Independent 11,730 / Filbert

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Filbert is occupying this week’s Wednesday spot.

I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle, which offered enough of a challenge for a mid-week solve and enough entertainment to brighten up my working day.

I think that I have solved everything correctly, but I am not sure of my parsing of 3, where the definition isn’t clear to me – please advise!

My favourite clues today were 1D, for playing with the different meanings of score(r); 9, for its deceptive surface reading; 14, for making me smirk; and 15 and 21, both for their smooth surface reading.

*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues

Across    
     
01 MATTER-OF-FACT Sensible mother taking time away from routine

[T (=time) in MATER (=mother)] + OFF (=away) + ACT (=routine, by performer, comedian)
     
08 GEISHA Entertaining woman shows not all marriage is happy

Hidden (“shows not all”) in “marriaGE IS HAppy”
     
09 COMMANDO Soldier cage fighting punches American flat

MMA (=cage fighting, i.e. Mixed Martial Arts) in CONDO (=American flat, i.e. condominium)
     
10 BERIBERI Two small pieces of fruit for auditor’s vitamin deficiency

Homophone (“for auditor”) of BERRY (=small piece of fruit) + BERRY (=small piece of fruit); beriberi is caused by a lack of thiamine, i.e. vitamin B1
     
11 HATBOX Container with two lids

Cryptic definition: a hatbox has a lid on top and a lid (=a hat, colloquially) inside!
     
13 WASH Bath perhaps is no longer hot

WAS (=is no longer) + H (=hot, on tap)
     
14 MEGAPARSEC Empty manhole opening behind Charlie, a long way

M<anhol>E (“empty” means all inside letters are dropped) + GAP (=opening) + ARSE (=behind, derrière) + C (=Charlie, in NATO alphabet); a megaparsec is a huge distance in space, hence “a long way”
     
16 KENSINGTON Rich area wants horrible stink gone by November

*(STINK GONE) + N (=November, in NATO alphabet); “horrible” is anagram indicator
     
19 MOPY Utensil for wiping yard down

MOP (=utensil for wiping) + Y (=yard, in imperial measures); mopy is sulky, moping, in low spirits, hence “(feeling) down”
     
20 WEASEL Traitor with relaxed manner heading for lunch

W (=with) + EASE (=relaxed manner) + L<unch> (“heading for” means first letter only)
     
22 PEIGNOIR Louvre architect designed Ringo’s dressing gown

PEI (=Louvre architect, Ieoh Ming Pei (1917-2019), who designed the Pyramid) + *(RINGO); “designed” is anagram indicator
     
23 PATIENCE Cool at one, change clothes

[AT + I (=one)] in PENCE (=change, coins); to keep one’s cool is not to lose one’s patience
     
25 ELOPER Travelling bride perhaps on top of the world heading west

RE- (=on, regarding) + POLE (=top of the word, cryptically, i.e. North Pole); “heading west” indicates reversal
     
26 TONI MORRISON Beloved writer isn’t in room or elsewhere

*(ISN’T IN ROOM OR); “elsewhere” is anagram indicator; the reference is to the American novelist Toni Morrison (1931-2019) and her 1987 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Beloved
     
Down    
     
01 MESSIAH Top scorer I see score at Christmas

MESSI (=top scorer, i.e. Argentinian footballer Lionel Messi) + AH (=I see, I get it); the reference is to Handel’s Messiah (=musical score!), often performed at Christmas
     
02 TRADESMAN Jazz means improvised sparks, perhaps

TRAD (=(type of) jazz) + *(MEANS); “improvised” is anagram indicator; colloquially, a sparks is an electrician, hence “tradesman”
     
03 ETCHING Attractive topless picture offered suggestively

<f>ETCHING (=attractive, appealing); “topless” means first letter is dropped
     
04 OOMPH Enthusiasm raised low bar

OOM (MOO=low, of cattle; “raised” indicates vertical reversal) + PH (=bar, i.e. public house)
     
