Filbert sets the puzzle this Tuesday, which is often theme day in the Independent cryptic series.
It’s fairly clear after reading the clues that there is a theme today. Fourteen tracks from Simon & Garfunkel studio albums are used in the clues, as follows:
| Clue | Track | Original Studio Album | Year |
| 12a | Cloudy | Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme | 1966 |
| 14a | Somewhere They Can’t Find Me | Wednesday Morning 3am
Sounds Of Silence |
1964
1966 |
| 17a | Homeward Bound | Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme | 1966 |
| 19a | America | Bookends | 1968 |
| 21a | I Am A Rock | Sounds Of Silence | 1966 |
| 27a | Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme | Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme | 1966 |
| 1d | Bridge Over Troubled Water | Bridge Over Troubled Water | 1970 |
| 3d | Rose of Aberdeen | Sounds of Silence | 2001 reissue |
| 5d | The Boxer | Bridge Over Troubled Water | 1970 |
| 9d | The Sounds of Silence | Sounds of Silence | 1966 |
| 18d | Mrs Robinson | Bookends | 1968 |
| 21d | Feelin’ Groovy – full title The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy) | Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme | 1966 |
| 22d | Bookends | Bookends | 1968 |
| 24d | A Most Peculiar Man | Sounds of Silence
First released on a Paul Simon solo album, The Paul Simon Songbook in 1965 |
1966 |
All five studio albums released by Simon and Garfunkel are referenced by the song titles in the clues.
There are also thematic allusions in the grid, for example GRADUATE (reference the 1967 film for which the song Mrs Robinson was written) at 16 down.
Simon and Garfunkel performed under the name TOM AND JERRY, 10 across, from 1957 to the mid-1960s.
I believe Paul Simon and BOB DYLAN, 6 down, had a love-hate relationship for a number of years.
I am not clear on the parsing of DRY UP at 21 down and will not be surprised if solvers come up with a better interpretation than my attempt. I am also a little unhappy with my parsing of PAINT THE TOWN RED, but I’m hoping it is right.
Thanks to Filbert for packing in a good deal of thematic material.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 7 | Old novel certainly not returned (3-3)
ONE-WAY (proceeding, or permitting travel in one direction only; not returned) O (old) + NEW (novel) + AY (yes; certainly) O NE W AY |
| 8 | Dog brought over eccentric’s glasses (8)
BALLOONS (large globular wineglasses); LAB (LABrador dog) reversed (brought over) + LOON’S (belonging to a simple-minded or eccentric person) BAL< LOONS |
| 10 | Funny shorts for fellow radio presenter are wrong style, essentially (3,3,5)
TOM AND JERRY (Hanna Barbera cartoon characters featured in short films) TO (for) + MAN (fellow) + DJ (disc jockey; radio presenter) + ERR ([is] inaccurate; [is] wrong) + Y (middle letter of [essentially] stYle TO M AN D J ERR Y |
| 12 | Musicians such as 10 switched section of Cloudy (3)
DUO (descriptive of two musicians playing together) DUO (reversed [switched] hidden word in [section of] clOUDy DUO< |
| 13 | One hears special 12A, half of it Art (7)
AUDITOR (one who hears) Anagram of (special) DUO (entry at 12 across) and I (one of the two [half] letters in It) and ART AUDITOR* |
| 14 | Somewhere They Can’t Find Me covered by California group (7)
CAMELOT (in Arthurian legend, the English town where King Arthur’s palace and court were situated; a fictional location that will never be found) ME (contained in (covered by) (CA [California] + LOT [collection [group] of items or people) CA (ME) LOT |
| 15 | Hunter taking two fewer shots than expected (5)
EAGLE (a bird that hunts; hunter) EAGLE (in golf, a score of two under par [two fewer shots than expected] is referred to as an eagle) double definition EAGLE |
| 17 | Cry Homeward Bound (3)
MEW (a cat’s cry) MEW contained in (bound) hoMEWard MEW |
| 19 | America‘s folk snatches (5)
YANKS (snatches) YANKS (informal term for American people [folk]) double definition YANKS |
| 21 | Academic daughter tackles I Am A Rock (7)
DIAMOND (gemstone, jewel or rock [slang for a jewel, especially a diamond]) (DON [an academic] containing [tackles] [I AM]) + D (daughter) D (I AM) ON D |
| 23 | Friends wanting third, almost group of three great musicians (7)
MAESTRI (great musicians) MAtES (two friends) excluding (wanting) the third letter (third) + TRIo (group of three) excluding the final letter O (almost) MAES TRI |
| 25 | Anyone hearing sheep? (3)
YOU (anyone – Bradfords gives ‘you’ as a synonym for ‘anyone’) YOU (sounds like [hearing] EWE [female sheep]) YOU |
| 26 | Simon not in a revised list of possible award winners (11)
NOMINATIONS (names of possible candidates for awards) Anagram of (revised) SIMON NOT IN A NOMINATIONS* |
