Independent 11580 / Filbert

by

Filbert occupies the Wednesday slot in the Independent cryptic series this week.

 

 

 

Some setters rely heavily on dictionary definitions for answers or wordplay in their clues, but Filbert is not one of them.  Some of Filbert’s definitions are not listed in the normal most-used dictionaries such Collins, Chambers or the Oxford English Dictionary, nor are they listed in associated Thesauri or in Bradfords Crossword Solver’s Dictionary.  Of course, the definitions in the clues can be seen to fit the answer, and some of the allusions are apposite and clever,  but there is a hint of vagueness about a few. 

Examples today included ‘guaranteed’ for BOUND in 1 across, ‘parking attendant’ for VALET in 9 across although I accept VALET parking is fairly common in America, ‘look’ for IMAGE at 20 across, ‘rotten’ for PERISHING at 23 across and ‘fighting’ for TAE KWON DO at 5 down.  I expect people will disagree with me as it is the setters job to make the solver think rather than be spoon fed with definitions.

I liked the clues for SCAPA FLOW, SPECS, NO SHOW, SPLIT PEA and BAROLO for the excellent surfaces. 

I had to a bit of research to understand the ‘cherished last sweet’ in the BAROLO clue but when I found the reference to an old TV advert about sharing the last ROLO (or not), I thought the clue was very clever.

The last clue I parsed was PREMIUM BONDS.  I expect I have come across UMBO as the central boss of a shield in a barred crossword in the past, but I have clearly forgotten about it.

Thanks to Filbert for a challenging puzzle.

No Detail
Across  
1

America guaranteed to be plentiful (6) 

ABOUND (exist in great plenty; be plentiful)

A (America) + BOUND (certain; guaranteed)

A BOUND
5

Russian source coming west as requested (2,5) 

TO ORDER (according to specified requirements; as requested)

(RED [Communist; Russian] + ROOT [source]) reversed (coming west)

(TO OR DER)<
9

Parking attendant taking so long with Tesla (5) 

VALET (reference VALET parking, a service at a restaurant, airport, etc, whereby a patron’s car is taken away to, and fetched back from, a parking place by an attendant)

VALE (farewell; so long) + T (tesla [derived SI unit, the unit of magnetic flux density])

VALE T
10

Women and others left at home, good for sport (9) 

WRESTLING (sport)

W (women) + REST (others) + L (left) + IN (at home) + G (good)

W REST L IN G
11

Better protected by largely safe, deep natural harbour (5,4) 

SCAPA FLOW (one of the great natural harbours and anchorages of the world, SCAPA FLOW in the Orkney Islands, has a shallow sandy bottom not deeper than 60 metres  and most of it is about 30 metres deep)

(CAP [outdo; better] contained in [protected by] SAFE excluding the final letter [mostly] E) + LOW (deep)

S (CAP) A F LOW
12

Pair that focuses on bridge design requirements (5)

SPECS (spectacles, glasses [something that focuses eye sight when placed on the bridge of the nose])

SPECS (specifications; design requirements)  double definition

SPECS
13

Any video game crashes, run straight after launch (6,6) 

MAIDEN VOYAGE (first trip of a ship after launch)

Anagram of (crashes) ANY VIDEO GAME

MAIDEN VOYAGE*
17

Investment vehicle boss cracks before eggheads (7,5) 

PREMIUM BONDS (example of an investment vehicle)

UMBO (central boss of a shield) contained in (PRE [before] + MINDS [thinking or directing people; eggheads?])

PRE MI (UM BO) NDS
20

One’s mature look (5) 

IMAGE (a company’s public mage could be described as ‘how it presents a favourable or unfavourable looks to its customers’)

I’M (One is, I am) + AGE (mature)

IM AGE
21

Associate a young lady had to listen to (9) 

AFFILIATE (associate)

A + FFILI + ATE (had) – together it all sounds like (to listen to) : A FILLY [young lady] ATE

A FFILI ATE
23

Rotten PM no good after training (9) 

PERISHING (of food, become rotten)

PE (physical exercise; training) + RISHI (reference RISHI Sunak, current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom) + NG (no good)

PE RISHI NG
25

Short or long pass (5) 

CROSS (pass [over])

CROSS (in football a long pass from the edge of the field towards the goal)  double
definition

CROSS

See comments 1 and 2 below: the definition is ‘short [angry, CROSS], rather than ‘pass’. ‘Long pass’ is the wordplay
26

Belly starts twisting in worrying sign (7) 

ABDOMEN (belly)

BAD (distressing; worrying) with the first two letters swapped round (starts twisting) to form ABD + OMEN (sign)

ABD OMEN
27

Absentee who’s on shifts (2-4) 

NO SHOW (person who does not arrive for something he or she has booked; absentee)

Anagram of (shifts) WHO’S ON

NO SHOW*
Down  
2

Football equipment in need of inflation, puff air (6) 

BALLAD (song; air)

BALL (piece of equipment used in a football game that needs to be inflated before use) + AD  (advertisement; puff)

BALL AD
3

Waste water keeping streetcar in LA blue (11) 

ULTRAMARINE (shade of deep blue)

URINE (waste water) containing (keeping) (TRAM [streetcar] contained in [in] LA)

