I have been enjoying Mr. Vulpes’ cryptic crossword thread so much that I’ve decided to steal his idea wholesale, except instead of beers being the answer, it’s album titles.
Here’s three to get us started:
Awkward Ron Burton makes one of the greatest albums of all time (4,2,3)
Fake Miami Tyre US was the king’s debut? (2,3,2,4)
Supplicant’s spread provided by erstwhile blues combo (7,7)
1. Born To Run
2. My Aim Is True
3. Beggars Banquet
Yay!
Handy Third Saga? (1,4,4,5)
A Hard Days Night
I did like the serendipity of the anagram.
Rachel pleased to hold forth? (4)
Help!
I don’t think you need it!
It’s no wonder you were left alone at school.
Trusses to hang oneself.
(4, a tricky 3. 6, 4)
Give ‘Em Enough Rope
👏
Fondle bottom? (6,4)
Hand on the Bum: Wings.
Sorry couldn’t resist it.
Is ThIs It?
I think not.
I knew it wasn’t right. It reminded me of the time the NME gave the chart placing for Band on the Run, as Hand on the Bum, that’s all.
And I was referencing The Strokes.
Ands the answer was
‘Rubber Soul’
Vicar’s girlfriend is back (9)
I would answer ‘Revolver’ but it only has 8 letters.
You’d be right, and I’d be wrong. It was late, what can I say?
Sorry, everyone!
Slow down,Mustang Sally.
I see what you did there.
😉
Fishface facsimile (5,4,7)
Trout Face Replica
Trout Face???
I got my version off a dodgy market stall…….
Ah! That explains it. Must have been the same stall where I bought that Wob Barley & the Mailers album.
I rather liked the alliterative element.
Torrent? Risky without it. (6, 4, 8, 5)
Bridge over troubled water
👍🏻
Bullseye! (2, 3, 2, 4)
My aim is true
👍
Rats in the untidy den? No worries! (9)
Nevermind
👍
Attractive issue of the puzzle. (3,8,9,8)
The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter
Impressed
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark? (10, 10, 2, 3, 4)
Erm…Manoeuvres Orchestral in the Dark?
Close, try a different order.
Errrm….Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark?
Well done, you’re really getting the hang of this.
Thanks ! It was a toughie but we got there in the end.
Is that mastication I hear, Ferris? Before the Clangers?
(7, 5)
Tubular Bells
Blimey – quick work! Well done!
Like Quasimodo it just rang a bell
Judith Chalmers (4, 3, 4, 4)
Dark Sid o’the Moon.
Good ‘n Gary
However
Wish you were here.
Yep
Vale ax idol! Sobs… (4, 4, 2, 4)
Axis Bold as Love
Yes!
Definitive article on strange law for learner driver (3, 4)
The Wall.
That was quick
If the sock fits, four will be needed, champ! (3,3)
Top dog?
Nope. Part of the clue relates to the artists involved. The four and the champ.
Wai-ting……… Think of soxy album covers.
Is it Leg End? Henry Cow
We have a winner. The well known ‘Enery Cow platter.
Last incision (3, 5, 3)
The Final Cut
Corretomondo
A couple of easy ones:
Blondie’s will never meet (8,5)
OK David? (5,4)
Parallel Lines
Hunky Dory
On Caedmon? No, Warner Brothers.
Sorry…
On Caedmon? No, Warner Brothers. (9)
Moondance
Yes again!
Strange eagle in field shows the way to a folk rock classic (5,3.4)
Liege and Lief
That’s the one. Think yourselves lucky. I was toying with an anagram of I feel gland, but couldn’t work out where the missing E could go. ‘I feel gland around drug’ perhaps?
Asneks (12)
Rattlesnakes
Correct
“Sneaks?”
Clever, anyway.
Very clever.
Mate of monoymous plank-spanker? Correct!
Mate of monoymous plank-spanker? Correct! (5, 2, 3, 4)
Close to the Edge
👍
Spooner’s fixed currency (3, 6)
Something Oldham?
No, it’s ‘Spooner’ as in spoonerism, cryptic clue stylee, so combining a synonym of ‘fixed’ and a particular currency will give you the album title spoonerised.
Probably not the best clue ever (although this album is often cited as one of the best albums ever).
Pet Sounds. (Set pounds is the Spoonerism.)
Bang on!
Fly casting may be required to witness this.
(4, 6)
Fish Rising.
Yep.
Ashley punts one into the box. (5, 6)
Coles Corner.
Yep.
