Filbert occupies his customary slot on Sunday.
As this isn’t a normal blogging day for me, I don’t often get to write about Filbert’s work, so I’m enjoying the scarcity value of this one.
I’m also enjoying the fun in this grid. Filbert seems in a very playful mood, with some neatly askew definitions, and quite a few uses of backward/upside down word placements.
One NHO for me in the form of MEGAVERTEBRATE. Good examples of these include the Rhinoceros which I presume is where the reference to “spined creature” might come from.
The only headscratchers for me are 1a and 7d. In 1a I’m not sure where the “Uncle’s” bit comes in to it? Maybe PASSED UP without the “U”? Doesn’t seem to need it for the solution though. 7d I’d say I’m just not 100% confident with the parsing.
Thanks Filbert for the grid.
Definitions are underlined.
ACROSS
1 Future queen perhaps declined uncle’s security (6,4)
PASSED PAWN
Perhaps declined [PASSED] uncle’s security [PAWN]
6 Return favour for rookie (4)
NOOB
Favour [BOON] backwards [“returned”]
“Noob” short for “newbie”
10 Small instrument with strings out of tune (5)
SHARP
Small [S] instrument with strings [HARP]
11 Chief executive parking at home (9)
PRESIDENT
Parking [P] at home [RESIDENT]
12 English sailor bet priest a stone knocked over large spined creature (14)
MEGAVERTEBRATE
English [E] sailor [TAR] bet [BET] priest [REV] a stone [A GEM] knocked over [backwards]
14 Bill keeps lying down in a pinny (7)
APRONED
Bill [AD] keeps [around] lying down [PRONE]
16 Filling little drink I had without much taste (7)
INSIPID
Filling [IN] little drink [SIP] I had [ID]
18 Couple bitten by mad rats given dreadful prognosis (2,5)
AT WORST
Couple [TWO] bitten by [inside] mad rats [anag RATS]
20 Castro hectored on grand soapboxes (2-5)
GO CARTS
Castro hectored [anag CASTRO] on [behind] grand [G]
22 Actress on horse ordered “Show you really mean it” (5,4,5)
CROSS ONES HEART
Anag [“ordered”] ACTRESS ON HORSE
26 Sensible English celebrity divides half of wealth (9)
REALISTIC
English [E] celebrity [A-LIST] divides [inside] half of wealth [RICHES]
27 One’s not groovy, not even when twisting (5)
SADDO
Not even [ODD] when [AS] twisting [backwards]
28 Couple cycled a little bit (4)
MITE
Couple [ITEM] cycled [backwards]
29 PR man, second wise guy for 11’s team (5,5)
PRESS AGENT
Second [S] wise guy [A GENT] for 11’s team [11a – “PRES”]
DOWN
1 Offensive American in pub (4)
PUSH
American [US] in pub [PH]
2 Mind Charles feeding pig? It’ll help the farmer (9)
SCARECROW
Mind [CARE] Charles [CR = Charles Rex] feeding [inside] pig [SOW]?
3 Partner no longer straight subject to analysis (7)
EXPLAIN
Partner no longer [EX] straight [PLAIN]
4 New app starts to unravel early, developing bugs (5)
PUPAE
Anag [“new”] APP + starts to unravel [U] early [E]
5 Girls went off occasionally muddy sport (9)
WRESTLING
Anag [“off”] GIRLS WENT
7 An answer given after ‘term for Rigoletto?’ (5)
OPERA
An answer [A] given [PER] after ‘term for Rigoletto [O]
Filbert using a trick I’ve seen a couple of times now: “Term” = “Termination” e.g last letter of
8 Fat keeper bowled by absolute beauty (6,4)
BUTTER DISH
Bowled [DISH] by absolute [UTTER] beauty [B]
9 Cloud lifted in less than 60 seconds? (6)
NIMBUS
Lifted [backwards] in less than 60 seconds [SUB MIN]?
13 Jam sandwiches Mother and son taking flight cut – WI produce? (7,3)
JAMAICA RUM
Jam [JAM] sandwiches [around] Mother [MA] and son taking flight cut [ICARUS]
“WI” – West Indies (not Women’s Institute!)
