Another super Sunday puzzle from Filbert
And as excellent throughout as I’ve come to expect from one of my favourite setters. I liked the distinctly Pauline PADDLING POOL, THIRTEEN, the fat family in need of a dietician, INTERPOL for the cute surface and GUITARIST for the reference to my favourite Beatle.
I will now be out for most of the day, so won’t be able to respond to any errors or omissions that you may find until later. Thanks, as ever, to Filbert for the fun.
Moh’s ever-reliable (?) cruciverbal hardness scale rating: Calcite
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | MARSHY |
Very wet planet helpfully drained (6)
|
| MARS + H[elpfull]Y | ||
| 4 | SMASHING |
Wicked vandalism (8)
|
| Double def | ||
| 9 | DENIAL |
Disclaimer not invoked initially when breaking contract (6)
|
| N[ot] I[nvoked] inside (when breaking) DEAL | ||
| 10 | BULLETIN |
Nearly all nonsense, admitted intelligence report (8)
|
| BUL[l) (nearly all nonsense) + LET IN | ||
| 12 | LOOK SMART |
Can end of tack give sharp pain? Step on it (4,5)
|
| LOO (can) + [tac]K + SMART | ||
| 13 | DIRGE |
Rewind intro of extremely grating dismal song (5)
|
| Reversal (rewind) of E[xtremely] + GRID (grating) | ||
| 14 | PADDLING POOL |
Decomposing floater in place where kids play (8,4)
|
| ADDLING POO (decomposing floater) in PL | ||
| 18 | RELATIONSHIP |
Affair delights husband going through split (12)
|
| ELATIONS (delights, as a noun) + H inside RIP | ||
| 21 | MEANS |
Reluctant to spend son’s money (5)
|
| MEAN (reluctant to spend) + S | ||
| 23 | ENDEAVOUR |
Labour‘s demise always on the radio (9)
|
| END + soundalike (on the radio) of “ever” | ||
| 24 | THIRTEEN |
Figure suspected of depleting fortune moved her tent around island (8)
|
| Anagram (moved) of HER TENT around I, with a nicely whimsical definition | ||
| 25 | MISSUS |
Dutch regret withdrawal from America (6)
|
| MISS (regret withdrawal from) + US for the cockney rhyming slang term for wife | ||
| 26 | CREVASSE |
Half agreed with Conservative minister’s deep rift (8)
|
| ASSE[nted] (half agreed) after C REV | ||
| 27 | ATKINS |
Fat family’s in need of fine dietician (6)
|
| [f]AT KIN‘S (in need of fine) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | MODEL T |
Might this be shown up in road safety test? (5,1)
|
| Reversal (up) of LED (light, so “might this be shown”) inside MOT (road safety test), &lit | ||
| 2 | RANDOM |
Irregular shifts for doorman, with none repeated (6)
|
| Anagram (shifts) of DO[o]RMAN (without a repeat of O) | ||
| 3 | HEAD START |
Notice street in centre gets competitive advantage (4,5)
|
| AD (notice) + ST in HEART | ||
| 5 | MOUNTAINSIDE |
Face with scars perhaps from rioting in one stadium (12)
|
| Anagram (rioting) of IN ONE STADIUM | ||
| 6 | SOLID |
Concrete ran smoothly with nothing to stop it (5)
|
| SLID (ran smoothly) around O (with nothing to stop it) | ||
| 7 | INTERPOL |
Solvers worldwide let rip on cryptic (8)
|
| Anagram (cryptic) of LET RIP ON | ||
| 8 | GINGERLY |
Cautiously leaving ahead of schedule, saving seconds (8)
|
| G[o]ING E[a]RLY (leaving ahead of schedule, without second letters) | ||
| 11 | HANDSOMENESS |
Personal appeal from Messi in the middle after pass: “Really, guys?” (12)
|
| [m]ESS[i] (Messi in the middle) after HAND (pass) + SO (really) MENS (guys) | ||
| 15 | GUITARIST |
E.g. Harrison intuitive about India, playing sitar (9)
|
| GUT (intuitive, as in gut response) around I (ndia) + anagram (playing) of SITAR | ||
| 16 | AROMATIC |
One with amorous intentions dispatches note with perfume (8)
|
| A ROMA[n]TIC (dispatches N) | ||
| 17 | FLEA BITE |
Minor animal attack somewhat interrupting run (4,4)
|
| Insertion (interrupting) of A BIT (somewhat) into FLEE | ||
| 19 | BONSAI |
Dwarf on BA is spoiled (6)
|
| Anagram (is spoiled) of ON BA IS | ||
| 20 | CRISIS |
Problem written wrongly like that holding teacher up (6)
|
| Reversal (up) of SIC (written wrongly like that) around (holding) SIR | ||
| 22 | SUTRA |
Eastern principles some start using the wrong way (5)
|
| Hidden reversal (some… the wrong way) in stART USing |
I had an alternative parse for MODEL T with ‘shown’ = LED reversed within MOT. ‘Might this be’ makes it more of an extended def than &lit. I do like the moh version for elegance but wonder if Filbert would expect solvers to get LED from ‘might this be shown’. Arguably accurate but very tough indeed.