U (L (TRAM) A) RINE
4

Briefly prosper as joiner in the joinery business (5) 

DOWEL (pin used in woodwork [joinery] for fastening things together by fitting into a hole in each. piece)

DO WELL (prosper) excluding the final letter (briefly) L

DO WEL
5

Fighting in Barking and Kew too (3,4,2) 

TAE KWON DO (a Korean martial art, similar to karate)

Anagram of (barking) AND KEW TOO

TAE KWON DO*
6

Books university dons borrowed from the library (3) 

OUT (on loan; borrowed from the library)

U (university) contained in (dons) OT (Old Testament; books)

O (U) T
7

Doctor always takes different view for private route (8) 

DRIVEWAY (private road connecting a property to the public road)

(DR [doctor] + AY [always]) containing (takes) an anagram of (a different) VIEW

DR (IVEW*) AY
8

All the pupils perhaps greet sir in order (8) 

REGISTER (official list of all the pupils in a class)

Anagram of (in order) GREET SIR

REGISTER*
9

Check trousers first for Superman, underwear going on top (4) 

VEST (undergarment for the top half of the body)

VET (check) containing (trousers) S (initial letter of [first for] SUPERMAN)

VE (S) T
12

Cooking pud, son tastes dough (11) 

SPONDULICKS (money; dough)

Anagram of (cooking) PUD SON + LICKS (tastes)

SPONDU* LICKS
14

Stop running race that’s annoying (9) 

DAMNATION (interjection expressing displeasure; that’s annoying)

DAM (keep back by a bank; stop) + NATION (body of people marked off by common descent, language, culture, or historical tradition; in some cases, a race)

DAM NATION
15

Leave on empty plate a dried-out vegetable (5,3) 

SPLIT PEA (dried vegetable)

SPLIT (leave) + PE (letters remaining in PLATE when the central letters LAT are removed [empty]) + A

SPLIT PE A
16

Engineers quietly broadcast sound again (8) 

REPAIRED (returned to good condition; sound again)

RE ([Royal] Engineers) + P (piano; quietly) + AIRED (broadcast)

RE P AIRED)
18

Graduate cherished last sweet wine (6)

BAROLO (Italian fine red wine made in the BAROLO area of Piedmont)

BA (Bachelor of Arts; graduate) + ROLO (reference to an advert for ROLO chocolates that asked whether or who you would share your last ROLO [cherished last sweet] with)

BA ROLO
19

German accommodated by the French supporters (4) 

LEGS (supporters)

G (German) contained in (accommodated by) LES (one of the French forms of ‘the’)

LE (G) S
22

Smoke at home? Criminal, with kids (5) 

FAGIN (reference the criminal in the Dickens’ Oliver Twist who trained young thieves, and receivers of stolen goods, etc.)

FAR (cigarette; smoke) + IN (at home)

FAG IN
24

Problem if there’s no ring for 10 (3) 

SUM (a problem in mathematics)

SUMO (Japanese form of WRESTLING [entry at 10 across]) excluding (no) O (ring-shaped character)

SUM

14 comments on “Independent 11580 / Filbert”

  4. I don’t mind in the slightest being asked to think a bit about the defs and, tbh, found myself aligned with the setter in all the examples duncan has given in the blog. I’m also a huge fan of clues such as BALLAD where 75% of the clue, Football equipment in need of inflation, is devoted to one element of the charade with the remainder plus def covered in two words. Delightful. My only problem was UMBO which is nho which, together with not spotting ‘eggheads’ = MINDS, made PREMIUM BONDS a bung and a shrug.

    Favourites today inc VALET, SCAPA FLOW, MAIDEN VOYAGE, PERISHING (I took ‘rotten’ = ‘perishing’ in the sense of the pejorative), NO SHOW (brilliantly hidden anagram), BALLAD, DOWEL, SPLIT PEA, BAROLO and the wicked FAGIN.

    Thanks Filbert and duncan

  5. “I expect people will disagree with me as it is the setter’s job to make the solver think rather than be spoon-fed with definitions.”
    I agree with your view on the setter’s job, Duncan!

    My top faves:
    PREMIUM BONDS and ULTRAMARINE.
    “the detailed table’: Quite detailed and full of relevant info. Thanks.

  6. Filbert’s eye for a creative definition is one of the things I like best about his puzzles. They may not be verbatim from the dictionary but are always scrupulously accurate. “Cherished last sweet” made me laugh out loud when the penny dropped. And the clue for VEST is quite brilliant.

    By strange coincidence, I came across UMBO only the other day when a fellow cruciverbalist misspelt JUMBO and I observed it looked like something you’d see in Azed, so that was fresh in my mind.

    Thanks, Filbert and Duncan!

  9. Widdersbel @6. Just about every setter’s best clues seem to look at things from an unexpected angle. Happily doing just that seems to be Filbert’s superpower.

  12. Thanks Filbert & duncanshiell.

    Not being familiar with 9a, and having entered BILLOW at 2dn, could not fit in STOPA FLOW…once that was changed, BALLAD became the LOI, with tea-tray treatment to head seeing the definition correctly.

    SPONDULICKS is also in Monk’s puzzle today.

    Likes: SPECS, PREMIUM BONDS, ABDOMEN

Comments are closed.