A pleasant stroll with Filbert this morning, which I enjoyed solving and blogging.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Leave rubbish out
BUNK OFF
A charade of BUNK and OFF. I’m sure that ‘out’ and OFF mean the same thing sometimes, but I am struggling to think of an example right now.
5 Pizzicato presumably not mastered
UNBOWED
‘Pizzicato’ is an instruction to, for example, violinists to pluck rather than bow the strings.
9 Cover short curls in nice soapy bubbles
INSURANCE POLICY
(CURL[S] IN NICE SOAPY)* with ‘bubbles’ as the anagrind.
10 Cloth cut from seam on the counter
DENIM
A reversal of MINED. The reversal indicator is ‘on the counter’, and MINED could be synonymous with ‘from seam’ if we are talking about coal.
11 Weird rites, secretive veils – like nuns?
SISTERLY
An insertion of (RITES)* in SLY. The anagrind is ‘weird’ and the insertion indicator is ‘veils’. As to the accuracy of the surface reading, I couldn’t possibly comment.
13 Pleasant smell of one finishing on the toilet
LAVENDER
Lovely. A charade of LAV and ENDER.
15 Spring traps of that girl guide
SHERPA
An insertion of HER in SPA. The insertion indicator is ‘traps’.
17 Big blow recently from Brussels, note unfriendliness
EUNICE
A charade of EU, N and ICE. Referring to one of the recent named storms that inflicted considerable damage. This clue won’t age well when the puzzle is recycled in the i.
19 Biggest purple people eater scoffed triplets for starters
PLUMPEST
A charade of PLUM and PEST for the initial letters of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth words of the clue.
22 Lady’s shoe dry on way into field, not in the middle
STILETTO
A charade of STILE, TT for alcoholically ‘dry’ and O for the middle letter of ‘not’.
23 Gag, a very poor one snubbing women
RETCH
[W]RETCH
26 Cool display from school head
STANDOFFISHNESS
A charade of STAND, OF, FISH and NESS.
27 Sailor meeting with spooks, barring a no-show
ABSENCE
A charade of AB and SE[A]NCE.
28 High bank of seats on right entering trireme?
GALLERY
An insertion of R in GALLEY. The insertion indicator is ‘entering’.
Down
1 Stake everything you raised, it’ll get you nowhere
BLIND ALLEY
A charade of BLIND, ALL and YE reversed. Since it’s a down clue, the reversal indicator is ‘raised’. A BLIND is a bet in poker or brag which is made before the cards are revealed.
2 November is a name for a month in Israel
NISAN
A charade of N for the phonetic alphabet ‘November’, IS, A and N. The first month of the Jewish religious calendar, about now in fact.
3 Maybe bow as Roman ordered
OARSMAN
(AS ROMAN)*
4 Inedible bit of fish discarded after I washed up
FINISHED
A charade of FIN, I and SHED. Inedible, the fin? Try telling that to shark fin soup lovers.
5 Employment around Neath 40% down, creating anxiety
UNEASE
An insertion of NEA in USE. The insertion indicator is ‘around’. The NEA element comes from NEA[TH].
6 Modern industry having impact around old church
BIOTECH
An insertion of O in BITE, followed by CH.
7 Obvious wart girl treated with a bit of Euthymol
WRIT LARGE
(WART GIRL)* plus E for the first letter of ‘Euthymol’. Euthymol is a toothpaste, so wouldn’t be much good at treating warts, I imagine.
8 Confusion reported in age
DAYS
A homophone of DAZE. ‘Back in the days of steam/back in the age of steam.’
12 Wash my kilt, spilling this?
MALT WHISKY
(WASH MY KILT)* with ‘spilling’ as the anagrind, and a cad.
14 Italians used to 16 check Scot’s carrying 9 on vacation
VENETIANS
An insertion of N[IN]E in VET and IAN’S. Ian must be due a pay rise; he’s been the Scot of choice for as long as I can remember.
