Orchestra (Solution no. 3,335)

Sabers is with a new orchestra this season.  I’m writing this was I hear pieces of of The Firebird come together, not unlike solving a cryptic.  An even better analogy is the Bach Little Fugue, which is also on the program for their first concert.  Great piece.

Solution to The Nation puzzle no. 3,335

Legend: “*” anagram; “~” sounds like; “<“ letters reversed; “( )” letters inserted; “_” or lower case: letters deleted; “†” explicit in the clue, “^” first or last letter or letters, “{“ relocated letter or letters; “§” heteronym, “¶” letter bank, “‡” Spoonerism

Across

1a	*MARLENE DIET RICH	*REAL MEN (anagram indicated by “disturbed”) + DIET (“weight-loss attempt”) + RICH (“wealthy”)
9a	MISSING	Pun
10a	VIE(<WER<)S	VIES (“competes”) containing (“to grab”) <REW< (“the rewind button,” reversal indicated by “return”)
11a	SALT (M)INES	SALTINES (“crackers”) containing (“outside”) graha^M^ (last letter indicated by “last bit of”)
12a	DISCO_	_DISCO_unted (“reduced the price,” omission of second half indicated by “half off”)
13a	G LEE	G (“general”) + LEE (“Confederate military leader”)
14a	WEB (B ROWS)ER	WEBER  (“for example, sociologist Max”) containing (“goes around”) ^B^attle (first letter indicated by “front of”) + ROWS (“lines”)
18a	A(*UTHORI) ZED	*HIT OUR (anagram indicated by “translation”) contained in (“within”) A ZED (“the limits of the English alphabet”)
19a	BE AM	BE + AM (two forms of the verb “to be”) Unusual
21a	D(EMU)R	DR (“doctor”) containing (“capturing”) EMU (“flightless bied”)
23a	*UNIFORMED	*INFO DEMUR (anagram indicated by “unreliable,” anagram fodder cross-references 21a)
26a	IN*CENSE	IN (†) + *SCENE (anagram indicated by “dramatic”)
27a	EARSHOT	Pun
28a	STAR(S AND S TRIP)ES	STARES (“looks”) containing (“around”) SANDS (“smooths”) + TRIP (“voyage”)

Down

1d	MUM PS	MUM (“British mother”) + PS (“appendix”)
2d	*RESILIENT	*LISTERINE (anagram indicated by “toxic”)
3d	*ENI(G)MA	*ANIME (anagram indicated by “foreign”) containing (“contains”) G (“kid-friendly”)
4d	EGG ON	EG (“for instance”) + GO (“to leave”) + childre^N^ (last letter indicated by “in back”)
5d	I*NVISIBLE	I (“one”) + *LIBS VEIN (anagram indicated by “mad”)
6d	T(HE IDI)OT	TOT (“toddler”) containing (“captivates”) HEIDI (“girl in Swiss novel”) There’s some misdirection with “novel” but “Swiss” clearly isn’t anagram fodder.
7d	I(DEA)S	IS (“exists”) containing (“to circumvent”) DEA (“anti-narcotics bureau”)
8d	HI<STOGRAM<	HI (“greeting”) + <MARGOTS< (“Fonteyn’s,” reversal indicated by “upside-down”) Margot Fonteyn (1919-1991) was a ballerina who danced with Nureyev.
13d	GRAND K*IDS	GRAND (“$1,000”) + K (“$1,000”) *SID (anagram indicated by “vicious”)
15d	EPIC*URE(A)N	EPIC (“vast”) + *RUNE (anagram indicated by “mysterious”) containing (“enthralls”) A (†)
16d	S*TEAMS HIP	S (“second”) + *MATES (anagram indicated by “weird”) + HIP (“trendy”)
17d	<_SOP RANOS<	<SONAR (“method of detection”) + POS_e_ (omission of last letter indicated by “most of the way”),< (reversal of the whole thing indicated by “u”)
20d	H OR R OR	Inverted clue: cHime OR cRime OR cLime
22d	MOC HA	MOC (“a shoe”) + HA (“that’s a laugh”)
24d	*ITEMS	*ITS ME (anagram indicated by “breaking down”)
25d	DATES	Double definition