This felt like a ‘softer’ Filbert today without the various obscure synonyms which we normally expect from this setter. For that reason, we found this one more enjoyable.
It’s still Joyce blogging today but if there are any omissions or typos, I can blame Bert for not checking things through properly.
An anagram (‘to resolve’) of SIL’S COME
JUST (only) on AD (jingle?)
EX (former) +REP (agent) reversed or ‘brought back’ + I MENTATION (thought). Neither of us had come across ‘mentation’ before.
NOD (minimal bow) E (final letter of wave)
PILL (medicine) OW (that hurts) CASE (patient)
MAPLE (tree) SurgeonS (without the middle letters or ‘on vacation’). Another word we had to check although the meaning was obvious.
IMP (devil) in SKY (heaven)
END (back) on LEG (stage)
Y (year) in an anagram (‘wasted’) of THE BAR. We weren’t totally happy about BY HEART = PAT although you could justify it by saying ‘off pat’ or ‘off by heart’. However, ‘PAT’ is a synonym in Chambers for ‘BY HEART’.
STALAG (military camp) + a homophone (‘declared’) of MIGHT (strength)
Double definition
An anagram (‘turning’) of TO AI TEEN DERIDED
Hidden or ‘lodges’ in aUNT OR Niece
PALES (looks whiter) with kNEEs (middle letters only or ‘bare’) outside
S (small) TERN (bird) UM (that’s iffy)
An anagram (‘ruined’) of E (first letter of Elsa) PEDALO TRIP
CO (fellow as in co-worker) RE (engineers)
MM (males) in SUITS (apparently dressed smartly)
A spoonerism of WED DATE (‘married the woman he sees’)
A reversal (‘upset’) of IN (wearing) U (uniform)
Hidden or ‘included’ in lighTING Engineers
Double definition
A cryptic definition where ‘capitals’ could represent the capital city or the initial capital letter of the country
A reversal (‘turned up’) of CAFE (restaurant) between BEN and TOR (‘summits’ – 4d)
DAMS (stops running) and initial letters or ‘starts’ to Encourage Laggers
BETH (as in BETH March from Little Women) ERE (before)
TaR (missing or ‘wanting’ ‘a’) OUNCE (cat)
SAD (not happy) HUt (shack) missing last letter or ‘unfinished’
MA (mother) around or ‘keeping’ IN (at home)
ALTo (member of choir) with ‘o’ (ring) missing or ‘lost’
My toppies today are definitions – ‘without a plan,’ ‘unlikely to be warm enough’, ‘physical work’ and the very clever ‘bit but not a bit’. Failed to parse ALPHABETISE so thanks to B&J. Don’t like it much. Also failed 19d thinking 1 MTH (I’m there) for Beth March. Maybe the misdirection was intended. So, not so soft for me today but an excellent puzzle as always. Thanks.
I agree this was comparatively easy for Filbert. I felt uneasy about UNI and ALPHABETISE, but always tell myself “if it works, it’s almost certainly right”, and have yet to come unstuck. Thanks Filbert and Joyce.
All these years thinking the “sole” in SOLECISM meant a one-off mistake – like a hapax legomenon – until looking up the etymology today.
‘…from Ancient Greek soloikismos from soloikos, “speaking incorrectly”, from Soloi, an ancient Athenian colony in Cilicia whose inhabitants spoke a dialect regarded by Athenians as a corrupted and barbarous form of Attic Greek.’ – tilt.
Thanks F & B&J
Yes , not as tough as he can be but enjoyable all the same.I liked the Spooner.
Thanks all
Thanks, Filbert and B&J!
Liked STALAGMITE, CORE and SUMMITS.
Thanks. I had ALPHABETISE in mind for ages, but couldn’t parse it as I couldn’t see it as a CD. Eventually bunged it in but it didn’t feel satisfying. On reflection, that might be a fault on my part. Like Sofamore @1 I had “I MTH ERE” until crossers ruled it out.
I liked DEAD WEIGHT, STALAGMITE and the combination of SUMMITS and BENEFACTOR. ZERO stalled me for a good while (too many options) but was worth the wait when it finally dropped.
Thanks both. Agreed, this was easier for this setter, but I made it difficult by not correctly remembering the spelling for LEPIDOPTERA. Like others, ALPHABETISE hung around as I was looking for more substance in the clue, and I concur BENEFACTOR was a stand-out, and it took a while for me to get to grips with an apparently incomplete wordplay, which reminded me of a question my grandpa used to ask….”what is the difference between a duck?”
I really like the feeling when you arrive at the answer through the wordplay and then you see the definition, so NEPALESE and STALAGMITE were my favourites today.
Thanks both or all three.
TFO @ 7 ….to which our answer always used to be “one of its legs is both the same”
I very much enjoyed this puzzle and agree that BENEFACTOR was the stand-out clue. Thanks Filbert and B&J.
Coot@9 I suspected it was not an original!
Typical Filbert for me. Half goes in, get stuck, come here and still scratching my head. DEAD TREE EDITION? Just three random words?
@11 Pete, no, not really. When the Indy used to have a physical edition there was often a crossword discrepancy between the paper and website, the actual paper was often referred to as the Dead Tree Edition
Thanks Filbert, I always enjoy your crosswords with TROUNCE, DEAD TREE EDITION, and BENEFACTOR being my favourites today. Thanks B&J for the blog.
@12 flashling. Thank you. Now I see it. I wouldn’t have known the reference, but I was hung up on work=effort.
I thought the surfaces in some of these were inspired. 16A, 19A, 24A, 27A, 2D, 21D. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so much while doing a crossword. Thanks to Filbert and Joyce!
Great stuff and nothing too difficult. We liked TROUNCE (not seen many snow leopards in Crosswordland lately), PILLOWCASE and BENEFACTOR among others.
FrankieG@3: SOLECISM is nevertheless often used to mean a mistake or faux pas of any sort – even respected authors such as Sir Walter Scott are guily of such (ahem!) solecisms.
Thanks, Filbert and B&J.
Read up the unches in column 14 and you get SORRY SOS. Just a coincidence?