This did not strike me as a top-notch Everyman. There are several simple charades where the answer is two words (or one word articulating naturally into two parts), and the wordplay just defines the two parts separately; I feel 2D and 15D are weak, and 22D seems faulty. I do like 1A, 20A, 9D and particularly 5D. As a whole, the puzzle has something of the feel of a Rufus.Thanks to Tor for being the first to point out my errors.
| Across | |||
| 1. | Cover bovine? Bull, at last (4) | ||
| COWL | Charade of COW (‘bovine’) + L (‘bulL at last’). | ||
| 3. | Female holding up a train? (10) | ||
| BRIDESMAID | Cryptic definition. | ||
| 10. | Lengthen lease, in writing (3,4) | ||
| LET DOWN | Charade of LET (‘lease’) + DOWN (‘in writing’). | ||
| 11. | Parted company in Croatian port towards the north (5,2) | ||
| SPLIT UP | Charade of SPLIT (‘Croatian port’) + UP (‘towards the north’). | ||
| 12. | Sweet foreign kid hurt his leg on end of slat (7,7) | ||
| TURKISH DELIGHT | Anagram (‘foreign’) of ‘kid hurt his leg’ + T (‘end of slaT‘). | ||
| 14. | Has words, upset about first of our promotional tours (9) | ||
| ROADSHOWS | Envelope (‘about’) of O (‘first of Our’) in RADSHOWS an anagram (‘upset’) of ‘has words’. | ||
| 16. | A new member backing backer (5) | ||
| ANGEL | Charade of A + N (‘new’) + GEL, a reversal (‘backing’) of leg (‘member’). Definition: a theatrical ‘backer’. | ||
| 18. | Girl in aquarelle, nineteen (5) | ||
| ELLEN | Hidden answer in ‘aquarELLE Nineteen’. | ||
| 19. | Candlemakers caught coaches (9) | ||
| CHANDLERS | Charade of C (‘caught’) + HANDLERS (‘coaches’). | ||
| 20. | One could be blue! (4-6,4) | ||
| FOUR-LETTER WORD | The only difficulty is how to categorise the clue. Definition and cryptic definition maybe? | ||
| 24. | Cans provided by top teacher with group (7) | ||
| HEADSET | Charade of HEAD (‘top teacher’) + SET (‘group’). Definition: cans, in the colloquial sense of earphones. | ||
| 25. | Odd pint with her in a Cumbrian town (7) | ||
| PENRITH | Anagram (‘odd’) of ‘pint’ with ‘her’. | ||
| 26. | Talk to girl and mistress of a fashionable household (10) | ||
| CHATELAINE | Charade of CHAT (‘talk’) + ELAINE (‘girl’). Definition: the mistress of a château or large household. | ||
| 27. | Photograph taken on the spur of the moment (4) | ||
| SNAP | Double definition. | ||
| Down | |||
| 1. | Method of treating drug addiction in chilly country (4,6) | ||
| COLD TURKEY | Charade of COLD (‘chilly’) + TURKEY (‘country’). | ||
| 2. | Force used after breaking barrier (9) | ||
| WATERFALL | The definition is the clear part, but I find the wordplay puzzling. Is it a cryptic definition, or a reference to breaking water in pregnancy? The wordplay is an envelope (‘breaking’) of ATERF, an anagram (‘used’?) of ‘after’ in WALL (‘barrier’). | ||
| 4. | Book missing from office in hacienda (5) | ||
| RANCH | [b]RANCH (‘office’) missing B (‘book’). | ||
| 5. | Indigestion, said Pepys, suffering (9) | ||
| DYSPEPSIA | Anagram (‘suffering’) of ‘said Pepys’. | ||
| 6. | Nervously bind a new book (6,3,5) | ||
| SYLVIE AND BRUNO | Anagram (‘new’) of ‘nervously bind a’. A lesser-known fantasy by Lewis Carroll. | ||
| 7. | I may appear straight after this character (5) | ||
| AITCH | Cryptic definition. Definition: the letter H. | ||
| 8. | Illegal drugs information (4) | ||
| DOPE | Double definition. | ||
| 9. | Literary hero of Hood’s on erratic course? (8,6) | ||
| ROBINSON CRUSOE | Charade of ROBIN’S (‘Hood’s’) + ‘on’ + CRUSOE, an anagram (‘erratic’) of ‘course’. | ||
| 13. | Stopped up to inform on just union members here (6,4) | ||
| CLOSED SHOP | Charade of CLOSED (‘stopped up’) + SHOP (‘inform on’). | ||
| 15. | Band playing Ireland, say (9) | ||
