Independent on Sunday 1,839 by Filbert

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Another Sunday, another tough nut to crack from Filbert.

I particularly enjoyed PHILANDER, ALISTAIR COOKE, the Rev Spooner larging it up, and BALLETIC for its pirouetting dog. I did find myself getting a bit bogged down in the SW corner though, and, as noted below, have a serious issue with 25ac. Nonetheless, many thanks to Filbert for an otherwise exemplary display of dextrously economical cluing.

MOH’s scale of cruciverbial hardness rating: Orthoclase

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1 CONGREGATE
Assemble trick grid which possibly splits (10)
CON (trick) + insertion (which … splits) of EG (possibly) inside GRATE (grid)
6 STUB
Remaining piece put back however small (4)
Reversal (put back) of BUT (however) + S
10 OFF-SPIN
Sort of ball hits leg (3-4)
OFFS (hits in the gangland sense) + PIN
11 LARGE IT
Glass of beer drunk by Spooner to celebrate (5,2)
Spoonerism of JAR (glass of beer) LIT (drunk). The definition suggests we’re back in the Queen Vic with Phil Mitchell
12 PURSE
Small clean trousers wrinkle (5)
Insertion (trousers) of S inside PURE
13 ORGANISER
Runner with hoop earrings jogged (9)
O (hoop) + anagram (jogged) of EARRINGS
14 INEXPENSIVELY
Cheap wine not opened by thoughtful lady on vacation (13)
Charade of INE (wINE not opened) + X (by) + PENSIVE + LY (LadY on vacation). It’s very sly to use what looks like an adjective to define an adverb, but a phrase like “I bought it cheap” would seem to bear it out
18 ALISTAIR COOKE
Celebrity chef on broadcast filling in met old BBC correspondent (8,5)
A-LIST COOK (celebrity chef) around AIR (broadcast) + E (filling in mEt), for the great Anglo-American journalist whose Letter from America aired weekly on BBC radio for 58 years
20 LEASTWAYS
Field remains full of wheat, initially at any rate (9)
LEA (field) + STAYS (remains) around (full of) W (wheat initially)
23 UP TOP
Presumably nothing from Q in your mind (2,3)
The letters of the alphabet “up to P” suggest there’s nothing from Q onwards
24 TWOFOLD
Binary judgment’s backing women as they were long ago (7)
T (last letter – backing – of judgment) + W + OF OLD (as they were long ago)
25 CANNOLI
£1 for the last of 26 Italian pastries (7)
Changing the last letter of CANT (26ac) for LI (£1) gives CANLI. So to get to CANNOLI (the tasty Sicilian speciality) we presumably have to take the first of 26ac’s twin definitions (CAN’T) and expand it to CANNOT. I don’t feel this is an entirely fair strategy, but do please set me straight if you disagree…
26 CANT
Lack the strength to lean over (4)
Double definition (the first unavoidably lacking its apostrophe), the second referring to how a ship, say, might lean in heavy seas
27 IRREVERENT
Cheeky Irish always cutting payment to landlord (10)
IR (Irish) + insertion (cutting) of EVER inside RENT
DOWN
1 CHOPPY
Rough like sensei’s blows? (6)
Double definition, the latter referring to blows from a martial arts instructor or sensei
2 NEFERTITI
African Queen worked free in time, then it capsized (9)
Anagram (worked) of FREE IN T + reversal (capsized, in a down clue) of IT. Nothing to do with the Katharine Hepburn/Humphrey Bogart vehicle
3 REPRESENTATION
Agency helping to keep European here (14)
Envelope (to keep) of E + PRESENT (here) inside RATION (helping)
4 GONZO
Eccentric left collection of animals with tails removed (5)
GONe (left) + ZOo (collection of animals) minus their last letters (with tails removed). I’ve only reallyy come across the term “gonzo” in relation to the writings of Hunter S Thompson and other journalists, but apparently it’s also used to describe anything unconventional or extreme
5 TELEGENIC
Youth I see across stage attractive on set (9)
Insertion (across) of LEG (stage) in TEEN I C
7 TRESS
Worry the top comes off lock (5)
sTRESS (worry) minus its first letter (the top comes off)
8 BETA RAYS
Radiation unintentionally reveals the inside of car parts (4,4)
Envelope (parts) of A (inside of cAr) inside BETRAYS. I’m not sure the word “unintentionally” is strictly necessary
9 GRANDILOQUENCE
OTT style Colin developed with drag queen (14)
Anagram (developed) of COLIN DRAG QUEEN
15 PHILANDER
Grant’s brother and ‘is woman play around (9)
Charade of PHIL (Mitchell, EastEnders character, brother of Grant Mitchell) + AND (from surface) + ER (“her” without the aspirate, ‘is woman in a London accent)
16 ELECTRODE
Conductor designate travelled by bike (9)
ELECT (designate, as in “president-elect”) + RODE
17 BALLETIC
Name large dog that pirouettes after Nureyev, perhaps (8)
Reversal (that pirouettes) of CITE + L + LAB
19 A POINT
Not all Gestapo interrogations done nicely (1,5)
Hidden answer in GestAPO INTerrogations, for the French term for steak cooked medium or, more generally, for anything done “just right”
21 ADORN
Party in a navy dress (5)
Insertion of DO (party) into A RN (a Royal Navy)
22 SUCRE
Ecuador’s capital no longer safe around clubs (5)
Envelope (around) of C inside SURE, for the former currency of Ecuador. Confusingly, Sucre is also the name of one of Bolivia’s two centres of government (the other being La Paz)

