Listener 4139: An Unsettled Spell by Nutmeg

[AHearer]

I spent a long time staring at a grid with the source filled in and a knowledge of the letters that had slipped before I started cracking the clues. Having basically solved it in the reverse order I feel slightly dissatisfied, but that's my fault rather than Nutmeg's.

[Cruncher]

Been away for a few days. Looks like I missed a bit of an exchange. I guess S-matrix (if it was he) has had made a few provocative comments over the last few months so maybe that's just his game. I've enjoyed your contributions CJ so I hope you hang around.
Also enjoyed the musical banter. Have just returned from performing the Goldberg Variations to an audience consisting of ex-Eastern Germans who survived the worst oppression of the old Communist regime. It is hard to imagine a piece of greater humanity and communality and it was a privilege to play to them. There is more that unites us than divides us all

[Philoctetes]

RuthRobin & Mysterons. I understand what you are saying, and I agree with the status. But i would also like to appear rude!

[midazolam]

To put the abbreviation debate to bed, see the stop press on the Listener site

http://www.listenercrossword.com

There isn't one!

[tenflags]

Reargunner limping in.. as usual.

Spotted the theme after two clues in (confirmed with a friend) but still captain slow.

Glad you posted that about the abbreviation Midazolam as I was trying to find it and the best I could see was maybe 6d given the definition - but what do I know - clearly not a lot.

Sort of enjoyed it but glad to have finished before Tomorrow

[Apemantus]

Thank you, midazolam. I had guessed as others at the likely candidate. Etymologically it is an abbreviation, but I suppose it would really also need to have usage in the unabbreviated form to warrant a specific mention. Now if I could only get this one last clue......

[JackDeCrow]

Patch49 - if you have nearly half the clues solved then you presumably have a few letters for 5d? Have you tried putting them in a WordFinder?

[contendo]

Cruncher - The Goldberg Variations eh? That's pretty impressive (especially for a bear). Was that on the harpsichord or the piano?

[Cruncher]

Hi Contendo
No - I'm a pianist. If you know them you'll appreciate the difficulty of negotiating a work written for two manuals on a piano with just one keyboard. So much hand-crossing. Definitely not a piece to play with cufflinks on so I asked permission from my audience to play without my DJ on and with cuffs rolled up. Anything else would be suicide!

[Patch49]

Thanks Jack. I had tried a word finder but I tried another site and bingo!

[borealis]

Very late finisher clocking in...my only excuse that I had "MISR" as an entry for 29a, which I thought was a really good answer. Very glad to find midazolam's reference to the Listener site - I was worried about the lack of abbreviation. I seem to have missed some controversy - but since 1/2 of it has been removed, guessing the rest is a bit like solving a semi-Carte Blanche. All that negativity didn't (pull me through?) put me off - looking forward to next (now this!) weeks responses from cj. Good crossword though - ta Nutmeg - with at least eight "easter eggs". One negative feature here - where's the donkey? That is MY character, according to my family.

[Philoctetes]

Now we have reached the sell-by date, as it were, can I say that I think Roo should have had a greater nod. An independent free-thinker, just like Eeyore, he also has the guts to stand up to the fussy tyranny of his mother.