- 20A: Naughty object of Beethoven's affections? (IMMORAL BELOVED).
- 38A: Beethoven's naughty opus? (EROTICA SYMPHONY).
- 53A: Where to hear Beethoven's naughty music? (BANNED CONCERTS).
- 62A/63A: Naughty—and with 63-Across, composer Beethoven? (born 12/16/1770) (LEWD).
- 63A: Toupee (WIG).
Now I really don't want to insult anyone's intelligence, but I'm going to go ahead and spell out the theme just in case there's someone out there who doesn't get it. In 1812, Beethoven wrote a series of "mysterious letters" now known as "The Immortal Beloved Letters." It used to be that no one was sure who those letters were directed to, but it's been a long time since any of this has been on my radar, so maybe scholars have figured it out by now. So that's the first pun. Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 in E flat major (Op. 55), is known as the Eroica Symphony, which in this puzzle has been transformed into the EROTICA SYMPHONY by taking the missing T from the first theme answer and inserting it here for punny purposes. The third pun tickled me because just last night I was at PuzzleSon's first band concert. Maybe some of that band music should have been banned, but they're just kids and I'm sure they'll get better. Or maybe quit. Finally, Beethoven's first name is Ludwig, which I like to pronounce with the V sound instead of the W sound, so the pun didn't exactly work for me, but I see what John was going for here and it works.
Bonus non-theme theme answers include:
- 2D: Lively, to Beethoven: Abbr. (ANIM.).
- 57D: Beethoven's "Archduke," for one (TRIO).
- 1D: Rocker Bon __ (JOVI). (Just checking to see if you're actually reading this.)
35A: Yoga position (LOTUS). Beautiful!
29D: Busybodies' active organs? (NOSES),
the tips of which John helpfully points out are buried in …
46A: Biblical beasts (ASSES).
Not sure how much I'll be able to check in today, so have fun in the comments but behave!
Crosswordese 101 Round-up:
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Everything Else — 1A: A whale has a long one (JAW); 4A: Short pencil (STUB); 8A: Sign of military respect (SALUTE); 15A: Lake Titicaca is partly in it (PERU); 16A: Previously, previously (ERE NOW); 17A: Pure (VIRGINAL); 19A: Nursery rocker (CRADLE); 22A: X rating in old Rome? (TEN); 23A: Cringe (COWER); 24A: Dollar bills, e.g. (CASH); 27A: Choir male, often (TENOR); 30A: Mil. honors (DSM'S); 33A: Ding Dong relatives (HO-HOS); 37A: Swipe (COP); 41A: Agcy. concerned with fraud (FTC); 42A: Malaise symptom (NO PEP); 43A: __-ground missile (AIR-TO); 44A: Nordstrom rival (SAKS); 48A: Romeo or Juliet, e.g. (TEEN); 49A: Semi-sheer curtain fabric (VOILE); 51A: Doctrine (ISM); 59A: : : : (COLONS); 60A: Parker and Roosevelt (ELEANORS); 61A: "CBS Evening News" anchor (COURIC); 64A: Anxiety (UNEASE); 65A: Dieter's triumph (LOSS); 66A: Boozer (SOT); 3D: Low life? (WORM); 4D: High point? (SPIRE); 5D: High-rise occupant (TENANT); 7D: Socket insert (BULB); 8D: Novus ordo __: Great Seal phrase (SECLORUM); 9D: Cupid's missile (ARROW); 10D: Like trees in summer (LEAVED); 11D: Sign of stress? (UNDERSCORE); 12D: Squealed (TOLD); 13D: She used to be a lambkin (EWE); 18D: Began to win a lot (GOT HOT); 21D: Environmental subgroup (ECOTYPE); 24D: Toque wearers (CHEFS); 25D: Heart line (AORTA); 26D: Provocation potential, as of a Howard Stern segment (SHOCK VALUE); 28D: Passed, as time (ELAPSED); 31D: Three-card con (MONTE); 32D: Watch, secret agent-style (SPY ON); 34D: Transgression (SIN); 36D: Steamy resort (SPA); 39D: Come together (COALESCE); 40D: Scary contract hirees (HITMEN); 45D: State bordering Arizona (SONORA); 47D: Tendons (SINEWS); 50D: Longtime civil rights leader Roy (INNIS); 52D: A plethora (SCADS); 53D: Timely benefit (BOON); 54D: Pocket vibrator, at times (CELL); 55D: Dairy bar (OLEO); 56D: Garden lines (ROWS); 58D: High-ranking NCO (SSGT); 59D: Hosp. heart ward (CCU).
28 comments:
All the best on your new job Been there, done that.
Howard
Strong sexual tension displayed throughout for a thursday morning. I especially enjoyed the lewd wig cluing. I struggled with the sw corner ironically with the Arizona clue because I originally had Nevada but Couric didn't work. I also wasn't sure if she had been replaced because I haven't watched the archaic national news in years or at least since I discovered FoxNews. But overall, I thought it was pretty good for a Thursday puzzle.
