Tough. Very tough. So tough that I had to cheat to get the last solution. Now you’re all going to tell me it was a breeze.
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 Bike race that’s foolhardy will go ahead
MADISON
A charade of MAD and IS ON. A track cycling relay race, named after Madison Square Garden in New York City.
5 Drink behind old man’s decline
PASS UP
A charade of PA’S and SUP.
9 One bowed when playing lead in Shakespeare
VIOLA
A dd; the second element refers to the character in Twelfth Night.
10 Clergyman welcomes family chatter
PARKINSON
An insertion of KIN in PARSON. The insertion indicator is ‘welcomes’. This must be referring to the long-running BBC show Parkinson, hosted by Michael of that ilk. It’s a chat show, for sure; but to clue that as ‘chatter’ is a bit far-fetched, I would say. ‘Chatter’ of the teeth is one of the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, but it surely can’t be that.
11 Number of cops that carry guns?
NINE ONE ONE
A cd. Cops in the USA carry guns; if you need them there in a hurry, you call 911, the emergency number. This morning’s factoid: if you dial this number in the UK, you will automatically be redirected to the 999 service.
12 Lord said walk on water
PIER
Aural wordplay (‘said’) for PEER.
14 Ghost hunter caught lots, not finished after a year
PAC-MAN
A blast from the past: PAC-MAN is a 1980 video game which would be considered very old hat by today’s standards but was widely popular at the time (and has to date grossed $14 billion). The ghosts that were the target of PAC-MAN (for bonus points) were Blinky, Pinky, Inky and Clyde. But if you’re over 60 and misspent your youth in arcades, you probably knew that. It’s a charade of PA, C and MAN[Y].
16 Glossy oil an awful pink
MAGNOLIA
A charade of MAG and (OIL AN)* with ‘awful’ as the anagrind. Referring to the flower rather than the emulsion paint.
18 Rider who’s got the hump has brawl in coach
CAMELEER
An insertion of MELEE in CAR. The insertion indicator is ‘has’.
19 Plain Cockney tough guy from the East End
TUNDRA
A reversal of ‘ARD NUT. ‘Cockney’ is the direction to drop the aitch; but ‘East End’ is a misdirection, so to speak, and with ‘from the’ is the reversal indicator.
21 Noodles for everyone put on
UDON
A charade of U (from the old cinema classification) and DON.
22 See vessel lays up back in Black Sea port
SEVASTOPOL
A reversal of LO, POT and SAVES. The reversal indicator is ‘back’.
25 New menu in motel affected income
EMOLUMENT
An insertion of (MENU)* in (MOTEL)* The two anagrinds are ‘new’ and ‘affected’ and the insertion indicator is ‘in’.
26 Current film captures face of Everest covered with climbers
IVIED
A charade of I, the symbol for electrical ‘current’ and an insertion of E for the initial letter of ‘Everest’ in VID. The insertion indicator is ‘captures’.
27 Slow, steep A-road
RETARD
A charade of RET, A and RD. My Chambers has:
ret vt and vi to soak; to soften, spoil or rot by exposure to moisture
28 Dishevelled detective has line on company boss
COLUMBO
A charade of CO, L and UMBO. Another dip into Chambers was required by this solver. It told me:
umbo n the central boss of a shield
Should you ever require it, the plural is umbones (but umbos is also considered acceptable).
Down
1 Film method for making pie crust?
MOVING PICTURES
A rat (reverse anagram thingy). (PIE CRUST)* is PICTURES and ‘moving’ would be the anagrind for it.
2 Doctor with private swamp
DROWN
A charade of DR and OWN.
3 Waves to friend at certain times
SEASONALLY
A charade of SEAS, ON and ALLY.
4 Boy you might love is one wanting love, thank goodness
NEPHEW
A charade of [O]NE and PHEW. ‘Boy you might love’ for NEPHEW is so left-field it’s out of sight, imho.
5 Irish article headed by “Priest Eats Fish“
PIRANHAS
A charade of P, IR, AN and HAS. ‘She always has/eats a cheese sandwich for lunch.’
6 Bargain tin, lowest possible price?
SNIP
A charade of SN for the chemical symbol for ‘tin’ and IP, a representation of 1 pence.
7 Poles wearing uniform knocked off, lacking tools
UNSKILLED
An insertion of N and S for the two ‘poles’ in U for the phonetic alphabet ‘uniform’ and KILLED.
8 With harvest moon outside all notice architect
ANDREA PALLADIO
Even with all the crossing letters, I’m never getting this without the cheat button. He’s Italian (which it might have been helpful to include in the clue) and famous in architectural circles. Just not in my head. A charade of AND plus an insertion of ALL AD in REAP and IO. The insertion indicator is ‘outside’.
13 River Test suitable for plant
INDUSTRIAL
A charade of INDUS and TRIAL.
15 Naval officer getting over runs in unplumbed toilet
COMMODORE
An insertion of O and R in COMMODE. The insertion indicator is ‘getting … in’.
17 Minister split trousers continually
REVEREND
An insertion of EVER in REND. The insertion indicator is ‘trousers’.
20 Seal I see beneath spar
MASTIC
Since it’s a down clue, it’s a charade of MAST, I and C (for which ‘see’ is an accepted rendering).
23 Polyhedron on board problem sir put up
PRISM
Hidden reversed (‘up’) in probleM SIR Put.
24 American insults upset Russian legislature
DUMA
A reversal of A and MUD.
Many thanks to Filbert for this Sunday’s puzzle.
NINE ONE ONE
I found this online:
The Springfield Armory 911 is a concealed carry semi-automatic pistol manufactured by Springfield Armory, Inc.
If there is a 911 gun, then it could be a DD
Number of cops
carry guns (is that an expression for handguns?)