17 comments on “Independent on Sunday 1,839 by Filbert”

  1. I had ticks for STUB, OFF-SPIN (though that’s two days in a row that RD’s had to stomach an un-indicated ‘off’ 😉), LEASTWAYS, IRREVERENT, NEFERTITI, REPRESENTATION, GRANDILOQUENCE, ELECTRODE and the splendid ADORN.

    I did struggle to parse satisfactorily a couple though. Yes, there is the intermediate step identified by MOH in CANNOLI. I would have thought ‘cheaply’ was the synonym for INEXPENSIVELY – the example of ‘I got it cheap’ is surely using vernacular grammar? I also found the equivalence of CANT and ‘lack the strength’ a bit of a stretch though it was clear what the setter was thinking.

    Thanks Filbert and MOH

  2. BETA RAYS
    betray (Collins online)
    If you betray a feeling or quality, you show it without intending to.
    He nodded his head instead of saying anything, where his voice might betray him.
    ‘unintentionally reveals’ seems okay. ‘unintentionally’: strictly not necessary? Not sure.
    CANNOLI
    I am split between the blogger’s view and ‘it’s a novel device’.
    PHILANDER
    Liked for
    ‘is woman =’ER
    INEXPENSIVELY, ALISTAIR COOKE and GRANDILOQUENCE were my other faves.
    SUCRE
    Yes.Clever.
    Great puzzle. Excellent blog.
    Thanks Filbert and MOH.

  4. I think Philander is one of The Rev’s classics in Eileen’s little book, although his Phil was ‘ER’s ‘usband.
    Cannoli was a bung — expanding can’t to cannot too hard for the ginf grey cells. Couple of others — balletic, and cheap minus -ly, took a hard stare. And great to be reminded of Alistair Cooke … he was a bit pompous but a stalwart chronicler.
    Thanks for the enjoyment Filbert and Moh.

  5. Google dictionary’s second def for betray is ‘unintentionally reveal’ with the example given being ‘ she drew a deep breath that betrayed her indignation’ and that’s the sense intended by Filbert as opposed to the treacherous kind of betrayal. I liked TWOFOLD and ALISTAIR COOKE brought back memories of his Letter from America and his voice (and a time when things seemed more stable). Google AI says ‘his voice was characterized by its warmth, charm, and an almost purring quality’ with which I agree although AI wasn’t alive when he was reporting. Thanks MOH and Filbert.

