Filbert fills the mid-week slot this week
We found this an enjoyable solve with a bit of head-scratching on one or two clues. The surfaces were all good and the well-constructed wordplay enabled us to tease out the solutions where definitions were not too obvious.
SI (yes or ‘OK’ in Italian – Pavarotti’s language) in MANON (an opera) – the opera was new to us, but that is not surprising as we know very little about operas – an electronic search revealed that it is a comic opera by Jules Massinet – a new name for us too!
H (first letter or ‘bit’ of help) AN (one) OVER (across)
DELI (sandwich shop – although our favourite deli does a lot more than sandwiches) with H (hot) inside
ET (alien) after or ‘on’ CINE (film) GEL (set) all reversed or ‘flipping’
An anagram of LAYOFFS AT LAB NOT – anagrind is ‘fixed’
MINUET (dance) with the last two letters or ‘couple at the end’ reversed or ‘twisted’
If a pupils work is not correct, the teacher’s ‘negative feedback’ could be a CROSS
If ‘nothing is out’, everything or ALL would be IN
WIN (victory) + RED (bloody) reversed or ‘turning’
W (with) I (one) THIN (weak) KING (card) round or ‘holding’ an anagram of FLUSH – anagrind is ‘busted’. We were a bit doubtful about the definition (‘going all in on that’) but in the context of a card game it works well
RA (artist) IN CLOUD (‘stored remotely’, as cloud storage of computer files)
bIG (tall) with the ‘b’ (bishop) omitted or ‘abandoned’ + LOO (ladies)
S (south – ‘point’ of the compass) HE round or ‘catching’ HEAT (cook)
TED (‘father on telly’ – from the TV series Father Ted) with SIGH (moan) in front
Half of MIgs (Russian jets) DOFF (take off)
An anagram of ONLY (anagrind is ‘sprayed’) + N S (first and last letters or ‘borders’ of neighbours)
lIMITATION (barrier) without the first letter or ‘not opening’
Adding NATTY round ‘ora B’ gives you Nora Batty (character from ‘Last of the Summer Wine’) – there is be no indication as to why the TV character played by Kathy Staff has been chosen – rather unfortunate for anyone who is not familiar with the TV series which ran from 1973 to 2010 – Nora Batty’s last appearance was in 2008.
HALLO (greeting) WEE (tiny) oNe (middle letter)
NIGH (coming soon) T (time)
D (daughter) in or ‘cutting’ V (very) IN (hot) ALOO (potato)
fRECKLES (spots) with the first letter or ‘face’ omitted or ‘covered’ + S (son)
An anagram of NEW LOCUM (anagrind is ‘changed’) + E (drug)
C (caught) LEAN (scrawny) SING (rat, as in inform on)
Hidden or ‘held’ and reversed or ‘up’ in riSK ROWS AGain
PALLS (loses its attraction) ‘cycling’ with the ‘p’ moving to the back) + ICE (hailstones maybe)
T (last or ‘final’ letter of suit) after an anagram of LIBEL – anagrind is ‘spread’
AG (silver) + odd letters or ‘locations’ in ErOs LaDy
FT (Financial Times – newspaper) round or ‘covering’ ACE (one)
SHADE (darkness) with the ‘s’ (sun) ‘going down’ to the end
Another excellent crossword from Filbert. I was held up a little from entering MINUET for 12a but, in fairness to Filbert, the surface does lead to MINUTE – need to ignore “of” to get minuet.
Really liked the construction for 5a with its reference to 1a which is indeed a house.
Fairly gentle for Filbert, I thought, apart form the SW corner, where I didn’t know ‘allspice’ – at least, I’d heard the word before but failed to learn what it meant. There was a missed opportunity for a triple definition at 14A, with the insertion of ‘angry’ before ‘teacher’. Thanks Filbert and B&J.
We found this quite a challenge and were half way through the acrosses before we got our first answer (WINDER) but we got there in the end with a little help – and some answers unparsed. But we thought a few of the clues weren’t quite up to scratch – notably 1dn where OFF is part of the answer as well as the clue, and 4dn where there’s no hint as to what/who has to be completed – at least in 27ac ‘on telly’ does point the solver in the direction of a certain sitcom.
Thanks, though, to Filbert and of course B&J
I found this quite difficult, having been held up by putting in NOT IN at 17A (i.e., spent nothing = no tin). After that was cleared up things flowed again! Very enjoyable crossword overall.
Alliacol@4 I was another NOT IN. I thought ALLSPICE was a bit of a stretch, but an enjoyable solve.
Late as usual but was I the only one who thought of Dora Bryan 1st for 4D?