Filbert has provided today’s cruciverbal teaser for our (pain and!) pleasure.
This was my first attempt at solving and blogging an Indy puzzle by Filbert and I found it a real challenge, towards the tougher end of the Indy spectrum in terms of difficulty.
Filbert definitely defeated me, as I got totally stuck in the NW quadrant of the puzzle and had to search Chambers to find 1D and 11, just to help me to make inroads into this corner. I am not convinced that I have parsed everything successfully, so please feel free to point out any misreadings – for example, I may be missing the point at both 7 and 14.
My favourite clues today were 9, for maintaining the monetary theme through definition and wordplay alike; 21, for its & lit. quality; and 23, for the smooth surface reading and elusive definition. Incidentally, I might have expected there to be something in the wordplay at 27 to suggest that the first letter of both words should be dropped.
*(…) indicates an anagram; definitions are italicised; // separates definitions in multiple-definition clues
| Across | ||
| 01 | VENICE | Very precise location for European city
E (=European) in [V (=very) + NICE (=precise)] |
| 04 | PEGASUS | Margaret’s taking in America, going west where there are stars
ASU (USA=America; “going west” indicates reversal) in PEG’S (=Margaret’s); Pegasus is a constellation in the northern sky, hence “where there are stars” |
| 09 | RHINO | Cash flow through German banks changing Euro limits
RHINE (=flow through German banks, i.e. river); “changing Euro limits (=first and last letters)” means the letter “e” in “Rhine” becomes an the “o” in “rhino“, an archaic slang word for “cash” |
| 10 | PEREGRINE | Hunter‘s ripe green bananas
*(RIPE GREEN); “bananas (=mad)” is anagram indicator; the peregrine falcon is a bird of prey, hence “hunter” |
| 11 | FOOLHARDY | Rash cream and stewed fruit good for the winter
FOOL (=cream and stewed fruit, i.e. a dessert) + HARDY (=good for the winter, able to bear the cold) |
| 12 | FLAME | Celebrity hiding large girlfriend?
L (=large, of sizes) in FAME (=celebrity, renown); an old flame is a former girlfriend or boyfriend |
| 13 | CUED | Reminded player, // “Hit ball with stick”
Double definition: CUED is “reminded player”, actor who has forgotten his lines AND “hit (cue) ball with stick” in snooker, billiards |
| 14 | STEPMOTHER | Pater’s first introduction to Esther and Tom, after upheaval?
P<ater> (“first” means first letter only) in *(ESTHER + TOM); “after upheaval” is anagram indicator; & lit., presumably referring to a father introducing his new partner to his children |
| 18 | LOVE AFFAIR | Hearts engaged in this scoreless match?
Cryptic definition: the “hearts” refers to lovers, not to the football team; “scoreless” also suggests love, as in a zero score in tennis |
| 20 | PREP | Turning each page in work before you start properly
PER (=each, as in 2 per person) + P (=page); “turning” indicates reversal |
| 23 | CARVE | Apportion joint responsibility to nurse Victor
V (=Victor, in radio telecommunications) in CARE (=responsibility, as in to entrust to someone’s care); to carve is to slice up and serve a joint of meat, hence to “apportion joint” |
| 24 | JITTERBUG | Alarmist judge beheaded minor fly-tipper
LITTERBUG (=minor fly-tipper); “judge (=J) beheaded” means letter “j” replaces the first letter |
| 25 | CONTAGION | I can’t go on moving how bugs move
*(I CAN’T GO ON); “moving” is anagram indicator; “bugs” (=infections) move (=are transmitted)” via contagion |
| 26 | COCOA | Ends away in twin beds, then a late drink?