  6. No more, Mr. Nice Guy, from Filbert – a tough challenge, for me. Many of my solves were “definition-led”:- get the solution first, then unravel the wordplay.
    One such, African Queen, (2d), a superb clue, ditto, the movie. It helped, I have a portrait tapestry of NEFERTITI hanging over my desk….looking uncannily like Naga Munchetty, the BBC presenter. Beautiful women, both.
    ALISTAIR COOKE (18ac), was another, ( not a beautiful woman, but “solution before wordplay”). And, indeed, BBC presenter.
    Literally, a BBC “correspondent” , whose “Letter from America” ran for nearly 60 years, ( or 70, if including its forerunner, “Letter from London”, sent to Americans).
    Surely, one of the best things the BBC has done? What a voice, what a raconteur.
    Today’s Filbert is an engrossing puzzle, 100% wonderfully-clued.
    As Brucie Forsyth might have said, “every one’s my favourite!”
    I had a brain glitch over whether “UP TO P “, (23ac), is more exactly ” nothing from P”, rather than Q, but the setter wins.
    8(d), BETA RAYS, here, I feel “unintentionally” is needed, to allude to one who reveals a trait of their a character, without meaning to, such as, “to betray a nasty streak”.
    I can’t/cannot fault this crossword on any level, to try to do so would be irreverent.
    My hat is very high in the air, cheers F & MOH

  7. Thanks both. I was short of time today, so perhaps resorted to assistance sooner than usual, but I found this very tough. Didn’t know sensei in CHOPPY, would have little or no reason to remember SUCRE as an obscure redundant currency, and whilst I remembered Grant had a brother my allergic reaction to any soap opera deprived me of PHIL(ANDER) in the moment. Even OFF-SPIN I entered with hesitation, as I’d say it’s a type of bowling, not a type of ball.

  8. I’d only come across GONZO in relation to a Ted Nugent LP. And for the sake of everyone’s Sunday I won’t be linking an ear worm.

    All filled in, but no idea how CANNOLI or TWOFOLD worked, so thanks MOH for clearing that up. Favourite today was the A-list cook.

    Thanks Filbert.

  10. Challenging, and I was pleased to finish without resorting to help, particularly with some of the clueing coming at me down the corridor of uncertainty (CHOPPY, INEXPENSIVELY, CANNOLI).

    I only ever listened to Letter from America by accident when it happened to be on when I got in the car and the radio was on, but I found it impossible to turn off once I’d started listening and it was nice to be reminded of Mr Cooke. Wonder what he’d make of the current mess?

  11. ALISTAIR COOKE was the longtime presenter here of Masterpiece Theatre, a program on PBS that showed adaptations of classic (mostly British) novels. He also had a TV program (also on PBS) called Alistair Cooke’s America, whose appeal was that he showed the country through the eyes of effectively an outsider (even though he’d already been living here for a few decades by then).

    The puzzle was very tricky. CANNOLI was the only Italian pastry I could think of; once I plunked it in, the quirky wordplay led me immediately to CANT. I’m of the opinion that the device is fine, but not really scalable to other situations.

  12. mrp@11 I always assumed Alistair Cooke was an American, over years of being glued to his broadcasts.
    Turns out, he was born in Lancashire, and not far from where I was born.
    I am not sure if that is good news, to me , or not.

  13. Thanks Filbert. That was tough with a DNF for me. UP TOP, SUCRE, & 9d wouldn’t fall but I did like the bulk of this with INEXPENSIVELY, REPRESENTATION, GONZO, TELEGENIC, and BALLETIC being my top picks. Thanks MOH for the blog & parsing CANNOLI which was way beyond my abilities.

  14. Thanks all for the comments. With regard to BETA RAYS, I didn’t mean to suggest that “unintentionally” was incorrect – clearly one can betray feelings etc unintentionally. But can one not betray/reveal intentionally too? And given that Filbert is a setter who seems to prize economy of cluing (admirably so, to my mind), I thought “Radiation reveals the inside of car parts” would have been even better.
    As for CANNOLI, I’m going in the opposite direction and saying that the addition of one word would have soothed my miserableness: “£1 for the last of fully 26 Italian pastries”.
    As for GONZO, you’re right, Xmac @9 – hard to believe he didn’t spring immediately to mind!

  15. 18a
    I had Alastair Cook (former England cricket captain. Nickname: “Chef”) as a “soundalike” (broadcast) and then add the e at the end as per the explanation given.

    Right answer, completely wrong method?!

  16. Ian @12: Not the first time I’ve heard that. He never fully lost his British accent, but it faded. So he sounded British to Americans and American to Brits!

  17. gwd80 @15, I didn’t know about the cricketing Cooke’s nickname. That is very ingenious!

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