A beautifully constructed but challenging puzzle from Brunel for the Monday slot.
Some of the intricacy comes from having to fit in six words that are anagrams of each other into the grid at set points. These are referred to in the clue to 3dn – ‘any of six today’ – and are COATS, TOSCA, COAST, COSTA, ASCOT and TACOS. Why? Just a bit of playful fun, I reckon. There can’t be that many words that have five anagrams.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
9 Raised vessel and emptied sanctified oil over inverted Cross
HYDROFOIL
Might as well get the intricate parsing out of the way in 1ac. An insertion of FORD reversed in H[OL]Y and OIL.
10 Mean women bagging old clothes
COATS
An insertion of O in CATS. The insertion indicator is ‘bagging’.
11 Closed middle of Milan opera house for opera
TOSCA
A charade of TO and [LA] SCA[LA]. ‘Pull the door closed/to.’
12 Pregnant? Thin lube must be smeared around internally
IN THE CLUB
Excellent, image-inducing surface reading. An insertion of C for circa or ‘around’ in (THIN LUBE)* The insertion indicator is ‘internally’ and the anagrind is ‘must be smeared’. A bit of an old-fashioned term for pregnant these days, I fancy.
13 Some steel can a metalworker turned into a shackle
MANACLE
Hidden reversed in steEL CAN A Metalworker.
14 Couple will overcome resistance, that’s plain
PRAIRIE
An insertion of R in PAIR followed by IE for id est or ‘that is’. The insertion indicator is ‘will overcome’.
16 Drift along in Acapulco as tourist
COAST
Hidden in AcapulCO AS Tourist.
18 Step aside? Step inside!
PAS
Hidden in SteP ASide. The French word for ‘step’, most commonly seen in ballet terminology: pas de deux, pas de chat, pas de cheval.
19 Grounds here for major actor discarding Romeo
COSTA
CO-STA[R]. It’s a coffee shop, innit?
21 Herb loves embracing wicked daughter
OREGANO
An insertion of REGAN in two letter Os. The insertion indicator is ’embracing’. REGAN is King Lear’s unyielding and cruel daughter. That’s middle children for you.
22 One honoured singer, a bass just starting to make comeback
BARONET
A reversal of TENOR, A and B.
24 Note about getting on, ringing in and making up
IMAGINING
A charade of MI, the musical ‘note’ reversed and an insertion of IN in AGING. The insertion indicator is ‘ringing’.
26 Travelling actors right off course
ASCOT
(ACTO[R]S)* with ‘off’ as the anagrind.
27 Drunkard flips about a hundred pancakes
TACOS
An insertion of A and C for ‘hundred’ in SOT reversed. The term ‘pancake taco’, I learned this morning, refers to a dish where a pancake is folded like a taco shell. But a taco is not a pancake.
28 It might have protected Norman Hill, slashed struggling with maniac
CHAIN MAIL
(HIL[L] MANIAC)* with ‘struggling’ as the anagrind.
Down
1 Shaking off sloth, hairy Mitch dances with beat
RHYTHMIC
Another subtractive anagram. This is (H[AI]RY MITCH)* The anagrind is ‘dances’ and the AI is the ‘sloth’.
2 Includes a policeman in racket
ADDS IN
An insertion of DS for Detective Sergeant in A DIN. The insertion indicator is ‘in’.
3 Victor in any of six today failing to take over a 18d
NOVA SCOTIA
An insertion of O for ‘over’ in (V IN ASCOT/TACOS/COSTA/COAST/COATS/TOSCA)* followed by A. The anagrind is ‘failing’ and the insertion indicator is ‘in’. The solution to 18d is PROVINCE.
4 One’s hung up phone
MOBILE
A dd.
5 Egg producer‘s shambolic supply a trader’s beginning to block
PLATYPUS
An insertion of A and T for the initial letter of ‘trader’ in (SUPPLY)* The insertion indicator is ‘to block’ and the anagrind is ‘shambolic’. The PLATYPUS, together with the echidnas, form the monotreme order: they are mammals, who suckle their young; but they are not viviparous, since they lay eggs.
6 Look at from whichever way
ECCE
Referencing the fact that it is a palindrome. ECCE means ‘look at’ or ‘behold’ in Latin, most commonly heard in the phrase Ecce homo, ‘behold the man’, the phrase from John’s gospel spoken by Pontius Pilate as he presented the scourged Jesus to a hostile crowd. The subject of innumerable paintings, and in the news recently because the elderly amateur restorer who completely bollocksed up a restoration died last week.
7 Spoken traditional teaching praises these exalted judges
LAW LORDS
Aural wordplay (‘spoken’) for LORE LAUDS.
8 Uniform with fur is of practical value
USABLE
A charade of U for ‘uniform’ in the NATO/phonetic alphabet and SABLE.
15 Like some particular sex – no former partner finds out
ASCERTAINS
A charade of AS, CERTAIN and S[EX].
17 Half of American church supports old President’s suspension
ABEYANCE
A charade of ABE [Lincoln], YAN[KEE] and CE. ‘Supports’ works because it’s a down clue.
18 Ramble around in countryside, initially after parking in field
PROVINCE
A charade of P and IN plus C for the initial letter of ‘countryside’ inserted into ROVE. The insertion indicator is ‘around’.
20 Shrewdly, Anglican leader voices disapproval over diocese
ASTUTELY
A charade of A for the initial letter of ‘Anglican’, TUTS reversed and ELY.
