Gamine is a variation  (i.e. anagram) of enigma
  27. THE LONDONDERRY AIR. [= Oh Danny Boy]. ..derry air sounds like derrière
  28. GREENSLEEVES. (Golf) course = green , and also anagram of never see legs
  29. SHEEP MAY SAFELY GRAZE.  Just a definition
  30. PASTORAL SYMPHONY . Exams behind them = past orals. Then first letters of young musicians etc
  31. CARMEN. Petrolheads = men who love cars
  32. HMS PINAFORE.  Anagram of name for ship
  33. TOSCA Anagram
  34. GUYS AND DOLLS . Guys = tent guy-ropes.
  35. WEST SIDE STORY.
  36. CALYPSO. Anagram
  37. SKIFFLE.  Light craft = skiff. the in French = le.      (Chanson doesn’t cover ‘light craft’)
  38. GANGNAM STYLE.  Anagram of mangas gently
  39. BLUE GRASS. Depressed = blue, informer = grass (slang)
  40. GOSPEL. Da capo = From the start, so first letters of groups of singers etc
  41. RHYTHM AND BLUES. Anagram of urban myths held
  42. EARTH, WIND and FIRE. Heart = anagram of earth. Flatulence = wind, discharge = fire
  43. PET SHOP BOYS.
  44. COLD PLAY. These dramas sound wintry
  45. WET WET WET. Treble – i.e. triple
  46. OASIS Love = O. As is = ‘with all faults’ when buying an item
  47. FlLORENCE AND THE MACHINE. Da Vinci lived in Florence, invented machines
  48. FLEETWOOD MAC. A lot of ships = fleet. Timber = wood.
  49. RADIOHEAD
  50. GERRY AND THE PACEMAKERS.  . Gerry sounds like jerry (chamber pot, slang) . pacemakers guarantee regular heart rhythm.
  51. LED ZEPPELIN. Homophone for lead (the metal). Zeppelin = airship
  52. ALED JONES. Anagram
  53. PAVAROTTI  Anagram
  54. ENRICO CARUSO. Anagram of I croon a curse
  55. PLACIDO DOMINGO. Calm = placid + anagram of I’m no good
  56. TAYLOR SWIFT. Homophone: tailor
  57. ED SHEERAN.  Anagram of he’s earned
  58. ARIANA GRANDE. Anagram of Ian arranged
  59. ADELE  Hidden inside …mad electric…
  60. DOLLY PARTON. Polly dart on – Spoonerism
  61. JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE. Anagram
  62. SNARE DRUM. Dispatch = murder   Short answer = Ans (all reversed)
  63. DULCIMER  Anagram
  64. BOMBARDE (or bombard). (Type of Breton oboe) Homophone of bomb bard. (Some suggested talabard, also a Breton instrument – but it wouldn’t really explain ‘blast’)
  65. DOUBLE BASS. Bass = type of beer
  66. TRUMPET. Strumpet minus first letter (head)
  67. RATTLE. As Simon Rattle, conductor. Some suggested cymbal, but I don’t think simple (Simon) and cymbal are really homophones
  68. SACKBUT.  Sack = fire.  But = however.  (I allowed bazooka, if you treat Baroque very figuratively)
  69. RECORDER. Scripture studies = RE.  class = order. Cold = C. (Can be rather shrill)
  70. TRIANGLE. Anagram.