Filbert is occupying the mid-week slot this week with his latest creation.
I found this to be a pleasurable puzzle, of medium difficulty by Indy standards. I think that I have managed to solve and parse all the clues to my satisfaction.
My favourite clues today were 12, for topicality; 15, for the inclusion of two political figures in a clue to so short a word; 20, for smoothness of surface; and 21, for topicality. The meanings of the two short entries at 6 and 26 were both new to me.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in double-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | FORESTRY | Maybe bow’s shot showing expertise in Sherwood?
FORE’S (=bow’s, on ship) + TRY (=shot, try, go); the reference is to Sherwood Forest, of Robin Hood fame |
| 05 | CONFAB | Chat about head of finance in taxi
[ON (=about) + F<inance> (“head of” means first letter only)] in CAB (=taxi) |
| 10 | MAN UP | Pressure on football club to get some balls
MAN U (=football club, i.e. Manchester United) + P (=pressure, in physics); the “balls” of the definition refer colloquially to backbone, guts, courage |
| 11 | BLACKBALL | Bar’s last pot to clear
In a game of snooker, say, the black ball is the last ball (for the player) to pot; to blackball is to ostracise, exclude, hence “bar” |
| 12 | MERCI BEAUCOUP | Cheers at the Olympics intensified
Cryptic definition: “merci (=cheers, thank you; “at the Olympics” implies French, since the Olympics were held in Paris) beaucoup (=intensified, i.e. very much)” |
| 15 | LIKEN | Compare Liz with Boris’s predecessor – we mustn’t have her back
LI<z> (“we mustn’t have her back” means last letter is dropped) + KEN (=Boris’s predecessor, i.e. Kev Livingstone, Boris Johnson’s predecessor as Mayor of London) |
| 16 | APPETITES | New tea set Pip wants
*(TEA SET PIP); “new” is anagram indicator; wants are desires, appetites |
| 18 | THREEPEAT | American’s hat trick putting European record in danger
[E (=English) + EP (=record, i.e. extended-play)] in THREAT (=danger, risk); in US slang, a threepeat is a series of three sporting victories |
| 20 | SOMME | Several crosses mark battlefield
M (=mark, i.e. former German currency) in SOME (=several) |
| 22 | GRANDCHILDREN | Issue of one’s own, when phoney Dr Chandler Bing releases book
*(DR CHANDLER <b>ING); “releases book (=B)” means letter “b” is dropped from anagram, indicated by “phoney” |
| 25 | AUTOMATON | Aunt short of time keeps mislabelled fruit machine
TOMATO (=mislabelled fruit, i.e. really a vegetable) in AUN<t> (“short of time (=T)” means letter “t” is dropped) |
| 27 | THERE | Don’t worry about her elephant rides
Hidden (“rides”) in “abouT HER Elephant”, cf. “There, there” to console a crying child |
| 28 | SPEEDO | Meter made by Siemens went round
S (=Siemens, i.e. SI unit) + PEED (=went, weed) + O (=round, i.e. pictorially); colloquially, the speedo is the speedometer of a car |
| 29 | LETHARGY | Reluctance to move grey hat fixed on lady’s head
L<ady> (“head” means first letter only) + *(GREY HAT); “fixed” is anagram indicator |
| Down | ||
| 01 | FAME | Iron clothes in the morning for dance show
AM (=in the morning) in FE (=iron, i.e. chemical symbol); the reference is to the 1988 stage musical about dance students, based on the 1980 musical film of the same name |
| 02 | RUN AMOK | Mark on uniform damaged in riot
*(MARK ON + U (=uniform, in the NATO alphabet)); “damaged” is anagram indicator |
| 03 | SUPERINTEND | Manage at home with lovely nurse coming round
IN (=at home) in [*(SUPER (=lovely, great) + TEND (=nurse, care)] |
| 04 | RABBINATE | Scotsman had to bag trash in cleric’s office
BIN (=trash, rubbish) in [RAB (=Scotsman, from Robbie, i.e. Robert) + ATE (=had (to eat))] |
| 06 | OAK | Fellow’s outer door starts to open after knock
O<pen> A<fter> K<nock>; “starts to” means first letter only; cf. to sport one’s oak is to show visitors are not welcome, at university |
| 07 | FLAT OUT | Fast asleep after lying down
FLAT (=lying down) + OUT (=asleep) |
| 08 | BILL POSTER | Notice sticker up in office electioneer vacated, supporting Clinton
BILL (=Clinton, i.e. former US President) + POST (=office) + E<lectionee>R (“vacated” means all middle letters are dropped); a bill poster is someone who pastes posters onto billboards, hence “notice sticker up” |
| 09 | SALE | Retail event that’s small beer
S (=small, in sizes) + ALE (=beer) |
| 13 | UP TO SCRATCH | OK, what might a flea-ridden bear get in winter?