21 Tip off policewoman: “Brunel took drug“
OPIATE
A charade of [C]OP and I ATE.
22 Writer penning cycling journal’s meaty fare
BIG MAC
An insertion of GMA (MAG ‘cycling’) in BIC. The insertion indicator is ‘penning’.
23 Reportedly downed a sugary product Violet could provide?
NECTAR
Aural wordplay (‘reportedly’) of NECKED A. The Violet is the flower, of course; and almost all bloggers on Fifteensquared now use ‘aural wordplay’ or ‘soundalike’ instead of ‘homophone’ to avoid long and ultimately fruitless discussions about how rhotic speakers would never pronounce NECTAR like this.
25 Maybe Amsterdam girl the setter will visit never-endingly
ILSE
I’L[L] SE[E]. ILSE is a typically Dutch girl’s name.
Many thanks to Brunel for the challenge this morning. A propos of nothing, the only other words I know that allow for six anagrams are ALERTING, ALTERING, INTEGRAL, RELATING, TANGLIER and TRIANGLE.
Very odd: I have just done this morning’s Indy and it was a Filbert. No. 1819. I have been back through the tortuous site entry process a couple of times but I’m not seeing a Brunel …
That is odd. 1,819 would be an Independent on Sunday puzzle.
Somebody has inputted the wrong year again when uploading the puzzle. It is the Jan 5 2025 crossword that is appearing. Hopefully, it will get updated but too late for me now. Annoying.
Gentle for Filbert. I thought it was either calibrated for a Monday or it was a puzzle Filbert had written some time ago. I seem to recall NEOPRENE. Thanks anyway. I’ll wait and see what transpires. And I won’t read the blog just yet.
I did a different Brunel, so maybe the right one is up now?
There was a problem with the Press Association uploading the files – should be good now
I also did the wrong puzzle and was mightily puzzled when opening the blog. Was going to say I quite enjoyed it.
I’ve seen the COSTA trick now so probably not much joy in giving the correct one a go.
Cheers setter and blogger anyway.
The late bird catches the right crossword.
The one I did matches the blog and for once I noticed the A-O-C-S-T trick in time for it to help.
I still have no idea who AI the sloth is.
Thanks Brunel and Pierre.
Pete @ 8 An ai is a two-toed sloth.
I’ve had the same issue. The one I opened this morning and completed is compiled by Flbert??
Some tech person should post the correct puzzle and allow us to complete it tomorrow in addition to Tuesday’s puzzle.
Tombola @ 10 See eimi @ 6
According to my self-generated anagram dictionary, there are 108 sets of anagrams with six members, although some of them may be combinations since I originally stripped out whitespace, hyphens, etc.
Thanks both. Well, I had nearly completed the one-year-old Filbert, then it morphed into this, as others have experienced. On the basis I did not comment last January, I’ll assume it was my first attempt, but i won’t search too hard for the truth. Quickly spotted the multiple anagrams trick, however slow to see its inclusion to justify the tricky NOVA SCOTIA. All good for me with the exception of ILSE; not a fan of names supposedly typical of a particular country, especially as I regard this one as German, not Dutch. That said I went to school with an Andre, who was not remotely French, so perhaps he can be clued as a Cheadle resident in the future.
Great characterful blog and enjoyable crossword, thanks Bruno and Pierre. I started the old one last night, confused when I woke up today and discovered something different but assumed I was just having a New Dad Brain moment. Good to know I wasn’t!
NHO “IN THE CLUB”, so feeling validated by “somewhat old-fashioned”. Not fond of ILSE for the reasons given by TFO above. Otherwise fun.
Pierre, my favorite one that beats that is RETAINS, RETINAS, RETSINA, ANTSIER, NASTIER, STAINER, STEARIN, RATINES, ANESTRI. With the last three admittedly being rather rare words.
As a rhotic speaker I had more trouble with LAW LORDS than NECTAR, but chalk that up as an observation, not a complaint.
Lastly, believe it or not, I did this puzzle over a lunch of TACOS. Definitely not pancakes, they were soft corn tortillas around a filling of al pastor, pineapple, cilantro, onions, and salsa verde.
Thanks Simon @9.
An A followed by I isn’t something I’d search anymore for fear of getting millions of results to do with computer programs that read Wiki and pass it off as all their own work.
Thanks Brunel for the challenge. I failed with HYDROFOIL (FORD =inverted cross?) and ADDS IN. I managed all else with many favourites including PRAIRIE, OREGANO, MOBILE (nice DD), ASCERTAIN, ABEYANCE, & ASTUTELY. Thanks Pierre for the blog.
Well, I had PEEP for 6a, so that held me up in the NE corner for quite a while. Eventually, I just bagged it, but when the C came up with a clearly good crosser, my Latin came back to me!
I went for PEEP @6D which messed up that corner, a tad unfair to have perfectly viable and more readily correct alternatives but soon realised IN THE CLUB stopped that. Fortunately my late start on the puzzle meant I got the Brunel, but I saw the title of the early blog and thought huh? The number is wrong and unusual to get Filbert on a Monday, thanks Setter & the bird-blogger Pierre, that was more of a workout than I expected for a Monday puzzle but the ASCOT* was a nice idea
Oh dear, I print the crossword off first thing and work at it during the day. Only just got round to looking at the blog and discovering the mix-up.