Filbert in the customary Sunday slot
And, as we’ve come to expect from this setter, it’s a very enjoyable puzzle, with wit in the surfaces and concision in the wordplay. Favourites for me this week were the hair-tying teacher, the Hampshire opener who turns out to have nothing to do with cricket, the saucy biker’s outfit, the trouser-burning wife and Macron’s BROMANCE. But there were plenty of others to enjoy and admire, and I dare say you will nominate your own favourites.
Thanks to Filbert for the Sunday fun.
Moh’s eminently arguable cruciverbial hardness scale rating: Apatite
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | HEADMISTRESS |
Teacher made knots in his hair (12)
|
| Anagram (knots) of MADE inside HIS TRESS (his hair) | ||
| 9 | MOOTERS |
Practising lawyers troubling to Morse (7)
|
| Anagram (troubling) of TO MORSE, the answer alluding to a kind of mock trial known as a moot in which lawyers may practise their skills in advancing arguments on specific points of law (or so Wiki tells me) | ||
| 10 | AMANITA |
Bad mushroom trip’s beginning in a frenzy (7)
|
| T (trip’s beginning) inside A MANIA (a frenzy) for the genus of fungi that contains some highly toxic species, including the death cap and fly agaric, along with some edible ones
|
||
| 11 | REINSPECT |
Vet again checks animal that’s caught cold (9)
|
| REINS (checks) + PET around (that’s caught) C (cold) | ||
| 12 | LAGER |
Cheap fizz from Majestic brought round (5)
|
| Reversal (brought round) of REGAL. For those outside the UK, Majestic Wine is a major chain of wine stores, which gives the surface a bit more… fizz | ||
| 13 | HATFUL |
Hampshire’s opener exploited fault as much as bowler could bear? (6)
|
| H (Hampshire’s opener) + anagram (exploited) of FAULT, with a somewhat whimsical definition – the bowler of course being a hat, and nothing to do with cricket as the surface might suggest | ||
| 15 | WOOLLIES |
Offer suit to sell back, keeping current winter clothing (8)
|
| WOO (offer suit) + reversal (back) of SELL around (keeping) I (symbol for electrical current) | ||
| 18 | LEATHERS |
Biking kit verges on lingerie where she lives (8)
|
| LE (first and last letters, or verges, of lingerie) + AT HERS (where she lives) | ||
| 19 | ONAGER |
Ass kept hidden in apprehension, age-related (6)
|
| Hidden inside apprehensiON AGE Related. Def: the Asian wild ass, and one of those words I think I’ve only ever encountered in Crosswordland
|
||
| 21 | POTUS |
Premier turned up to speak, missing point? (5)
|
| Anagram (turned) of UP TO S (speak without peak, ie missing point), solution being an acronym for President Of The United States | ||
| 23 | MAUSOLEUM |
Keep quiet pinching gold, alone in the Taj Mahal? (9)
|
| MUM (quiet – keep quiet? I suppose, like ‘hush’, it could be used as an order) around (pinching) AU (chemical symbol for gold) + SOLE (alone). Question mark to indicate definition by example
|
||
| 25 | ABANDON |
Freedom from restraint which Glastonbury stage might have? (7)
|
| A stage at Glasto would very often have A BAND ON | ||
| 26 | MONSOON |
Sun now implying this rain? (7)
|
| If it’s Sun(day) now, that implies it will be MON(day) SOON | ||
| 27 | KINDERGARTEN |
School nerd retaking sports (12)
|
| Anagram (sports) of NERD RETAKING | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | EMOJI |
Meaningful picture from reading out Mog’s letters (5)
|
| Soundalike (reading out) of the letters that spell ‘mog’: Em, Oh, Gee | ||
| 3 | DEEP SOUTH |
Tear up unfashionable husband’s old cotton belt? (4,5)
|
| Reversal (up) of SPEED (tear, as in tear down the road) + OUT (unfashionable) + H, def referring to the former cotton-growing region of the US | ||
