Another absorbing puzzle from Filbert.
There was some interesting stuff, including one clue which actually gave away the answer to another one. The top right section was the most difficult for me. My lack of knowledge of brandy made 9A quite tricky and there were a couple of I couldn't entirely parse.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | TIGHT SHIP |
Spooner’s rubbish dump is a disciplined operation (5,4)
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Spoonerism of "shite tip". |
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| 6 | CASH |
Come home with this change? (4)
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Not sure about this – maybe some sort of DD. |
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| 8 | BUTTON |
Racing driver behind then ahead (6)
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Butt(=behind) + on(=ahead). Ref to Jenson Button. |
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| 9 | SCRAMBLE |
Cook nearly wasted after knocking back brandies (8)
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Ble[w](=wasted) after marcs< |
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| 10 | CHAPLAIN |
Clergyman‘s tea not especially tasty (8)
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Cha(=tea) + plain(=dull-tasting) |
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| 12 | FOOTER |
The Premier League’s main concern is the bottom line (6)
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DD(footer=football) |
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| 13 | OPERA GLASSES |
American in Grease slops out bins at the theatre (5,7)
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A in (Grease slops)*. Bins is a slang term for glasses, possibly a short form of binoculars. |
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| 16 | TWO UP TWO DOWN |
Tandem riders got home (3-2, 3-4)
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Two-up(=two riding i.e. a tandem) + two-down(=got, the answer to 2 down). |
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| 19 | STREAM |
Master translated for class (6)
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Master* |
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| 20 | LAS VEGAS |
Peas, carrots, etc are eaten by girl where most get chips (3,5)
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(Veg + a{re}) in lass. An are is a unit of surface area (more commonly seen in hectare). |
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| 22 | SHOEHORN |
Squeeze hard cracking nuts on horse (8)
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H{ard} in (on horse)* |
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| 23 | ANTHEM |
Jerusalem perhaps captured by Suleiman the Magnificent (6)
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Hidden in Suleiman the magnificent |
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| 25 | BRAT |
Issue that’s annoying bishop starts to rather amuse theologian (4)
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B{ishop} + initial letters of rather amuse theologian. Issue in the offspring sense. |
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| 26 | EXOPLANET |
Unknown round surface that alien guards? (9)
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&lit – (X(=unknown) O(=round) + plane(=surface)) in ET (extra terrestrial) |
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| DOWN | ||
| 1 | TOUCHE |
Cut tangles with hoe you got me (6)
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(Cut hoe)* |
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| 2 | GOT |
Energy Tesla understood (3)
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Go(=energy) + T{esla}. Tesla is justified as an abbrev because it's the SI unit of magnetic flux. |
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| 3 | TONGA |
Wings much reduced for cormorant on Galapagos Islands (5)
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Hidden(=wings removed) in cormorant on galapagos |
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| 4 | HOSANNA |
Women I see promoted getting a word of praise (7)
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I can't quite put this together. Can see Anna and maybe ho(=I see) but can't see the mechanics of how it works. |
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| 5 | PORTFOLIO |
Minister’s brief for pilot ordered back from Sheremetyevo (9)
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(For pilot)* + [Sheremetyev]o |
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| 6 | COMMONSENSE |
Reasonable rations seen halved and reallocated (11)
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Commons(=rations) + seen with the two halves moved around. |
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| 7 | SOLDERED |
Second senior editor stuck on the board? (8)
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S{econd} + older(=senior) + ed{itor} |
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| 11 | PROCUREMENT |
Shopping for work, English chaps in favour of short trousers (11)
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(Pro curt) around(=trousers) (E{nglish} men) |
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| 14 | EXTEMPORE |
Former agency worker given golden handshake at the end, spontaneously (9)
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Ex(=former) + temp(=agency worker) + or(=golden) + [handshak]e |
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| 15 | TWITCHER |
Something amusing for Maggie’s hat, a feather fan (8)
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Thatcher with wit replacing hat. Twitcher is a somewhat derogatory term for a bird-watcher, the preferred term these days being birder. |
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| 17 | ORLANDO |
Old hands on half days rebuilt Mickey Mouse town (7)
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O{ld} r{ight} l{eft}(=hands) + (on da[ys])*. Orlando in Florida is the location of Disney World. |
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| 18 | TALENT |
Gift given then returned with thanks (6)
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Ta(=thanks) + lent(=given then returned) |
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| 21 | SHALL |
Promise to be quiet throughout (5)
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Sh + all |
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| 24 | TON |
After which a bat may be aloft, not upside-down (3)
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Not<. Ref is to a century(=ton) scored in cricket. |
HOSANNA is Annas (women) and oh (I see) reversed (promoted).
I think CASH has something to do with cashing in (home) but can’t quite parse it either.
The first row of unches is all Os.
Thanks to setter and blogger.
I think 4 down is ANNAS (women) and OH (I see) reversed ( promoted = up).
Much enjoyed this one. Thanks to Filbert and NealH
I was slow at typing. Ian beat me to it. I also don’t understand CASH.
