Musical Cryptic Crossword Clues!

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I don't know whether anyone else here likes to have a go at a Brit-style crossword puzzle now and then? If so, this is the thread where we can indulge in such suspect activities in an ILMish context. To start it off I've set a clue; the one (if anyone) arsed enough to solve it gets to set a new one, etc etc. Or, if you prefer (as if I would be able to stop you, heh), you can just set new ones anyway. Here goes:

Upset clerk babe left MC collective, releasing initial album in 2001 (5,5,10,4)

(For those who don't know what this is all about, there's an introduction here.)

― OleM (OleM), Wednesday, 23 July 2003 14:36 (twenty-two years ago)

five months pass...

NME crossword help time:

The clue is "Turns aloof sub into chart act". Eight letters.

I have "F/_/_/o/l/o/_/s".

I take it that it's 'Fabolous', spelt wrongly?

― James Mitchell (James Mitchell), Wednesday, 21 January 2004 21:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes, because that is the correct spelling ;)

(Huh, clicking on thread to discover it's your own unanswered one: C or D?)

― OleM (OleM), Thursday, 22 January 2004 11:58 (twenty-two years ago)

The answer is Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (although 'clerk babe' misses an 'l' for the anagram...). I'll have a think about another clue, but crosswords aren't my forte. So someone else feel free to jump in with a clue.

― Canada Briggs (Canada Briggs), Thursday, 22 January 2004 15:20 (twenty-two years ago)

I believe that "left" in cryptics usually means "L", so that accounts for the missing one.

― edward o (edwardo), Thursday, 22 January 2004 22:21 (twenty-two years ago)

nine months pass...

Revive! For the three people who might be interested.

Here's a warmup:

Band about 500 sheets (5)

― Ken L (Ken L), Sunday, 21 November 2004 18:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Heres another:

Collect fifty-six in points to be king (5)

― Ken L (Ken L), Sunday, 21 November 2004 19:12 (twenty-one years ago)

The second one is Elvis.

― ailsa (ailsa), Sunday, 21 November 2004 19:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Singer to steal wine holder (4,4)

― Ken L (Ken L), Monday, 22 November 2004 01:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Subway-style prophet singer (5,4)

― Ken L (Ken L), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 14:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Nick Cave.

Er... er... subway style... is that like foot-long? With meatballs?

Here's one, doesn't clue a band, the lyric's the only music connection:
Love will tear us apart, causing grief (3)

― ledge (ledge), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 14:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Nope.

Woe.

― Ken L (Ken L), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 14:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Hmm, don't know any singers called Metro...

Here's a bit of a tortuous one. Again, the answer ain't music related.
Joy Division by Cool J is upbeat! (5)

Ok I'll try harder.

― ledge (ledge), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 14:57 (twenty-one years ago)

jolly!

I can reclue it if you really want.

― Ken L (Ken L), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 14:59 (twenty-one years ago)

If I really really want? Well there's no other action in this thread...

New Order's panties' hue is like this band (3,5,8)

― ledge (ledge), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 15:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Had to go to a meeting.
The House Painters

Reclue:
Connecting train to your French WC's piano player (5,4)

― Ken L (Ken L), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 16:04 (twenty-one years ago)

I assume you meant Red House Painters.

Elton John! I think 'subway-style' is a bit misleading for an elevated train... but who am I to nit-pick.

― ledge (ledge), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 16:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Yes.
I thought about that and even vetted it with a friend and he didn't seem to particularly mind it. It was the best "sense-reading" I could come up with so I left it alone.

― Ken L (Ken L), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 16:28 (twenty-one years ago)

In the year of our lord, in a Brazilian city, at a dome, you could find this band (9)

― ledge (ledge), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 16:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Radiohead!

― Ken L (Ken L), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 16:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Band does unacceptable work before first of stitches around head comes off! (11)

― Ken L (Ken L), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 21:31 (twenty-one years ago)

If that's "Futureheads" the clue kinda spoils!

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 21:34 (twenty-one years ago)

why? cause it's got "head" in it? Too much of a giveaway, or because it's used twice, as word "head" and for removing "head" from the another word? ! is special marker allowing me to do this, I think.

― Ken L (Ken L), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 22:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Ach, don't mind me, I don't know the rules of these things.

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 22:04 (twenty-one years ago)

I dunno. we'll wait and see what ledge says.

― Ken L (Ken L), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 22:09 (twenty-one years ago)

These make absolutely no sense to me!

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 22:10 (twenty-one years ago)

All I know is that they work more like word-rebuses than actual clues, which -- in private life -- just bugs me.

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 22:10 (twenty-one years ago)

(like "unacceptable work" = F / stitches = "suture" / but the first of them comes off, so "uture" / and they're around the head, etc.)

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 22:11 (twenty-one years ago)

(I'm not sure how it works that "order's panties' hue," in a new order, is a genuinely anagram for "red house painters.")

― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 1 December 2004 22:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Mm, I think getting 'head' to do two things like that is a bit dodge. And it's a giveaway. In the new order clue it's just 'new' that indicates the anagram. There's a pretty good page about these things here:
http://www.biddlecombe.demon.co.uk/yagcc/

Inspiration and pure goddamned luck led to the following:

L.A. act ILMer not right about (9)

― ledge (ledge), Thursday, 2 December 2004 13:34 (twenty-one years ago)

For us US solvers:
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/puzzclue.htm

I still think the ! allows me to let "head" have two functions. It's what's called an "&lit" clue at the website you gave. If not, then please explain how &lits work. Obviously if you construct an actual puzzle you would never have more than one or two of such clues.

I don't know the answer to your latest clue.

― Ken L (Ken L), Thursday, 2 December 2004 13:50 (twenty-one years ago)

An &lit is where the definition is the whole clue - my above one is, as the answer is an LA band, which (presumably) someone somewhere on ILM at some time has written something wrong about. The Futureheads one would be an &lit if they'd made a bad album while one of their heads was stitched up (maybe they did!)

I don't think ! has any particular meaning - it could indicate a cryptic definition, or a non-standard clue type, or just be added to improve the surface reading, and not affect how the clue works.

― ledge (ledge), Thursday, 2 December 2004 14:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, that's true. I guess I messed up. Should I get a mod to delete that post? I think in the US at least ! tends to mean &lit but not always. I don't think you'd see an &lit without a bang in the Atlantic, but you might in Harper's.

― Ken L (Ken L), Thursday, 2 December 2004 14:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Or rather, if Cox & Rathvon use a ! it pretty much always means &lit, whereas if Richard Maltby uses it, it might just be to improve the surface reading.

I still don't get your clue. I wonder who the wrong poster is? I've made a few factual mistakes in posts but usually they are about bass gear and Colin corrects me. I hope I don't have to read through all of ILM to get this, in particular all the rockist/anti-rockist threads.

― Ken L (Ken L), Thursday, 2 December 2004 15:01 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh God no! The answer's just the band, really, but I guess there must be posts somewhere saying "[band] suxx!" and "[band] roxx!" - they can't both be right ;^)

They're 'international', but they formed in LA. And it's an anagram...

― ledge (ledge), Thursday, 2 December 2004 15:11 (twenty-one years ago)

The answer's just the band, really I mean, the mystery ILMer is irrelevant to solving it.

Received opinion these days probably is that they used to be masters of their genre, but now they suck.

And one of their members' stance on an issue dear to many ILMers hearts has pretty much lost them all respect.

― ledge (ledge), Thursday, 2 December 2004 15:27 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't know, I just got here a few weeks ago. I like to think I can pick up the thread pretty quickly, but this is turning into one of those "This Is The Thread Where I Say Pt. 25: Teh GRATE $4nt4 C14u$ Conspiracy"

― Ken L (Ken L), Thursday, 2 December 2004 15:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Does Metallica have an "r" in it?

― Ken L (Ken L), Thursday, 2 December 2004 15:43 (twenty-one years ago)

"Can" was one of the answers in the Metro Quizword a few months back, amazingly enough, as in "German rock band of the 70s"

― We Buy a Hammer For Dadaismus (Dada), Thursday, 2 December 2004 15:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Ah, the Metro quizword. Comprehensive knowledge of recent film and pop, obscure novelists, pre-war cricketers, and now krautrock apparently, all required.

Ken - "not right"...

― ledge (ledge), Thursday, 2 December 2004 15:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Indistinguishable (5)

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Thursday, 2 December 2004 15:56 (twenty-one years ago)

This one's easy, but I'm new at this:

The Motley Crue antidote!

― Nemo (JND), Thursday, 2 December 2004 16:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Can you give us the answer length?

Ken - "not right"...
OK. Thanks. You might not believe it, but the differences, even if slight, even if only in "feel" , between British and American English are often enough to throw me, although here I probably have no excuse. Used to take me quite a while to finish the FT puzzle. Usually I stick to American English variants, however slim the pickings may be. All right, I'll quit my bellyaching.

― Ken L (Ken L), Thursday, 2 December 2004 16:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Those obscure cricket references must really throw you then.

Dom's is Sting! That's a beaut.

― ledge (ledge), Thursday, 2 December 2004 16:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Those obscure cricket references must really throw you then.
Yup. OK, I remember now. For some reason we don't do "subtract a letter, then anagram." Blame Stephen Sondheim.

Dom's is Sting! That's a beaut.
Please explain.

― Ken L (Ken L), Thursday, 2 December 2004 16:30 (twenty-one years ago)

In distinguishable you can find the word sting. And Sting is of course indistinguishable MOR pap.

― ledge (ledge), Thursday, 2 December 2004 16:32 (twenty-one years ago)

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