15 Setter off upcoming schedule (denied – Ed) (9)
DETONATOR
Upcoming [backwards] schedule [ROTA] denied [NOT] – Ed [ED]
17 First thing true love offered – some Crest (9)
PARTRIDGE
Some [PART] crest [RIDGE]
19 Coarse orange coat nice on the inside (6)
RUSTIC
Orange coat [RUST] nice on the inside [NICE]
21 Football team break the rules briefly getting golfer involved (7)
CHELSEA
Break the rules briefly [CHEAT] getting golfer [ELS] involved [inside]
23 Role given Oscar before moving pictures, apparently (2,3)
OP ART
Role [PART] given Oscar [O] before
24 Tootsie covers male hidden in blouses (5)
SOCKS
SMOCKS
25 Christian’s quiet in bed (4)
COPT
Quiet [P] in bed [COT]
PRESS AGENT is PRESIDENT (11) with SIDE (team) replaced by S + SAGE.
In 1a, uncle is a word for a pawnbroker.
I parsed OPERA differently with ‘An’ = PER (we more often see it as ‘A’). I think the clue is also an &lit?
Typically lovely Filbert with BUTTER DISH my fave for the surface.
Thanks both
Liked PRESS AGENT, SCARECROW and BUTTER DISH (DISH & B need to be interchanged in the blog).
Very good puzzle. Nice blog.
Thanks Filbert and Leedsclimber.
Another excellent Filbert. I parsed OPERA as PostMark. Like ‘tootsie covers’ for SOCKS, and lots of others too. Thanks Filbert and Leedsclimber for the blogwork.
I also parsed OPERA like PostMark @2: Fifty miles AN (PER) hour.
12Ac is impressive: it’s not often that such a long word can be spelt entirely backwards and still make some kind of sense.
Thanks for the blog, LC. You didn’t mention (perhaps because you thought it went without saying) that a PASSED PAWN in chess is one whose potential progress to the eighth rank (where it may be exchanged for a queen) is unimpeded by enemy pawns.
Delightful. Not too hard. CHELSEA gets a big tick, and ‘tootsie covers’. I agree that OPERA would be &lit. Thanks for the blog LC and thanks Filbert.
Thanks both. Failed on SADDO wherein ‘one’s not groovy’ was perhaps not taking me back the 50 years required, and I had toyed with COPT but my dictionary didn’t confirm it. Re GO CARTS I didn’t realise soapboxes was a synonym, though I remember my dad referring to ‘bogey carts’ which were made from any old packaging. I’m not entirely sure how EXPLAIN equates to ‘subject to analysis’ as I feel an explanation follows the analysis phase, but doubtless it is defined as such.
Hi, where can I get this puzzle online? Thanks
I think the spined creature just refers to the vertebrate bit of MEGAVERTEBRATE – i.e. the spine down your back – vertebrates have spines by definition. This held me up for ages – was thinking exterior spines and dinosaurs.
Jeff@8 On Fifteensquared, go to the sidebar headed Daily and click on Independent. That should get you there.
Jeff @ 8
Just click on the Independent link under Today’s Cryptics near the top left of the fifteensquared page.
Alternatively,use this URL HERE
Great stuff from Filbert as I have come to expect.
Enjoyed solving MEGAINVERTEBRATE where I just wrote in the most likely synonyms backwards and was surprised to see something resembling a word.
Enjoyed WRESTLING as well as many others.
Didn’t quite get OPERA but could see all the notes but wasn’t sure what was telling me to put them in the right order. But what else could it have been?
Thanks LeedsClimber and Filbert
MEGAVERTEBRATE sorry. In my defence I learnt that today
Lots to enjoy in this one.
PASSED PAWN is “Future queen possibly” and also “passed [on] pawnbroker’s security [i.e. the pawn]”. This was a great clue with an allusive surface.
Too many other good ones to list, but I think PUPAE and BUTTER DISH deserve special mentions for the surfaces, plus “Setter off” and “Tootsie covers”.
Thanks both
Agree, AP, pupae is a ripper, the bugs implied in the surface and those in the solution being so totally unlike.
Thanks Filbert for another Sunday treat. I missed a bit of parsing here and there but arrived at the correct solutions nonetheless. Most of this was straightforward for me with my top picks being AT WORST, CROSS ONES HEART, NIMBUS, PARTRIDGE, and RUSTIC. Thanks Leedsclimber for the blog.
Sorry to be so late to the game.
8D is surely B (bowled) + UTTER (absolute) ‘+ DISH (beauty).