A puzzle from Filbert today, a setter that I often find difficult.
Today was no exception and it took me a while to solve and parse everything to my satisfaction.
Having said that, everything was clear in the end even though there were entries that don’t feature in my everyday vocabulary.
PIANISM, ARCHAEA, HERB ROBERT and NEGUS were new to me. For I while I was trying to fit the Nigerian port city of LAGOS into the clue for NEGUS.
I enjoyed the link between RESCUE CAT and the word play for CARPET SWEEPER. The definition of ‘kitty saved’ for RESCUE CAT was also good.
The ‘twins’ device in the clue for DISPOSSESS was clever.
It took me longer than it should to wok out what was going on in the wordplay for RIDERLESS.
Thanks to Filbert for giving us something to chew on.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1 |
Kitty saved on car use etc going walkabout (6,3) RESCUE CAT (A domestic CAT [kitty] that has been officially taken away [saved] from an abusive or neglectful owner) Anagram of (going walkabout) CAR USE ETC RESCUE CAT* |
| 6 |
Wealth is of little importance, son (5) MEANS (pecuniary resources; wealth) MEAN (of little importance) + S (son) MEAN S |
| 9 |
Musician’s craft returning from Sinai Peninsula is smuggling (7) PIANISM (technique of playing the pianoforte; musician’s craft) PIANISM (reversed [returning] hidden word in [is smuggling] FROM SINAI PENINSULA) PIANISM< |
| 10 |
Domain‘s extent swollen by a hundred hectares (7) ARCHAEA (A domain of living organisms containing prokaryotic micro-organisms) AREA (extent) containing (swollen by) (C [Roman numeral for 100] + HA [hectare]) AR (C HA) EA |
| 11 |
Orders taken over the phone for hotelier (4) RITZ (reference César RITZ [1850 – 1918], Swiss hotelier and founder of several hotels, most famously the Hôtel RITZ in Paris and the RITZ and Carlton Hotels in London) RITZ (sounds like [taken over the phone] WRITS [written documents by which one is summoned or required to do, or refrain from doing, something; orders]) RITZ |
| 12 |
Hoover perhaps swallowing brother’s geranium (4,6) HERB ROBERT (stinking cranesbill [Geranium robertianum], a plant with small reddish-purple flowers) HERBERT (reference HERBERT Hoover [1874 -1964], 31st President of the United States from 1929 to 1933) containing (swallowing) BRO (brother) HER (B RO) BERT |
| 15 |
Cleaner person who complains about leak from 1A? (6,7) CARPET SWEEPER (a cleaner) CARPER (person who complains) containing (about) PET’S WEE (possibly a leak from a RESCUE CAT [entry at 1 across]) CAR (PET S WEE) PER |
| 18 |
Highlands canal firm’s set for engineering (6,7) MASSIF CENTRAL (highland region in south-central France, consisting of mountains and plateaus) Anagram of (for engineering) CANAL FIRM’S SET MASSIF CENTRAL* |
| 20 |
Rob arranges to have two sons twinned (10) DISPOSSESS (deprive of property, land etc; rob) DISPOSES (arranges) with each of the two of the three Ss [sons] repeated [twinned] DISPOSSESS |
| 22 |
Which people heading for amber stop? (4) WHOA (stop) WHO (which people) + A (first letter for [heading for] AMBER) WHO A |
| 24 |
Record second in list, IMO, is a good example (7) EPITOME (a typical example) EP (Extended Play record) + I (second letter in [second in] LIST) + TO ME (In My Opinion [IMO]) EP I TO ME |
| 26 |
Period leading to inevitable extinction (7) ERASURE (act of destruction; extinction) ERA (period of time) + SURE (certain; inevitable) ERA SURE |
| 27 |
Hot port with spices in westerly sun traps perhaps (5) NEGUS (drink of port or sherry mixed with hot water, sweetened and spiced) SUN reversed (westerly) containing (traps) EG (for example; perhaps) N (EG) US< |
| 28 |
25 slides to slide around with nobody on them (9) RIDERLESS (of a horse for example, with nobody in the saddle) Anagram of (to slide around) ERR [entry at 25 down] and SLIDES RIDERLESS* |
| Down | |
| 1 |
Evidence of gunfire touching ship’s side (6) REPORT (explosive noise, such as the sound of gunfire) RE (with reference to; touching) + PORT (larboard or left side of a ship) RE PORT |
| 2 |
