# Cryptic composers



## Cortision

I thought it might be fun to have a thread with cryptic clues about composers and guess them. Mine aren't all that good but I'm sure others can come up with some good ones.

See if you can guess these:

1. Industrious insect has wet feet.
2. Great leader has open exchange.
3. Pack leader from NaClNaClburg.
4. Moses never made it but his brother was fine.


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## Sid James

I'm ok at straightforward crosswords, but am hopeless at cryptic ones. I can only guess the answer to question 4, is it Schoenberg (_Moses und Aaron_), or Aaron Copland?


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## Gangsta Tweety Bird

1. bruckner?
2. bartók?
3. mozart?


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## Lukecash12

4. Leopold?


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## nefigah

Gangsta Tweety-Bird said:


> 1. bruckner?
> 2. bartók?
> 3. mozart?


I assume Bruckner comes from his first name being ANTon, but where are you getting the "wet feet" part?

Bartok coming from "barter"? What about the great leader?

You are totally right on Mozart, though 

These are hard (compounded by me not knowing my composers very well)


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## Lukecash12

nefigah said:


> I assume Bruckner comes from his first name being ANTon, but where are you getting the "wet feet" part?
> 
> Bartok coming from "barter"? What about the great leader?
> 
> You are totally right on Mozart, though
> 
> These are hard (compounded by me not knowing my composers very well)


Actually, I think with Bartok he meant Bartok exchanged words openly in a bar.


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## Cortision

Some good guesses! OK, time for the explanation

1. Anton Bruckner (Industrious insect = ant, 'on Brook' = wet feet - _Oh dear_ I hear you say.

2. Cesar Franck. Great leader = Ceaser, Open, Frank exchange. Get it?

3. Well done Nefigah! Mozart it is. 'Pack leader' refers to his first name, Wolfgang, as well as the fact that in his time he was the best of the pack of composers. NaclNaclburg is of course Salzburg. (Nacl being common table salt).

4. Aaron Copland. Moses never made it to the *land* of promise, whereas his brother was fine *(coped).* A stretch maybe, but Andre got it second time around.


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## emiellucifuge

Anymore cryptic riddles?


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## Gangsta Tweety Bird

5. portapotty


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## Cortision

Gangsta Tweety-Bird said:


> 5. portapotty


Hmmm... These are a lot harder to solve than to come up with. Chopin? Weber?

How about these - I think they're reasonbly easy.

6. Mainly a piano catalogue.
7. He came from his name.
8. Half full or half empty? Half full or half empty? Half full or....
9. A fine, oily career cut short.


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## emiellucifuge

Damn im awful at these i have no clue


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## Sid James

emiellucifuge said:


> Damn im awful at these i have no clue


Ditto.............


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## Ignis Fatuus

6. Chopin?
7. C.M. von Dittersdorf?
8. Philip Glass!
9. not a clue!

These are hard!!

EDIT:I'll try a few of my own:

10. William, son of a fairy?
11. Joe Green.
12. Find him in the D section? No wait, P? Oh, J!


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## Lukecash12

10. William Byrd?


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## Sid James

11. Giuseppe Verdi (quite an easy one...)


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## Lukecash12

Here's a relatively easy one:

13. Whatever you do at the concert, dear, just try not to get shanked.


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## Cortision

emiellucifuge said:


> Damn im awful at these i have no clue


Yes, they are a lot harder to work out than to invent, for me anyway. 

Phillip Glass is correct!
Dittersdorf is a good answer but not what I was thinking - I had in mind Benjamin Britten.
Chopin is close... think of a possible synonym for 'catalogue'.
Now that I think about it, the fourth is difficult and probably misleading. Try thinking about the name of a composer that sounds like another profession, one that involves cutting things short.


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## Ignis Fatuus

Lukecash12 said:


> 10. William Byrd?


Nope but good guess!



Andre said:


> 11. Giuseppe Verdi (quite an easy one...)


 Yep!



Cortision said:


> Dittersdorf is a good answer but not what I was thinking - I had in mind Benjamin Britten.


Ah that's a nice one.



> Try thinking about the name of a composer that sounds like another profession, one that involves cutting things short.


The Carpenters? !


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## Aramis

> 12. Find him in the D section? No wait, P? Oh, J!