2 (=twin) x CO<t> (=bed; “ends away” means last letter dropped) + A |
| 27 | YEAR DOT | Adieu Brigitte, topless long ago
<b>YE <b>ARDOT (=Brigitte, i.e. French actress); “topless” means first letter is dropped from each word |
| 28 | PEANUT | Exercise fanatic eating top grade food (though very little)
A (=top grade, academically) in [P.E. (=exercise, i.e. physical exercise) + NUT (=fanatic, enthusiast)] |
| Down | ||
| 01 | VARIFOCAL | Talkative Turkish man interrupts with range of viewpoints
ARIF (=Turkish man, i.e. male forename in Moslem countries) in VOCAL (=talkative); varifocal lenses enable the user to see from a range of viewpoints |
| 02 | NOISOME | Rank so absorbed in expressions of ego
SO in [NO 1 + ME (=expression of ego, i.e. the self)] |
| 03 | CLOTHE | Ambassador burdened by silly robe
CLOT (=silly (person), as noun) + H.E. (=ambassador, i.e. His Excellency) |
| 04 | PARKY | Normal state of bourbon is quite cold
PAR (=normal, as in above/below par) + KY (=state of bourbon, i.e. Kentucky) |
| 05 | GIGAFLOP | Techie’s high speed performance very disappointing
GIG (=performance, e.g. by band) + A FLOP (=very disappointing); a gigaflop is a unit of high processing speed in computing |
| 06 | SPINACH | Picking up fruit in tin? On the contrary, veg
CAN (=tin) in HIPS (=fruit, as in rosehips); “picking up” indicates vertical reversal |
| 07 | SUEDE | Raw material to make an Oxford blue?
Cryptic definition: blue suede (“raw material”) can be used “to make an Oxford (shoe)” |
| 08 | APERITIF | Spirit shown in a brief fight (stimulant taken first)
PERI (=spirit, fairy) in [A + TIF<f> (=fight; “brief” means last letter is dropped)] |
| 15 | PRISTINE | Virgin Money stops penny increase in wages
TIN (=money, in slang) in [P (=penny) + RISE (=increase in wages)] |
| 16 | REPUGNANT | Odious dog granny carried in secret, latterly
[PUG (=dog) + NAN (=granny)] in <sec>RET (“latterly” means second half of word only) |
| 17 | FACE CARD | Maybe Jack Frost’s first great book
F<rost> (“first” means first letter only) + ACE (=great, excellent) + CARD (=book, e.g. to show a footballer a yellow/red card); a jack, for example, is a face card in a pack of playing cards |
| 19 | VERANDA | Unframed Hera in museum gallery
<h>ER<a> (“unframed” means first and last letters are dropped) in V and A (=museum, i.e. the Victoria and Albert) |
| 21 | RUBICON | Obstacle, at first: if crossed, no turning back
RUB (=obstacle, hitch) + I<f> C<rossed> (“at first” means first letters only) + ON (NO; “turning back” indicates reversal); & lit.: to cross the Rubicon is to take a decisive but irreversible step |
| 22 | RESCUE | Make safe and secure in a storm
*(SECURE); “in a storm” is anagram indicator |
| 23 | COCKY | Assuming Eastender has lost his bearings
COCK<ne>Y (=Eastender); “having lost his bearings (=N (=North) and E (=East))” means letters “ne” are dropped |
| 24 | JOIST | Beam is splitting a bit
IS in JOT (=a bit, a touch of) |
Quite a fun workout with some nifty clues.Still not sold on VENICE-I went through it all thinking “it cant be surely”
Otherwise pretty darn fine.
Thanks Filbert and RatkojaRiku
Nearly gave up several times but persevered and finished bar 20a. I also needed to cheat to get 1d which then opened up the NW quadrant. I think Filbert is a first class setter but didn’t feel this was up to the standard of his last two outings. In particular, I thought 14a and 7d were a bit weak and clueing ARIF by ‘Turkish man’ is, perhaps, a little stretch too far. Some great clues though, including those for RUBICON, YEAR DOT, COCKY, PEANUT etc. As a side note, can a peregrine falcon be referred to as just a peregrine?