6a: “come” with C AS H is “home”
Parsed CASH as Andrew but my last one to get. Wonderful crossword from an ever reliable setter.
As we’re becoming accustomed to seeing with Filbert, not an easy start to the week. I failed on 15d, missing the significance of ‘Maggie’ and putting in “switcher”, thinking the def might relate to an activity which is very different from birdwatching. Also missed the parsing of the TWO-DOWN bit of 16a and the clever C AS H as explained by Andrew @4.
I liked ORLANDO as a ‘Mickey Mouse town’; did Filbert mean this in more ways than one I wonder?
Thanks to Filbert and NealH
Many to like.
TIGHT SHIP, CASH, EXOPLANET and TON-my faves today.
Thanks, Filbert and NealH!
Enjoyed. Solved without error but the parsing escaping me in some clues. I thought the ‘women I see’ were ho’s for a while but then it didn’t sound like Filbert. Thanks for a very clever crossword and helpful blog plus comments section.
Thanks both. Started well with the entertaining TIGHT SHIP before struggling in the north-east corner, only resolved by cheating to discover marcs (still not sure if this plural is used) as brandies to solve SCRAMBLE. As a lifelong football fan, I have never and will never call it FOOTER – I regard it as an expression used by people who don’t like or understand the game, such as Premier League referees for instance
As TFO alludes, TIGHT SHIP was a fun way to enter this puzzle, though whether the Reverend would have stooped to such a combination, I am less sure. Fortunately, the X-as-Y or X-is-Y device is one I have encountered before so I was able to parse CASH.
Big ticks for me for lots of clues but I’ll just highlight TON for so cleverly hiding the wordplay; PROCUREMENT for the def; TONGA which did have me turning to Google to see if there is a particular Galapagos cormorant (There is: it’s called … the Galapagos Cormorant!); SHOEHORN for the fun surface; LAS VEGAS for finding so much to do with VEG and BUTTON for the neatness. I liked the two mentioned right at the outset and COTD is the lovely EXOPLANET &lit.
I’d agree FOOTER is a bit left field and I think Filbert wins the prize for the longest possible way of indicating a letter O with back from Sheremetyevo
Thanks Filbert and NealH
I’m with TFO above re FOOTER. FOOTIE is the only abbreviation I recognise.
Despite being a brandy drinker (many different brands) MARCS means nothing to me.
Thanks to Filbert and NealH
“Footer” reminds of Bertie Wooster telling Roderick Spode (a parody of Oswald Mosley, who led a group known as the Black Shorts): ‘You hear them shouting “Heil, Spode!” and you imagine it is the Voice of the People. What the Voice of the People is saying is: “Look at that frightful ass Spode swanking about in footer bags!”‘.
There’s also the flamboyantly gay Anthony Blanche from Brideshead Revisited, who, arriving late for a lunch, says: ‘My dear … I couldn’t get away before. I was lunching with my p-p-preposterous tutor. He thought it very odd my leaving when I did. I told him I had to change for F-f-footer.’
Very enjoyable, full of wit and misdirection, what more could one ask for.
I did use a touch of electronic help and failed on the parsing of CASH but got the rest. I thought FOOTER was uncharacteristically weak but virtually every other clue was a podium contender. I’ll mention TIGHT SHIP, LAS VEGAS, BRAT and TON.
Many thanks Filbert and Neal fof a great puzzle and blog
Cash is actually brilliant I think. It is ‘c’ as ‘h’ as in both are followed by ‘ome’ in ‘Come home’. V original clue. Personal COTD.
Sorry now see this has already been explained.
Top-class puzzle from, as Hovis says, an ever-reliable setter. Bravo, Filbert. So much to enjoy – as well as the laugh-out-loud funny Spoonerism, there’s much wit and invention to admire here. I loved “Something amusing for Maggie’s hat”, “bins at theatre”, the association of Jerusalem with Suleiman the Magnificent, the use of Sheremetyevo for a single letter and much else besides.
Thanks for the blog, NealH. Sterling effort – the parsing was rather tricksy on several of these.
PM @10 – the Galapagos cormorant is famous for being flightless (having lost the ability it once had) which makes that clue even more brilliant in my book. Had me staring at it for ages wondering if there was an alternative name for the Galapagos cormorant I couldn’t remember. Delightful penny drop when it came.
Andrew @12 – Roderick Spode’s footer bags are likewise the first thing that word always brings to mind for me.
Stephen L @14 – given professional football’s notorious rapacity, I thought it was a great clue.
Slowed down by putting COIN for CASH, somehow imagining that co was an abbreviation for come.
Brilliant puzzle I thought, especially the v clever use of two down in 16A.
Bravo Filbert and many thanks to NealH
Thanks Filbert for your usual high level of craftmanship. I got through most of this on my own but I finished the rest by the guess-and-check method. I couldn’t parse some bits and pieces like CASH and the clever two-down reference in 16. Top choices included LAS VEGAS, SHOEHORN (great surface), and HOSANNA. Thanks NealH for the blog.