Hard arsed. (4, 6)
Rock Bottom
Da iawn. That’s it.
They think it’s all over. It almost is now. (4)
Coda – Led Zep?
Yep.
Pedestrian assistance for one direction (7, 4)
Pelican West
Yep!
It came from nowhere (man)
(3,2,3,4)
Out Of The Blue – ELO
Correct!
Rod Hull’s Bane. (6)
I can only think of Emuemu! Can I have another clue?
Football.
Is it Aerial? Because Rod Hull died while trying to fix one?
can’t see the football connection there though.
Whether or not it’s right, it’s a good answer.
Yes that’s the answer. As I understand it the reason he was on his roof trying to fix his aerial was he wanted to watch a Champion’s League match involving MUFC.
Not much difference in these tunes (3, 4, 7, 3, 4)
The Song Remains the Same
Big tick
Mysterious goings on at the garden centre. (3, 6, 4, 2, 6)
The Secret Life of Plants
That’s the one.
Pardon? (5, 3, 3, 4)
Songs for the Deaf?
Pardon? Yes it has been raining.
Upwards of a yard. (5, 4, 4, 3, 6)
Three Feet High and Rising.
Uh-huh. Da iawn butt.
Gammon wants his paper (7, 3, 3, 3)
Waiting for the Sun. Nice work!
That’s the one. Diolch.
Pardon my ignorance, but I don’t get the gammon connection.
A “gammon” is a name given to a particular type of predominantly English supporter of Brexit. I believe it was a term first coined by Charles Dickens in Nicholas Nickleby to describe Mr Gregsbury an MP of dubious character.
The Sun is a prominent right-wing Brexit supporting newspaper.
Gammon has recently become an insulting term for middle aged, right wing, white men, the sort who get shouty when their world view is called into doubt on question time. If you do a Google image search for ‘wall of gammon’ you’ll see the originals. It’s a big thing on Twitter.
Thank you both for the explanation. I’d never heard that before.
Put out by proponents of Janov? Mad Alice read ‘scam‘ (13)
Screamadelica.
✅
The Brinks-Mat robbery? (5, 2, 3, 7)
Crime Of The Century.
Yes it is!
Dogging. (6, 2, 4)
Hounds of Love
Bravo.
Iain’s stand for Nicaragua? (10)
Sandanista
Ker-ching!
A Gas Fitter and his mates go out in the midday sun (3, 4, 3, 10)
Mad Dogs and Englishmen
Mad Dogs and Englishmen
Correct
One mixed cerebrum identifies incoming heated aircraft (4, 4, 3, 4, 4)
Here Come The Warm Jets
Was going to try Taking Tiger Mountain By Strategy – couldn’t think of a clue
A grrrreat summit conference? No, Tony.
Pay for the piano? (1,5,4,4,3,4)
A Grand Don’t Come For Free
Well done
Wacky Alf Callas: Fishtails with social flaws. In Kansas and Texas? (2,5,7,2,5,7,5)
As falls Wichita, so Wichita Falls
Almost!
Sorry missed a ‘Falls’ out!
Ha!
As we go through, I have noticed that some have not been answered. Eventually these could be an Afterword actual cryptic crossword – one that even defeated the Massive!
Perhaps it can be released at Christmas time in the same way as that stupidly impossible public school one that comes out?
Me Nicola – all sharps and flats (2, 6)
No Malice?
No.
El Camino
Yes! Extra points if you’d mentioned the Black Keys…
Pale Zorn. Possibly the Afterwords’s favorite album?!! (2,6)
No Parlez, no fans here surely
No Parlez!
Disciple is knotty cover? Once in is included. (9)
Discipline.
Yes.
The settlement was all in your head. (3,8,7)
Ooh ooh – the imagined village?
Correct!
Love, or fever?
How many letters?
7,7
No takers for this one. I even gave you the name of the band. Maybe it’s just hiding in plain sight, but it’s Forever Changes.
That was too clever for me!
Contrived coccyx, singular, in other words. (1,5,2,3,4)
A Trick of the Tail
Yes.
Artless and on his way out. His words all sound the same.
(5, 4, 6, 5)
There Goes Rhymin’ Simon
Correct.
Great clue!
Thanks !
Ernie’s in the attic at his best friend’s house.
(8,2,5)
Upstairs at Eric’s
And again. I’ve got a really hard one coming up*
*if that doesn’t summon @moose-the-mooche nothing will.
Don’t worry about whether you can stick your oar in! The r&b is all over the place.