05 FLATTER Become // less wrinkly

Double definition: to flatter is to become, suit, of clothing, say AND flatter is less wrinkly, smoother
     
06 COD Fish to be paid for at the door?

C.O.D.= cash on delivery, i.e. “to be paid for at the door”
     
07 SENEGALESE African’s visit blocked by northeast winds

[NE (=northeast) + GALES (=winds)] in SEE (=visit, as I’m coming to see you at the weekend)
     
12 OVERPRICED Moving pre-divorce not worth it

*(PRE-DIVORCE); “moving” is anagram indicator
     
15 PENNILESS Swans crossing river, son out of bread

[NILE (=river) + S (=son)] in PENS (=(female) swans); colloquially, bread, dough is money
     
17 SASHIMI It’s like carpaccio, Italian agreed, eating a thin strip

[A + SHIM (=thin strip, of metal, wood)] in SÍ (=Italian agreed, i.e. the Italian word for yes); carpaccio and sashimi can both involve thin strip of raw fish
     
18 TOP GEAR Premier with dress, what we remember May for?

TOP (=premier, best) + GEAR (=dress, kit); the reference is to James May, former co-presenter of the BBC’s Top Gear
     
19 MONSOON Heavy weather made of first day at work before long

MON (=first day at work) + SOON (=before long)
     
20 LENTO Fast finish for concerto’s slow movement

LENT (=fast, i.e. period of fasting) + <concert>O (“finish for” means last letter only)
     
24 AGO American shot past

A (=American) + GO (=shot, try, attempt)

9 comments on “Independent 11,730 / Filbert”

  1. A fine puzzle from the reliable Filbert, with a variety of clueing techniques.
    RR, I think your parsing of 3 is correct; ‘picture offered suggestively’ is the definition, as in ‘come up and see my etchings’.

  2. ETCHING
    Wiki:
    show someone one’s ETCHINGs

    (idiomatic) A clichéd innuendo used to offer to bring someone to a private location in order to have sex, to show a place where people can engage in sexual intercourse.
    Let me show you my ETCHINGs.

    Hence the ‘offered suggestively’ bit, I think. Quizzy bob beat me to it!

  3. Likes for MESSIAH and MEGAPARSEC for ‘behind’ in the surface. Also PATIENCE for the brevity. Thanks RR esp for explaining ‘beloved’ and TOP GEAR where I thought the May must be something to do with Theresa. Thanks Filbert for the entertainment.

  4. There is a cartoon (Thurber, I think) where the man says to the female he is with: “You wait here in the hotel lobby and I’ll bring the etchings down”

  5. Quite tough but all very fair – not a fan of words like MOPY but completely legitimate. Loved OOMPH and MEGAPARSEC (which is an unimaginably long way – “Space is big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to space.” H2G2)

    Thanks Filbert and RatkojaRiku

  6. Given that a parsec is a pretty long way, I am amazed we need a MEGAPARSEC but, as matthew observes @5, space is on the large side. I was beaten by BERIBERI – I didn’t know it was a vitamin deficiency disease and, of course, I was looking for more than one fruit rather than a repeated fruit. My bad. PEIGNOIR was tough – I did allow myself to look up Louvre + architect eventually and it is not a name I recognise (and neither was TONI MORRISON)

    COMMANDO, HATBOX, WASH, OOMPH, FLATTER and OVERPRICED were my faves today.

    Sofamore – I also thought of Theresa – and of Brian

    Thanks Filbert and RR

  8. Not heard of the dressing gown, but fortunately PEI is an ever present in US style crosswords.
    TONI MORRISON sounds more like she should be a pop singer, but I was only reading sci-fi and horror forty years ago.
    Thanks Filbert and RR.

  9. A top tier crossword from a top tier setter — thanks Filbert. My favourites were MATTER-OF-FACT, KENSINGTON, WEASEL, ELOPER, MESSIAH, SENEGALESE, OVERPRICED, and LENTO. I couldn’t parse COMMANDO but all else made sense. Thanks RR for the blog.

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