| 27 | Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme different on piano? Rubbish (8)
POTHERBS (plants like parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, that are used in cooking for seasoning and flavour) P (piano) + OTHER (different) + BS (bullshit; rubbish) P OT HER BS |
| 28 | Musicians’ smooth act now intermittently on stage (6)
LEGATO (a musical term directing that the music be played smoothly and connectedly) LEG (stage of a race) + ATO (letters 1, 3 and 5 [intermittently] of AcT nOw) LEG ATO |
| Down | |
| 1 | Someone playing Bridge Over Troubled Water interrupted by loud app? (8)
SOFTWARE (an app is a piece of software) (S [South; designation of someone playing the card game Bridge]) + O [over] + an anagram of [troubled] WATER) containing (interrupted by) F (forte; loud) S O (F) TWARE* |
| 2 | Marines in trench coming up given a wave (6)
PERMED (given a permanent wave at the hairdressers) RM (Royal Marines) contained in (in) DEEP (term denoting a trench in the ocean, such as the Marianas Trench in the Pacific) reversed (coming up; down entry) PE (RM) ED< |
| 3 | Make Art in Rose of Aberdeen perhaps whoop it up (5,3,4,3)
PAINT THE TOWN RED (enjoy a bout of unbridled revelry or celebration; whoop it up) PAINT (make art) + THE TOWN RED (rose is a red colour and Aberdeen is a [Scottish] town. Aberdeen football club play in red) PAINT THE TOWN RED |
| 4 | Fibrous structure of super grains releasing energy (6)
FABRIC (cloth made from yarn or fibres; fibrous structure) FAB (FABulous; super) + RICe (grains) excluding (releasing) E (energy) FAB RIC |
| 5 | Suspect my lady of damage caused by rubbing around The Boxer (5,10)
FLOYD MAYWEATHER (reference Floyd Mayweather Junior [born 1977], an undefeated World Champion at five different boxing weights. His father, Floyd Mayweather Senior [born 1952], is a current boxing trainer and former boxer) Anagram of (damage) MY LADY OF + (WEAR [rubbing] containing (around) THE) Wordplay updated as a result of comment 3 below to : Anagram of (suspect) MY LADY OF + (WEAR [damage caused by rubbing] containing (around) THE) FLOYD MAY* WEA (THE) R |
| 6 | Paul Simon’s like, terribly bald and bony (3,5)
BOB DYLAN (reference Bob Dylan [born 1941], American singer songwriter. I think Paul Simon had a love-hate relationship with Bob Dylan. I can’t find a Simon song called ‘Like Bob Dylan’) Anagram of (terribly) BALD and BONY BOB DYLAN* |
| 9 | Say, greatly amplifying The Sound of Silence abroad (5)
SHOUT (speak [say] loudly [greatly amplifying]) SH (an expression used to indicate a need for silence) + OUT (away; at large; abroad) SH OUT |
| 11 | Task getting bottom off strange drinking bowl (5)
JORUM (a large drinking bowl) JOb (task) excluding the final letter B (getting bottom off) + RUM (strange) JO RUM |
| 16 | Mark regularly argued at parties (8)
GRADUATE (mark at constant intervals [regularly]with units of measurement) Anagram of (parties) ARGUED AT GRADUATE* |
| 18 | Mrs Robinson possibly came first astride 16 (5)
WOMAN (Mrs Robinson is an example [possibly] of a woman) WON (came first) containing (astride) MA (a Master of Arts; a GRADUATE [entry at 16 down]) WO (MA) N |
| 20 | Careless kissers stop in case of STD (8)
SLIPSHOD (careless) (LIPS (kissers) + HO [instruction to a horse to stop]) contained in (in) SD (outer letters of [case of] StD) S (LIPS HO) D |
| 21 | Quiet air, Feelin’ Groovy (3,2)
DRY UP (become quiet) I’m not sure how this parses. The best I can think of is that DRY is an indication of how air feels [air feelin’] when it is not raining + UP [exciting; cool; groovy], but I think there will be a much better interpretation of the clue DRY UP |
| 22 | Releases covers of Bookends after trial recording? (6)
DEMOBS (demobilizes; releases from the armed forces) DEMO (demonstration recording or tape; trial recording) + BS (outer letters of [covers of] BookendS DEMO BS |
| 24 | Husband entertained by A Most Peculiar Man (6)
THOMAS (man’s name) H (husband) contained in (entertained by) an anagram of (peculiar) A MOST T (H) OMAS* |
I had dry as a verb I.e. to air and then up for feeling groovy but I can’t elaborate on the Rose of Aberdeen. Big ups for Floyd Mayweather appearing in the grid (nice charade) and for everything else. Quite a tussle as expected and I was a big fan of the duo and their mega hits so a very enjoyable theme day for me. Thanks duncan and Filbert.
Crikey. Like London buses. You wait a whole week for a Filbert then two turn up at once!
Duncan – I think the anagrind in the clue for FLOYD MAYWEATHER is ‘suspect’ with ‘damage caused by rubbing’ giving us WEAR?
As for DRY UP – to air is to DRY and Feelin Groovy is UP?
