Independent 11,574 by Filbert

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Today’s challenge is from one of our regular Wednesday setters.

A few unfamiliar words and some rather convoluted explanations (especially 9a), and I’m not sure about the definition for 10a. But lots to enjoy: some lovely surfaces (particularly 8d), and several convincing sports references that mostly turned out to be nothing to do with the answers. My favourites were 17a (simple when you see it) and 18d for its sly suggestion of the common misuse of “literally”. Thanks Filbert for the fun.

Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.

ACROSS
1 BEHINDHAND
Responsible for cards arriving late (10)
BEHIND (responsible for, as in “he was behind the decision to . . .”) + HAND (playing cards held by one player in a game).
7 PAWN
Knight on foot is slow man (4)
N (knight in chess notation) added to PAW (foot).

Pawn = chess piece (man) that moves only one square at a time, hence slower than other pieces.
9 RIFF-RAFF
Trash that Wossy would call table tennis? (4-4)
The TV presenter Jonathan Ross is known for pronouncing R as W, hence his nickname Wossy; his pronunciation of “riff-raff” would be something like whiff-whaff, which was an early name for the game now known as table tennis.
10 REDRAW
Screw back for black again, perhaps (6)
WARDER (screw = slang for a prison officer) reversed (back).

“Black” can be a verb meaning to colour something black. I’m not sure that really works as a synonym of “draw”, but perhaps I’m missing something.
11 CORRIE
Soap dish on Ben’s side (6)
Double definition. Short name for the TV soap opera (soap) Coronation Street; or a Scots word for a rounded hollow (dish) on the side of a mountain (Ben, as in Ben Nevis).
12 EMENDING
Close behind them, improving (8)
ENDING (close, as a noun, as in “close of play”) after (behind) ‘EM (shortened form of “them”).

Emend = to improve a piece of writing by editing or correcting.
14 MEGA
Great answer, possibly brilliant in retrospect (4)
A (abbreviation for answer) + GEM (possibly a brilliant = a particular way of cutting a gemstone), all reversed (in retrospect).

Prefix indicating “a million” or “very large”, used by itself as slang for “great”.
15 ISHMAELITE
Old Arab‘s one quiet mother, very classy (10)
I (one in Roman numerals) + SH (sh! = quiet!) + MA (mother) + ELITE (very classy).
17 VARIEGATED
Ref that is not allowed out in different colours (10)
VAR (abbreviation for Video Assistant Referee in football = ref) + IE (i.e. = Latin id est = that is) + GATED (kept in at home or school as a punishment = not allowed out).
19 HUFF
Sulk finishes in which you eff off (4)
Last letters (finishes) of [whic]H [yo]U [ef]F [of]F.

Sulk = huff = an uncooperative mood in response to a perceived injustice.
21 TOP-NOTCH
Excellent returning on grass, hard court likewise (3-5)
ON + POT (grass = slang for cannabis), all reversed (returning); then H (abbreviation for hard) + CT (abbreviation for court), also reversed (likewise).
23 CONVOY
This protected by Asdic on voyage? (6)
Hidden answer (protected by . . .) in [asdi]C ON VOY[age].

Clue-as-definition: ASDIC was the codename for early 20th century prototypes of sonar systems, developed by the Anti-Submarine Division of the British Navy, to protect convoys of ships from enemy submarines.
24 WALTER
Women change, becoming male (6)
W (abbreviation for women) + ALTER (change).

A man’s name.
26 OBITUARY
Report of a good innings, remarkable one with your bat (8)
Anagram (remarkable) of I (one in Roman numerals) + YOUR BAT.

Innings in the sense of a life well lived, especially a long one: “he had a good innings”.
27 TYRE
Sound of exhaust, one of four on Lambo? (4)
Homophone (sound) of TIRE (exhaust, as a verb = make someone weary).

One of four tyres on a Lamborghini, for example.
28 BAKING SODA
Overdose in graduate college, top grade white powder (6,4)
OD (abbreviation for overdose), inserted into BA (graduate = one with a bachelor’s degree) + KING’S (a college in Cambridge, London, or elsewhere) + A (top grade in an examination).
DOWN
2 EPISODE
Record India’s poetry for programme (7)
EP (abbreviation for extended-play record) + I’S (I = abbreviation for India) + ODE (poem).

A single TV or radio programme that is part of a longer series.
3 INFORMATION
News of independent country taking shape (11)
I (abbreviation for independent) + NATION (country), containing (taking) FORM (shape).
4 DEAFENING
Clergyman sliced with iron during golf, so blasted (9)
DEAN (clergyman) containing (sliced with) FE (Fe = chemical symbol for iron, from Latin ferrum), then IN (during) + G (Golf in the radio alphabet).