(6,4,3,8)
Never mind the bollocks.
5, 4, 3, 8 shirley?
Oops. Yes. Damn autocorrect (blush).
Japanese cover up is too close to home.
(6, 2, 5)
Kimono My House
Indeed.
Mr & Mrs Jelly are proud to announce that Jelly Junior, Little Jelly and Baby Jelly will be ready soon.
(7, 4)
Setting Sons.
Yes – I had another one for this.
Sounds like twilight on Tatooine.
I wouldn’t have got that one!
He very nearly met his Waterloo.
(8, 3, 1)
Napoleon something something?
Afraid not.
I can’t connect from the clue but, is it a comment on Morrissey, his career having met it’s Waterloo, or perhaps London bridges? Vauxhall and I is my guess.
Yes – because Vauxhall is just before Waterloo on the train.
G…gazpacho ?!?
(5,4,4)
Goats Head Soup
Well done.
We’re halfway there…get a grip!
(8,4,3)
Slippery When Wet.
Yes.
There was no advertising at all! The “Super Sale” was a mess.
(7, 9)
Unknown Pleasures
Correct.
Stop your dithering Charlie. (6, 2, 2)
We need a clue!
Jazz.
Mingus Ah Um
That’s groovy hep cat.
Perfect bliss for those without vertigo. (6, 2, 4)
Heaven up Here
Indeed it is.
King Arthur & The Fisher King are hanging out with some mates of The Lizard King. (8, 5, 3, 7)
Mythical Kings And Iguanas
Yup.
Herbie gives Graeme a nice surprise. (1, 4, 4, 1, 6, 2, 1, 6)
A Gift From A Flower To A Garden
Yup.
This lavish slice of early 90s power-pop may be cruelly undervalued, but there’s no point in crying about it (5, 4)
Spilt Milk
Correct!
Nutty confectionery? (11)
Generic French film director reborn as stock Hollywood character (3, 2, 1, 6)
Clues, please!
I’ll try! No. 1 is a 1985 album by a band that by all accounts was a riot live…
No. 2 was this band’s second album, released in 1994. The French director bit gives you the name of the band and the rest refers to the album title.
Psychocandy
And
Now I’m A Cowboy (the Auteurs)
Yes and yes!
Drinking den source of money found in beer on the Welsh coast. (10)
Barafundle!
yn gywir
Temples, chapels, mosques. All of these things. (6,2,3,4)
Houses Of The Holy
Tick
I’m bad at French, rarely complete building jobs, and it’s worrying me. (14)
Unhalfbricking.
Yessir
Speaking on behalf of the circus, we wish you safe travels, Nelly.
(7, 5)
Goodbye Jumbo
Correct
Ray forms a committee to look after the local pond (3,7,5,12,7)
The Village Green Preservation Society
Yes
See you later Henry! Bye George! Mind how you go Edward! (1,8,2,5)
A Farewell to Kings
✅
“Always different, always the same”? No, just the first part (7, 7)
Forever Changes?
🎆
“That’s all the news from Liverpool, now…” (5,3,4,3,7)
20 hours in, it looks like we need to confer. Is one of the three letter words, that city’s favourite soaraway daily newspaper?
No. Nothing to do with the press.
Additional clue: the band in question sounds like a jazz-funk band without the attack.
Here’s Tom with the Weather
Bill Hicks?
Yes indeedy.
It is “Here’s Tom With The Weather” by Shack (Shakatak without the “attack.”)
Easter walks round rawest lakes, saw a kestrel strangely stalk a sewer (6,5)
Astral Weeks
A glimmer twin gets his end away on a snooker table – learner lip movement, ironically.
(6,6,4)
Correction;
A glimmer twin gets his end away on a snooker table a tiny bit. Learner lip movement too, ironically.
(6,6,4)
Jagged Little Pill?
Yes! This was by far my most contrived one.
Jagger end away, remove the r
Snooker table has a D on it
a tiny bit = little
Learner = L
Lip movement = pil
Ironically = to give a clue about the record itself
Sad cafe? (7)
Facades?
Yep, which was by Sad Cafe. We just broke the internet.
Ethel, Extract that thunder bus! Messy! (3, 5, 3, 8, 5)
Alternatively: Sad to say it’s not a faithful representation, but it’s factual. (3, 5, 3, 8, 5)
The letter count for that should be (3, 5, 3, 3, 8, 5) and the first, annagramatic clue (Ethel etc.) is wrongity wrong. Don’t know how I managed to mess that up.