PostMark @ 3
Thanks – you are absolutely right. I completely ignored the word ‘suspect’.
I have updated the wordplay in the table above.
Phew! I’m glad I had a friend to help as this was a two-brainer. Neither of us felt he would get very far on his own. It was a puzzle very reminiscent of old Tramp crosswords but harder. I felt some of the definitions were a bit forced to fit the theme, in particular BOB DYLAN (ok, they are both singer songwriters) and CAMELOT. I particularly liked SOFTWARE.
Yep, a deffo dnf in freo; needed help for the boxer, vaguely familiar but too lazy to grind. And only twigged to brandy balloons after revealing the b. Ta both, will now stream a soap … about where my brain’s at.
3d is a real stretch. I suppose ‘make art in rose’ = ‘paint (in) red’, so if you were painting a picture of Aberdeen in a single colour you might be painting the town red. Except that Aberdeen (the one in Scotland, anyway) is a city. To borrow from Hovis@5, this seems like wordplay forced to fit the theme – and then some! I suspect it will baffle those who do not spot the theme, or are not familiar with S&G’s less well-known tracks.
Quite chuffed with having managed this despite minimal knowledge of the DUO. LOI BALLOONS (NHO in that sense), although DRY UP was unparsed. 3d: paint Aberdeen in rose maybe? No I’m not satisfied either.
More importantly though: my first glimpse of JORUM in its original sense! That got a warm fuzzy feeling. A pure wordplay solve, followed by “…hang on, I know this word.” And now I know its other meaning as well!
This seems to have got a mixed reaction so far but I found it a real tour de force. Great fun, and I was delighted to finish unaided, which I certainly don’t always achieve with Filbert. (I even dredged up MAYWEATHER from the recesses of my brain, making it easy to find the FLOYD from the remaining fodder.)
I had DRY UP as per others, and, if an artist were depicting a place such as Aberdeen in the colour rose then whimsically they could being said to be PAINTing THE TOWN RED. [Edit: cross-post with others; I think we’re all saying the same thing.] A matter of taste of course, but I found this and many other definitions very clever rather than forced, but then again I was tickled by the theme and the fact that it offered so much scope for playfulness such as the “divide-and-conquer”-style clues including “someone playing Bridge Over T W” and “amplifying The Sound Of S”.
As I was struggling with the POT bit of POTHERBS I wondered whether I was alone in thinking there might be a double bluff with Thyme turning out to be an anagram Nd the solution being MYTH something for the definition “Rubbish”.
Bravo Filbert, and thanks to duncanshiell
Faves were TOM AND JERRY and SLIPSHOD for the surfaces, POTHERBS and SOFTWARE for the inevitable yet tricky and clever use of the theme, and LEGATO for the unlikely definition.
Bravo Filbert
[* Nd = and
And apologies for the cut-and-paste error with the final paragraphs.
The reduced 4-minute edit time isn’t much when fat-fingering on our phones!]
I decided against the interpretation that Aberdonians would serve rosė rather a full-bodied red, and I don’t think “a rose red city, half as old as time” refers to Aberdeen. I thought WOMAN was a bit spicy.
Ooh I got WOMAN preemptively having not yet solved 16d GRADUATE, so I didn’t notice just how good (and indeed spicy) a clue it was! Tx Petert@11
I took “Paul Simon’s Like” to mean someone like him, another singer.
Thanks both. Greatly enjoyed this, whilst sharing many of the views here particularly regarding PAINT THE TOWN RED (I read that Rose of Aberdeen is the name of a tartan, and it doesn’t look hugely red at all) and BOB DYLAN who I can accept was a fellow singer/songwriter whilst not the only (other) living boy in New York.
TFO@14 🙂 not the only (other) living boy in New York..
Re Peter’s comment @11 about the ”spicy” clue for WOMAN. I would add SLIPSHOD, FLOYD MAYWEATHER, and possibly THOMAS. (ok, I’ll stop looking now)
BOB DYLAN I think “Paul Simon’s like” is apt. Not only a fellow singer/songwriter but a fellow American folk s/s from a similar era. In fact, they were both born in 1941.
DRY UP I read as an imperative, Quiet!, like Shut up! but it also works as a verb in the indicative mood.
Enjoyed the theme, but it wasn’t needed for the solve, just a lovely distraction wandering down memory lane. Even if someone either wasn’t there or can’t remember the 60s and 70s, or doesn’t know the S&G songs, the signposts were really obvious with the use of quotation marks and a whole lot of other tips. I think it’s best summed up in the clue for YANKS, America’s folk.
I know next to nothing about boxers, except the cryptic favourite Ali. Had to winkle out the 5, 10 one here.
I really like Filbert’s use of contemporary language and that the clues read like comments made orally. I couldn’t see a single complete sentence as in text. That concision does help with the solve.
My picks were CAMELOT and SOFTWARE probably because I had to work a little bit harder to separate out the definition from the wordplay.
Postmark@2. I see that Filbert also sets as Guy in the Financial Times but couldn’t find him there in the past couple of days. Does he set somewhere else under another pseudonym? Keen to try another one.