Being a regular blogger for the Independent on Sunday puzzle means I get to tussle with Filbert often. And it is a tussle: as usual, this took me two goes. But it’s always satisfying to complete because this compiler’s work is invariably marked by impeccable setting and fine surfaces.
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 Mother and doctor of many years bloom
MARIGOLD
A charade of MA, RIG and OLD.
5 Extreme mutt’s barking outside back of Tesco
UTMOST
An insertion of O for the last letter of ‘Tesco’ in (MUTTS)* The insertion indicator is ‘outside’ and the anagrind is ‘barking’.
9 Yearly grub in batter for model
PARADIGM
A charade of PA for per annum, and DIG inserted into RAM. The insertion indicator is ‘in’.
10 Dealing with revenue approximately on island in Florida
FISCAL
An insertion of IS and CA for circa in FL. The insertion indicator is ‘in’.
12 Princess first in salon, back for quick Brazilian
SENNA
A reversal of ANNE and S for the first letter of ‘salon’. The solution is referencing Ayrton SENNA, the Brazilian F1 driver. The surface is referencing a pube trim.
13 Find curtain rail on the floor
TRACK DOWN
A charade of TRACK and DOWN.
14 Shifting last of crops, harvest mice stocking up then?
CHRISTMAS EVE
(S HARVEST MICE)* with ‘shifting’ as the anagrind. The C word in May. Please.
18 Record holder with most titles?
LAND REGISTRY
A cd.
21 Bristly feature next to private dining area?
CHINATOWN
A charade of CHIN, AT and OWN.
23 Pipe down keel’s centre runs straight down
SHEER
A charade of SH, EE for the middle letters of ‘keel’ and R.
24 Extent of movement beginning to trouble composer
TRAVEL
A charade of T for the initial letter of ‘trouble’ and RAVEL. He of Bolero fame.
25 Long trousers affected Ashe’s game
PHEASANT
An insertion of (ASHE)* in PANT. The insertion indicator is ‘trousers’ and the anagrind is ‘affected’. Not sure Arthur Ashe ever wore long trousers on court, but it’s him being referenced in the surface reading.
26 Nice to see motorbike race in quarry
PRETTY
An insertion of TT in PREY. The insertion indicator is ‘in’.
27 A writer Richard’s mentioned added pages
APPENDIX
Aural wordplay (‘mentioned’) for A PEN DICK’S. Today’s language factoid: if the word is referring to the definition Filbert is using, the plural is APPENDICES. If it’s the worm-like structure attached to the end of the large intestine, then two of them would be APPENDIXES.
Down
1 Down second flipping hot drink
MOPISH
A charade of MO and H SIP reversed.
2 Enthusiastic clique supporting Gunners
RARING
A charade of RA for Royal Artillery and RING. The enthusiastic clique are going to be very excited in a few weeks’ time if their team holds its nerve to win the Prem.
3 Old king hides unexpected death of spiritual mentor
GODFATHER
An insertion of (DEATH OF)* in GR. The insertion indicator is ‘hides’; the anagrind is ‘unexpected’; GR is Georgius Rex and you have a choice of ‘old kings’ to pin that on.
4 Conductor reducing weight of baton, saving energy
LIGHTNING ROD
LIGHT[E]NING ROD
6 Feel OK, when nothing is fine
THINK
Filbert is inviting you to replace the O in OK with THIN for ‘fine’. ‘I feel/think you are over-reacting.’
7 Check right after crossing
ONCE-OVER
I can’t parse this, I’m afraid.
Edit: Hovis and E.N.Boll& explain this one in the first two comments.
8 Naturally good books accepted by story editor
TALENTED
An insertion of NT for New Testament in TALE and ED. The insertion indicator is ‘accepted by’.
11 Piano maker half polishes piano, preferring one side
PARTISANSHIP
A charade of P for the musical instruction ‘piano’, ARTISAN, SHI[NES] and P again.
15 Archer quickly comprehends flight technology
AEROSPACE
An insertion of EROS in APACE. The insertion indicator is ‘comprehends’.
16 Returned to power, Labour’s leader admitted requirement to fix potholes
BLACKTOP
An insertion of L for the initial letter of ‘Labour’ in BACK, TO and P. The solution is AmEng. It’s TARMAC in BrEng.
17 Close friend cheers up, parting eventually
INTIMATE
An insertion of TA reversed in IN TIME. The insertion indicator is ‘parting’.
19 Announce that woman’s hairless except head
HERALD
A charade of HER and [B]ALD.
20 Monsieur’s ready with a kiss – potentially gross?
PRE-TAX
A charade of PRET, A and X. PRET, or strictly prêt, is the French word for ‘ready’ and might be familiar to English speakers in prêt-à-porter or prêt-à-manger. The food chain has dispensed with the circumflex accent.
22 A little cyclist pedalled around showing proficiency
ADEPT
Hidden reversed in cyclisT PEDAlled.
Many thanks to Filbert for this Sunday’s puzzle.