Revolting Greek supermarket moved custard out of the road (9) SPARTACUS (Spartacus, a rebellious slave, was born in Thrace, an area where the modern-day Balkans states, including Turkey, Bulgaria, and Greece. He is also referred to as an ancient Roman slave) SPAR (name of a chain of convenience supermarkets) + an anagram of (moved) CUSTARD excluding (out of the) RD (road) SPAR TACUS* |
| 3 |
A bit of alcohol‘s appropriate for children, silly (4) UNIT (A standard measure used in calculating alcohol intake and its effect; a bit of alcohol) U (designation of a film suitable for children to view) + NIT (a silly; a fool) U NIT |
| 4 |
Battle getting knickers off and on in facilities (11) COMPETENCES (capabilities; facilities) COMPETE (contend; battle) + NCES (letters 2, 4, 6 and 8 [off an on] of KNICKERS) COMPETE NCES |
| 5 |
Glaswegian couple cheers given whiskey to drink (3) TWA (Scottish [Glasgow] word for TWO) W (Whiskey is the international radio communication codeword for the letter W) contained in (given … to drink) TA (thank you; cheers) T (W) A |
| 6 |
Measure around the Pope’s see, wearing his hat (10) MICROMETRE (a measure equivalent to one-millionth of a metre) C (circa [around] + ROME [the Pope is officially the Bishop of ROME, so ROME is his see]) contained in (wearing) MITRE (hat worn by the Pope) MI (C ROME) TRE |
| 7 |
Humble when back in Cambridge collecting degree (5) ABASE (humble) (AS + E [last letter of [back in] CAMBRIDGE) containing (collecting) BA (Bachelor of Arts degree) A (BA) S E |
| 8 |
Main item in order, when ‘put the kettle on’ is insufficient? (4,4) STAR TURN (main item on the bill of performance) START URN (something said when a kettle is not going to be big enough to heat the water required) STAR T URN |
| 13 |
Coach Spanish lady to project in part that matters (8,3) BUSINESS END (The part of a tool or weapon that does the work, as contrasted with the handle) BUS (omnibus; coach) + INES (Spanish lady’s name) + SEND (propel; project) BUS INES S END |
| 14 |
Barry stripped to change with suit too ratty? (10) TRAITOROUS (like a rat [renegade or turncoat]) Anagram of (to change) ARR (BARRY excluding the outer letters [stripped] B and Y) and [with] SUIT TOO TRAITOROUS* |
| 16 |
Steamy with dates in bed here? (9) PALMHOUSE (A greenHOUSE with a bed for growing tropical plants including date PALMs) PALMHOUSE – the clue is a cryptic definition with no additional wordplay that I can see PALMHOUSE |
| 17 |
Grain darkens over good many years (8) SMIDGEON (very small amount; grain can be defined similarly) DIMS (darkens) reversed (over) + G (good) + EON (a period of many years) – the clue is a down entry so DIMS< is located over GEON SMID< G EON |
| 19 |
The French short cut that’s so long (6) LATERS (good by; see you soon; so long) LA (one of the French forms of ‘the’) + TERSE (short) excluding the final letter (cut) E LA TERS |
| 21 |
Two bridge players getting through £1000 swap partners (5) SWING (swap sexual partners in a group, especially habitually) SW (South and West [designations of bridge players]) + IN (by or through) + G (grand; £1000) SW IN G |
| 23 |
Couple‘s woe ended too soon by Romeo (4) PAIR (couple) PAIN (woe) excluding the final letter (ended too soon) N + R (Romeo is the international radio communication codeword for the letter R) PAI R |
| 25 |
Hard to miss that lady’s right boob (3) ERR (mistake; boob) HER (that lady’s) excluding (to miss) H (hard, as in indication of type pencil lead) + R (right) ER R |
I found this puzzle tough but I persisted with some forensic investigation and I am all the better for it if a little exhausted. The vocabulary mentioned in the intro was new to me and if knowledge really is power I must be getting stronger. The anagrams were excellent. Not at all obvious. If I had to pick a toppie maybe SMIDGEON (a grain!). EPITOME and SWING were fun. I couldn’t parse DISPOSSESS correctly but can now and I was unsure about Palmhouse. There is a Palm House in Kew Gardens with tropical flora and as one word it’s the name of a London restuarant. Anyway big thanks for the blog and respect to the maestro for the workout.
