Crossword Genius

Ballet smaller, certainly, keeping record concealed (3,9)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

les sylphides

'ballet' is the definition.
(ballet by Frederic Chopin)

'smaller certainly keeping record concealed' is the wordplay.
'smaller' becomes 'less' (less great in size).
'certainly' becomes 'yes' (both can be used to answer in the affirmative).
'keeping' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'record' becomes 'LP' (abbreviation for long play record).
'concealed' becomes 'hid' ('hide' can be a synonym of 'conceal').
'lp'+'hid'='lphid'
'yes' enclosing 'lphid' is 'ylphides'.
'less'+'ylphides'='LES SYLPHIDES'

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
Want a hint initially instead of a full solution? Install my app