The puzzle is available to solve online or download here.
Hello everyone. I didn’t quite manage this unaided, turning to an internet search with three to go. I couldn’t get the Spanish point at 8d despite knowing what I was looking for and having all the letters and most of the checkers. I hadn’t even come up with a possible first word – except that the moment I hit enter I realised it would likely be the one I’d just used in my search. But the lure of the list was now irresistible …
With the cape identified, the final two fell: first POSTAL at 10a, then a tentative IPPON (6d) based on wordplay only.
Before that it felt challenging, but things fell steadily, with all the usual pleasure that solving a good quality puzzle brings. I liked 25a, NOAH’S ARK, but I think for my favourite clues I’ll pick 18 and 22d, CHIANTI and TURPS – not a cocktail I’d advise anywhere except in a crossword grid. Thanks Filbert!
Definitions are underlined in the clues below. In the explanations, most quoted indicators are in italics, specified [deletions] are in square brackets, and I’ve capitalised and emboldened letters which appear in the ANSWER. For clarity, I omit most link words and some juxtaposition indicators.
| Across | |
| 1a | Arguing with dad, getting into spirits, teenage trouble (7,5) |
| GROWING PAINS — ROWING (arguing) and PA (dad) getting into GINS (spirits) | |
| 9a | Weathercocks on English church vanish (8) |
| EVANESCE — VANES (weathercocks) by (on) E (English) + CE (church) | |
| 10a | Sent after the French in retreat (6) |
| POSTAL — POST (after) + LA (the French) backwards (in retreat) | |
| 11a | Large area breakdown service covers remains subject to review (4) |
| ASIA — AA (breakdown service) surrounds (covers) IS (remains) reversed (subject to review) | |
| 12a | Spooner’s someone who played Cowboys and Indians for mental activity (10) |
| BRAINWAVES — A Spoonerism of WAYNE (John, someone who played Cowboys) and BRAVES (Indians) | |
| 13a | Butchered head on stick (6) |
| ADHERE — An anagram of (butchered) HEAD + RE (on) | |
| 14a | Blithe director switched live broadcast (8) |
| DEBONAIR — D (director) + a reversal of (switched) BE (live) + ON AIR (broadcast) | |
| 16a | That woman caught casing supermarket dealing in arms (8) |
| HERALDIC — HER (that woman) and C (caught) around (casing) ALDI (supermarket) | |
| 19a | Ugly beast concealed natural beauty (6) |
| ORCHID — ORC (ugly beast) + HID (concealed) | |
| 21a | Support for writer really bored by criticism in Ireland (10) |
| ESCRITOIRE — SO (really) with insertion of (bored by) CRIT (criticism), all in EIRE (Ireland) | |
| 23a | Voice instruction to open Format menu? (4) |
| ALTO — ALT+O (instruction to open Format menu?) | |
| 24a | Rats black and not black, presumably (6) |
| BOTHER — B (black) + OTHER (not black, presumably) | |
| 25a | Flipping reckless cutting new tree for DIY project after storm warning (5,3) |
| NOAHS ARK — Going backwards (flipping) RASH (reckless) dividing (cutting) N (new) and OAK (tree) | |
| 26a | Is no more fuel in can confirmed? It’s a non-renewable resource (7,5) |
| WASTING ASSET — WAS (is no more) + GAS (fuel) in between TIN (can) and SET (confirmed) | |
| Down | |
| 2d | Text read by minister, my suggestion for vin rosé (7,7) |
| REVISED VERSION — The answer could be Filbert’s clue for VIN ROSÉ: an anagram of (REVISED) VERSION | |
| 3d | Cop caught by reduction in force is hopeful (7) |
| WANNABE — NAB (cop) inside (caught by) WANE (reduction in force) | |
| 4d | See blonde misapplied red running down face? (9) |
| NOSEBLEED — SEE BLONDE anagrammed (misapplied) | |
| 5d | Charity supports US criminal upset with charges met earlier (7) |
| PREPAID — AID (charity) goes under (supports) PERP (US criminal) reversed (upset) | |
| 6d | Winning score one put up for seed playing (5) |
