The puzzle can be found here.
Hi all. After a long week, I took a longish time unwinding with this puzzle by Filbert, a setter whose crosswords I find to be a bit different — but in a good way! How did you find it?
Highlights for me were many, but I’ll just mention the DEAR 27a, the DIPSTICK at 2d, the &lit NUGGET of 8d, and the cracking MORES (23d). Thanks Filbert!
Definitions are underlined in the clues below. In the explanations, quoted indicators are in italics and I’ve capitalised and emboldened letters which appear in the ANSWER.
Across
1a Dog racing no good for dog (4)
FIDO
Take FI (F1, racing) and then remove the G from (no good for) DO[g]
3a Film Jason from Melbourne running after angry pet wallaby (10)
PADDYMELON
Film Jason is Jason Bourne: remove him from MEL[bourne] and add ON (running). These go after PADDY (angry pet, pet being a fit of sulking or ill humour). Variant spelling of pademelon
9a “‘eat ’em up,” snarled man with frostbitten toes, once? (7)
AMPUTEE
EAT EM UP anagrammed (snarled)
11a Electronic kiss in smart phone’s billets-doux? (7)
SEXTING
E (electronic) X (kiss) in STING (smart)
12a Maybe Kennedy’s entourage fabricated monster hiding with books (9)
MOTORCADE
MADE (fabricated), in which ORC (monster) is hiding with (after, in this case) OT (Old Testament books)
13a Two score, forty apiece (5)
DEUCE
Two definitions, very nicely split. The second is the tennis score
14a “The IT Crowd’s baloney – endless baloney” the BBC put out (12)
TECHNOBABBLE
All but the last letter of (endless) BALONEy + THE BBC anagrammed (put out)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JLNey7nf1Yk
18a Ticklish manager’s ribs tickled (12)
EMBARRASSING
MANAGERS RIBS anagrammed (tickled)
21a Teacher’s falling on the rocks from here? (5)
OPTIC
A cryptic definition of a device which may be dispensing Teacher’s whisky (other brands are available) onto ice (rocks). One of those clues which makes me happy that standalone cryptic definitions (not my favourite type of clue as a rule, and I’m not alone) are alive and well!
22a Peach smell Danish lady doctor bottles (9)
HUMDINGER
HUM (smell) followed by INGE (Danish lady — a Germanic name which may be masculine or feminine, but is feminine in Danish), which DR (doctor) contains (bottles)
24a Aboard tandem, I tow Teri around to take her for a ride (3-4)
TWO-TIME
Contained within (aboard) tandEM I TOW Teri, written backwards (around)
25a Soldiers back to back in service finally learning the ropes (7)
RIGGING
IG GI (two soldiers, each a GI, back to back) in RN (service) plus the last letter of (finally) learninG
26a Miserable bloody dog rejected hot tripe (10)
BALDERDASH
SAD (miserable) RED (bloody) LAB (dog) all reversed (rejected) followed by H (hot)
27a Needing plenty of bread and honey (4)
DEAR
Double definition: requiring lots of bread (money) to purchase, or a term of endearment
Down
1d Dull male worried for Holmes: Watson? (8)
FLATMATE
A charade of FLAT (dull), M (male) and ATE (worried)
2d Idiot cleans bug (rather than sheep) (8)
DIPSTICK
DIPS (cleans) TICK (bug), where it would be more normal to dip sheep. Still, perhaps the tick was attached to a sheep when it was dipped …
4d Do not apply where there’s competition (5)
ARENA
ARE N/A (are not applicable)
5d Cut up statement of Germany’s EU status (9)
DISMEMBER
D (Germany, IVR) IS MEMBER
6d Beginning to make nine messy single beds, one’s opinion of kids? (5,8)
MIXED BLESSING
The first letter of (beginning to) Make, IX, and then an anagram of (messy) SINGLE BEDS
7d Stayed off-green in sickbed (4,2)
LAID UP
Two definitions, the first being played a lay-up shot in golf (I had to hunt that one out)
8d Source of chicken, served up in little brown thing? (6)
NUGGET
EGG (source of chicken, although of course the egg came first) reversed (served up) inside NUT (little brown thing)
10d Lathe knocking out first new computer (6,7)
TURING MACHINE
TUR[n]ING MACHINE (lathe), removing (knocking out) the first instance of N (new). The Turing machine itself is an abstract computer, but the man and his work are real
15d Land claimed from the sea in Belgium per capita (9)
BEACHHEAD
B (Belgium, IVR) + EACH (per) + HEAD (capita)
16d Billie Jean editor’s turned over half the files for Black or White (8)
KINGSIDE
Billie Jean KING plus ED IS (editor’s), reversed (turned over). The side of the chessboard where the king stands at the beginning of play, so half the rows (files)
17d Jelly needs a double oven, right? (4-4)
AGAR-AGAR
Two copies of (a double) AGA (oven) and R (right)
19d Bottom I see climbing in bubble bath (3,3)
HOT TUB
BUTT (bottom) and OH (oh, I see!) reversed (climbing)
20d Constitutional way to oppress electors (6)
STROLL
ST (street, way) goes above (to oppress) ROLL (electors)
23d Put s at the end of code to get codes (5)
MORES
Move the S in MORSE (code) to the end of the word
What a fantastic workout from Filbert today. Right at the limit of my solving ability but finished without cheating. Several clues took a lot of thinking such as the crossing STROLL & OPTIC and also LAID UP & DEUCE (not to mention NUGGET & SEXTING). The surface for DIPSTICK made me laugh, so I’ll give that the COD accolade.
