Alphabet associations - I

[Tapiola]

Given your avatar it sounds like Solveig's Song - Peer Gynt?

Panjandrum - yes, the answer is Solveig. Can you elaborate?

[Don Petter]

I've got it from that, I think, (though not sure about the continent), but I always come in on other peoples coat-tails when the clues get really easy. So I'm keeping mum in the hope someone more deserving will revert.

My wish has been granted - thank you Panjandrum. (How did Antarctica come into it?)

[subcontrabass]

Given your avatar it sounds like Solveig's Song - Peer Gynt?

And then Google adds Solveig Gunbjørg Jacobsen, the first person born in the Antarctic region (in South Georgia, rather than on the continent).

[Tapiola]

And here is the delightful and fragrant jazz singer Solveig Slettahjell:

[Tapiola]

Panjandrum, would you care for "T"?

[Anna]

So, can we have the full explanation? Just out of curiosity.

You know, continental first, redeemers, blind in a play, etc. Just for us numpties

[Tapiola]

No numpties here, Anna, unless I count myself.

Solveig Gunbjørg Jacobsen was the first recorded person to be born "on" a particular continent.

The jazz singer is self-explanatory from the picture.

The old, blind Solveig has waited for Peer Gynt for many years. When he thinks all is lost at the end of the play, she is there to redeem him and provide justification
for his life. Or else that, in articulo mortis, his unravelling mind revisits all his past events, into which she inevitably figures.

[Anna]

Oh thanks everso. It's been fun, although baffling in the extreme!

[Tapiola]

It's been fun, although baffling in the extreme!

I know those feelings very well.

[Norfolk Born]

Solveig Gunbjørg Jacobsen was the first recorded person to be born "on" a particular continent.
The jazz singer is self-explanatory from the picture.
The old, blind Solveig has waited for Peer Gynt for many years. When he thinks all is lost at the end of the play, she is there to redeem him and provide justification
for his life. Or else that, in articulo mortis, his unravelling mind revisits all his past events, into which she inevitably figures.

Very cunning - worthy of The Great Baldrick himself. My 'Salome' was well wide of the mark: I thought your avatar was a certain Richard Strauss, added to which I dredged up a jazz singer called Salome Something-or-Other, and the opera 'Salome' had a, let's say, noteworthy premiere.

[Simon]

Fascinating, albeit baffling for me.

Re #1197 I don't know what it is about the combination of blue eyes and dark hair, but it always sends me!

[rubbernecker]

Where's rubbernecker when you need him?!

I'm touched, Caliban I'm glad I stayed out of the struggle for S. I have to opine that it was to all intents impossible to identify Solveig from the original clue. I even thought I'd missed a trick in that maybe Solveig meant saviour or redeeemer in Old Norse but it doesn't, it possibly means 'sun strength'.

A continental first? Could mean anything. And who would be looking for a Scandinavian jazz singer unless to confirm an answer they had already got? I'm sorry, but the whole point of this thread, to remind everyone, is that the clue should be 'gettable' from the outset.

Rant over...

[Norfolk Born]

I'm sorry, but the whole point of this thread, to remind everyone, is that the clue should be 'gettable' from the outset.

A timely reminder, but one that may, I fear, not be heeded. What were enjoyable puzzles have become veritable feats of endurance. The sheer number of clues that each question now seems to require indicates, IMHO, that abstruseness is the thing. I do at least try to adhere to something like the original format when setting questions.

[rubbernecker]

I don't know what it is about the combination of blue eyes and dark hair, but it always sends me!

Yes, it certainly calms one down and helps regain one's self control

[Tapiola]

A continental first? Could mean anything. And who would be looking for a Scandinavian jazz singer unless to confirm an answer they had already got? I'm sorry, but the whole point of this thread, to remind everyone, is that the clue should be 'gettable' from the outset.

Rant over...

It's supposed to be a bit of fun, right?

And we can't all get the right answer all of the time, can we?

Or maybe you just wanted to be the one to solve it?

Sorry, just smacks of sour grapes to me, given the crypto-esoterica of some of the erstwhile offerings.

Let's lighten up guys