A typical Everyman – nothing too elaborate, well-constructed and varied clues, with the odd bit of general knowledge thrown in, which should be gettable even if you are not the general who knows it.
| Across | |||
| 1. | Escape for holiday abroad (5,3) | ||
| BREAK OUT | A charade of BREAK (‘holiday’) + OUT (‘abroad’). | ||
| 5. | Stretch of lake twists to the west (6) | ||
| SPRAWL | A reversal (‘to the west’) of L (‘lake’) + WARPS (‘twists’). | ||
| 9. | Lottery could cause son to shed tears (5) | ||
| SWEEP | A charade of S (‘son’) + WEEP (‘shed tears’). | ||
| 10. | Support worker accused (9) | ||
| DEFENDANT | A charade of DEFEND (‘support’) + ANT (‘worker’). | ||
| 12. | Hospital doctor injecting substance right into bottom (9) | ||
| REGISTRAR | An envelope (‘injecting … into’) of GIST (‘substance’) + R (‘right’) in REAR (‘bottom’). | ||
| 13. | Total, say (5) | ||
| UTTER | Double definition. | ||
| 14. | Considered striking after spring, so planned carefully (4-7-3) | ||
| WELL-THOUGHT-OUT | A charade of WELL (‘spring’) + THOUGHT (‘considered’) + OUT (‘striking’). | ||
| 18. | Need MOT? GT somehow not right, please understand (4,3,2,5) | ||
| DON’T GET ME WRONG | DONT GET ME, an anagram (‘somehow’) of ‘need MOT GT’ + WRONG (‘not right’). The apostrophe, like other punctuation in answers, is ignored. | ||
| 20. | Fighter plane hit? One’s lost power (5) | ||
| MIGHT | A charade of MIG (‘fighter plane’) + H[i]T (‘hit’) with the I removed (‘ones lost’). Nice surface. | ||
| 22. | Diver with net revealing explosive device (5,4) | ||
| BOOBY TRAP | A charade of BOOBY (the bird, ‘diver’) + TRAP (‘net’). A booby trap is not necessarily explosive. | ||
| 24. | Thug‘s hairy pet (9) | ||
| ROUGHNECK | A charade of ROUGH (‘hairy’) + NECK (make out, ‘pet’). | ||
| 25. | Actress in part of Dumas heroine (5) | ||
| ASHER | Answer hidden (‘part of’) in ‘DumAS HERoine’. The actress most likely is Jane Asher. | ||
| 26. | Former name of Ottawa, according to name on tug (6) | ||
| BYTOWN | A charade of BY (‘according to’) + TOW (‘tug’) + N (‘name’). | ||
| 27. | Girl’s back at school to get a laxative (5,3) | ||
| SENNA POD | A charade of SENNA, a reversal (‘back’) of ANNE’S (‘girl’s’) + POD (‘school’ of whales). | ||
| Down | |||
| 1. | Writer eating only half of stew in restaurant (6) | ||
| BISTRO | An envelope (‘eating’) of ST[ew] (‘half of STew’) in BIRO (‘writer’). | ||
| 2. | Star anise, say, always growing (9) | ||
| EVERGREEN | A charade of EVER (‘always’) + GREEN (‘growing’). Star anise is a spice obtained from the dried fruits of Illicium verum, an evergreen tree. | ||
| 3. | Reportedly drops off a novel (5) | ||
| KIPPS | A homophone (‘reportedly’) of KIPS (naps, ‘drops off’). The novel Kipps, the story of a simple soul is by H G Wells. | ||
| 4. | Drunk carried out secretly (5,3,5) | ||
| UNDER THE TABLE | Double definition. | ||
| 6. | Clerical worker in dock, drug dealer (9) | ||
| PENPUSHER | A charade of PEN (‘dock’) + PUSHER (‘drug dealer’). | ||
| 7. | A bit to one side (5) | ||
| APART | A charade of ‘a’ + PART (‘bit’). | ||
| 8. | Able to read and write Latin? Say again (8) | ||
| LITERATE | A charade of L (‘Latin’) + ITERATE (‘say again’). | ||
| 11. | Chinese restaurant speciality? Chef brought in fourteen I fancy! (7,6) | ||
| FORTUNE COOKIE | An envelope (‘brought in’) of COOK (‘chef’) in FORTUNE IE, an anagram (‘fancy’) of ‘fourteen I’. | ||
| 15. | Fine sight, a kaleidoscopic display (5,4) | ||
| LIGHT SHOW | A charade of LIGHT (‘fine’) + SHOW (‘sight’). | ||
| 16. | Title of new wine shop across river (9) | ||
| OWNERSHIP | An envelope (‘across’) of R (‘river’) in OWNESHIP, an anagram (‘new’) of ‘wine shop’. | ||
| 17. | Film barmaids working (5,3) | ||
| ADAM’S RIB | An anagram (‘working’) of ‘barmaids’. The film dates from 1949, and is one of the collaborations of Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. | ||
| 19. | Thin daughter did without (6) | ||
| SPARED | A charade of SPARE (‘thin’) + D (‘daughter’). | ||
| 21. | Drawn, relative after onset of gout (5) | ||
| GAUNT | A charade of G (‘onset of Gout’) + AUNT (‘relative’). | ||
| 23. | Long story about Egypt’s leader (5) | ||
| YEARN | An envelope (‘about’) of E (‘Egypt’s leader’) in YARN (‘story’). Parsing the clue requires the separation of ‘long’, and investing it with an unexpected meaning – nice misdirection. | ||
Thanks, Peter.
Indeed, a typical Everyman – no bells and whistles, but some lovely surfaces with a good variety of clues (and an old film …) Had never heard of KIPPS, but confirmed it online. Didn’t have a particular favourite today; it was a good all-round puzzle.
Thanks Peter,
Another very entertaining puzzle from Everyman with the usual range of clues. I particularly liked SPRAWL (excellent surface) REGISTRAR (straying into Paul’s territory here), BISTRO and FORTUNE COOKIE. Thanks Everyman.
I think that I found this one a bit harder than usual. I don’t think I know UNDER THE TABLE meaning drunk.
Thanks PeterO. I wondered this morning how I had managed to parse GAUNT from: ‘Thin daughter did without,’ but then realised it was the wrong clue! 😡
I particularly liked YEARN and BISTRO; thanks Everyman for an entertaining puzzle.
P.S. As I pointed out last week, it might be worth correcting the answer in last week’s blog to 4d from ASIDE to ARISE, just for posterity. 🙂
Yes, enjoyed it, I liked BISTRO as a clue, lots going on and satisfying to get. I think your ‘line’ is under the wrong part of the clue in 14a, by the way. Everyone’s a critic, eh…?!