16 Fellow can row back to Wapping? Disaster
FLOODING
A charade of F, LOO, DIN and G for the last letter of ‘Wapping’.
18 Green English youth taken in by trick
CELADON
An insertion of E and LAD in CON. I was pleased to work this out from the wordplay and verify later.
20 Wetland walk out of bounds for shepherd
MARSHAL
A charade of MARSH and [W]AL[K].
21 Squash cooked itself
STIFLE
(ITSELF)*
24 Nearly all dissertations specified examples at hand
THESE
THESE[S]
25 Area covering Thailand, miles away?
ASIA
A charade of A and SIA[M], and another cad.
Many thanks to Filbert for the Sunday morning entertainment.
I really enjoyed this. I was a bit surprised to see Filbert’s name on a Sindy puzzle because I generally find his crosswords at the tougher end of the Indy spectrum with the likes of Tyrus and the much-missed Dalibor (waves). However this went in pretty quickly so props to Eimi for the sorting skills and massive props to Filbert for so many superb surfaces. Thanks for the blog to Pierre (I had exactly the same thoughts about EUNICE!)
Another one who really liked this. By the way, Pierre, you may wish to edit your entry for 21d.
Thanks, Hovis.
Thanks Filbert and Pierre
I think the definition in 10 is simply ‘cloth’, which leaves ‘mined’ defined by ‘cut from seam’.
That is undoubtedly a much better parsing than mine, Simon – thank you.
A good puzzle with a nice indication style. There were some glitches for me. 9 across I’m not quite sure the bubbles is supported by the grammar. 10 across as mentioned, cut from seam is the definition. 26 fish gave me pause, but it will be ‘one of those’ that some people don’t mind. 28 I can’t see what the ‘on’ is doing. 4 down as blogged. 12 down not really a CAD — does Pierre mean ‘&lit’? — for me, more of an extended definition. 16 I think fellow for F is not generally used, and the ‘can’ is an unindicated Americanism. Also the G for ‘back to Wapping’ doesn’t work for me in a down clue, so probably not the best one in the puzzle. 25 down, for comparison with 12, really is a CAD or &lit for me.
I always look forward to Filbert puzzles. SISTERLY, LAVENDER, RETCH, MALT WHISKY, FLOODING, STIFLE and ASIA all excellent. It’s a shame the Indy site doesn’t have puzzles grouped by setter anywhere, because there’s lots of fun to be had seeking out past puzzles by this relatively sporadic setter.
Thanks Filbert and Pierre
A masterclass in tight clueing and the avoidance of filler. As a novice setter, starting out on this journey, I am lost in admiration at the succinctness of the clueing and at some of those charades – FINISHED and FLOODING, in particular, along with STANDOFFISHNESS (which is brilliant but is also the go-to approach for clueing the word as evidenced by a quick check on past puzzles. Doesn’t stop me smiling when I encounter it though. For interest, one very different and amusing alternative was Bradman’s 2017 clue in the FT: In an aloof manner as befits a type of rugby player? 😀 )
Also interesting from a distribution perspective to see there are 13 charades and yet they are so varied and delightfully constructed that it doesn’t feel like a lot.
Thanks Filbert and Pierre
tlp @ 6
F = Fellow is very common, eg FRS / Fellow of the Royal Society, and many similar.
Gentle for Filbert, but even so, working out the parsing for STILETTO, STANDOFFISHNESS and VENETIANS took a bit of mental effort.
A nice &lit to end with was my highlight.
Thanks to Pierre and Filbert
Most enjoyable, although there were a handful of clues we solved without fully parsing them. As, for example, 14dn which was clear from the wordplay but it was only later that we managed to solve 16dn and see the relevance of the reference to 16.
We liked UNBOWED, SISTERLY, LAVENDER and OARSMAN among others.
Thanks, Filbert and Pierre.
Really enjoyable, first-class puzzle. Many smiles along the way when solving this!