Filbert’s weekly appearance coincides with my weekly blog for the fourth time in six weeks. I’ve been enjoying the ongoing challenge.
I didn’t know Tonga (in the sense used here), Oise or Haji, but they were all guessable in well-constructed clues. Some good surfaces: I liked the Wordsworth allusion in 19a, the slightly less appealing view of hillwalking in 6d, and the Japanese farewell letter in 17d, among others. When not doing crosswords I also make and repair costumes for an amateur opera company (the latest production was last week), so 26a and 14d were amusingly apposite. Thanks Filbert for the fun.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | STEPSON |
Flight paid for by new partner’s family (7)
|
| STEPS (a flight of stairs) + ON (paid for, as in “the drinks are on me”. | ||
| 5 | SPONGED |
Sierra had foul emissions removed with absorber (7)
|
| S (Sierra in the radio alphabet) + PONGED (slang for smelled bad = had foul emissions). | ||
| 9 | SPECULATE |
Guess cryptic clue in rush (9)
|
| Anagram (cryptic) of CLUE, inserted into SPATE (rush = a flood, or a lot of something in a short time). | ||
| 10 | TONGA |
Indian vehicle arriving unloaded and not returning (5)
|
| A[rrivin]G (unloaded = inner letters removed) + NOT, all reversed (returning).
Also called tanga: a light two-wheeled horse-drawn cart used in India. |
||
| 11 | TELL ME ANOTHER |
Suspect the men left late, or never! (4,2,7)
|
| Anagram (suspect) of THE MEN + L (abbreviation for left) + LATE.
Never! = tell me another! = expressions meaning “I don’t believe you”. |
||
| 13 | HARD CASH |
Notes heard when entering church, not electronic (4,4)
|
| H[e]ARD, then AS (when) inserted into CE (abbreviation for Church of England), with the first E (abbreviation for electronic) removed.
Paper money, as opposed to either electronic payment or credit. |
||
| 15 | CRITIC |
Does one pan for brass? (6)
|
| Cryptic definition: we’re talking about someone who is paid to write reviews of books, theatre, etc. Pan, as a verb = to criticise strongly (for example, to write a one-star or zero-star review); for brass = for money. (The surface suggests panning for gold = using a shallow metal pan to inspect river water for tiny pieces of gold.) | ||
| 17 | TATAMI |
Farewell note that could be under the futon (6)
|
| TATA (slang expression for goodbye = farewell) + MI (a note in the musical sol-fa scale).
Traditional Japanese floor matting, which you might well find under a futon (traditional Japanese mattress). |
||
| 19 | ENDYMION |
Poetic shepherd wandering lonely, avoiding lakes, mind (8)
|
| Anagram (wandering) of [l]ONE[l]Y (without the two L = abbreviaiton for lake) + MIND.
A shepherd in Greek mythology, described in a poem of the same name by John Keats. |
||
| 22 | TORTOISESHELL |
Wrong? French department’s suffering with pretty random marking (13)
|
| TORT (legal term for a wrong action or inaction) + OISE’S (belonging to Oise, a department, or administrative region, in the north of France: département in French) + HELL (suffering).
The appearance of polished slices of a tortoise’s shell (a random pattern in shades of brown and orange), or something resembling it (such as a cat’s fur). |
||
| 25 | BHAJI |
Bishop and pilgrim fried vegetables (5)
|
| B (abbreviation for bishop) + HAJI (or hajji = a Muslim who has made the obligatory pilgrimage to Mecca).
A vegetable fritter originally from the Indian subcontinent. |
||
| 26 | AD NAUSEAM |
Far too much elastic and gold stitching (2,7)
|
| Anagram (elastic) of AND, then AU (Au = chemical symbol for gold, from Latin aurum) + SEAM (stitching).
Latin expression meaning “until one gets sick of it”. |
||
| 27 | ETERNAL |
Always the same outside, minus ten (7)
|
| E[x]TERNAL (outside) without the X (ten in Roman numerals). | ||
| 28 | EXPOSES |
Outings old mate suggests (7)
|
| EX (former spouse = old mate) + POSES (as in “poses a question” = suggests).
Exposé = outing, as a noun = the publication of information about someone who would like to keep it hidden. |
||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SASH |
Band wanting almost utter silence (4)
|
| SA[y] (utter, as a verb) without the last letter (almost), then SH (sh! = silence! = a command to be quiet). “Wanting” appears to be just a link word. | ||
| 2 | EVENTER |
Competitive horse level with leaders in the Epsom race (7)
|
| EVEN (level) + leading letters of T[he] E[psom] R[ace].
A horse that is ridden in competitions comprising dressage, cross-country and showjumping: often “three-day events” although they may be held over a shorter or longer period. |
||
| 3 | SKULL |
University replaces faculty’s third head (5)
|
| SK[i]LL (faculty = the ability to do something), with U (abbreviation for university) replacing the third letter. | ||
| 4 | NEAR MISS |
Shave the girl next door? (4,4)
|
| Definition and cryptic definition. Near miss = shave, or close shave = a situation in which disaster was narrowly avoided; or a young girl (miss) living nearby. | ||
| 5 | SEESAW |
Notice cutter bobbing (6)
|
| SEE (notice = be aware of) + SAW (cutting tool).
Bobbing = seesaw = an up-and-down motion. |
||
| 6 | OUTDOORSY |
Into walking and weather, you do tors in a storm (9)
|
| Anagram (in a storm) of YOU DO TORS.