Blasted = deafening = very loud.
5 ALFRED HITCHCOCK
Father child at work with mate, shocking director (6,9)
Anagram (at work) of FATHER CHILD, then COCK (mate = informal address to a friend).

Director of thrillers (films that shock).
6 DIRGE
Good to interrupt dreadful sad song (5)
G (abbreviation for good) interrupting DIRE (dreadful).
7 PAD
Director giving secretary a lift home (3)
D (abbreviation for director) after (below, in a down clue = giving a lift to) PA (abbreviation for personal assistant = secretary).

Slang for a home, especially a small flat for one person rather than a large house.
8 WHATNOT
Shelving unit that now wobbles (7)
Anagram (. . . wobbles) of THAT NOW.

An open shelving unit for displaying china or ornaments.
13 DELPHINIUMS
Simple Hindu arranged flowers (11)
Anagram (arranged) of SIMPLE HINDU.
16 ADDICTION
Habit back for good, in a manner of speaking (9)
Last letter (back) of [goo]D, in A + DICTION (manner of speaking).

As in “a cocaine habit”, perhaps with an extended definition: an addiction is a habit that can keep coming back “for good” in the sense of “for ever”.
18 ANOMALY
Inexplicable sight of a famous restaurant literally empty (7)
A + NOMA (a restaurant in Copenhagen with three Michelin stars, often found at the top of “best restaurant” lists) + L[iterall]Y (empty = inner letters removed).
20 FLOORED
E.g. 5D shortly clutching big white telephone, befuddled (7)
FRED (which could for example be short for Alfred, as in 5 down ALFRED HITCHCOCK) containing (clutching) LOO (toilet; “the big white telephone” is slang for a toilet in the context of being unwell and vomiting into one).

Befuddled = floored = confused.
22 THROB
Beat from start to finish of Beethoven’s first (5)
THRO’ (shortened form of “through” = from start to finish of) + first letter of B[eethoven].
25 TIE
Match level, wanting run at the end (3)
TIE[r] (level, as in top tier = top level) without the R (abbreviation for run, in cricket scoring) at the end).

As in “cup tie” = a scheduled match in a sports competition.

8 comments on “Independent 11,574 by Filbert”

  1. Lovely job – but then that’s what we are used to from Filbert. CORRIE, VARIEGATED, TOP NOTCH, CONVOY, OBITUARY, PAD (even though it’s only a short ‘un), DELPHINIUMS (cracking anagram spot) and ANOMALY were my favourites today.

    Thanks Filbert and Quirister

  2. Phew. That was a tough one

    I’d never heard of WHATNOW, and the specific reference in RIFF-RAFF/WHIFF-WHAFF flew completely over my head, so that was unparsed. CORRIE for coronation street didn’t spring to mind at all (and tbh neither did the cirque definition). DELPHINIUMS only rang the vaguest of bells, and I stared at “report of a good innings” for a long time before twigging. BEHINDHAND took longer than I’m happy to admit

    Favourites were ISHMAELITE, VARIEGATED and the nice surface in ANOMALY

  3. Tough but hugely enjoyable. I agree that VARIEGATED and ANOMALY were particularly good. Thanks, Filbert and Quirister!

    The mere mention of delphiniums takes me back to childhood and AA Milne’s The Dormouse and the Doctor with its “geraniums (red) and delphiniums (blue)”.

  4. I needed a bit of help to get this over the line. I got hung up on HITCH as a FLAW for FLOORED, so I was floored by a flawed homonym. TOP NOTCH and ANOMALY were my favourites today.

  5. The CORRIEs – so old they’re even coaevals of the soap – ‘were a Scottish folk group … particularly known for the song “Flower of Scotland” … which has become an unofficial national anthem of Scotland.’
    I liked FLOORED for the reference to calling God or Ralph or Huey on the “big white telephone”.
    Thanks F&Q

  6. Thanks both. Got there eventually whilst seeking assistance only with CORRIE as I did not know the Scottish meaning and might not have made the dish and Ben connection anyhow. Separately, I wonder how famous the Danish restaurant in ANOMALY is, and how many ALFREDs call themselves Fred and not Alf. VARIEGATED dawned on me late in the act, and a small quibble would be that VAR is a technological assistant to the referee, and certainly not the man or woman in the middle, for which true football fans should be grateful

  7. Not our scene today – we needed assistance with a good 50% of this. Never heard of ‘wiff-waff’ for table tennis and it was only by googling for ‘Wossy’ that we eventually worked out 9ac. We weren’t happy either with REDRAW. But we did get VARIEGATED, OBITUARY and BAKING SODA unaided.
    Thanks, Quirister (and Filbert)

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