Independent 10,062 by Filbert (Sat 12th Jan)

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Filbert is one of the more recent to join the merry band of Independent setters, and this is the first time the nutty one has been seen on a Saturday.

I have only had a go at a few Filbert puzzles and recall they were pretty hard.  This one was not so tough.
(Though it may be I was on guard as I was to blog it.)
There were certainly a few very good clues it there.

Solving starting to the top right and finished in the bottom left where I had particular trouble with 12d READERSHIP.  I attempted it several times as each new crossing letter appeared and didn’t solve it till I all crossers bar the E from ESTEEMED.  Describing the wordplay as a “simple” anagram belies the quality of the clue which has a super apt and tragic surface.

Across
1 GRANDEE Two halves of short Greek aristocrat (7)
GR AND EE is GREE[k]
5 FACTOID Dubious nugget I cooked with cod fat (7)
(I + COD FAT)* AInd: cooked. Not sure why the “nugget” is dubious … but it was the first clue solved from the anagram
9 SCREWBALL Wacky small party for eight, perhaps (9)
S[mall] CREW BALL (party for eight, perhaps)
10 RIDGE Roof-top‘s free energy plugged by Government (5)
G[overnment] inside RID (free) E[nergy]
11 ONE-NIGHT STAND Doctor dating honest man finally making a little time for love (3-5,5)
(DATING HONEST [ma]N)* AInd: Doctor
13 ESTEEMED Dear Claude meets expectations, somewhat contrarily (8)
Hidden rev in clauDE MEETS Expectations
15 CARDIO Testing hearts – jack, maybe ten (6)
CARD (Jack, maybe) 10 (ten)
17 DROOPY Limp is what limits Dorothy, nursing bad back (6)
POOR< (bad, back) inside D[oroth]Y
19 SHOP TALK Hard work expands support for flower business, as discussed elsewhere (4,4)
H[ard] OP (work) inside (expands) STALK (support for flower) Top clue
22 ROLL-ON ROLL-OFF Easy way to load baps, piled high (4-2,4-3)
ROLL ON ROLL (baps piled) OFF (high), Largely solved from the letter count. 
25 HENNA Will S’s partner put back natural colour? (5)
ANNE H[athaway] all reversed
26 GHOST TOWN Army misfit finally wears dress where there’s no-one around (5,4)
HOST (army) [misfi]T inside (wears) GOWN (dress)
27 PROTEGE In gym class, repeated exercises by good pupil (7)
ROTE (repeated exercises), G[ood] all inside PE (gym class).  Last one in.  I got to thinking pupil referred to an eye
28 TANK TOP Waterproof the best item of clothing to display biceps? (4,3)
TANK (waterproof?) TOP (the best).  That most unthreatening of coverings – totally ‘armless
Down
1 GASP Have trouble breathing when doctor’s round (4)
AS (when) inside GP (doctor)
2 AIRPORT Character left on water taxi after landing here? (7)
AIR (character) PORT (left)
3 DOWSE Women in a fix try to find water (5)
W[omen] inside DOSE (a fix).. Surely dowsing is when you find water, trying is just waving a stick about.
4 EXAMINED Did test engineer need to cover up giant screen? (8)
(NEED)* AInd: engineer, around (to cover) IMAX< (giant screen, up (reversed))
5 FILTHY Like the police, being rude? (6)
Double Definition.  One of them: Oh dear
6 CARD SHARP Wits witter wicked whist whizz? (4,5)
CARDS (wits) HARP (witter).  Nice little alliterative clue. I pencilled in Card early on from the whist reference and the crossing letters.  The rest didn’t follow till much later
7 OLD HAND Ex-husband following Jesus stuck with new master (3,4)
OLD (ex) H[usband], then AD (following Jesus) around (stuck with) N[ew].   Tricky clue
8 DREADLOCKS Matted thatch needing clods raked out (10)
(CLODS RAKED)* AInd: out
12 READERSHIP Maybe all those enjoying Plath toy with her despair (10)
(HER DESPAIR)* AInd: toy with. Favourite clue
14 ESPIONAGE With poise and short of time, agent goes about his business (9)
Semi &Lit.  I first wrote: (POISE)* AInd: … goes about, N (and, short) AGE time.
Because the anagrind is so far from the fodder in that interpretation, re-thinking it I now prefer describing it as
(POISE AGEN[t])* where T[ime] is removed from AGENT
16 SHELL OUT Come up with ready slogan for oil nimbies? (5,3)
Double Definition.
18 ORLANDO Bloom for one with yellow look externally (7)
OR (yellow, in heraldry) then L AND O spell lo (look) – not sure what “externally” is contributing ?  Maybe I have misunderstood this wordplay?
20 AFFRONT Extra-loud curly style conservationists insult (7)
AFRO (curly style) with FF (extra loud) instead of just F (loud), NT (conservationists, National Trust)
Another brilliant clue
21 BROGUE What might identify an Irishman‘s last work? (6)
Double Definition.  Cobbler’s last
23 OFTEN Multiply decimal (5)
OF TEN (decimal)
24 SNAP Lose cool picture (4)
Double Definition.