NO PEP.
That is all.
rp
John Lampkin is a multi-media genius.
Photographer non-pariel, musician excellante, and literary puzzler extraordinaire. I always like John's works, but this fun pun-filled puzzle is perfect.
A touch of the naughty throughout starting with "A whale has a long one"... hmm! I wonder what that is! And then ending up with LEWD WIG and a hugh guffaw from me.
Super clues, like "Sign of stress" (UNDERSCORE) and amazing entries like: Novus ordo SECLORUM... forcing me to go open my wallet.
Seeing COLONS directly over COURIC was another chuckler for me.
I'm gonna say it right now--- "This was the best of 2010 puzzles." I know that you-know-who will disagree with me because that's his mission in life.
Thanks, John for a delightful puzzle' albeit an easy Monday-level solve for me. And thank you for the lovely artwork you provided Puzzlegirl.
@PG
Hope you have a very productive day on the new job and come home tonight with a bunch of HOHOS to share with your nice family. BTW, I like your earlier postings.
Now the rest of the day I'll be BOPPIN' BEETHOVEN!
I liked VIRGINAL next to IMMORAL.
NO PEP, VOILE/INNIS, AIR TO, ECOTYPE? Not so much.
I thought this was a pleasant puzzle but no way as superb as JNH deems it.
Is today Beethoven's birthday?
Theme was fun to solve. Naughty, naughty!
Actually tomorrow is Beethoven's birthday.
Read the Immortal Beloved Letters of Beethoven and who the addressee was here.
Keep in mind that the LEWD WIG was celibate.
My bet is LEWD WIG was the seed entries for this puzzle. A nice solid puzzle and I guess as racy as we'll see in a mainstream puzzle but still barely PG on my rating scale. Needed every cross for SECLORUM.
@PuzzleGirl - do you start a new job every month? Just askin'
For a while, I thought I had
right-brain damage, since the left side of the puzzle was almost blank, except for Bon JOVI. So, I HTG for COURIC (never watch), SAKS (unfamiliar with the big-city Nordstrom), and SONORA (no idea). Moaned to think of ONO as an artist.
@Lampkin - those marvelous plaster birds you snapped - are they some sort of cartoon? I picked up some little china ones, in green, and have been wondering.
Had BaLl before BULB, as ball and socket.
Explain Beethoven's WIG. And was he really a virgin? Like Lawrence of Arabia, QE1, Hans Christian Anderson, James Buchanan, Lewis Carroll, Immanuel Kant, Isaac Newton, Mother Teresa, Grant Wood and Karl Rove?
Thanks for the Pathetique post. That is absolutely my favorite Beethoven sonata, and possibly my favorite Beethoven piece as well.
LEWD WIG is quite the groaner. I was stymied by the DSMS/MONTE cross...thought it was MONTY but that's the spelling for FULL MONTY. Which made me think of Uncle Monty from "Withnail and I", hilariously portrayed by Richard Griffiths.
Great picture of ASSES, PG. Fits the tone of the puzzle.
I agree with RP about NO PEP. Not much you can do to clue that one any better, just a clunker.
Some real red-meat words today, like COALESCE and SINEWS. Me like.
Today's puzzle elicited many HO HOS. I noticed quite a few body parts as well. Had SHOCK Radio before VALUE. Didn't get tricked by 45D this time, State bordering Arizona, SONORA. That's a solving milestone for me.
Great photos, John L!
@PG Good luck today.
Man, that array of blue jeans is unsettling. What kind of sick bastard though balancing manequins on a virtual saw in a woman's crotch was appropriate?
I had way less love for this than did JNH. Eroica/EROTICA is kind of trite, I don't know that the Imortal Beloved letters (unknown to me) are well enough known for the pun to work, and what the hell is a BANNEDCONCERT? Has a concert ever been banned, outside of Nazi Germany?
Oh, I get it, when David called it a groaner. But I pronounce the W in Ludwig as V, so didn't "hear" it.
@PG: "A little naughty music"? Good one!!!
As for the theme itself, I liked EROTICA SYMPHONY, but thought BANNED CONCERTS was a stretch, and simply didn't get the IMMOR[t]AL BELOVED reference. LEWD WIG was funny though, and I especially liked that, although WIG was part of the compound answer, it was clued independently (as "Toupee"), instead of as simply "See 62A".
@Van55: Today is likely Beethoven's 140th birthday. Wikipedia says he was baptized on the 17th, but "was probably born the previous day". Thanks for cluing me into the significance of "(born 12/16/1770)" in the clue for 62A. I'd only looked at the year, so was wondering why it was there.
I too had trouble in the SW: Nevada for 45D, leading me to erase the correct COLONS before finally catching the misdirection, and Googling for the correct SONOMA. Then misspelled kOURIC -- had to Google that too. Roy INNIS was unknown to me. (Google also lists two other civil-rights Roy's: Wilkins and Turner Sr.)
