Clues by Enigmatist and Grid by etc
Theme: Celebrating the 250th anniversary of the birth of LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN, born in December 1770.
The winner of the December puzzle was Jack Nichols of South Korea.
Review of the December 2020 3D crossword
The rubric said ‘Celebrating the 250th anniversary of the birth of the 40, who is unclued but appears in the grid as 13ba, 10d, 42ac-2.
Etc won the grid design award for this puzzle and Enigmatist is perhaps the top setter in the country so this should be a treat. Lynn and I very often tackle the monthly 3D crossword together and we settled down to it on New Year’s eve.
As one or two of you said in your comments this solved fairly readily for an Enigmatist puzzle and we made good progress. About seven or eight clues in we took a proper look at the picture clue and bingo, the answer, Ludwig van Beethoven, became obvious. Very nice to get both the theme and the picture clue resolved early in the solve. Not at all sure who Beth was but the rest was clear.
Just how often do solutions and clues appear elsewhere coincidentally at the same time. The Times crossword, the very next day, on 1st January had 18D With hair swept back, Times compilers’ charm (7) which compares with Enigmatist’s clue for ENAMOUR: Hair-raising? That’s 3D compilers’ charm! (7).
A very enjoyable finale to the normal 3D calendar year.
Grid solution
Visual clue
A van advertising hairpieces for judges is followed by singer-songwriter Beth Ditto sporting a compass point on her top, and finally an oven, giving:
LUD (judge) WIG VAN + E(ast) in BETH + OVEN = LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN
Clues and explanations
Thematic solutions are indicated with an asterisk.
| Day | Solution | Direction, Clue, Count | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ABLER | 16aw In rolling barrel barman’s showing more skill (5) | ABLER hidden rev |
| 2 | ACORN | 20to A nut-tree’s first to bear my fruit! (5) | COR in A/N |
| 3 | AFAR | 41to Regularly cut in half, sabre removed to a distance (4) | (h)A(l)F(s)A(b)R(e) |
| 4 | *ALLEGRO | 5ac Top orchestra section not getting up fast (7) | (H)ALLE, GRO(up) |
| 5 | ANCHOR | 41aw,45up-5 An unpleasant task’s short fix (6) | AN CHOR(e) |
| 6 | *ANDANTE | 5d Moving quite slowly with pre-payment (7) | AND/ANTE |
| 7 | ASSET | 15aw Like clues published unedited, this is advantageous (5) | AS SET |
| 8 | *BONN | 27ba Where 40 emerged, not entirely healthy-looking (4) | BONN(y) |
| 9 | *CANTATA | 14ac What 40 wrote about Joseph’s passing so long after May (7) | CAN/TA-TA |
| 10 | *CHORAL | 34up 40’s 9th in 5, 4 (6) | CHORAL hidden |
| 11 | DETENTE | 12d In which tensions ease and Macron’s half-heartedly made up (7) | DET(t)EN/TE all rev |
| 12 | EDGED | 3aw Sharp sub’s left standing between two press chiefs (5) | ED[G]ED i.e. (stand-in)G |
| 13 | *EGMONT | 31ac-6 Say word to describe new piece of 40 … (6) | EG/MO[N]T |
| 14 | *EMPEROR | 35ac …more dubious about a piece of 40 (7) | EM[PER]OR anag |
| 15 | ENAMOUR | 3d Hair-raising? That’s 3D compilers’ charm! (7) | ENAM/OUR rev |
| 16 | *EROICA | 35up-6 40’s 3rd love, to lie in heath (6) | ER[O]ICA |
| 17 | *FIDELIO | 38up Piece of 40? Solver will get tipsy when looking down (7) | FI/DELIO rev i.e. down in grid |
| 18 | FOVEATE | 38ba Valttieri’s beginning to worry – lapping arch-enemy’s pitted (7) | FO[V,EAT]E |
| 19 | GAS STOVE | 8d, 37ba-2 Bottom tense – Brexiteer’s suppressed something cooking (3,5) | G[ASS,T]OVE |
| 20 | HADN’T | 33to-3, 29ba-3 Did never own new hand-cart (wheels stolen) (5) | HADN’T anag minus CAR |
| 21 | *HAMMERKLAVIER | 1ac, 4d Evil remark reinterpreted by overacting 36 piece of 40 (13) | HAM/MERKLAVIER anag |
