Everyman N° 3,465 (3 March 2013)
Posted by PeterO on March 10th, 2013
The crossword may be found at http://www.guardian.co.uk/crosswords/everyman/3465.
10A seems to have been given to the wrong blogger! Only one geographical reference this time, in 5D, and that generally well known, I think.
| Across | |||
| 1. | Publicity that’s sent round to confuse (3,3) | ||
| PUT OFF | An envelope (‘sent round’) of ‘to’ in PUFF (‘publicity’). | ||
| 4. | One holding a sword, blackleg confronting poet (8) | ||
| SCABBARD | A charade of SCAB (‘blackleg’) plus BARD (‘poet’). | ||
| 10. | Fancy Lorraine getting behind France, finally, in the past? (7,2) | ||
| EARLIER ON | A charade of E (‘FrancE, finally’) plus ARLIERON, an anagram (‘fancy’) of ‘Lorraine’. | ||
| 11. | Jelly shown in a small photograph (5) | ||
| ASPIC | A charade of ‘a’ plus S (‘small’) plus PIC (‘photograph’). | ||
| 12. | Illegal trading in vehicles (7) | ||
| TRAFFIC | Double definition. | ||
| 13. | First to tell funny story about king and revolutionary (7) | ||
| TROTSKY | An envelope (‘about’) of K (‘king’, chess notation) in T (‘first to Tell’) plus ROTSY, an anagram (‘funny’) of ‘story’. | ||
| 14. | So don’t regret getting different dog (6,6) | ||
| GORDON SETTER | An anagram (‘getting different’) of ‘so don’t regret’. | ||
Gordon Setter
| 18. | More than one infantryman in base joins one inside (4,8) | ||
| FOOT SOLDIERS | A charade of FOOT (‘base’) plus an envelope (‘inside’) of I (‘one’) in SOLDERS (‘joins’). | ||
| 21. | Reveals bit of scandal gathered by the Parisian solicitor (4,3) | ||
| LETS OUT | An envelope (‘gathered by’) of S (‘bit of Scandal’) in LE (‘the Parisian’) plus TOUT (‘solicitor’). | ||
| 23. | Shot a line after private action that backfired? (3,4) | ||
| OWN GOAL | A charade of OWN (‘private’) plus GO (‘shot’) plus ‘a’ plus L (‘line’). | ||
| 24. | Stole aboard alien vessel (1-4) | ||
| E BOAT | An envelope (‘aboard’) of BOA (‘stole’) in ET (‘alien’). | ||
| 25. | A French composer held in Fleet, ultimately extremely lucky to get free (2,7) | ||
| AT LIBERTY | A charade of ‘a’ plus an envelope (held in’) of IBERT (‘French composer’) in T (‘FleeT, ultimately’) plus LY (‘extremely LuckY‘). | ||
| 26. | Better money for the most important officials (3,5) | ||
| TOP BRASS | A charade of TOP (‘better’) plus BRASS (‘money’). | ||
| 27. | Shellfish in Savoy’s terrific (6) | ||
| OYSTER | A hidden answer in ‘SavOYS TERiffic’. The Savoy Hotel in London has a tradition of fine dining started by it first chef, Auguste Escoffier. | ||
| Down | |||
| 1. | Rather charming to look at (6) | ||
| PRETTY | Double definition. | ||
| 2. | Danger that must involve sappers (6) | ||
| THREAT | An envelope (‘involve’) of RE (Royal Engineers, ‘sappers’) in ‘that’. | ||
| 3. | Goes mad about failure to find sandals (4-5) | ||
| FLIP FLOPS | An envelope (‘about’) of FLIPS (‘goes mad’) about FLOP (‘failure’). | ||
| 5. | Round-the-clock work blocking busy line in old city (14) | ||
| CONSTANTINOPLE | A charade of CONSTANT (’round-the-clock’) plus an envelope (‘blocking’) of OP (‘work’) in INLE, an anagram (‘busy’) of ‘line’. Constantinople was founded (as Byzantium) in 657BC, and rebuilt by the Roman Emperor Constantine I in 330AD; it is also ‘old’ in that it is now known as Istanbul. | ||
| 6. | Vote against party? (5) | ||
| BEANO | BE A NO (‘vote against’). | ||
| 7. | Suitable model brought in by a new Pope (8) | ||