Arthur There was a 1994 film "Immortal Beloved" that dealt with the search for the woman mentioned in Beethoven's letters after his death. You might give it a try. I remember it as being pretty good.
Immortal Beloved
I enjoyed this puzzle a lot more than the majority here, but that's prolly cuz I like PUN-ishment. :-)
Did not know about The Immortal Beloved Leters, but still finished it and caught the pun. I had Sectorum for a long while....well just because it sounded right. But after I erased the T figured it had to be L. It never once occured to me to pull out a dollar, but sure enough, there it is. Had Rug for Wig for a long time, and that didn't help with Rows. Wanted K for Couric too. It sounds like a name that should have the same letter starting both, so that one always trips me.
The solve was slow, but the feeling of having met a challenge was a lot better than yesterday. It's got a good beat and you can dance to it, so I'd give it a B (for Beethoven:-)
Was going to complain about how Mondayish this puzzle was until the SW where I had tOILE instead of VOILE, wanted iCU for CCU, and didn't know INNIS or COURIC. Dredged up COURIC from memory, figured Cardiac Care Unit worked to give me back COLONS, and all fell into place. Google says that VOILE is shear material, like "a veil"... my mnenomic to separate these two materials.
FWIW. My Latin dictionary says SECLORUM is a poetic variation of saeculum meaning "age", here metaphorically meaning an indefinitely long time. So the Latin phrase translates to "a new order of the ages"... not "a new world order".
Never heard of the Immortal Beloved letters, so that theme answer just lay there, unappreciated. Chuckled when I got BANNEDCONCERTS, but realized that this is not really related to Beethoven... except maybe where some band plays an adaptation of his music, (horrors).
Anyway, Happy Birthday Lewdwig.
D.N.F.Bottom left corner (or S.W?) got me, starting w the archiac VOILE and including:::: which was supposed to mean COLONS.Sure,whatever. And what's with NOPEP? Weak as hell.Good to see that my fellow pinheads ( no disrespect intended ) agreed.L8R.
Hand up for took my wallet out for SECLORUM. Hand up for tOILE for VOILE (I blame my strong allergic reaction to fabric stores). Hand up for really liking the puzzle (oops, running out of hands).
BANNED CONCERTS is a stretch, but my junior high CONCERT band played the finale of Beethoven's Fifth. We trumpets really got to rock out. Like PG says, we prob'ly shoulda been BANNED.
Capcha: tescol= Teaching English to Speakers and Crossworders of Other Languages
Hi all,
Thanks for the kind words, and thank you Puzzle Girl for the great write and for posting my pics. I agree that "A Little Naughty Music" make a perfect title.
Answering questions and comments in no particular order:
EROTICASYMPHONY was the seed. According to Matt Ginsberg's database, this is only the second time it's been used in a puzzle. LEWD popped up during fill, and I quickly redid the grid so that WIG could adjoin it.
I didn't even think of the letters for IMMORALBELOVED, rather the movie which was fairly popular at the time, and since I'm a musician, well...
INFIDELIO would have been great to work in somehow as an alternate for BANNEDCONCERT, but I didn't even try since Rich doesn't allow puns with added syllables.
JNH, thank you for your continued raves of support. I'm hardly a multi-media genius, but wow, would I like to do a puzzle clued only with my own photographs. Maybe if I live long enough.
The ASSES shot was snapped in Chihuahua, Mexico a few years ago. In my Mexico book, it's titled "Ouch!" The owner of the shop was a woman, Arthur, so you'll have to change your epithet!
Happy holidays to all!
I've followed this blog for roughly a year and have only posted for a brief period, so forgive me if this is redundant. Forgive me also if I gush...but I must.
I've been an avid, though entirely amateur, puzzler for most of my life (55 years, FWIW). Finding a forum like this adds an interesting dimension to that process in addition to providing a backstop when stumped. But the totally unexpected bonus is hearing directly from the author from time to time. That's a surprise brush with fame in my mind.
Thank you John for stopping by. It makes this hobby seem more worthwhile than typical, and I only do it because I think it's worthwhile. And thank you Puzzle Girl for putting it all together.
@Larry - Toile doesn't have to be fabric; it can be wallpaper. It's a design - pastoral French, 2 colors, one usually white.
@xxpossum - Voile is alive and well and living in curtains and mosquito nets all over the world.
I like puns.
@John L: Yup, INFIDELIO rocks! Too bad it was a nonstarter :-(
Actually, most of Beethoven's overtures seem to have been Infidelio -- he seems to have had a thing for married women. Must have made for a pretty Pathetique love life...
I second what @Avg Joe said. It's always kind of cool when the constructors chime in. Thanks John!
I saw "Immortal" back when it came out and ran out to buy the sound track the next day. I still listen to it and even have it on my ipod.
As far as the ASSES picture - CrazyCat husband manufactures and markets both private label and branded blue jeans. He employs designers to come up with creative ways to display the jeans in his showroom. I'm sure he'll get a chuckle out of that pic.
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