| 22 | ISLAM | 11to Writer criticises religion (5) | I SLAM |
| 23 | IVOR | 40to Chap into Eurovision, preposterously! (4) | IVOR hidden rev |
| 24 | KNOLL | 4aw Smart Aleck’s lost wife on a hill (5) | KNO(w/a)LL |
| 25 | LARVA | 6ba,5aw,10d-2 Great Caribbean bat swallows very immature form (5) | LAR[V]A ref Brian Lara |
| 26 | LASSOED | 17ba Secured head of Lexicography for one dictionary (7) | L,AS,SOED |
| 27 | *LEONORA | 7d 50 years, or a 17 originally (7) | L,EON,OR A |
| 28 | MINI | 2d-4 Skirt the first 60 – or 30? – seconds? (4) | MIN(ute #)1 |
| 29 | MONTH | 32ac In 22, on Thursday, is it Ramadan? (5) | MONTH hidden |
| 30 | MOOLA | 32to A shaft used by a rower moving away loot (5) | MOOL A all rev, ref. direction in grid |
| 31 | NORMS | 39aw,43up-4 Standards set by Next at the outset – or Marks & Spencer? (5) | N, OR M&S |
| 32 | OFTEN | 25aw Decimal, time after time? (5) | OF TEN |
| 33 | *ORATORIO | 24ac,26aw-2 Endlessly winding road – and where it led in film work by 40? (8) | ORA/TO RIO anag minus D i.e. Road to Rio |
| 34 | OUNCE | 24aw Big cat, one of 16 in pound (5) | OUNCE 2 mnngs |
| 35 | *PASTORAL | 19ac, 21up 40’s 6th, gone from the mouth (8) | PAST/ORAL |
| 36 | *PIANO | 36aw Item useful for instrumental group Ian Ogilvy supplies (5) | PIANO hidden |
| 37 | PLAIN | 36up-5 Series of perennial problems turning over flat (5) | PLAIN hidden rev |
| 38 | RATHA | 9to,1d-2 In India, team draws it, right? Now I see extra time (5) | R/A[T]HA! |
| 39 | SARI | 23up Traditional dress reflection of girasol embellishes (4) | SARI hidden rev |
| 40 | *THEME | 42to Iran, Turkey and others repeated idea (5) | THE M(iddle) E(ast) |
| 41 | VANADIC | 10d-3,18to An acid very reactive with metal (7) | V/ANADIC anag |
| 42 | VIENNA | 37aw,44ac,45to-2 Arrangement of 9 in museum where 40 resided (6) | V[IENN]A anag |
| *LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN | 13ba,10d,42ac-6 UNCLUED (6,3,9) |
Solvers’ comments
Many thanks to Enigmatist and etc for a very clever puzzle. I know very little about Beethoven but did recognise a couple of the symphonies. Probably a cliche by now but I found this one tough but fair. By the way, the background photograph for the December offering was beautiful. Many thanks to Graham Fox, whose visuals really compliment the grid pages. And I’d also like to express my gratitude to the 3D Cryptic Calendar Team, including all the setters, for such an entertaining year of puzzles and newsletters. Wishing a happy Christmas and best wishes for a very positive 2021 to the Team and to all contributors. [JA]
Another challenging puzzle – definitely one where leaving it alone for a while then coming back to it helped! [GB]
Nice [BB]
Loved it, love Beethoven. But – too many words running into each other resulting too many non-words makes the grid difficult to work with. [NB]
I quaked a bit when I saw that it was by Enigmatist, but it was not as hard as I expected! Perhaps that was partly because I felt at home with the theme and could identify the compositions involved. If done by Moonlight, it might have been more Pathetique… [SB]
Roll over Beethoven [HB]
An early identification of the theme was a huge help in completing this puzzle. It had a lot of clues I really enjoyed such as days 7, 22, 24 and 25 and only one formerly unknown word (foveate). [JB]
The theme was right up my street, and I latched on to it quickly given just the year 1770. The clues were a joy to get stuck into and eventually solve. A good way to round off the year. [AB]
Enigmatist rarely is so straightforward but some clues proved quite tricking [PC]
This is the first time I have been able to decipher the Frank Paul clue! [NC]