Thanks to S&B.
Hovis@2 Probably not.
Thanks for the blog, RR.
Definitely tough, which I don’t mind – I’m not one to have a mard on all day if I can’t finish a crossword. I did finish this one, but only with a good bit of e-help. There were some that I particularly liked – CARVE (good surface) and CONTAGION (ditto). ARIF is a step too far for a daily cryptic, I think, and I’m another one in the not sure about VENICE category.
Pierre is your man to adjudicate on whether a peregrine falcon can be just a peregrine, but I was okay with it.
Thanks to Filbert – I could handle some more of these.
I also struggled with NW.
Many thanks rr for some of the parsings, I wasn’t quite sure about STEPMOTHER (OK, must be her kids), and I didn’t split GIGAFLOP right.
7d, wasn’t sure whether this was a dd, the second being blue?, but that would be silly since that refers to the same word.
I very much liked JITTERBUG and FACE CARD – excellent.
Many thanks Filbert & RR
I found this tough going and almost resorted to aids when the grid was stil sparse after 20 minutes, but I persevered and eventually got there unaided, although with almost 50 minutes elapsed. I also though ARIF was a bit naughty, and struggled to see NICE=PRECISE. RHINO was my FOI and PREP(incorrectly parsed) my last. Liked YEAR DOT. Thanks Filbert and RR.
It’s Thursday so we expected a tough one – this Filbert was a hard nut (pun intentional) to crack. We got there without help, although we weren’t 100% certain about SUEDE but couldn’t see how it could be anything else. Ditto with our LOI, FACE CARD – we didn’t think of the yellow card meaning. The NW corner held out the longest with VARIFOCAL our penultimate entry – one of those where you biff first and then see the parsing. A fair range of GK needed today, but none the worse for that.
We liked FOOLHARDY, YEAR DOT, SPINACH, RUBICON and COCKY, but no real favourite.
Thanks, Filbert and RatkojaRiku.
Hovis@2 (and copmus). The Chambers entry is given as “peregrine (in full peregrine falcon)”.
Thanks RatkojaRiku, solvers and commenters
So, to clarify, that’ll be a thumbs-down for Arif to join Rene and Ian in the crossword dictionary. Fair enough.
I didn’t find this as hard as yesterday, and nearly completed it without help, although there were several I couldn’t parse. I needed help with 18ac, just couldn’t see it. From the crossing letters, I wondered if there was a phrase LOVE MUFFIN I wasn’t familiar with.
Last time I commented on a Filbert puzzle, I said a thing like “Very very difficult but … hey, it’s Thursday”.
I could easily repeat this because I found it hard again. Not enough easy ways in [like 22d, RESCUE], I guess. Just like on both previous occasions I had the feeling that Filbert likes to turn virtually each clue into a masterpiece. Not a bad thing as such – I like thoughtful setters. And I can handle a demanding crossword, I won’t give up quickly.
Funny enough, it felt like I had to solve one of my own crosswords [of which people always say that they are tough(ish] without the knowledge of the setter, of course.
After much thought I had no problem with VENICE or our Turkish friend, and I especially liked YEAR DOT, PRISTINE, SPINACH and RUBICON. On the other hand, I felt something was missing in the &lit attempt @14ac, while SUEDE and CUED were not really my favourites.
With hindsight, a quality puzzle but I’d wish Filbert could add some what I call lightness of touch.
Many thanks RR.
Late comment, mainly because it took me so long to do! Eventually had to sleep on it before finishing this morning. Some very tough clues such as VARIFOCAL and the parsing of quite a few defeated me. Still, even if my time was off the scale, I eventually did finish without having to look anything up. Same comments about VENICE as a few others and it was almost my last in.
Lots of good ones to pick from, but STEPMOTHER and CARVE were my favourites.
Thanks to Filbert and RR.
Defeated in the NE. STEPMOTHER was a tremendously well written clue, I thought.