| IPPON — The I (one) in PIP (seed) is raised (put up). This is followed by ON (playing). A winning score in judo and karate | |
| 7d | American feeds permanently dirty bear (7) |
| SUSTAIN — US (American) goes into (feeds) STAIN (permanently dirty) | |
| 8d | Spanish point out Tenerife is crap (4,10) |
| CAPE FINISTERRE — Anagrammed (out), TENERIFE IS CRAP | |
| 15d | Missile German shot with shocking noise overhead (9) |
| BOOMERANG — An anagram of (… shot) GERMAN with BOO (shocking noise) above (overhead) | |
| 17d | Where old fighter might roll up? (3,4) |
| AIR SHOW — Cryptic definition | |
| 18d | American filling punch with vermouth turned red (7) |
| CHIANTI — A (American) inside (filling) CHIN (punch) + IT (vermouth) reversed (turned) | |
| 20d | Charles with Anne as his relation in carriage (7) |
| CHASSIS — CHAS (Charles) + SIS (Anne as his relation) | |
| 22d | Root vegetables out of Northern Ireland could be thinner (5) |
| TURPS — TUR[ni]PS (root vegetables) missing (out of) NI (Northern Ireland) | |
Like our blogger, I ran into problems at the end. In my case, WASTING ASSET simply never came to mind and WANNABE is a word I know but have never knowingly used. Luckily, I recalled the Spanish cape – having first plumped for Cape Trafalgar until realising the fodder didn’t support it. ALTO was a bung from the def and crossers – I don’t (to my knowledge) have ALT O on my Mac. Faves inc ADHERE, HERALDIC, NOAH’S ARK, BOOMERANG and TURPS.
Thanks Filbert and Kitty
I was also held up in the north east. I had the Spanish point because cape came to mind immediately and the anagram fodder supported it, and an online map search gave me the name I was looking for. But it took me ages to enter POSTAL even though I had thought of it and it is so very obvious now. I was after a verb rather than an adjective which is possibly intended misdirection. IPPON required a word search. Up until that point I was thinking how clever it was of the setter to supply a crossword that took ages (for me) to solve but which used a very simple lexicon. So, beaten at the finish line and needing a lie down. Thanks for the blog and thanks Filbert. Looking forward to next Sunday.
My faves: GROWING PAINS, ADHERE, NOAHS ARK, REVISED VERSION and CHASSIS.
AIR SHOW
Didn’t understand the role of the ‘old’ in the clue.
Thanks Filbert and Kitty
Finisterre may be familiar to some as one of the sea areas of the Shipping Forecast, though it (the sea area, not the cape) was renamed to Fitzroy in 2002.
Thanks both. I expect a tough but eventually yielding puzzle from Filbert, and this fitted the bill, perhaps at the upper end of difficulty. I then came here to be met with ‘Error establishing database connection’; quite ironic! LOI ALTO with the assumption this works for a Windows PC, not a Mac. I took the ‘old fighter’ in AIR SHOW to be the aircraft, with the rider you wouldn’t do so in a modern one for a number of reasons including national security.
All the favourites already mentioned were great, but BRAINWAVES was my favourite for the separation of Cowboys and Indians and I , unlike many here, like a good Spoonerism.
I too had to ask the Internet for a list of capes in Spain, and my word-finder couldn’t find IPPON (which feels like a place where the setter was backed into a corner). Otherwise, I agree that you’d describe this as tough but slowly yielding.
KVa@3 I think “old fighter” in 17D is a reference to a vintage WWII fighter plane, such as a Spitfire or Hurricane that might make an appearance these days in a UK air show. See https://www.military-airshows.co.uk/press25/bbmfschedule2025.htm
Just tried alt-o in Word and it doesn’t do anything, so maybe there’s another explanation? Or an old version?
Ericw @ 9
Alt-O is a standard for fOrmat, as Alt-F is used for File. I’m amazed it doesn’t work in your Word (I don’t have Word here), but it definitely does in Google Docs, which copies a lot of conventions from Word.