The puzzle is available to solve online or download here.
Hello everybody. If, as looks likely, the Indy will not survive past Halloween, this will be my final blog of a Sunday Filbert. I can’t believe it … still keeping paws crossed.
As usual, a very enjoyable puzzle with inventive definitions and wordplay. Not the hardest I have encountered from this setter, but I did have to check a couple of details and learned that to peach means to blab. As a cat-botherer, I’m always going to be tickled by clues such as 19d (FELINE), but in addition to the deft &lit in 12a, my highlight is Spooner’s bedtime tipple in 16a. Cheers 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 | Popeye Doyle, say, first on your printout? (4,4) |
| HARD COPY — HARD COP (Popeye Doyle, say) + the initial letter of (first on) Your | |
| 5a | Embroidered CV also shows singing on album (6) |
| VOCALS — An anagram of (embroidered) CV ALSO | |
| 10a | American’s stupid slander about singer (4-3) |
| DUMB-ASS — MUD (slander) reversed (about) + BASS (singer) | |
| 11a | Excellent art-house film in projector (7) |
| ACETATE — ACE (excellent) + TATE (art-house) | |
| 12a | Blabbing about religion primarily (9) |
| PREACHING — PEACHING (blabbing) around (about) Religion primarily | |
| 13a | Money auditor’s transferred by post (4) |
| CENT — Sounds like (auditor’s) SENT (transferred by post) | |
| 15a | Half escaping Muslim edicts lived (3) |
| WAS — Half removed from (half escaping) fatWAS (Muslim edicts) | |
| 16a | Small guy having a box of Spooner’s Chardonnay at bedtime? (11) |
| LIGHTWEIGHT — A spoonerism of WHITE LATE (Chardonnay at bedtime?) | |
| 17a | Fletcher’s protégé bored by different 12 20 (3-8) |
| GOD-BOTHERER — GODBER (Fletcher’s protégé, in Porridge) with insertion of (bored by) OTHER (different). 12a 20a = PREACHING SORT | |
| 19a | Camilla’s back in the king’s coach (3) |
| CAR — CamillA’s last letter (back) in CR (the king) | |
| 20a | Arrange fun activity with no pressure (4) |
| SORT — S[p]ORT (fun activity) with no P (pressure) | |
| 21a | Love cute lass scattering kisses (9) |
| OSCULATES — O (love) + CUTE LASS anagrammed (scattering) | |
| 24a | New racket, blocking prisoner’s route between cells? (7) |
| LANDING — N (new) and DIN (racket) inside (blocking) LAG (prisoner) | |
| 25a | Quite miserable clothing catalogue (7) |
| ITEMISE — QuITE MISErable is holding (clothing) the answer | |
| 26a | Rather small-minded Republican is in (6) |
| PRETTY — PETTY (small-minded), which R (Republican) is in | |
| 27a | Tie strangled Popeye Doyle? (4,4) |
| DEAD HEAT — DEAD HEAT could refer to a killed member of the police in the US | |
| Down | |
| 1d | Originator of hateful poster on the wall prosecuted (3,2) |
| HAD UP — The first letter of (originator of) Hateful + AD (poster) + UP (on the wall) | |
| 2d | Tiny onesie, memory for each son (7) |
| ROMPERS — A charade of ROM (memory), PER (for each) and S (son) | |
| 3d | Random list of electors brought round for minister (10) |
| CHANCELLOR — CHANCE (random) + ROLL (list of electors) reversed (brought round) | |
| 4d | Declining to answer husband in ditch, there briefly on journey (7,7) |
| PASSING THROUGH — PASSING (declining to answer) + H (husband) in TROUGH (ditch) | |
| 6d | Old American prison allowing inmates to come and go (4) |
| OPEN — O (old) + PEN (American prison) | |
| 7d | Sorry lot offered at auction, endless baggy trousers (1,3,3) |
| A BAD EGG — BADE (offered at auction), which an endless bAGGy takes in (trousers) | |
| 8d | Perish by eating mushrooms, upsetting someone looking on (9) |
| SPECTATOR — ROT (perish), AT (by) and CEPS (eating mushrooms), all reversing (upsetting) | |
| 9d | Silly carpenter, having used the other end for nailing attic, aiming drill (6,8) |
| TARGET PRACTICE — With G replacing N (having used the other end for NailinG), an anagram of (silly) CARPE[n]TER with ATTIC | |
| 14d | Line he’s taken through favourite road enthused driver (10) |
| PETROLHEAD — L (line) and HE is put into (taken through) PET (favourite) and ROAD | |
| 15d | Evidence of earnings putting comedienne on edge? (5,4) |
| WAGES SLIP — WAGESS (comedienne…?) on LIP (edge) | |
| 18d | Send crazy expedition’s leader into deserted mountains (7) |
| DERANGE — Expedition’s first letter (leader) goes into D (deserted) plus RANGE (mountains) | |
| 19d | Tickle a stray feline (7) |
| CATLIKE — An anagram of (… stray) TICKLE A | |
| 22d | Recycled waste which astronauts eventually drink (5) |
| SWEAT — An anagram of (recycled) WASTE | |
| 23d | E.g. jerk not filling bottles up (4) |
| LIFT — In reverse (… up), noT FILling contains (bottles) the answer | |
My first guess for 20a was (p)RANK but I wasn’t too keen on ‘prank’ being a ‘fun activity’ so I wisely waited until I had a crosser or two.