Usual great fun from Filbert.
Whenever a Countdown contestant has tried ‘elations’ it has been disallowed on the basis of ‘elation’ being a mass noun. The savvy contestants instead use the anagram ‘toenails’.
Minor error in blog for 11d. Should say MEN not MENS.
I parsed MODEL T like PostMark. I was amused by INTERPOL with it’s fifteen squared like surface. Excellent as always.
I know it’s a bodily function common to us all, but I’m not sure I want 14ac’s image evoked at breakfast. And with a warm up of the preceding loo and dismal dirge as well 🙂 ! Hey ho, life’s like that sometimes. Enjoyed it ok ntl, ta Fil and moh
Hmm, now I’m not sure. I parsed Model T like moh, probably via familiarity — LEDs as lights turn up quite a bit. But being shown/led to my seat is neater than [something that] “might … be shown”, which phrase is then free to pertain purely to the solution.
Model T for me was the only let down in yet another superb puzzle from Filbert.
I think 1d is an excellent &lit (though only with PostMark’s parsing). It’s impossible to know exactly why another solver might dislike a clue, so this might not answer anyone’s objections, but I often wonder why there are so few references (here or on other crossword sites) to the entire cryptic reading of a clue as opposed to individual elements. It’s especially relevant in an &lit, of course. Often individual elements can be sound but taken as a whole they’re garbage! That never seems to be a problem with Filbert. This clue taken as a whole is a great original way of cryptically indicating how the answer might be constructed, while the surface reading “literally” indicates it in a witty, not too direct way too. (I find over-direct definitions can easily spoil an &lit by giving away the answer too quickly.)
Feel like I say the same thing every Sunday but another super Filbert.
Liked PADDLING POOL which was a bit close to home given our experiences trying to keep the little one cool this week. Probably not a story to share here though.
Ticks for GINGERLY, ATKINS and INTERPOL as well others.
A bit quicker than usual despite initially putting in an incorrect DEFACING for SMASHING adding to my time.
Thanks MOH and Filbert
Another corker from Filbert. Found the middle part of the grid tough to solve, which gave me trouble with the more peripheral parts too, so the A-ha moments for HANDSOMENESS, RELATIONSHIPS and MOUNTAINSIDE only deepened my admiration for this setter on parsing them.
GINGERLY, GUITARIST, BONSAI, FLEA BITE, INTERPOL, PADDLING POOL and ENDEAVOUR could all have been the pick of other puzzles. No idea how Filbert does it but I’m glad he does.
I also parsed LED as PostMark did in MODEL T.
Herb @7: I don’t think 1d quite works as an &lit in that ‘Might this be …’ is not part of the WP and an &lit needs to be both wholly a definition and also wholly wordplay. I’d call it an extended definition. But quite happy to be corrected. Filbert does occasionally pop in and, if he does so, may well put me right.
I agree with both your other observations. Clue surfaces are very important to me as both solver and setter. I know – and grudgingly respect the fact – that for some solvers the surface is of passing interest or even irrelevant. Personally, I like to see solid, accurate cryptic grammar worked into an elegant surface that delights or intrigues. Or at least paints a credible picture. And that is something Filbert does brilliantly week after week.
Wrt @lits sometimes being obvious, well yes they can be. They are the only case where every bit of the clue is lending itself to the definition so the setter literally cannot give the solver anything more. Often, for me, the pleasure in the &lit is back parsing from a definition I have clearly seen from that aspect of the clue. With this same setter’s clue for STAGE FRIGHT last week, it took me a while to even realise there was an &lit lurking there.
Wrt 1d a Model T might be shown up (i.e. have faults) in a road safety test (MOT). Very possible. Nice surface. The play on ‘shown’ and ‘shown up’ makes it an &lit for me but extended def for others. I wouldn’t argue about that because its beyond my ken. I have ‘shown up’ as ‘exposed’ and ‘shown’ as ‘led’ where it is the past participle of lead, i.e. ‘shown’ (to my seat) and ‘up’ working as the indicator. Smashing puzzle. Thanks MOH and Filbert.
^ Second what sofamore just said. Tough but very enjoyable puzzle from Filbert – I especially liked 15d GUITARIST once I stopped trying to do things with GEORGE. Thanks Filbert and moh.
i’m an experienced, but annoyingly average, crossword solver. this is my third experience of filbert – i refused to subscribe to the observer to do the sunday everyman.
it took me two days to finish my first, but i have to say it was one of the most enjoyable solves.
it seems he’s the sunday crossword setter, so i’ll be here every week from now.
i use the word “setter”, but maybe i meant master!
Sorry to be here so far after the event, but must say I agree with Postmark @1 et al about LED/shown, a much better parsing. Thanks all.