Independent 11,254/Filbert

A delightful puzzle from Filbert, with a wide range of subject matter which had me ferreting around in various reference books to find out more. And something unusual for a Monday …

… a theme. Not sure why it’s been published today rather than on a more typical Tuesday, but it’s a tribute to Anthony Robert McMillan OBE, better known as the actor Robbie Coltrane, who died only a few weeks ago. There are a number of references to him throughout the puzzle.

He chose his stage name in tribute to the jazz musician John COLTRANE who appears in 16dn and is referenced in 13ac. He has appeared in ALFRESCO, MONA LISA, GOLDENEYE and CRACKER and played SAMUEL JOHNSON in COALBLACKADDER. In addition, he portrayed FALSTAFF in Kenneth Branagh’s Henry and of course is best known to millennials as HAGRIDDEN in the Harry Potter films. There may be other references I have missed, but Fifteensquared being the collegiate place it is, some kind soul will help me out if I have.

I hope you enjoyed this one as much as I did – bravo, Filbert.

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 Butler who wrote a book
SAMUEL
A dd: the first definition refers to Samuel Butler, the author best known for his utopian novel Erewhon; the second to the book of the Bible.

4 Old king has heir, a buffoon in charge for a spell
JOHNSON
A charade of JOHN, an old English ‘king’ and SON. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, along comes our ex-leader for whom the word ‘buffoon’ was invented.  He has gone away again, though.  For now.

9 Pub always admits old women? Not at all
IN NO WAY
An insertion of O and W in INN and AY. The insertion indicator is ‘admits’.

10 Odd leg’s twitching – maybe an Alsatian’s pulling it
DOGSLED
(ODD LEGS)* with ‘twitching’ as the anagrind.

11 Daffy longed, I heard, for another duck
GOLDENEYE
A charade of (LONGED)* and EYE for a homophone (‘heard’) of ‘I’. The anagrind is ‘daffy’, but much more importantly, a chance for the obligatory Pierre bird link. There is a small resident population in Scotland, but your best chance to see them is as winter visitors. The name comes from the bright yellow eye, which is a feature of both sexes but appears more prominently in the male against the green gloss of his head.

12 Clever technology reversed doctor’s feet
IAMBS
A charade of AI for Artificial Intelligence reversed and MBS for ‘doctors’. The poetical ‘foot’.

13 Classical character as written showing 16’s talent
MUSIC
A charade of MU for the Greek ‘character’ and SIC for the editor’s note indicating that a mistake in the original text should be reproduced without correction. Referring to the musical COLTRANE at 16dn – John, the jazz saxophonist and composer. The subject of our theme, Robbie Coltrane, changed his name to that of the musician in tribute to him.

15 Agree one should include ‘sea’, as said to editor
ACCEDE
An insertion of C and ED in ACE. The insertion indicator is ‘should include’ and ‘sea as said’ should lead you to the letter C.

19 Colourful picture of English history learner absorbs
PASTEL
An insertion of E in PAST and L. The insertion indicator is ‘absorbs’.

20 Heading west in small unexplored ravine
NULLA
Hidden reversed in smALL UNexplored. I had not come across this word before; if you are one of those people who likes to store stuff away for future reference, it can also be spelled NULLAH, NALA, NALLA or NALLAH, according to my Chambers, and is derived from a Hindi word.

23 Without a bit of towel, bather’s back drying out
REHAB
Filbert is inviting you to remove the T for the first letter of ‘towel’ from BA[T]HER and then reverse all that to find your solution.

24 Animals paired regularly in bible, work of Noah and sons
AARDVARKS
An insertion of ARD for the even letters of pAiReD in AV for Authorised Version or ‘bible’, followed by ARKS. Famous for being the first word in the dictionary after all the abbreviations, it is related via Afrikaans to two modern Dutch words: aarde for ‘earth’ and varken for ‘pig’, and is so named as an ‘earthpig’ because of its burrowing habits.

26 Local employee saving master’s papers
BARMAID
A charade of BAR, MA and ID.

27 A coin is liquid capital
NICOSIA
(A COIN IS)* with ‘liquid’ as the anagrind.

28 Joke I can’t remember’s a really good one
CRACKER
A charade of CRACK and ER.

29 Cancel railway from France after heading for Calais
CRY OFF
A charade of C for the initial letter of ‘Calais’, RY, OF and F.

Down

1 E.g. George taken in by identical swindle
SKIN GAME
An insertion of KING in SAME. I had never heard this expression; it’s marked in my dictionaries as AmEng, so that’s probably why.

2 No 6D (as translated) in masterwork
MONA LISA
(NO SALAMI)* with ‘as translated’ as the anagrind.

3 Film shown on Scot’s little box
ETWEE
A charade of ET and WEE. It had to be this, and I only understood when I realised it must be an alternative spelling for ÉTUI, the French word.

4 Daughter in jail beginning to expect justice
JUDGE
An insertion of D in JUG followed by E for the initial letter of ‘expect’. The insertion indicator is ‘in’.

5 Terrible endless night, 24D having nightmares
HAGRIDDEN
(NIGH[T]ADDER)* with ‘terrible’ as the anagrind. The definition of HAGRIDDEN is ‘being tormented by a witch’, which you can’t argue might result in nightmares.

6 SAUSAGE! The writer’s unfortunately upset
SALAMI
A reversal or I’M ALAS. Not sure what the capital letters are all about.

7 Say, James going round in the buff?
NUDIST
I can’t quite nail this down: it’s a reversal of SID James, the comic actor, in NUT; but the clue seems just to be telling us that you can find the reversal in the word. Someone will have a better idea, I’m sure.

Edit: that person is Hovis, at comment #1

8 Given a suitable role, produce manuscript when entering court
TYPECAST
A charade of TYPE and AS inserted into CT. The insertion indicator is ‘entering’.

14 Inky book fills fuel shortage
COAL BLACK
An insertion of B in COAL LACK. The insertion indicator is ‘fills’.

16 Surprisingly lean actor, not a great improviser
COLTRANE
(LEAN [A]CTOR)* or LE[A]N ACTOR)*, take your pick. Referring to the jazz musician who’s also referenced in 13ac, but still a difficult clue since ‘great improviser’ could be a great many things, not just a musician with a talent for it. Crossing letters, dear boy, as Macmillan might have said.

17 Novel flares, a result of combustion in the open air
ALFRESCO
A charade of (FLARES A)* and CO for carbon monoxide, which can be formed from the (incomplete) combustion of carbon with oxygen.

18 Fat comic character listening to deceitful servants
FALSTAFF
A homophone (‘listening to’) of FALSE STAFF. Except of course if you were enunciating it correctly, there would be two letter Ss. But before we get into a long and fruitless discussion about homophones, tune in to the next edition of the news read by a BBC presenter (who is always going to be careful with pronunciation) and listen to them say PRY MINISTER and not PRIME MINISTER. No-one moans about that.

21 Actor in the wings with ABC containing current language
ARABIC
I think this is an insertion of RA, all inserted into ABIC. The I is the electrical ‘current’ and the two insertion indicators are ‘in the wings’ and ‘containing’.

Edit: Hovis has a better explanation, again at comment #1

22 Actor great as 18 every year, his career peaks?
SHERPA
A charade of [Antony] SHER and PA for per annum. Sher is well known for his RSC performance as Falstaff in Shakespeare’s Henry IV.

24 No money for more bananas, one calculates
ADDER
[M]ADDER

25 Rev motor giving six a lift
VICAR
A charade of VI and CAR, with the fact that it’s a down clue giving you the order of the particles.

Many thanks to Filbert for the start to our week of Indy puzzles.