Mikalye's 13th 2016 Puzzle - Listen up - Ended - Solution Posted

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Augh! I missed a week. And I missed the Easter event I was trying to run, all because work exploded. Work continues to explode. I am typing this at midnight in a hotel room in Madrid. Sigh... None of this of course has any connection to this week's puzzle, just a minor whinge.

Anyhow, after a lot of internal discussion I decided to try to return to a more classical puzzle than I have run over the past few months. This may be a bit punny for some and therefore I suspect that it will divide people, as it requires reasonably strong English skills, but here goes nothing. The prize this week is Tulpa.

I would also shout out to my guide to writing (and solving) puzzles: http://www.steamgifts.com/discussion/ZYBWU/mikalyes-magic-guide-to-solving-and-writing-puzzles

Listen Up

Rude, mocking name for a plaster painting with no hair (11, 4)
chase away a uni-browed muppet (8, 8)
the first public appearance of a new inland body of water (7, 2)
tryin' to avoid bein' seen (5, 2)
inform a fellow (8, 5)
a thing you might see at the zoo (4, 3)
with "Great", an island comprising England, Scotland and Wales (7, 3)
not on but in the rear (9, 2)
a male deer feeling sexual excitement (6, 3)
metaphorically half-full or half-empty item (5, 4)
Try to get a chap to go away (8, 2)
of or from the sun (5, 2)
the bit of an object that you use to pick it up (6, 4)
his business runs with scissors (6, 5)
strong and stocky cries of surprise (7, 5)
repair the overhead railway's male child (11, 7)
Castle ditches and paintings (6, 3)
innkeeper, one who owns and runs a pub (8, 1)
founder of Rhode Island (8, 1)
display the implement that you use to fry eggs (6, 3)
where you roast what you put on the fish hook (9, 4)
not the front (4, 4)
lingerie top drones musically (6, 2)
to become divided into separate threads (5, 4)
put into a suitcase the Spanish ringing instrument (9, 5)
Discussion in a pub (6, 4)
It's just one thing after another (5, 4)

8 years ago*

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26 Comments

Mikalye

Hints:

Hint 1: All of the answers to the definitions all are members of the same set. That is they all have something quite significant in common.
Hint 2 : Of the two digits after the definition, the first digit represents how many letters there are in the answer.
Hint 3: Some are easier ways in than others. For example I found "display the implement that you use to fry eggs", "tryin' to avoid bein' seen", "Castle ditches and paintings", and "the bit of an object that you use to pick it up" are reasonable places to start. If you get these four, or three of the four (maybe even 2) you should have identified the relevant set.
Hint 4: I did say in the introduction, that I was trying to "return to a more classical puzzle than I have run over the past few months." Once you have the set, doing an internet search on [the set] should give you a pile of options for the remaining clues".

Solution:

Every clue resolves into the name of a classical music composer. I would add that puzzles like this are often more solveable "backwards". That is to say, once you know that you are looking for composers, it is often easier to get a list of composers and read through them at which point many of the names will immediately be clear. This also helps with the issue that some of the clues are ambiguous on their face, they can support multiple correct answers, but only one of those will be a classical composer.
The first digit was the number of letters in the composer's name, the second was the index into the name. That is to say if the number is [n], then you should take the [n]th character of the composer's name. Also the case of the clue was the case of the answer.

Answer Table

Clue	Answer	Letter
Rude, mocking name for a plaster painting with no hair (11, 4)	Frescobaldi (Fresco Baldy)	S
chase away a uni-browed muppet (8,8)	Schubert (shoo Bert)	t
the first public appearance of a new inland body of water (7, 2)	Debussy (Debut sea)	e
tryin' to avoid bein' seen (5, 2)	Haydn (hidin')	a
inform a fellow (8, 5)	Telemann (tell a man)	m
a thing you might see at the zoo (4, 3)	Cage	g
with "Great", an island comprising England, Scotland and Wales (7, 3)	Britten (Britain)	i
not on but in the rear (9, 2)	Offenbach (off in back)	f
a male deer feeling sexual excitement (6, 3)	Rutter	t
metaphorically half-full or half-empty item (5, 4)	Glass	s
Try to get a chap to go away (8, 2)	Schumann (shoo man)	C
of or from the sun (5, 2)	Soler (Solar)	o
the bit of an object that you use to pick it up (6, 4)	Handel (Handle)	d
his business runs with scissors (6, 5)	Barber	e
strong and stocky cries of surprise (7, 5)	Berlioz (Burly Oh's)	i
repair the overhead railway's male child (11, 7)	Mendelssohn (mend el's son)	s
Castle ditches and paintings (6, 3)	Mozart (moats art)	Z
innkeeper, one who owns and runs a pub (8, 1)	Taverner	t
founder of Rhode Island (8, 1)	Williams	w
display the implement that you use to fry eggs (6, 3)	Chopin (show pan)	o
where you roast what you put on the fish hook (9, 4)	Beethoven (bait oven)	t
not the front (4, 4)	Bach (back)	h
lingerie top drones musically (6, 2)	Brahms (bra hums)	r
to become divided into separate threads (5, 4)	Ravel	e
put into a suitcase the Spanish ringing instrument (9, 5)	Pachelbel (pack el bell)	e
Discussion in a pub (6, 4)	Bartok (bar talk)	T
it's just one thing after another (5, 4)	Liszt (list)	z

So the answer phrase was "Steamgifts Code is Z two three T z"

8 years ago*