Extended definition: descriptive of someone who likes outdoor pursuits like walking on hills (tors) and will probably do them regardless of the weather. |
||
| 7 | GUNSHOT |
Fire cosy when getting up, and attractive (7)
|
| SNUG (cosy) reversed (getting up = upwards in a down clue), then HOT (slang for attractive). | ||
| 8 | DRAG-RACING |
Cart shortly setting off, a battle to accelerate (4-6)
|
| DRA[y] (a cart or wagon) without the last letter (shortly), then GRACING (setting off = enhancing).
Motor racing over a very short straight course, so acceleration is a critical requirement. |
||
| 12 | WHITSTABLE |
Women collide and stall in Kent port (10)
|
| W (abbreviation for women) + HIT (collide) + STALL (stable = a shelter for a horse).
Port town on the north coast of Kent. |
||
| 14 | COMMOTION |
Tailor’s odd bits used to stuff cheap bustle (9)
|
| Odd-numbered letters of T[a]I[l]O[r] inserted into (stuffing) COMMON (cheap = basic and plentiful). | ||
| 16 | IN A SENSE |
Sort of Nissan with second pair of wheels wonky (2,1,5)
|
| Anagram (wonky) of NISSAN + the second pair of letters in [wh]EE[ls].
Sort of = in a sense = not exactly but near enough. |
||
| 18 | TERRACE |
Shelf held up by Le Carré trilogy (7)
|
| Hidden answer (held . . . by), reversed (up, in a down clue), in [l]E CARRE T[rilogy].
Shelf = terrace = a level area on sloping land. |
||
| 20 | ILLNESS |
Cold, say, for which one lines cape (7)
|
| I (one in Roman numerals) + LL (plural of L = abbreviation for line) + NESS (cape = headland). | ||
| 21 | ASSAIL |
Have a go at empty abstracts on canvas (6)
|
| A[bstract]S (empty = inner letters removed) + SAIL (canvas = nautical term for a ship’s sails).
Assail = have a go at = attack, physically or verbally. |
||
| 23 | EQUIP |
Crack below bottom of statue’s arm (5)
|
| QUIP (crack = a joke or witty remark) after (below, in a down clue) the last letter (bottom, in a down clue) of [statu]E.
Arm, as a verb = provide weapons to = equip. |
||
| 24 | XMAS |
Kiss parents when families get together (4)
|
| X (symbol for a kiss, at the end of messages) + MAS (plural of ma = familiar term for mother = parent).
Abbreviation for Christmas, when families traditionally meet for a meal. |
‘Sort of’ for IN A SENSE my favourite definition/clue today, along with ‘notes’ for HARD CASH and the hidden TERRACE which I missed. In fact I was well beaten by Filbert today and had to hit the reveal button a couple of times. I also spelt AD NAUSEAM incorrectly. Doh! I could parse almost everything apart from ‘arriving unloaded’ and SKULL so thanks Quirister. Both made perfect sense as did all the clues so I guess that’s why ‘e’s the setter and I’m the very ‘umble solver. Thanks.
Nice to see my home town as a solution in today’s puzzle – I hesitated to enter it for a moment as I don’t really think of it as a “port” but it is a perfectly accurate description. Much else to enjoy here as well – “girl next door” is a lovely cryptic def. Thanks, Filbert & Quirister.
Another lovely puzzle – and, unlike today’s FT, one I could solve! STEPSON, SPONGED, SPECULATE, TORTOISESHELL, NEAR MISS, GUNSHOT, COMMOTION, TERRACE and ASSAIL were faves. A slight eyebrow raise at ‘wanting’ as a link but I have seen both that and ‘needing’ as links and it does work. Annoyed at self for not seeing BHAJI – I was going to say in my defence that there are multiple spellings for most Indian foodstuffs – perhaps less so in Chambers but one only has to visit more than one Indian restaurant and one will be presented with multiple alternatives. However, it’s a weak excuse. I did not know HAJI as a pilgrim though.
Thanks Filbert and Quirister (I now understand both your needle-sharp analysis and seamless blogging. I can’t find a pun on thimbles, though. Which is probably thimbolic of something!)
Lovely puzzle and blog. It’s always nice when the wordplay corrects your spelling, as with AD NAUSEAM today.
Thanks both. A tougher than normal Filbert for me, but eventually only needed a little assistance. Not helped by originally opting for elbow instead of EQUIP as it is an anagram (crack) of below and feeling it might be whimsically referring to Venus de Milo as the statue. WHITSTABLE also took a while as I have a potentially false memory of being offered Whitstable oysters while in Swanage, so I thought the town was in Dorset.
ENDYMION a nice reminder for me of the apotheosis at the end of the ballet Sylvia. I saw an opera once Quirister. I have to admit I spent three hours thinking when are they going to shut up and dance? 😊 Although it took me a while to see the right anagram as I was stuck on Mary as the poetic shepherd…
I could murder a BHAJI. Haven’t seen one for seven years. Just count myself lucky a supermarket chain here started selling naans. Curry and pittas wasn’t quite working.
Thanks (for the memories) Filbert and Quirister too.
Where is everyone today? Flaked out by the heat or left for even greater heat?
Lovely puzzle, struggled a lot, being distracted by the surfaces and as usual failing to find the hidden TERRACE. Nho ENDYMION or TATAMI but there you go.
Thanks both, a pleasure to solve and a pleasure to read about.
Thanks Filbert. Got to this late but I wanted to register my delight with such a good crossword. Of all things I missed EQUIP and I had ‘case’ for CASH but everything else fell into place. My top picks were SPECULATE, TATAMI, AD NAUSEAM, GUNSHOT and the nicely hidden TERRACE. Thanks Quirister for the blog.
Always find Filbert a worthy opponent , one of two that I do every week (Phi is the other) after I have completed the offerings of my nemesis, the great JH! This was no exception. Clever clues. Loved shaving the girl next door!