Filbert in his now customary Independent on Sunday slot brings us his usual combination of carefully constructed surfaces and sometimes intricate wordplay.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Machine that supplies more tightly packed boxes is quiet
DISPENSER
An insertion of IS and P in DENSER. The insertion indicator is ‘boxes’.
6 Bishop must return to queen’s boudoir
BOWER
A charade of B, OWE and R.
9 Love playing football?
NIL
A cd. Sunderland two, Newcastle United nil.
10 Smartie from vividly coloured box kid’s opening
BRIGHT SPARK
A charade of BRIGHT, SPAR and K for the initial letter of ‘kid’.
11 Silly jargon posh doctor fed to mother and father of 8?
MUMBO-JUMBO
An insertion of U for ‘posh’ and MB for ‘doctor’ in MUM and BOJO. The insertion indicator is ‘fed to’, and BOJO is the not at all missed PM and MP Boris Johnson, who is allegedly the father of eight children by an unspecified number of mothers. I care less.
12 Chas Hodges hiding in Boots?
SHOD
Hidden in ChaS HODges.
14 Miraculous wedding venue daughter saw on the inside, Celine Dion’s home once
CANADA
A charade of CANA, D and A for the inner letter of ‘saw’. Celine Dion is Canadian. Other singers in this category are Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young …
15 100 litres in a round cooking pot
CAULDRON
A charade of C and L inserted into (A ROUND)* The insertion indicator is ‘in’ and the anagrind is ‘cooking’.
17 Level of interest shown by Spooner’s hare at the dog track?
BASE RATE
A Spoonerism of RACE BAIT.
18 Only half studying insects book, put Six Feet down?
ENTOMB
A charade of ENTOM[OLOGY] and B.
21 Virtuous releasing maiden from one’s trap
ORAL
[M]ORAL
22 Invest wrongly, easily receive nothing
LAY SIEGE TO
A charade of (EASILY)*, GET and O. The anagrind is ‘wrongly’.
24 Crook got lad price for Higgs boson
GOD PARTICLE
(GOT LAD PRICE)* with ‘crook’ as the anagrind. The Higgs Boson is an elementary particle in the Standard Model of physics. In the 1960s, Peter Higgs postulated its existence from theory; it was only ‘discovered’ by scientists at CERN in 2013. Its nickname, the GOD PARTICLE, comes from a book by physicist Leon Lederman, but is not appreciated by all physicists (including Peter Higgs), since most of them don’t do god.
25 Do away with unlimited tariffs
AXE
[T]AXE[S] and a timely clue given the current dispute over who can levy the highest tariffs on other countries.
26 Mobile service provider without ties, according to Danny Dyer?
THREE
THREE is a UK mobile service provider; Danny Dyer, being a ‘cockney’, would pronounce it as FREE.
27 Trousers spinner gives close fielder
SHORTSTOP
A charade of SHORTS and TOP for the baseball position.
Down
1 Detectives eating lots turned up full of beans
DYNAMIC
An insertion of MANY in CID, all reversed. The insertion indicator is ‘eating’.
2 Melanesian for one day, I lie about
SOLOMON ISLANDER
A charade of SOLO, MON, I and SLANDER.
3 Fictitious details troubled bride more, close to ceremony
EMBROIDERY
A charade of (BRIDE MORE)* and Y for the last letter of ‘ceremony’. The anagrind is ‘troubled’.
4 Slope, white and cordial in fine weather
SKI RUN
An insertion of KIR in SUN. The insertion indicator is ‘in’.
5 Large bottle tramp wrapped with much paper
REHOBOAM
An insertion of HOBO in REAM. The insertion indicator is ‘wrapped with’.
6 How might kids get to school with Tesla on the blink?
BUST
A charade of BUS and T for the SI unit of magnetic flux density.
7 If quartet chosen to play on the radio, piece after the news?
WEATHER FORECAST
Aural wordplay (‘on the radio’) of WHETHER FOUR CAST.
8 Nuts near kid quickly piled up
RAKED IN
(NEAR KID)* with ‘nuts’ as the anagrind.
13 Finest street full of building society employees after evacuation
SLENDEREST
An insertion of LENDER and ES for the outside letters of ’employees’ in ST. The insertion indicator is ‘full of’.
16 Flooded land upset tennis organisers and opponents
ATLANTIS
A charade of LTA for Lawn Tennis Association reversed and ANTIS.
17 Little sibling that’s revolting teenager initially took along
BROUGHT
A charade of BRO, UGH and T for the initial letter of ‘teenager’.
19 Too many drinks, taking leak in bar that’s spinning
BOOZE-UP
An insertion of OOZE in PUB reversed. The insertion indicator is ‘taking … in’.
20 Wanting part from autopsy, choose nut
PSYCHO
Hidden in autoPSY CHOose.
23 Primitive accommodation English hoover up
CAVE
A reversal (‘up’ since it’s a down clue) of E VAC.
Many thanks to Filbert for this Sunday’s entertainment.
… since most of them don’t do god … yes and since attributing intent or motive to a particle (or a DNA molecule, or a gene) is specious …
Some lovely surfaces in here as well as some very pleasing constructions. The Spoonerism is one of the best I have seen in a while and the homophone-based clue for WEATHER FORECAST is beautifully done. Other gems, for me, include MUMBO JUMBO for the ‘father of 8’; CAULDRON for the surface; ORAL for the definition; GOD PARTICLE and DYNAMIC for surfaces again; BUST for the simplicity; BROUGHT – surface yet again and PSYCHO for the laugh.
Thanks Filbert and Pierre
I agree with PostMark and would add SLENDEREST to the list of great clues.
Me too, PostMark @2 has summed this up perfectly.
It was a tough nut to crack, and I am still scratching my head over 2 or 3. On which note….excellent blog, mon ami.
There are some brilliant clues and surfaces, and this setter never seems to disappoint.
Cheers, Filbert et Pierre
Seems a shame that by 5.30 pm, there are only 4 comments on this one. I wonder where everybody is?
Very few comments indeed. Must be the avatars.
Thanks to Filbert and Pierre.
(Shame 6a doesn’t quite meet the OPBL criteria.)
Yes, quite right, not nearly enough comments. Filbert and Pierre: diamond combination. Faves as Postmark @2, plus SLENDEREST, which I got after racking my brain for a building society beginning with L that wasn’t Leeds, Liverpool, LandG, and so on.
Everyone else at a fomo party??
For the record, I’ve been playing catch-up on the crosswords all weekend. It’s Monday afternoon here, and I’m up to date at last. No one will see this post, but I did like the fact that a SHORTSTOP was described as a close fielder rather than an infielder, so even I was thinking cricket.
[They recently changed the rules of baseball to require the SS to stand to the left (as viewed from home plate) of second base before the pitch is thrown. (Before that, it was custom rather than law, a custom that had been more and more frequently breached in the last two decades as extreme defensive shifts became more common; the powers that be decided that extreme shifts were unbalancing the game too much in favor of defense.)]
I saw your post, mrpenney. You are not alone.