| 4 | ISSUED |
Faces court released to the public (6)
|
| IS SUED (faces court) | ||
| 5 | TRACTION |
Grip case with empty travelator ahead (8)
|
| TR (outer letters – ’empty’ – of TravelatoR) before ACTION (legal case) | ||
| 6 |
Message from girl I am excited about (5)
|
|
| Hidden reversal (from… about) in girL I AM Excited | ||
| 7 | SWINGEING |
Severe wife burning trousers (9)
|
| Insertion (trousers) of W inside SINGEING | ||
| 8 | HARRY S TRUMAN |
Play guitar supporting Prince, an old 21 (5,1,6)
|
| STRUM below (supporting) HARRY (prince) + AN (from surface) for the 33rd US president
|
||
| 9 | MARSHALL PLAN |
8’s scheme for regenerating height with everyone in chocolate factory shrunk? (8,4)
|
| H (height) + ALL (everyone) between MARS (chocolate bar) + PLAN (plant minus the T, so factory shrunk), definition referring to the post-WWII reconstruction and aid scheme for Europe enacted by the Truman administration | ||
| 14 | TOAST RACK |
B&B owner might stand round here (5,4)
|
| Cryptic def, ’round’ referring to a round of toast
|
||
| 16 | LANDOWNER |
Title holder‘s fallen during road race at the start (9)
|
| DOWN (fallen) inside (during) LANE (road) +R (race at the start) | ||
| 17 | BROMANCE |
Platonic relationship troubled Macron, in bed mostly (8)
|
| Anagram (troubled) of MACRON inside BE[d] (bed mostly) | ||
| 20 | NUTMEG |
Spice in fruitcake Margaret reduced (6)
|
| NUT (fruitcake) + MEG (nickname for Margaret) | ||
| 22 | SEDAN |
Date with Mr Bean from the telly outside saloon in US (5)
|
| SEAN (the actor Sean Bean, hence ‘from the telly’ – nothing to do with Rowan Atkinson’s comic creation) around (outside) D. A sedan is the US term for what is known elsewhere as a saloon car | ||
| 24 | EVOKE |
Call up the day before collecting permit (5)
|
| Envelope (collecting) of EVE around OK (permit, both OK and permit being verbs here) |
Comment #1
MONSOON my toppie. Droll. And LEATHERS (more like biker’s kit). Good blog, good puzzle. Thanks both.
Our blogger has summed this up very well. Smooth as always. HEADMISTRESS, HATFUL, LEATHERS, SWINGEING and LANDOWNER my faves today.
Thanks both
Top picks:
MOOTERS, LEATHERS, MONSOON, EMOJI (my COTD) and TOAST RACK.
Enjoyed the puzzle and the blog. Thanks Filbert and moh.
So many good clues, that it’s hard to pick a favourite. (I discovered that if you Harry S Truman, you get unsmart)
Thanks both. Took me quite a while, eventually seeing such as KINDERGARTEN wherein I’ve seen ‘sports’ as a the anagram indicator before, but I don’t really get it. Slow to spot TOAST RACK too – for me it’s excellent in equal measure to the definition for LAGER (cheap fizz) being poor, unless I am missing something….such as £7 a pint is good value for a drink I’d not wish to be fizzy.
That was a lovely solve, emoji was my second LOI and my favourite. A real Oh that’s it 😆moment.
I thought I had this one, but the SW corner defeated me. I’ve come across toast racks in brit lit before, but not something I’m familiar with or would ever bring to mind. I’ve never heard of saloon as a type of car, so I had no chance there. A very enjoyable puzzle though, MONSOON definitely my favorite. Thanks Filbert and moh!
Seemed I was on wavelength with this going in much quicker than usual for a Filbert.
Only down side is I have to pick some favourites in a HATFUL of excellent clues. I did like BROMANCE and the MARSHALL PLAN where I assume the clue is eluding to one of my favourite films at Christmas time.
Thanks MOH and Filbert.
Lager = fizz? Not in any pub or I’ve been in!
[Good one Petert@5. Of course that applies only after he entered politics. Before that he was a haberdasher in Kansas City 😁]