The hard-working Filbert brings us this Sunday’s Independent offering.
Filbert is very much the Indy regular these days. I always enjoy his/her puzzles: they can be devious and occasionally left-field, but they are always fair and invariably feature good surfaces. Several mentions of the humble potato here. Does that constitute a theme? Probably.
Across
1 Top Charlotte perhaps that 7A 17 wouldn’t buy?
JERSEY ROYAL
A cross-referenced clue is never favourite for stuck in their ways solvers like me who always want to start by solving 1 across. Further down, you will discover that 7A 17 gives you POT and ATOMISER. So what, you may well say. Until finally (literally, in the case of this solver) you realise that POT and ATOMISER can be rearranged to give you POTATO MISER. And one of them wouldn’t buy the variety on offer as the solution to this clue. A charade of JERSEY and ROYAL, Charlotte being one of the future King’s rugrats.
7 Cup to clear from the table
POT
A dd. The second reference is to snooker.
9 Chum, say, keeps near sons to watch them
BABYSIT
An insertion of BY and S in BAIT and a slightly extended definition. The insertion indicator is ‘keeps’. ‘Chum, say’ is BAIT because Pedigree Chum is a brand of dog food and dog food is an option as bait for anglers to catch certain types of fish. Unless someone has a better idea.
10 Stock nice and hot, apparently
KINDRED
A charade of KIND and RED.
11 Water now overheating changed at once, saving time
OCEAN
(A[T]ONCE)* with ‘changed’ as the anagrind. A nod to the warming climate.
12 Six ancient characters in salmon river, fun they’re too old for?
VIDEO GAME
A charade of VI for ‘six’ and OGAM inserted into DEE. The insertion indicator is ‘in’ and the definition is again slightly extended. OGAM is an ancient Irish alphabet.
13 Charlie avoids metaphysics that’s tricky to understand
SYMPATHISE
(METAPHYSI[C]S)* with ‘that’s tricky’ as the anagrind. C for Charlie is from the phonetic alphabet.
16 Maybe love one’s self
EGO
A charade of EG for exempli gratia and O.
18 Reduction in blue-green colour makes water browner
TEA
TEA[L]
20 Possible mistake will happen, adding 24 to 1A?
MURPHY’S LAW
A charade of MURPHY, slang for a potato (1A) and SLAW, a salad (24d). The law that says whatever can go wrong will go wrong, named after American aerospace engineer Edward A Murphy Jr. Its corollary is Muphry’s Law, which states that any comment correcting a typo or other written error will itself contain a typo. This latter law has been shown to be true on Fifteensquared threads. Often.
23 Germans cooked King Edward, presenting fish-eater with bill
MERGANSER
More potatoes, in the surface at least. A charade of (GERMANS)* with ‘cooked’ as the anagrind, and ER for Edward Rex. The obligatory Pierre bird link shows you the Common Merganser, sometimes called the ‘fish-duck’; other names are goosander and sawbill. Look carefully at the picture and you’ll see its serrated bill, which it uses to catch its piscatorial prey.
25 Authoritative police officer grabs teacher from behind
CRISP
An insertion of SIR in PC, all reversed. The insertion indicator is ‘grabs’ and the reversal indicator is ‘from behind’. More potatoes.
26 Small Swiss bank given BP’s business finds hidden dirt
SUBSOIL
A charade of S, UBS and OIL.
27 City I see returning after holiday
TRIPOLI
A charade of TRIP and I, LO reversed.
28 Verity’s inside a trench
RUT
[T]RUT[H]
29 Washington research probes lately formed humanitarian group
RED CRESCENT
An insertion of DC for District of Columbia and RES in RECENT. The insertion indicator is ‘probes’.
Down
1 Various purchases stain after juice tipped
JOB LOT
A charade of a reversal of OJ for orange juice and BLOT.
2 Elastic gets old for uniform, a worry for security guard?
ROBBERY
Filbert is inviting you to replace the U for the phonetic alphabet ‘uniform’ in RUBBERY with an O.
3 Stain entered beneath the first of eight o’s
EOSIN
A charade of E for the initial letter of ‘eight’, OS and IN.
4 Tiller that goes up and down?
ROTAVATOR
The clue relies on the fact that ROTAVATOR is a palindrome.