The second Cryptic clue is OK, but with the revised letter count as shown above.
Is it “The Truth and the something something”?
You’re heading in the right direction
Aha! No, I know it’s not them.
This crepe is crazy! (1,6,7)
A Fierce Pancake
Can’t Stump You!
And you thought Mark Hollis went on a bit?! (4, 4, 4)
Talk Talk Talk
Talk Talk Talk by the “Furs”
The worth of a Visage album? (4,5)
Face Value.
Answered in the time it took me to cycle into work.
2 hours 50 minutes ??
Breakfast at 4. 18 mile cycle in. Just realised the time displayed is GMT.
Lovely birdsong at that time of day.
That’s a touch cryptic, how many letters?
That would be a fabulous clue wouldn’t it? If only it had an answer.
I thought it was “See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang, Yeah! City All Over, Go Ape Crazy!”
👌
A Tramp Shiting (misprint)
(13)?
No, it’s 1,5, 7 – basically the first three words with a single letter changed.
I had a hunch and looked it up. It’s A Tramp Shining by Richard Harris.
Strewth! Sounds like she’s a bit odd, but I didn’t realize she’s that odd. What a dick! (4,2,8,4,7)
Ruth is Stranger than Richard?
Yes!
‘R.E.M.’ by R.E.M.? (9)
That might be “Eponymous”.
You’re not wrong!
Jazz Mag and Lo-Fi? (9,3,8)
Penthouse and Pavement
Strummer and Simenon get a couple of small rugby teams together. (3, 6, 5)
Two Sevens Clash
A Garner work featuring moon and old king (7,4)
Is there really an album called Gomrath Cole?
I was trying to work out if it was either Alan or Erroll.
If it’s an anagram of “moon” and “old king” it could be ‘Klingon Mood.’
Clue, please!
Look at @retropath2‘s answer below and see if Neil lowering his trousers and baring his fleshy mounds at the reapers brings anything to mind.
Oh, you mean Harvest Moon. Well, why didn’t you say?
Note to DJ – follow that Spandau Ballet track with some Canadian prog (5,3,8)
After the Goldrush
Oh yes! And this might give a clue to the previous one.
Gottit! Cole’s Corner!
(Nah, Harvest Moon)
To quote Laurie:
“Oh boy. Right again”
Confused Abby collided w/Yoko or Reg! (7,6,5,4)
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (nice anagram work).
Thank you! And, of course, you’re right.
Tons reviewed on Amazon Audible (7,4)
Tom Jones’ punk album?
‘Snot Unusual
Sadly (s)not
Clue, please!
Oh, the wonder …
Ah!
Talking Book!
That’s the one
Pragmatic album by the gold indicator? (4,2,5)
I suppose this must be “Down to Earth”, but who by? Rainbow? Ozzy Osbourne?
I don’t suppose anyone has ever found a pot of gold at the end of Ozzy Osbourne.
I need excitement, but none to be had. (4, 3, 1, 6)
Far from the UK, by the sound of it. (3)
Non-ecological pairing? (3, 7, 6)
1. Can’t Buy A Thrill
2. Aja
3. Two Against Nature
Righty right right.
Desert wiggle? (5, 8)
Ron and Barry dig deep. (11)
Not overjoyed, but he was quite happy in ’66. (5, 6)
Second one is:
The Rutles – Archaeology
Yes. It is.
Desert wiggle? (5, 8)
Sandy something? Beach something?
How you might go about wiggling when in a desert.
Subject of the third one might be viewed from a distance.
As nobody has answered #3 yet, it’s Miles Smiles – Miles Davis Quintet
1. Sheik Yerbouti
Correct!
George! Is everything all right? You’ve been in there a long time. (3,6,4,4)
Ha! That one made me chuckle.
All Things Must Pass
Final vinyl is minor achievement (3,4,6,5)
The Last Record Album – Little Feat
(Meant to be a response to @salwarpe there.
A shoe-in.
I’ve got to learn lines as well as fall out of Boris’s eye? (6,3,1,7,4)
Script from (?) a jester.’s tear?
I always thought it was ‘for’, not ‘from’
You’re right – I should have looked it up.
In future, they’ll be staying together. (2, 4, 5, 2, 4)
This is impossibly cryptic – especially, being outside a crossword, having no incidental letters.
Negative start, incomplete ending.
©2001
No More Shall We Part.
Yep.
entangled
(3,7,5)
Further clue – put the kettle on!
Aha – it must be Let England Shake!
Correct!