| ORCHESTRA | I take it a reference to the composer John Ireland, which makes for a rather weak clue.. | ||
| 17. | Old brotherhood member getting angrier, distraught about shot (9) | ||
| GREGORIAN | Envelope (‘about’) of GO (‘shot’) in GRERIAN, an anagram (‘distraught’) of ‘angrier’. The definition might refer to a community within the Episcopal Church (the American branch of the Anglican Communion), or the Gormogons, a short-lived 18th century society set up by an expelled Freemason. The first hit in Google for ‘Gregorian brotherhood’ is to what appears to be an online kill-the-aliens game; I do not suppose that is the intended reference. | ||
| 21. | Some up from part of Utah, a Mormon city (5) | ||
| OMAHA | Hidden reversed answer (‘some up from part of’, in a down clue) in ‘UtAH A MOrmon. | ||
| 22. | Simple goal, mine at home (3-2) | ||
| TIP IN | Charade of TIP (‘mine’? I take it that the intention is that ‘mine’ should have the meaning of excavation; but, while a tip may well be associated with a mine, I can find no justification beyond a generalized appeal to metonymy for the definition.) + IN (‘at home’). Definition: a close-range goal, in hockey, for example. No: the answer is TAP-IN,which (a) as a football term is more common and (b) tap and mine as verbs in the sense of exploiting a resource are acceptable synonyms. Apart from that… | ||
| 23. | Stylish young woman? Not quite (4) | ||
| CHIC | CHIC[k]] (‘young woman, not quite’). | ||
2d is an anagram of AFTER in WALL.
22d is TAP IN, mining being tapping underground resources.
I do not know how to classify 24a either, splendid clue though.
Grade ‘A’ blog btw.
Thanks PeterO,
I beg to differ with you on this puzzle but do agree on the three clues that you criticised. This however does not make the whole puzzle bad and it’s certainly nothing like Rufus’s style. I enjoyed this puzzle more than any recent Everyman and there were loads of interesting clues. I particularly likes 3a, 20a, 4d, 5d and 6d. It may interest you to know that it took me longer to finish this puzzle than it did to finish Paul’s prize crossword. The great thing about this puzzle though was that it led me to research Sylvie and Bruno which I’d never heard of. I was led to The Mad Gardener’s Song and the following amazing verse :-
He thought he saw a Argument
That proved he was the Pope:
He looked again, and found it was
A Bar of Mottled Soap.
‘A fact so dread,’ he faintly said,
‘Extinguishes all hope!’
Brilliant stuff and such economy of words. Thanks Everyman.
Many thanks PeterO
The solution to 22d is TAP IN, as confirmed by the Solution to the puzzle itself.
Thanks for the blog PeterO
2d is an anagram of ‘after’, contained in ‘wall’ (= barrier).
A fine blog, Peter, thank you.
The only two I couldn’t understand were ORCHESTRA and WATERFALL. I agree with you that the former is a bit weak (but at least the carthorse was left in his stable); the latter was sound, but just too clever for me to see. I was pleased to get SYLVIE AND BRUNO from the anagram, and then, like Davy, enjoyed finding out a little more about it.
I think Everyman will have to throw in a few more cryptic definitions to give us a flavour of Rufus on a Sunday, although when I got back into cryptics they were the two puzzles that I always looked forward to because there was a good chance of being able to finish them.
Nice picture of High Force!
Thanks PeterO. Lovely photos.
I enjoyed this puzzle, then spent a pleasant while reading up on Sylvie and Bruno. We have the Complete Works at home, but I hadn’t read this one.
I had ‘tIp in’, like you, but find the alternative given by two bloggers here much more satisfactory.
Either today’s puzzle is harder, or I’m feeling dimmer – or time heals all, and I don’t remember last week’s struggle 🙂