Everyman 3346
Posted by Stella on November 21st, 2010
I enjoyed this, a fairly typical Everyman, despite initial technical difficulties, which I find have now been ironed out
Across
1. Long for high praise
Aspire *PRAISE, + &lit?
4. In state, vicious hook having caught the Parisienne mother
Oklahoma *HOOK round LA (‘the’ in French)
+ MA
9. Is to go ashore in Tasmania, perhaps
Island IS + LAND (=’go ashore’)
10. Hit man when given cheek at home
Assassin AS (=’when’) =SASS (=’cheek’ )
+ IN (=’home’)
11. First to test new footwear in musical
Tea for two T(est) + *FOOTWEAR
13. Live with wife in small wooden hollow
Dwell W(ife) in DELL
14. Fascinating period knitting together
Spellbinding SPELL (= ‘period’) + BINDING
18. City in Maine has poster showing lighthouse location
Portland Bill PORTLAND + BILL
The Dorset location of this lighthouse
21.Titled lady losing first two in game of skill
Chess (du)CHESS
22. Bananas in a hot pie for African national
Ethiopian *IN A HOT PIE
24. Culinary herb used in Spanish province, mostly
Tarragon TARRAGON(a), in Catalonia,
Delicious with fish, and in Béarnaise sauce
25. Figure of speech making one inside grin
Simile I in SMILE
I find the word order of the clue a bit odd, though perhaps necessary for the wordplay
26. Tentative, male model visiting social worker
Hesitant HE + SIT + ANT
27. At which one may have served before returning
Tennis cd.
Down
1. A rigorous appraisal dictates changes
Acid test *DICTATES
2. Greatly shocked, European given the sack
Poleaxed POLE + AXED
3. Call round for drummer
Ringo RING + O
5. Sign of betrayal with fatal consequences?
Kiss of death cd.
6. Left group, one used in commercial
Abandoned BAND + ONE in AD
7. Involved story about eastern native
Oyster *STORY round E
For “oyster” = “native”, see the discussion here: http://fifteensquared.net/2010/11/15/guardian-25168-rufus/
8. A service provided by elderly poet
Arnold A + R(oyal) N(avy) + OLD
Presumably, this poet, cultural critic and sage writer:
12. A mass of feathery seeds, lots the wind scattered
Thistledown *LOTS THE WIND
15. Be quick to appear intelligent
Look smart dd.
16. Discord in military unit
Division dd.
17. Battlefield – force touches down without hesitation
Flanders F(orce) + LANDS around ER
19. A short stop
Scotch tichy dd.
20. Bride’s lost in wreck
Débris *BRIDE’S
23.Express an opinion in a shop in Ely
Opine hidden in ‘shOP IN Ely’
November 21st, 2010 at 1:12 pm
Hi Stella,
congrats on doing your first blog for Fifteensquared.
May you do many more.
Lorraine.
November 21st, 2010 at 1:29 pm
Thanks Stella – I liked the illustrations!
November 21st, 2010 at 3:07 pm
Your first blog?? wow! Fantastic stuff I’m impressed, will have to raise my game it seems.
Nicely done Stella.
November 21st, 2010 at 4:57 pm
Thanks, Stella; I enjoyed your pictures. I also liked your putting the clue above to make cross-referencing easy.
November 21st, 2010 at 5:33 pm
Many thanks, Stella. Plenty of knobs and whistles in this blog (and culinary hints for using tarragon) – well done!
Regular contributors and lurkers will know I’m a big fan of Everyman. It does exactly what it says on the tin, as the advertising slogan goes.
In this one, I liked RINGO and THISTLEDOWN in particular.
And in your explanation of 19dn, don’t forget that ‘tichy’ is © Uncle Yap, so please make sure that you send him the royalties from the fee you get for blogging. For those that are scratching their heads, it’s a ‘Tongue In CHeek’ kind of clue. A bit like my comment about the fee.
November 22nd, 2010 at 1:03 am
Re 1ac, ‘high’ as in ‘off’ (in the sense of ‘slightly decomposed or tainted’) is the anagram indicator. The clue, whilst very good, is not an &lit.
November 22nd, 2010 at 1:07 am
In my opinion, I should add, since LONG = to yearn (with some powerful desire) for something. High praise could be what one yearns for, but I’m not entirely convinced.
November 22nd, 2010 at 10:48 am
Thanks all, though this is not exactly my first blog – I did the second ‘quiptic’, and should have done another more recently, but my communications broke down.
When I wrote &lit for 1ac, paul, I was thinking of “a (church) spire”, as a symbol of high aspirations, though of course I’ve no idea whether that was Everyman’s intention, hence the ?