 

16 comments on “Independent 10,062 by Filbert (Sat 12th Jan)”

  2. Apologies for the short post @1 – doorbell went.

    Thought this was easier than normal for Filbert but very enjoyable. When I first read 6d, I thought “what the flip?” (or words to that effect) but eventually the solution came to me. Simply brilliant!

    Not sure about ‘tank’ for ‘waterproof’ in 28a.

    For 20d, rather than taking FF for extra loud, I took it as AFRO with an additional (extra) F.

    Thanks to Filbert and beermagnet.

  5. Found this far more accessible than previous ones from this setter and more enjoyable as a result.

    Several potential ‘favourites’ but BROGUE made me laugh the most!

    Thanks to Filbert and to beermagnet.

    Hovis@2   I think ‘tank’ is fine.   We had the cellars of our previous home tanked to prevent water coming through the walls.

  7. Thanks for explaining the parsing of a few including ‘Will S’s’ partner in HENNA and AIRPORT. Thanks also to David @3 & jane @5 for explaining ‘TANK’ which had me stumped. I have always thought of a FACTOID as a somewhat dodgy fact, hence the ‘Dubious’; that’s how I parsed it anyway.

    The surface for 6d was brilliant. The ‘last work’ was a clever def, as well as being my last in – and not a cobbler in sight.

    Thanks to Filbert and beermagnet

  8. Another brilliant crossword from Filbert; unlike others I found it pretty difficult.  Eventually had to cheat on READERSHIP to be able to finish, but that was because I’d entered SENNA instead of HENNA.

    Top clues – BROGUE, GHOST TOWN, ESTEEMED, OLD HAND, PROTEGE.  I could go on, but won’t.

    Thanks muchly to Filbert and to beermagnet for the blog.

  9. I think I might have seen the HENNA clue before. Like many, I suspect, I initially went to Will Smith, whose wife played an effective villainess in Gotham (tv series).

  10. Afternoon all, thanks for comments.

    Thanks to beermagnet for very nice blog; in particular I am touched by your description of the clue for READERSHIP, which is likewise my favourite clue, in the puzzle and possibly full stop.  I wrote it just after having read The Bell Jar, and it pretty much nails how I felt about the experience.  For anyone who hasn’t read it, read the first few paragraphs (it’s online at Gutenberg) and see if you’re not hooked.  It has about the most startling opening of any book I’ve read.

    @Hovis, there was a similar clue for HENNA in a Guardian puzzle by Paul not long ago.  I did write a replacement but that seems to have got lost.

    James

  11. We plodded steadily through this and got there (well, almost) in the end.  All we could think of to fit the crossing letters for 7dn was ‘old maid’, which of course we couldn’t parse.  Got CARD SHARP but couldn’t fully parse it.

    Plenty to like here so can’t really nominate a CoD, but we liked AIRPORT and BROGUE among others.

    Thanks, Filbert and beermagnet.

  12. Thanks to beermagnet and Filbert

    A very good challenge from an excellent setter. Clever “abuse” of punctuation and other little tricks to misdirect. I also agree with Filbert@10 – a superb book, startlingly honest, powerful and immersive. Just don’t read it if you are already a little low – it draws you in!

     

  13. Just noticed this on the way to last week’s Guardian Prize and couldn’t resist having a look to admire Filbert’s cluemanship (well-rewarded). Only sad that we don’t see so much of catarella on the Guardian blog these days, presumably because being Filbert fills the time?

    The clue for OFTEN reminded me of the (in?)famous Araucaria clue:

    Of of of of of of of of of of (5)

    (Not that it’s similar, but it reminded me anyway).

  14. Another big thumbs-up from me for a great puzzle. I thought this was right up there with Dalibor’s crossword from a week ago, and that was bloody good. Many thanks to S&B

  16. Much enjoyed puzzling over this.  I didn’t understand tank = waterproof so thanks to David @3 for that.

    And of course many thanks to Filbert and beermagnet.

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