Johann Pachelbel ~_~


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## Sid James

Here's some more, I'm trying to make them easy (& make sense). I don't know if this is the case, I suppose I'll find out. I'll put up further clues if people can't find the answers by early next week:

1. Half of an Italian beverage with an "i" on the end instead of "o"
2. Honorable man with the contents of a bird's nest
3. Building that has revolving sails plus the German word for house, minus the "s" add "d"
4. Dog is moving it's tail for this German composer
5. Cipher plus a country who is fighting alongside yours in war


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## andruini

2. Honegger? 
3. Milhaud
4. Wagner

No idea about the other two..


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## Sid James

Well done, andruini. For the first one, think coffee (maybe I'm giving it away here?). Here's another 3 I thought up (first one should be easy for all of you!):

1 (a). Baked beetroot, but the other way round.
2 (a). Vegetable on the cob, along with metal of alchemist's dreams.
3 (a). Rich person's mansion, along with first half (almost) of a crustacean...


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## Ignis Fatuus

Andre said:


> Here's some more, I'm trying to make them easy (& make sense). I don't know if this is the case, I suppose I'll find out. I'll put up further clues if people can't find the answers by early next week:
> 
> 1. Half of an Italian beverage with an "i" on the end instead of "o"
> 2. Honorable man with the contents of a bird's nest
> 3. Building that has revolving sails plus the German word for house, minus the "s" add "d"
> 4. Dog is moving it's tail for this German composer
> 5. Cipher plus a country who is fighting alongside yours in war


1. Puccini
5. Kodaly

lol


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## Ignis Fatuus

Andre said:


> Well done, andruini. For the first one, think coffee (maybe I'm giving it away here?). Here's another 3 I thought up (first one should be easy for all of you!):
> 
> 1 (a). Baked beetroot, but the other way round.
> 2 (a). Vegetable on the cob, along with metal of alchemist's dreams.
> 3 (a). Rich person's mansion, along with first half (almost) of a crustacean...


1. toorteeB dekaB?
2. Korngold!
3. Villa-Lobster?


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## emiellucifuge

NO Silly its Beethoven!!


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## Lukecash12

emiellucifuge said:


> NO Silly its Beethoven!!


Right indeed! Beethoven is the answer to every question and riddle. Utter poppycock if you try to come up with anything different.

"How would you like your steak cooked, sir?"

"Are you deaf, m'am? Beethoven!"


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## Weston

Ignis Fatuus said:


> 12. Find him in the D section? No wait, P? Oh, J!


Josquin des Prez.

[ETA: No I guess Aramis is right because of the Canon in D]


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## Weston

This one is probably hard - I don't know.

An Archangel's sortie


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## World Violist

Weston said:


> Josquin des Prez.
> 
> [ETA: No I guess Aramis is right because of the Canon in D]


No, I think you're right because I never know how to find Josquin des Prez either...


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## Ignis Fatuus

Weston said:


> Josquin des Prez.


Yes!

The last one is Guillaume Dufay.

I don't know the etymology of his name but "du fay" can mean "of the fairy".


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## Cortision

Andre said:


> Here's some more, I'm trying to make them easy (& make sense). I don't know if this is the case, I suppose I'll find out. I'll put up further clues if people can't find the answers by early next week:
> 
> 5. Cipher plus a country who is fighting alongside yours in war


Kodaly!

Don't know the first one.

Oops, just realised someone has already solved this!


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## Cortision

Ignis Fatuus said:


> 3. Villa-Lobster?


I think that's Villa-Lobos! 

The answers to mine:
'Almost a piano catalogue' = Liszt. (A catalogue is a kind of list).
'A fine oily career cut short' = Samuel Barber. I was thinking of fine and oily types of hair. A bit confusing maybe.


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## Sid James

The above answers to my ones are all correct. The beetroot one is Beethoven (no need to take it literally!)



Weston said:


> This one is probably hard - I don't know.
> 
> An Archangel's sortie


I'll take a stab & say Arcangelo Corelli...


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## Ignis Fatuus

Andre said:


> The above answers to my ones are all correct. The beetroot one is Beethoven (no need to take it literally!)
> 
> I'll take a stab & say Arcangelo Corelli...


It has to be Gabriel Fauré?


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## Weston

Ignis Fatuus said:


> It has to be Gabriel Fauré?