5 Bound to serve half of your King Edward
YOKED
A charade of YO[UR], K and ED. A word most commonly heard in The Norman Yoke, the alleged feudalism imposed after William the Conquerer’s arrival in 1066. Before potatoes were invented.
6 Unsociable types bored by fellow citizens
LONDONERS
An insertion of DON in LONERS. The insertion indicator is ‘bored by’.
7 Freight left on time
PORTAGE
A charade of PORT and AGE.
8 Irresistible mashed, fried too
TO DIE FOR
(FRIED TOO)* with ‘mashed’ as the anagrind. Don’t forget roasties.
14 Clean up old man with grim haircut
POMPADOUR
A charade of MOP reversed, PA and DOUR. The reversal indicator is ‘up’, since it’s a down clue.
15 Someone who got what was coming to them?
INHERITOR
A cd.
17 Spray from storm in Timor Sea
ATOMISER
(TIMOR SEA)* with ‘storm in’ as the anagrind.
19 Label whale starting from the rear flipper?
ACROBAT
A reversal of TAB and ORCA.
21 Fatty ordered pie and soda
ADIPOSE
(PIE SODA)* with ‘ordered’ as the anagrind.
22 River choked by sediment not so nice now
SPOILT
An insertion of PO in SILT. The insertion indicator is ‘choked by’.
24 Upset daughter regrettably shows cold side
SALAD
A reversal of D and ALAS.
25 US police show cool in case of crisis
CHIPS
An insertion of HIP in CS for the outside letters of ‘crisis’. The insertion indicator is ‘in’ and CHIPS is a US TV police show that no-one has ever heard of. But it keeps the potato theme going.
Many thanks to Filbert for this Sunday’s puzzle.
Brilliant fun. Liked how the clue for 3d leads into row 2 of the grid. Very clever stuff.
Thanks Flibert and Pierre!
Superb puzzle. Great blog.
Loved J ROYAL, B-SIT, M LAW, R CRESCENT, EOSIN and T D FOR.
Potayto, potahto? No. There is so much variety.
EOSIN
Looks like a different type of CAD hinting towards the eight O’s
in the second row and the BLOT/stain below the first of these O’s.
Edit: Hovis beat me to it.
BABY-SIT
From Wiki:
Chumming (American English from Powhatan) is the blue water fishing practice of throwing meat-based ground bait called “chum” into the water…
This or the one that the blogger says or something else, chum=BAIT looks fine.
Another splendid puzzle. My tops are Jersey Royal (Potato Miser), Murphy’s Law and Eosin (now I have been enlightened by the comments above). Thanks Pierre for the blog and Filbert for the entertainment. Much appreciated.
What a great puzzle! Enhanced by the mini theme. Loved Potato Miser Murphy Slaw etc.
Thanks Filbert and Pierre
Now explained Eosin by posters above is brilliant
Yes, well done for the spot about EOSIN. Another layer to the puzzle’s enjoyment.
Great stuff from Filbert as usual. And indeed the first two rows together give you JERSEY ROYAL POT-eight-os!
Thanks both.
A POMPADOUR is also a kind of potato. Another gem of a puzzle from Filbert. I remembered chum from wildlife documentaries about sharks. Thanks all.
Thanks for the blog. I hate to contradict you, but I am familiar with CHIPS, an ancient series based on the absurd fiction that the work of traffic cops (the California HIghway Patrol) is exciting and entertaining.
Nice to see a puzzle with an International Kidney.
1a – “Charlotte being one of the future King’s rugrats” and another pot8o. “Got any Os?” Yes, 8.
Really excellent puzzle. Great fun and very cleverly done.
[And we mustn’t forget POT O O O O O O O O (1773-1800).]
Superb puzzle, most entertaining. Thanks, Filbert and Pierre.
Ian SW3 @9 – same here, the adventures of Jon and Ponch were a Saturday evening staple of my childhood. Although, to be honest, the brilliant theme tune is what I remember most about it now.
Amoeba @7 (echoed by FrankieG @13). I must admit I didn’t spot that. Just as I thought this puzzle couldn’t get any better…
Late commenting, but OMG what a brilliant puzzle. I wish I could say that I had spotted the POT 8 Os but thanks to Amoeba @7 and FrankieG @13 for being so clever and pointing it out. And of course to Filbert for devising it, and to Pierre, whose blogs I always enjoy reading.
Great puzzle!