After tackling this, I got around to doing his FT crossword from yesterday (under his Guy pseudonym) which I highly recommend.
I’d agree with our blogger – either not Filbert at his trickiest or I was on the wavelength. I had long forgotten (if I ever knew it) the French Connection character and started off looking for a homophone of Pop Idol! Fortunately a double check on Google set me aright – though it couldn’t help me with DEAD HEAT which I never saw. Everything else solved and parsed satisfactorily and I learned a new word in OSCULATES. Weird to encounter these perfectly accurate but rarely used alternatives for common words; ‘nictate’ for wink is another.
Thanks both
Thanks both. Yes, an easier Filbert today I’d say, but the Popeye Doyle elements were very niche (French Connection not a recommended watch for a 7 year old in 1972), though I got to HARD COPY by happy accident, as I thought there may be a reference to Doyle from TV show The Professionals, as he was a former detective. Needed some help with DEAD HEAT therefore, as I didn’t recognise the fact that apparently astronauts do drink recycled SWEAT.
Kitty, I think that the Indy cryptic may have legs yet, but if it’s to be your last Filbert, go out on a good one…which this was!
As per you & PM@2, I got into Fil’s groove, so, fun stuff.
Just when I think, gosh, I’m getting good at this, everyone else says “piece of cake!”.
12(ac), “peaching”; never heard of it as “blabbing”, but similar-ish to “impeaching” , I’d seen it as “accusing”. Is that “blabbing”?
I suppose so: if you blab on someone, you accuse them of doing something naughty.
I spent ages, looking for EUROSTAR as a Nina, based on “The French Connection”. Missed opportunity, Fil ?!
Not sure I fully get “BADE” , 7(d)? Past tense of “BID”, as in “I bid you farewell”; “she bade him farewell” The auction connection seems dodgy, to me.
I suppose that, “I bid £50”, in the current action, in the past tense might ? be, “I bade £50”.
Ropy to me; I’d still say, “I bid £50”, in the past tense, surely?
Super puzzle, super blog, thumbs up Fil + K
I never would have got DEAD HEAT in a month of Filberts. WAS went in but I couldn’t see why because once again I didn’t read every word in the clue. Will I ever learn?
Rather liked the ACE TATE which was another one which beat me.
Thanks Filbert and 🐱.
Not usually fussed about incomplete parsing once the 100% complete happens, so I didn’t realise that I need peaching and Godber to truly solve the puzzle, both nho. Last in ACETATE, my favourite. Thanks to both.
Weird, I agree, PM @2 — micturate is another…
… and, re nictate, some animals have nictitating membranes…
I’d encountered OSCULATE before, but failed dismally to spot the TATE as ‘art house’ and the ‘bottles up’ reverse indicator (I must learn to. read. the. clue. slowly). Needed lots of crossers to get the long central down clues too – i blame the fact I’m still fighting off a cold.
I put in DERANGE with a shrug – I don’t think I’ve come across ‘D’ as an abbrev for ‘deserted.
Thank you Filbert and you Kitty. If the Independent does stop I shall miss your bloggings.
With others in that I completed this quicker than my usual Sunday tussle with Filbert even though I had no idea who Popeye Doyle was.
Liked GOD-BOTHERER and LIGHTWEIGHT.
Didn’t know DUMB-ASS was hyphenated and now I’m worried my work emails look unprofessional.
Thanks Kitty and Filbert
An easier Filbert than usually, I was only mistaken about which of SENT/CENT is the definition. NHO Popeye Doyle or GOD-BOTHERER. Favourite WAGES SLIP. Thanks Filbert and Kitty
Staticman@10 – brilliant, thank you for the laugh!
And thanks all for comments. 🙂