Filbert again in his Sunday slot
Some tricks as per usual with Filbert – there’s some definitions I feel I might be missing something on, Thanks Filbert
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | CLICKS |
Metronome sounds a hundred beats (6)
|
| C – one hundred & LICKS – to beat | ||
| 5 | STRATUM |
Level unfinished mud pies that aren’t crusted over (7)
|
| Most of MU(d) & TARTS – pies – all reversed. | ||
| 9 | JABBA |
Fernando’s group led by Jack, a big fat slug (5)
|
| J(ack) & the group ABBA who sang Fernando. In the Star Wars films Jabba the Hutt was a big slug | ||
| 10 | PLACEMENT |
Tie up soldiers in empty Pret for work experience (9)
|
| LACE – tie up & MEN – soldiers both inside an empty P(re)T | ||
| 11 | STRETCH LIMO |
Special hire car from list, hot Merc convertible (7,4)
|
| [HOT LIST MERC]* converted | ||
| 12 | DIM |
Faint half-way through spinning (3)
|
| MID – halfway though – reversed | ||
| 13 | SETTLERS |
People who have moved in crossing line with dogs (8)
|
| L(ine) in SETTERS – dogs | ||
| 14 | AFFAIR |
Love reversible zip, right? (6)
|
| FA – love, zero, sweet FA reversed & FAIR – right | ||
| 17 | SHRANK |
Quiet station reduced its capacity (6)
|
| SH – be quiet! & RANK – status, station | ||
| 19 | FORSOOTH |
Castle housing very old hotel, quaint indeed (8)
|
| SO – very & O(ld) both inside FORT – castle & H(otel) | ||
| 22 | OIL |
Smooth snakes shedding skin (3)
|
| I assume this is COILS for snakes without the outer letters | ||
| 24 | BOGNOR REGIS |
Resort‘s toilet vagrant rogers in (6,5)
|
| BOG – toilet & a vagrant [ROGERS IN]* I guess vagrants wander around so as an anagram indicator so it works for me | ||
| 25 | IN THE PINK |
Tattoo covering hip, ten bats? Very well (2,3,4)
|
| A batty [HIP TEN]* inside INK for tattoo | ||
| 26 | MAINS |
Domestic supply mothers must keep at home (5)
|
| IN – at home inside MAS Mothers | ||
| 27 | SWEETIE |
Notice couple carrying wide pumpkin in NY? (7)
|
| I’m not American but I assume it’s a synonym for for sweetheart or similar, W(ide) in SEE- notice & TIE – to couple | ||
| 28 | RHYMED |
Communist pens short anthem with similar sounds (6)
|
| Most of HYM(n) in RED – communist | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | LIBERATOR |
Freer in loose robe, tailor having removed a hoop (9)
|
| One of the “hoops” ie the letter O from a loose [R(o)BE TAILOR]* | ||
| 3 | CHATTEL |
Property‘s rent rising with gas on top (7)
|
| CHAT – gas, gossip & LET – to rent – reversed | ||
| 4 | SAPPHIRE |
Perhaps I turned blue (8)
|
| [I PERHAPS]* turned, somewhat sneaky using perhaps in the anagram fodder | ||
| 5 | STALIN |
Russian who disappeared left in shame (6)
|
| L(eft) inside STAIN for shame | ||
| 6 | REEL OFF |
Quickly list river fish from France (4,3)
|
| R(iver) & ELL – fish & OF – from & F(rance) | ||
| 7 | TWEED |
Daughter lifts pretty heavy material (5)
|
| TWEE – pretty being lifted by D(aughter) | ||
| 8 | METAMORPHOSES |
Body changes hard for pal raised and housed by religious patriarch (13)
|
| H(ard) & PRO – for & MATE – pal all reversed inside MOSES | ||
| 9 | JUST SO STORIES |
Non-Darwinian fictions only help right-wingers (4,2,7)
|
| JUST – only & SOS – help & TORIES – right wingers | ||
| 15 | ALONGSIDE |
Level with secretary about lusts (9)
|
| LONGS for lusts around AIDE which you could just about use a synonym for secretary | ||
| 16 | CO-WORKER |
Intimidate pig, taking pressure off colleague (2-6)
|
| COW – to intimidate & P(ressure) removed for (p)ORKER – pig (colloq) | ||
| 18 | NOBLEST |
Never happy in the highest society (7)
|
| NO – never & BLEST – happy | ||
| 20 | SCRUMPY |
Cold drink Bond necks? A strong one, for his countrymen (7)
|
| Well I know it as west country strong cider, not sure on the Bond part. C(old) & RUM – drink in SPY – Bond perhaps | ||
| 21 | IGNITE |
Light greeting ICU nurses on the way back (6)
|
| Hidden reversed in greETING Icu | ||
| 23 | LATHE |
Spinner used to turn stumps and bails, perhaps (5)
|
| I think this is just a cryptic def unless someone can see more to it |
Thank you. Could not make sense of affair at all.