The usual brilliant and funny blog from Kitty as well. The sun is out and all is well. Great start to the weekend.
There are moments that I’d wish a crossword were a pangram. Just to fill in the last couple with a bit more confidence.
Today, I ‘failed’ on 7d and the crossing 13ac. Double (or multiple) definitions are not my forte, I’m afraid – let alone golf ….
But, yes, a splendid crossword, perhaps Filbert’s best so far? Well, that’s how it felt to me.
I needed the blog for fully understanding the SIDE bit of 16d. It does feel a bit odd to have ED IS for “editor’s”: the first is abbreviated and then the second’s expanded (if you see what I mean). OK, though.
Thanks Kitty for your amusing blog (there’s even dogs in it!).
As Hovis said, the sun is out. Whether all is well (in this country), that’s perhaps a matter of taste. Hope 20d wasn’t referring to ‘that’ ….
When I say “all is well” it is because I’m blinkered (and retired). The bit in brackets being a cryptic reference for those who get it.
Thanks Kitty, lovely blog, particularly the embarrassed cat, they know how to play it cool.
Hi to Hovis & Sil, and anyone else who had a go.
Thanks to Kitty and Filbert
Yes, Filbert does have his own style and I think I like it.
Just one or two things though:
2d DIPS = CLEANS?
15d I’m not sure what the setter means. A beachhead can be claimed (secured) from air, sea or land.
23d If I put S at the end of MORSE I get MORSES
If I put S to the end then I might get MORES
No other quibbles
Or if I put S to the end in code
9a must qualify for gruesome surface of the week
12a very clever, getting in Oswald and the book depository,and implicating his entourage all in one short sentence.
Love the cartoons
Hovis@4
They say I’ve become a bit blinkered since I got retired.
Good to see my man Turing getting a mention – he would have been brilliant at cryptic crosswords.
We needed a bit of electronic help for PADDYMELON and KINGSIDE. The latter was new to us but having seen it we vaguely remembered encountering the former – probably in a crossword. Favourites were the short ones – ARENA, DEUCE, OPTIC and MORES. Loved the illustrationd in the blog.
Thanks, Filbert and Kitty.
Just in case anybody didn’t get the cryptic reference @3, it was a reference to a recent clue were “and = linker” and “retired = in bed” so “and retired = B-LINKER-ED”.
Whoops! Change ‘were’ to ‘where’ in previous.
Very late in but couldn’t possibly miss out on a Kitty blog!
Found this one quite a toughie to crack – hadn’t heard of either 3a or 16d and wasn’t aware that 14a is now accepted as a ‘real’ word.
Quite a few ‘umms’ on my sheet but I did laugh at 2d.
Thanks to Filbert and to Kitty for her unique style of mixing info with humour.
Didn’t do this, but couldn’t resist checking out a Filbert, especially when blogged by Kitty. Great stuff from both!
Kitty, did you miss the fact that Billie Jean and Black or White are Michael Jackson singles (16d), or do we just not mention the name since that docu?
Hovis @8 – thanks for the explanation – I needed it! (While I’m here, thanks also for your generous comments on my blogs. 🙂 )
… and just as I write that, along comes Tony – more thanks! I didn’t exactly miss the song references but was preoccupied with sorting out how the definition worked, and by the time I’d done that didn’t think to add anything about the surface reading.