That's it. The Archangel named Gabriel + sortie is a kind of foray.

I totally forgot about Corelli and the confusion arising from his name.


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## Sid James

Another few:

1. Homer Simpson's favourite exclamation, and then the rest starts with the first three letters of the name given to a lady who looks after children.

2. "Said" in the present tense, with another name for a revolver. (This is a relatively little-known composer in the West, but I have mentioned him before on this website)

3. Given name of painters Van Eyck & Vermeer, with document for payment of money?

4. What horses like to eat, especially if they kick up a fuss.

5. Another name for the bones inside your head, plus the surname of a famous Australian Olympic swimmer.


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## Sid James

Weston said:


> That's it. The Archangel named Gabriel + sortie is a kind of foray.
> 
> I totally forgot about Corelli and the confusion arising from his name.


I was thinking of a corral being like a sortie as well, a gathering of animals at least & it's similar to Corelli aslo. So you can see how my logic is fuzzy at the best of times!


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## andruini

Andre said:


> Another few:
> 
> 1. Homer Simpson's favourite exclamation, and then the rest starts with the first three letters of the name given to a lady who looks after children.
> 
> 2. "Said" in the present tense, with another name for a revolver. (This is a relatively little-known composer in the West, but I have mentioned him before on this website)
> 
> 3. Given name of painters Van Eyck & Vermeer, with document for payment of money?
> 
> 4. What horses like to eat, especially if they kick up a fuss.
> 
> 5. Another name for the bones inside your head, plus the surname of a famous Australian Olympic swimmer.


1. Dohnanyi
5. Sculthorpe

Give up on the rest


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## Weston

Andre said:


> 3. Given name of painters Van Eyck & Vermeer, with document for payment of money?


Jan-invoice - 

Jan-bill- ?

Janáček!

Good one.


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## Sid James

Well done everyone...Here's a few clues on the other two:



> 2. "Said" in the present tense, with another name for a revolver. (This is a relatively little-known composer in the West, but I have mentioned him before on this website)


This is the most famous C20th Turkish composer, a friend & associate of Bela Bartok.



> 4. What horses like to eat, especially if they kick up a fuss.


One of the most famous Austrian composers in the history of classical music. I think that might give it away as it is, so I won't say anymore...


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## andruini

I admit to googling number 2, so I won't post the answer.. But.. who????


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## emiellucifuge

2. Saygun
4. Haydn


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## Sid James

Well done! Here are some others I thought up (some are VERY easy, but the composers are again not the most famous, again a challenge):

1. A word describing an untidy state, plus what sounds like a man's name.
2. The process of combustion, plus a container for beer.
3. Type of gem, can be rough or polished.
4. Climbing or trailing plant, the British 'climber,' some varieties bear grapes.
5. The first three letters of this composer's surname is a name given to a type of alcoholic spirits.


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## andruini

1. Messiaen
3. Diamond
4. Vine


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## Argus

I'm normally rubbish at cryptic crosswords and am not sure if I understand them but I'll have a go.

1. To insult Johan Sebastian.

2. An alcoholic sausage.

3. Surname of Russell Brand cohort has normal belly button.

4. Torture device used on male with snooker terminology.

5. Toilet apple.

6. Tell Ernie's friend to go away.

7. Footballers missus is a nerd but get D- in exam.


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## Ignis Fatuus

1. No one would OffendBach!

2. Johan von Drunkwurst. Ok, I made that up.


4 RACHmaninov? STOCKhausen?


6. Schubert LOL!!!

7. Victoria?


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## Argus

Ignis Fatuus said:


> 1. No one would OffendBach!
> 
> 2. Johan von Drunkwurst. Ok, I made that up.
> 
> 4 RACHmaninov? STOCKhausen?
> 
> 6. Schubert LOL!!!
> 
> 7. Victoria?


Offenbach, Rachmaninov and Schubert are bang on.

The others might be a bit harder for non-Brits. Except no.2 which I think is one for Americans.


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## emiellucifuge

1. Offenbach
2. 
3.
4. 
5. 
6. Schubert
7.


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## Sorin Eushayson

I have no idea about any of these (well-done guys!), but here's my contribution...

8. Coloradan-of-the-cloth gives concerted effort.


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## emiellucifuge

Dam i took too long to post!


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