This was good, as always with Filbert, but tough. The chatter refers to Parkinson himself, as he chatted.
Thanks to both.
Michael PARKINSON: Defining him rather than the show as (a) chatter is fine, I guess.
Thanks Filbert and Pierre for the lovely puzzle and the blog (resp).
Sorry Andy@2. Your comment wasn’t there when I started typing.
Extremely difficult for a Sunday, though in my view 01:05 is not yet truly Sunday. It is a Saturday night.
Some very nice clues here, but to define Michael Parkinson as a ‘chatter’ is to underestimate the consummate professionalism of the man, as would be obvious to most people. For me, the compiler Filbert is the ‘chatter’, as opposed to the interviewer, for the moment at any rate.
Thx to Flibert and Pierre.
Tough. Pierre, if you had to cheat, I feel a little better. The architect was a nho. I liked a lot of the clues though – PARKINSON, NINE ONE ONE, EMOLUMENT (nice word), and PAC-MAN which I somehow got despite the TV series. Oh, and COLUMBO for the inimitable Peter Falk but also for UMBO which came up first on Google. Thanks for the excellent blog Pierre and thanks to Filbert.
NINE ONE ONE
Though there is a 911 gun, If we take the clue as a DD, then there is no US indicator left in the clue. With due apologies, I stand corrected. It has to be a CD (if at all an additional layer referring to the 911 guns) as the blog says.
In Spain COLUMBO is spelt COLOMBO, as I learned from this Basque newspaper, late last year, celebrating 50 años of the series.
It refers to him as “desaliñado” – ‘scruffy, slovenly, dishevel(l)ed‘ – catchphrase: ‘”sólo una cosa más“.
Gracias F&P
So, what’s the point of the question mark in 11a? The CD doesn’t really need it. A lot more than 911 cops in the US carry guns. According to Google there were 708,001 full-time law enforcement officers in the USA in 2022.
My chambers does not list chatter as an noun in the sense of one who chats – but specifically lists that as a chatterer. Clue was obvious from everything else but still. the only way it works is that Chatter is defining Parkinson (as in the show – which was a lot of talk ie Chatter)
Overall I liked this puzzle for a Sunday breakfast challenge.
Thanks Setter and Blogger
NINE ONE ONE
Let me guess…
Maybe a clue that works like a rhetorical question with ‘no’ as an implied answer.
Another possibility is that the USA is not unique in this case but an example (in many countries cops may carry guns).
Waiting to hear from others…
@kva 10. That is definitely how I read the clue. America is somewhere UK solvers might be expected to know both the emergency telephone number AND that police routinely carry firearms
Pierre – re Palladio. A fair portion of London’s most famous architecture is in the Palladian style – named after Palladio. I think this might make him famous enough – but you still have to be a fan to know the name.
Chiswick House cannot post link unfo
Almost all the walls in my home (and of many other folk I’m sure) are covered with magnolia paint and no way is it pink! If our blogger only needed to cheat for one clue that makes me feel a lot better, though I’m not sure that consulting a word list occasionally when stuck is actually cheating – more like using one’s initiative, in my view! Thanks Filbert and Pierre.
Whilst the term ‘chatter’ might not do justice to Parky, the word ‘chat’ was certainly applied to his interactions with his guests so the def gave me no problem. I did mistakenly enter SEBASTOPOL for the Black Sea port, unfortunately. I wasn’t aware of the architect’s first nae but was able to piece it together from WP. Certainly a tough challenge for a Sunday morning.
Thanks Filbert and Pierre
I took the question mark in 11a to refer to 911 being an emergency service number, not necessarily the cops.
I usually find Filbert quite tough but I felt he over-egged this one. Gave up about three quarters of the way through and, looking at the ones I missed, I’m glad I did.
I got as far as thinking that it was clever to have a surface that reminded you of COLUMBO before I finally gave up trying to make a charade involving DI, PC, PLOD or an anagram of cop. TUNDRA was my favourite. Great puzzle, I thought. Thanks, both.
Given the number of clergy references in the clues, I think you can be forgiven your trespasses.
Very tough and not altogether enjoyable.
Certainly not a breeze, Pierre but I have grown accustomed to Filbert puzzles so i dove in head first
Loved TUNDRA and I think the late Michael would approve of CHATTER
Dunno about MAGNOLIA paint but I dont think the clue mentioned paint
\Very welcome puzzle on a Sunday
Thanks Filbert and Pierre(not to mention Arsenal ) for a nice start to the day
Thanks both. Very tough for me but eventually got there through occasionally checking answers. My only uncertainty is the definition for UNSKILLED as I regard ‘lacking tools’ as ill-equipped, not necessarily talentless, but I may be missing something
I got very stuck on the right hand side. Got a headache, fell asleep trying to get the plain. Woke up and somehow SEVASTOPOL dawned on me and everything else fell in ok, even the architect’s first name which was new to me. I wish the headache would go away now…
Thanks Flibert and Pierre.
TFO@19 I had ‘lacking tools’ as a very broad, Filbertian definition of ‘someone without the wherewithall’ so qualifications etc would be included. Not just hammers.
Thanks Filbert and Pierre
Ref 10A, I thought that the definition was PARKINSON as the person:
He had conversations / chats with people, so was a chatter.
Whereas someone who chatters is someone who just goes on (and on), hence the Collins chatterer per MN @ 9.
I was another who worked back from the Palladian style to the architect, and with the crossers his forename couldn’t be much else.
Relieved I’m not alone in finding this one tough! I don’t think Magnolia is pink. It did remind me of a painter who suggested we use ‘Mongolia’ on the walls.
Thanks to Filbert and Pierre
I wouldn’t put magnolia as pink either Boatlady@23. But your Mongolia coloured walls made me smile. Thanks.