Crikey, Filbert gets no easier! I was beaten by a few here: NEGUS unknown and couldn’t parse; BUSINESS END where, even with the BUS, I couldn’t grasp the def and INES never came to mind; and STAR TURN which I couldn’t parse. I pieced together ARCHAEA but nho.
Favourites include HERB ROBERT, EPITOME, MASSIF CENTRAL, COMPETENCES, ABASE and the interlinked CAT clues.
Thanks Filbert and duncan
Failed in the SW. Couldn’t get DISPOSSESS, SMIDGEON, SWING & NEGUS. I have seen the latter a few times before in cryptics but it didn’t come to mind when solving. Ah well, maybe next time.
Brilliant stuff! Loved it!
Inventive cluing: DISPOS[S]ES[S], CAR[PET’S WEE]PER, HER[BRO]BERT, BUS INES SEND
Obfuscating definitions: “Highlands” for MASSIF CENTRAL, “Revolting Greek” for SPARTACUS, “ratty” for TRAITOROUS.
pdms everywhere and a jorum for ARCHAEA. Took an hour to get to my last one in 8d S?A?T?R?. Couldn’t see it.
Took a break and did the FT. Came back and got it immediately “START URN” – of course!
Thanks F&d
Thanks both. Similar experience to others here, in terms of the unknowns and the level of challenge. The Spanish lady’s name in BUSINESS END added to the normal amount of difficulty finding an English name, where at least we are likely to be familiar with the entry. My dictionary defines both an urn and a kettle as ‘large’ but I’ll accept the intention in STAR TURN, even if it also contradicts Eric Morecambe when he referred to his acting partner
Failed on 10a as a nho and brain had just given up at that point, and also PALMHOUSE, even though I had P _ L _ H O U S E
This is as tough as I’d like to go I think. Anything more difficult just becomes a trudge for me.
Thanks to Filbert for stretching the grey matter and to Duncan for the excellent blog parsings.
Hard work, tougher than Vlad in the G today. I did manage to remember NEGUS and HERB ROBERT, but ARCHAEA and the expression LATERS were both new. The parsing for many others was tough and I can’t pretend I picked up all the details, eg for DISPOSSESS.
Clues like CARPET SWEEPER made it all worth while in the end though.
Thanks to Filbert and Duncan for his usual forensic blog
I’m with FrankieG @4 – superb puzzle. Filbert is fast becoming one of my favourites. Love the invention and humour throughout this – in particular, CARPET SWEEPER and STAR TURN made me laugh out loud. SMIDGEON is also brilliant.
Thanks, Filbert and Duncan.
I liked all the clues I got unaided and admired most of the rest. Thanks, both.
Not for me. Got about nine answers after about an hour and gave up
Started off badly with RESCUE ACT for 1A. This led to my thinking that 4D was ARMENTIERES, which was the site of a WW1 battle, and contained most of the letters of AMENITIES (for facilities), but I just couldn’t get the knickers part of the clue to tie in. Eventually got enough letters in 12A, 15A and 18A to repair the damage. This one was tough!
Filbert’s always a challenge for me but I usually end up solving most of his clues and I’m always satisfied with the effort. Not today — this was nearly impenetrable and not at all enjoyable. Maybe next time. Thanks Duncan for the blog.