Great stuff as usual.
I think 7d is simply ‘once [you are] over’ = ‘right after crossing’.
7(d) bemused me too.
I took the definition to be “check right”, i.e., give it “the once over”.
After ” getting across”, is “once ( you are ) over”,
as in “once over the border, you are free”.
I may be amiss.
Comment #3
From this most brilliant of setters a grammatical booboo is as rare as rocking horse doo-doo, but I’m afraid there is an error here at 25ac, where the apostrophe-s (representing “is”) that links wordplay and definition surely compels the participle form “trousering” of the containment indicator. A solitary lapse in an otherwise excellent puzzle.
I revisited this puzzle, after solving, which I usually do, to do justice to the wordplays and surfaces.
Conclusion? Even better than first impressions.
It really is top-notch compiling.
20(d), a minor niggle: one might say that a bill is “net (or nett) when pre-tax”, and “gross” after the tax is added. The ? makes it fair, I think.
From a long list of superb clues, I’ll go for LAND REGISTRY and CHINATOWN.
Thumbs very much up, Filbert et Pierre
RJH@4, it took a second look, but I get your point.
“Long trousers troubled Ashe in game” might work, but I am no setter, or grammarian.
The [ ASHE’S ] link is a bit awry, maybe, but since I didn’t spot it, I can’t complain!
Brilliant puzzle. The “Ashe’s” isn’t grammatically sound but it’s the first slip I’ve seen in a Filbert puzzle.
What Tramp said
Filbert has previously done a puzzle themed around that very same grammatical slip:
https://www.fifteensquared.net/2023/07/03/independent-no-11457-by-filbert
Widdersbel@8
What a memory! I enjoyed following your link, cheers.
Thanks Filbert and Pierre
IanB @ 5 Gross profit is profit before tax, ie pre-tax.
What a great puzzle. As ever.
Simon S@10
Well…..not quite. Gross profit is ( turnover minus cost of sales ) hence “gross profit margin”. Overheads* are then deducted, to calculate net profit, which is taxable, hence also called “pre-tax profit”.
(* and if available, losses brought forward and capital allowances )
I envisaged the clue referencing an invoice for a purchase, wherein you might hear, ” net total, or nett total, plus VAT = gross”.
Ian @ 12: Gross profit margin is a ratio, not a number – “The gross profit margin is a metric used to assess a firm’s financial health and is equal to revenue less cost of goods sold as a percentage of total revenue.”
And in all my years in commerce “losses brought forward and capital allowances” were deducted after the year’s nett profit had been calculated, to arrive at a profit final figure for the year.
Brilliant and challenging as always.
Wickedly, I resorted to an anagram check and found that ‘ashes game’ is an anagram (affected) of GAMASHES. They aren’t long trousers, but almost. And a useful sort of word for a crossword.
Many thanks to F, P and bloggers
Thanks Filbert for the challenge. This took two sittings and even then I had to reveal a couple. Nonetheless I enjoyed this quite a bit with my favourites being TRAVEL, PRETTY, GODFATHER, LIGHTNING ROD, AEROSPACE, and PRE-TAX. Thanks Pierre for the blog.
The definition for PRE-TAX is ‘potentially gross?’ I think that’s enough wiggle room for the clue to be considered accurate. In a broad sense gross income is pre-tax income even though adjustments might be made to the gross income before applying the tax.
Great stuff from Filbert.
Particularly liked the speedy Brazilian and GODFATHER.
Thanks Pierre and Filbert
Despite coming to this days late, I can’t stay quiet: SENNA is surely a candidate for clue of the year! Sheer crossword perfection.
BTW I get the grammatical point about PHEASANT “Long trousers affected Ashe’s game” – but I’ve seen this many times in clues (perhaps not Filbert’s). It could be argued that you have to take the whole of the wordplay section as a singular unit, in which case the linking ‘is’ is sound. At least, I’ve always assumed that that was intended, having seen it enough for it not to appear wrong. I agree that a clue is more pleasing if it’s avoided though.
It’s not quite the same thing as the bit of fun in Filbert’s puzzle linked to by Widderspel@8 (where 21ac is the relevant clue). I needed Filbert’s own comment @23 there to understand his motivation (plus earlier comments to identify the relevant clues). His nina was a textbook example of the genre – but I’d argue that his 11ac clue in fact shows yet a different tic.
The Magpie’s clue writing guide puts this best, I think, under ‘Equivalence of wordplay and definition’:
Link-words necessarily introduce a notion of equivalence between the wordplay and definition. In
clues using link-words, therefore, it is essential that the wordplay and definition are compatible,
typically as nouns or noun phrases.
‘Long trousers affected Ashe’ is not a noun phrase so can’t be equivalent to the noun in the definition. It depends on the link word, though. ‘Long trousers affected Ashe in game’ would have been OK.
Three separate booboos here: 1) writing the clue like that in the first place 2) writing a replacement but somehow failing to save it before submission 3) failing to spot the original in the proof.