The theme was very clear from the drawing (about the first time i reckon). [RC]
Loved the cartoon with the van full of wigs for m’Lud! [PD]
A great end to a VERY strange year. Best wishes for next year x [RE]
Difficult enough to be a real challenge, but not so difficult that I gave up on it! So a perfect combination and an interesting theme, thank you so much. [SF]
Very enjoyable but not particularly testing, with a very obvious theme and picture clue. Having said that I did not fully understand all the clues so might be editing this comment if it comes back as incorrect!! [EF]
Good fun to round out a great year of crosswords (if not much else!). Many thanks to all the 3D crossword team and best wishes for a happy and healthy 2021. [JG]
A masterpiece of thematic consturction. All together now: “Freude! Freude!” [TH]
Having the theme from the start made this a breeze. [J&JH]
We produced this grid and are delighted that Enigmatist has composed a symphony of clues in perfect harmony with the answers and theme. We also loved the great Caribbean bat! [N&SI]
It took a while for the theme to emerge, despite the good number of thematic clues. I await enlightenment for the construction of a number of clues. [MJ]
So enjoyable. Thank you to everyone and happy Christmas. [JJ]
Lovely puzzle to end the year, especially after the November ‘alien’ one which was indeed very alien to us.! Looking forward to next year’s calendar and hoping to do better. [MJ&DB]
Very satisfying [ML]
Having been given the anniversary, the theme was going to be obvious, but it took a little while to interpret the drawing – I guess the girl is Beth someone +E. I also couldn’t parse the clue on the 11th, though definition was clear enough, or see how to get the G in the 12th. However, Enigmatist did very well to fit so much thematic material into etc’s grid. [PM]
What a great way to end an excellent year’s puzzling. [AM]
Where too much Beethoven is never enough….I listened to Day 16 (EROICA) while I completed this puzzle. Three nights ago, our local symphony orchestra performed the 7th symphony – our first attended concert since February! Now I’m off to listen to Day 14 (PC No. 5). Thanks, Enigmatist, for a wonderful puzzle to finish the year! [AM]
Know little of the theme apart from standard crossword solutions learnt! So needed to confirm a few like 21. Best 20,24,30. Merry Christmas to all the team – you do a great job. [DM]
Great to see the master remembered in three dimensions! [JM]
Very enjoyable [JM]
Enjoyable puzzle & theme, not too difficult. I should have waited before printing, as now I will not get my December fix!! [MN]
Some lovely clues – enjoyed day 19 in particular. In day 27 wasn’t the original name Leonore? Wonderful end to the year and looking forward to 2021! [JN]
Entertaining puzzle. Plenty of theme references helped. [JP]
Great puzzle! Such a shame that so many Beethoven celebration concerts had to be cancelled this year, this was a nice tribute! [AR]
It’s good to end the year with a theme that I can understand! [DS]
Really enjoyable puzzle with a very good spread of theme words in the clues and answers. A great end to a wonderful year of 3D crosswords. Thanks to you all. [BS]
Gentler than I was expecting for Enigmatist! Unsure of 11to – ‘criticises’ feels the wrong part of speech. I like the ‘Great Caribbean bat’. [HS]
Having listened to Composer of the Week all year helped the theme along no end. A great pleasure. Thanks. [ET]
Enjoyable theme [CW]
Rather too many snakes for my liking. Apart from that, crammed pleasingly full of thematic material, and a fitting tribute to a Master. Thanks to all, and Happy New Year! [HE]