| APPOSITE | An envelope (‘brought in by’) of SIT (‘model’) in ‘a’ plus PPOE, an anagram (‘new’) of ‘Pope’. | ||
| 8. | Weed quadrangle in naval establishment (8) | ||
| DOCKYARD | A charade of DOCK (‘weed’) plus YARD (‘quadrangle’). | ||
| 9. | Lines written about race, sign of insincerity (9,5) | ||
| CROCODILE TEARS | An envelope (‘written about’) of TEAR (‘race’) in CROCODILES (‘lines’). | ||
| 15. | One delivering shopkeeper’s goods may be confused by an order (6,3) | ||
| ERRAND BOY | An anagram (‘confused’) of ‘by an order’. | ||
| 16. | A leader in fashion, elegant and wealthy (8) | ||
| AFFLUENT | A charade of ‘a’ plus F (‘leader in Fashion’) plus FLUENT (‘elegant’). | ||
| 17. | Swallow, initially, a spot of outrageously used flattery (4,4) | ||
| SOFT SOAP | A charade of S (‘Swallow intially’) plus OFTSOAP, an anagram (‘outrageously used’) of ‘a spot of’. | ||
| 19. | Left out of main story involving old Irish detective (6) | ||
| POIROT | An envelope (‘involving’) of O (‘old’) plus IR (‘Irish’) in P[l]OT (‘main story’) with the L dropped (‘left out’ i.e. L out). | ||
| 20. | Actor, powerful participant (6) | ||
| PLAYER | Double definition. | ||
| 22. | Fur cap removed from scoundrel (5) | ||
| OTTER | [r]OTTER (‘scoundrel’) with its first letter (‘cap’) removed. | ||
March 10th, 2013 at 3:05 am
I enjoyed this puzzle by Everyman.
I got 1d wrong because I had considered ‘pretty’ and thought it too “easy”. I opted for ‘presto’ which I parsed as a dd of 1) a word used in a charm or magic spell; 2) to look at / When someone tells you to give something to someone and you pull out the object from your pocket. (Urban dictionary). I should have stuck with PRETTY!
My favourites were BEANO, CROCODILE TEARS, TROTSKY, OYSTER.
I learnt some new words: SOFT SOAP, E-BOAT, BEANO
Thanks for the blog, PeterO.
March 10th, 2013 at 9:08 am
Thanks to PeterO and Everyman.
I thought the puzzle was slightly harder than the standard Everyman but none the worse for that. Although the answers were clear from checkers, I failed to parse 9 and 18 so thanks again for the blog (and to all at 15^2 for the site!)
March 10th, 2013 at 11:51 am
Good crossword; I agree with colin @2 that it seemed to be harder than average.
Thanks PeterO; I was familiar with bean-feast, but not the shortened version of BEANO so I took a long time with that one thinking that ‘bravo’ was about the only word that would fit in. I was also not familiar with GORDON SETTER, although as an anagram it quickly fell into place. 24 looked like it was going to be U-BOAT, although obviously that didn’t parse properly. I guess PUFF=publicity must be well-known in crosswordland, but I don’t think I’ve seen it before.
I liked FLIP-FLOPS, although I was certain at the beginning that the second word was going to be ‘shoes.’ CROCODILE TEARS was another favourite.
March 10th, 2013 at 7:58 pm
Typo in 19, should be P(l)OT rather than P(l)OY
Not keen on FLUENT for elegant in 16.
March 10th, 2013 at 8:27 pm
Thanks John – typo now corrected. I agree that FLUENT and ‘elegant’ are not readily equated, beyond being both generally approving; but I think it is better to concentrate on the origin of FLUENT as flowing. The OED gives among its definitions of FLUENT:
Moving easily or gracefully
which seems pretty close.
April 5th, 2013 at 10:16 pm
The word crocodiles stretches the imagination a bit far as a synonym for ‘lines’, methinks. Outgrow some very clever clues.