Filbert is one of the Independent‘s most frequent setters these days, and I am never disappointed when he turns up on my watch. A pleasing puzzle which took a bit of teasing out, but contained some lovely surfaces and a memorable clue-as-definition.
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 Knot in net unravelled by fish
ENTANGLE
A charade of (NET)* and ANGLE. The anagrind is ‘unravelled’.
5 Prudish editor ready for 12 to work on?
PRIMED
A charade of PRIM and ED. The reference is to surfaces having to be PRIMED before they are painted on, which is what 12ac would do.
10 Deal a heavy blow to Conservative boor
CLOUT
A charade of C and LOUT.
11 Spooner’s bench closes rat runs
SHORT CUTS
A Spoonerism of COURT SHUTS.
12 Supplier of commemorative mugs?
PORTRAIT PAINTER
A cd.
14 Fresh, popular part of the English Channel
INSOLENT
A charade of IN and SOLENT, the bit of La Manche off Southampton.
16 Meaning there’s no difference between gin and tonic?
GIST
Since gin and tonic is universally referred to as G&T, if there was no difference between G and T you could say that G IS T. Geddit?
19 Before church, after running
ONCE
A charade of ON and CE.
20 Wife aboard scooter turning forty
TWO-SCORE
An insertion of W in (SCOOTER)* The anagrind is ‘turning’ and the insertion indicator is ‘aboard’.
23 Paired blocks I see, record price for a British sculptor
BARBARA HEPWORTH
A charade of BAR (twice), AH, EP and WORTH gives you the Yorkshire-born Modernist sculptor who died in 1975.
25 Coach went right to the house
STAGE LEFT
A charade of STAGE and LEFT, and my LOI, despite the fact that I have been directing the village pantomime for the past two months (still under-rehearsed, since you ask, but adrenaline will kick in when they realise there are only two weeks till first night). STAGE LEFT and STAGE RIGHT refer to positions on the stage, but from the point of view of the actors looking through the fourth wall. To the audience (‘the house’), STAGE LEFT would be on their right.
26 Jamaican choked eating Mexican chilli
ANCHO
Hidden in JamaicAN CHOked.
28 Be a dick, hustle vagrant
SLEUTH
(HUSTLE)* WITH ‘vagrant’ as the anagrind. ‘Dick’ is slang for a private detective.
29 Stop the heaviest rugby players? I can
PACK IT IN
A charade of PACK, I and TIN.
Down
1 Henry leaves rotten peaches in bunk
ESCAPE
(PEAC[H]ES)* with ‘rotten’ as the anagrind. H is the abbreviation for Henry, the SI unit of inductance.
2 “What’s one plus one?” read out in addition
TOO
Aural wordplay (‘read out’) for TWO.
3 Authenticate, as opposed to issue
NOTARISE
A charade of NOT and ARISE. The noun, NOTARY, is perhaps more common – the solicitor who signs an important document to confirm is is authentic and legitimate.
4 Drink locked up by Cinderella’s sisters
LASSI
More Pantomime (we did Cinderella last year). Hidden in CinderelLAS SIsters.
6 Keep shower curtains outside for event
RETAIN
An insertion of ET for the outside letters of ‘event’ in RAIN. The insertion indicator is ‘curtains’.
7 En route heading for Nepal, am I excited?
MOUNTAINEER
(EN ROUTE N AM I)* with ‘excited’ as the anagrind and a very clever cad. Bravo to Filbert.
8 Separate daughters can be found on island
DISCRETE
I can see Ds for ‘daughters’ and two islands in I and CRETE, but I can’t quite parse this. Some kind soul will help me out.
9 Jump on insects, getting tons inside shorts
HOT PANTS
An insertion of T in HOP and ANTS. The insertion indicator is ‘getting … inside’. I am a very long way from being a follower of fashion, but since their 1970s’ heyday, I don’t think they’ve made a comeback, have they?
13 Trainer with acne rocks back with a new body
REINCARNATE
(TRAINER ACNE)* with ‘rocks’ as the anagrind.
15 Start of flood eventually surrounding old hollow willow
LOW WATER
An insertion of O and W[ILLO]W in LATER. The insertion indicator is ‘surrounding’.
17 The price of litigation about bum crackers goes up
COMBUSTS
An insertion of (BUM)* in COSTS. The insertion indicator is ‘about’ and the anagrind is ‘crackers’.
18 Two murders, the highest price paid
TOP WHACK
A charade of TOP and WHACK, both of which are slang words for ‘murder’.
21 Gift of story books
TALENT
A charade of TALE and NT for New Testament.