I wonder whether the intention in 5d is that Stalin ‘disappeared’ his foes?
The SCRUMPY countrymen are presumably rural rather than fellow English. I think DP is right about STALIN. The definition for JUST-SO-STORIES was clever but I wonder how many people still read “How the leopard got it’s spots”?
Some very neat clues as per with STRETCH LIMO, FORSOOTH, LIBERATOR, CHATTEL, SAPPHIRE and CO-WORKER my favourites. I took the ‘that aren’t crusted’ in STRATUM to be an extension to the definition of TARTS.
I was a tad thrown by SCRUMPY. Isn’t James Bond a Scot? I associate scrumpy with rural England and specifically the West and SouthWest so not with his countrymen. I suppose everything could be covered by British but it felt slightly awkward.
Thanks Filbert and flashling
I can’t see any more to LATHE either, but there surely must be.
Otherwise all very straightforward, liked DIM, JABBA and SAPPHIRE for both their simplicity and great surfaces.
[typo 6d: ‘& EEL – fish’] — Agree with DP@2 on Stalin, and Petert@3 on countrymen — 9d: “Do you like Kipling?”
LATHE is an obligatory cricket reference.
“Spinner … II.7.b. 1895– A cricket-ball bowled with a spin” or ” … II.7.e. 1951– Cricket. A spin bowler.
1951 Jim Sims, Middlesex spinner, tells me that he’s never felt fitter than he does this season. People 3 June 7/5″
[That’s The People (1881–1971) before it became Sunday People, and not the US magazine.]
Thought Lathe might be short for Latham, a great NZ cricketer, but he was a medium-pacer. (Just musing ..)
Thanks for the blog. Can someone help with sweetie? Is it that pumpkin is a US term for sweetie, or that sweetie is a US term for pumpkin? Had to guess it either way.
I didn’t get sweetie either.
@9 Ericw Looking at pumpkin on Wiktionary and Collins, it says that they’re both terms of endearment, though Wiktionary specifically says it’s used “for someone small and cute”. Either way, I’m not from there so I haven’t heard that usage of the word.
DNF, but most of the clues I didn’t get weren’t hard in retrospect so I should have given them a bit more time. I say that the clue for sapphire was short and sweet. I didn’t think it was possible to form an anagram of “perhaps I” that’s also a word. And speaking of anagrams, I did a lot of mental gymnastics trying to figure out what the heck “list hot Merc” could anagram to.
Thanks both. I took LATHE to be a turner (spinner) of the traditionally wooden items referenced. I don’t see a direct correlation between love and AFFAIR though I appreciate they can be combined.
Well, I’m an American, and I’ve heard both “pumpkin” and “sweetie,” so I’ll be danged if I know which one is supposed to be an Americanism. (I’ve never said the former, because it’s a bit too twee, but I’m sure our black cat thinks his name is Sweetie. (It’s not.))
In a couple of soaps, Heartland and aomething else, I’m sure the Grandpa has called his granddaughter Pumpkin.
A fun puzzle – thanks Filbert. I loved JUST SO STORIES and BOGNOR REGIS.