Cryptically, a flea-ridden bear may get up in winter to scratch himself! |
| 14 | PLATE GLASS | Expensive stuff in the window at GAP sells badly
*(AT GAP SELLS); “badly” is anagram indicator |
| 17 | PETULANCE | Favourite uncle manipulated with a childish impatience
PET (=favourite) + *(UNCLE + A); “manipulated” is anagram indicator |
| 19 | ROASTIE | Oven one opens touching hot potato
[OAST (=oven) + I (=one)] in RE- (=touching, regarding) |
| 21 | MAN-YEAR | Labour in 2024? A lot are switching
MANY (=a lot) + *(ARE); “switching” is anagram indicator; a many-ear is the amount of work (“labour”) to be performed by a man in one year |
| 23 | HUTU | Rwandan who also must be heard
Homophone (“must be heard”) of “who + too (=also)” |
| 24 | VERY | Unknown priest going to heaven incredibly
Y (=unknown, in algebra) + REV (=priest); “going to heaven” indicates vertical reversal |
| 26 | MOD | Online supervisor sulks, removing 50% of content
M<o>OD (=sulks, as in to be in a mood, have the sulks); “removing 50% of contents” means one of the two middle letters is dropped; a mod is the moderator of an online forum or discussion |
A tomato is really a fruit. Although it could be considered as mislabelled as a vegetable in supermarkets say, it can be classified as a vegetable as well so I don’t think that clue works.
Quite an approachable puzzle from the prolific Filbert (for this solver) though I did not understand the definition for MAN YEAR. Worth it for the elegant poignancy of the clue for SOMME which earns my COTD. Some fun and cheeky surfaces in there too – LIKEN made me laugh and I also ticked MAN UP, FAME, RUN AMOK, BILL POSTER, PLATE GLASS and ROASTIE. NHO ‘show one’s oak’ and would probably have misinterpreted it (potentially disastrously) had I met it in the wild.
Thanks Filbert and RR
nho 6d sporting one’s OAK – Latest oed.com quote:
‘1974‘ (a 50th (Golden anniversary) ‘Mrs Briggs let herself into Zipser’s room and sported the oak. T. Sharpe, Porterhouse Blue ix. 95′
Liked 22a GRANDCHILDREN, where the definition is really “Issue of one’s own (issue)”
Like PM, I was confused by MAN YEAR, and like FrankieG I didn’t understand the OAK reference.
A tomato is a fruit, but often mislabelled as a vegetable – hence a mislabelled fruit. Works fine for me! Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad…
SOMME also my COTD.
Thanks both.
Got there in the end.. mildly confused by OAK, still not convinced by the definition, but the wordplay was clear enough.. not sure the Americans have added much to the language with THREEPEAT… TOMATO TOMATO as they say… 1dn took me back to the age of legwarmers, in a nice way… I thought MAY not KEN to begin with, but it all became clear soon enough… my COTD was probably UP TO SCRATCH cos it made me chuckle..
Thanks Filbert n RatkojaRiku
Amoeba @4. Just to expand on my comment, according to a Google search, nutritionists often classify tomatoes as vegetable and, according to an article from Iowa State University, tomatoes can be considered as both fruit and vegetable. Although botanists may well disagree, it has been in popular usage long enough now to be acceptable. Haven’t checked any of my dictionaries.
[Still don’t like 10a MAN UP – the phrase, not the clue. That and “grow a pair”.
There’s enough toxic masculinity in the world without anyone ever having to encourage more of it.
Here’s the alternative. I’ve seen it on men’s T-shirts: woman up.]
Thanks F&RR
25a AUTOMATON:
‘I.1. 1604– The glossy fruit of a perennial trailing or climbing plant, native to tropical America and now widely cultivated as an annual garden vegetable in…’
Thanks Filbert and RatkojaRiku
Nice breezy crossword – a few NHOs but well enough clued that with crossers they were easy. As always with Filbert (Imo – ymmv) some of the definitions are a bit of a stretch.
I do enjoy Filbert but there are always a few hmms
Coincidence to find THREEPEAT the day before the KC Chiefs embark on their attempt to achieve such a feat.
OAK had me beaten as to meaning. Thanks for the explanations here.
Thanks Filbert and RR.
I was apprehensive when I saw Filbert yet again, but it turned out to be the rare Filbert that I could actually finish, albeit without parsing everything. FrankieG@3 despite the blog and comments I am still baffled as to what exactly Mrs. Biggs is doing when she is “sporting the oak”; I agree with PostMark@2 that if you used the expression here in New York City people would assume something that Mrs. Biggs is unlikely to be able to do. Thanks to Filbert for doing a puzzle that I could grok, and to RR for the superb blog.
Nice to be reminded of the old Bill Stickers is innocent graffiti. LIKEN was very good, I thought.