22 Cast wanting seat for Lear in the audience?
THROWN
Aural wordplay (‘in the audience’) of THRONE.
24 More sculpture, perhaps by European from the south
EXTRA
A reversal (‘from the south’ since it’s a down clue) of ART, X and E.
27 Nick‘s pretty short of energy
CUT
CUT[E]
Many thanks to Filbert for this Sunday’s puzzle.
15d’s &Lit I’d say or the surface of the clue makes you think it is. It’s that good. I think ‘eventually’ is part of the def. Liked PORTRAIT PAINTERS. Thanks Pierre and thanks Filbert.
DISCRETE
I was thinking ’can be found=IS’ (in the sense of ‘exists’).
Best I could make of 8 was to hypothecate an apostrophe, so “daughter is Crete.” I am accustomed to ignoring punctuation in the wordplay, but not so much inserting it.
I agree with KVa’s parse for D IS CRETE though not all dictionaries give D as the plural for daughters (oddly, Chambers gives S = son or sons but D = daughter only). Not sure I agree with sofamore that 15d is &lit: there is an out-and-out def in ‘Start of flood’ and ‘eventually’ is giving us LATER as per Pierre’s parse.
As usual, some brilliant clues, often due to Filbert’s ability to pick indicators that fit his surfaces so well. ENTANGLE is a superb example. Other highlights include a really neat Spoonerism in SHORT CUTS, the whimsical GIST, the very smooth and cunningly defined STAGE LEFT, PACK IT IN which made me laugh, RETAIN for another splendid indicator in ‘curtains’, COMBUSTS for a clever misdirection in the definition, TOP WHACK for the spot of the two types of murder and TALENT which, though I have seen it before, is so nicely worded and appropriate for Christmas. Although ENTANGLE came close, MOUNTAINEER, as our blogger observes, is really classy and deserving of COTD.
Thanks Filbert and Pierre
Thanks Filbert and Pierre
Nice crossword – I seem to remember I struggled more with Filbert’s last offering; whereas this was a pleasure
2d seems to be able to give two answers . Both two and too could be the alternative homonym and the answer. I don’t believe the clue makes it clear which is the homonym and which is straightforward
I thought this puzzle showed that there are still plenty of imaginative and ingenious ways to frame clues, avoiding old chestnuts and providing a rewarding experience for the solver. So, kudos to Filbert. I’ll look forward to their future puzzles.
I agree with you, Matthew @5. Either answer is legitimate, which is what happens when you put the soundalike indicator in the middle of the clue.
Took me two trips, but thoroughly enjoyed this. Getting on the Filbert wavelength? I hope so. Thanks for the blog, Pierre, entertaining as ever, and good luck with the panto.
Thanks both. DISCRETE was a problem for me on a few levels, firstly that I used a thesaurus to see it as a synonym of ‘separate’, secondly like others here that I can’t see a convincing parsing. I was also significantly held up having entered portrait gallery instead of PORTRAIT PAINTER without a second thought.
I found this a satisfying solve and grinned at quite a few of these clues.
The sixth former who came along to help with the (entirely lacking) yoof on Wednesday was wearing shorts over tights – and playing pool, which is how I noticed she was wearing shorts not a very short skirt. Pretty Little Things is selling a huge range under the name of HOT PANTS, so they exist, in a wide variety.
Have fun with the panto – it’s a while since I used to help (with the costumes and props and/or looking after the child performers), when I lived in an area where all the small towns ran their own panto and won prizes for the best local panto.
Thank you to Pierre and Filbert
Thanks Filbert and Pierre. Top honors from me go to STAGE LEFT for its immaculate surface and canny L/R juxtaposition. I think Ian SW3 @3 has the correct parse of DISCRETE — just insert the apostrophe et voila. Agree with Matthew Newell @5 and Pierre @7 on 2D: perfectly ambiguous, unlike 22D.
The customary great stuff from Fil.
I must admit, I did not have a problem with TOO ( 2 down ), because I read the clue in sequence……”what’s one plus one”, said aloud, in addition. “IN” is one of the most common precursors of the definition.
Reading other posts, I am swayed to agree, either TOO or TWO might be legit solutions.
But, c’mon….would, “what’s one plus one” = TWO, qualify as cryptic?
8(dwn)- DISCRETE- just seems to be a (very rare) weak clue by Fil. My take: Daughter is [daughter’s] on island. D IS on CRETE.
The “can be found” makes no sense to me. Why not just “found” or “seen”? I may be wrong. I usually am.
Quibbles apart, it’s still another good’un from Filbert.
I struggled, but I finally got there.
ta, Filbert et Pierre