Another thoughtfully-constructed cryptic from Everyman. We only as a rule get a few comments on this site. But I’m certain his Sunday puzzles bring pleasure to many solvers, both in the UK and abroad, who are blissfully unaware of the delights of Fifteensquared. Lots of clues to enjoy this morning, and some delightful surface readings.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) missing
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Grade in form if last in history
CLASSIFY
A charade of CLASS, IF and Y for the last letter of historY.
5 Credit is doubled in unstable period
CRISIS
A charade of CR and twice IS.
10 Significant event involving forgotten English monarch
SOVEREIGN
An insertion of OVER for ‘forgotten’ and E in SIGN for ‘significant event’, in the sense that the Star over Bethlehem was a sign that Jesus was about to pop out of the Virgin’s womb.
11 Present for don
PUT ON
A dd. Don for ‘put on’ clothes has an antonym, doff, which is now usually restricted to phrases like ‘doff one’s cap’. The original meanings were ‘do on’ and ‘do off’.
12 There’s nothing in canteen I like
NIL
Hidden in canteeN I Like.
13 Pasta dish? Gill ate bananas in story!
TAGLIATELLE
An insertion of (GILL ATE)* in TALE for the ribbon-like pasta. Tagliatelle carbonara is a staple chez nous.
14 Impoverished Hebridean let on free
ON THE BREADLINE
(HEBRIDEAN LET ON)*
16 Game birds
DUCKS AND DRAKES
It doesn’t get more concise than this. A dd. DUCKS AND DRAKES is the British English name for the sport of skimming flat stones across the water to see how many times you can get them to bounce. I was minded to look at its derivation, which seems a bit lost in the mists of time. But it’s certainly been around a while. This is from 1585:
“A kind of sport or play with an oister shell or stone throwne into the water, and making circles yer it sinke, etc. It is called a ducke and a drake, and a halfe-penie cake.”
20 Subsidies needed to secure NY female LA apartments
GRANNY FLATS
An insertion of NY F LA in GRANTS.
21 Mother, foolish on reflection
DAM
A reversal of MAD. DAM in this sense is most often heard in horse-breeding circles, I fancy.
22 Group of celebs in Bali, stars
A LIST
Hidden in bALI STars.
23 More than one hearing insult – bar involved
TRIBUNALS
(INSULT BAR)* ‘Involved’ is the anagrind.
24 Do wrong in attempt to provide drink
SHERRY
Everyman is inviting you to insert ERR in SHY.
25 Worried, head of Abbotsleigh having to stay in school nursing it
AGITATED
A charade of A for the first letter of Abbotsleigh followed by an insertion of IT in GATED. GATED as a term for having to stay in school is essentially public school usage, I think. Abbotsleigh is a girls’ public school in Sydney, NSW, though that may be of no relevance whatsoever.
Down
1 Endless money in old gaming house
CASINO
A charade of CAS[H] IN and O.
2 Block damaged van, one on left
ANVIL
A charade of (VAN)* I and L.
3 A slight injury causing one to withdraw
SCRATCH
A dd.
4 Perks infer gifts – been worried?
FRINGE BENEFITS
(INFER GIFTS BEEN)* The anagrind is ‘worried’.
6 Criminal erupted, it’s alleged
REPUTED
(ERUPTED)* with ‘criminal’ as the anagrind.
7 Plot involving a shop attendant
SATELLITE
It’s an insertion of A TELL in SITE, as far as I can see. I wasn’t familiar with this ‘attendant’ definition, but it’s the first entry in my SOED: ‘A member of an important person’s staff or retinue; a follower, an underling.’ TELL for ‘shop’ I can’t really reconcile. If you ‘shop’ someone, you turn them in or TELL ON them, but that’s not the same as TELL, is it?
8 Seeing that note is genuine
SINCERE
A charade of SINCE and RE for the second note in the tonic sol-fa, a drop of golden sun if you’re a Sound of Music fan. ‘Since/seeing that you’re here, you may as well join us for supper.’
9 Illegal trading, daring sideline abroad
INSIDER DEALING
(DARING SIDELINE)*
15 Fruit drink that’s delicious in the East
NECTARINE
NECTAR is by definition delicious, so it’s NECTAR plus IN plus E.
16 Follows, holding trooper’s original silver identity discs
DOG TAGS
An insertion of T for the first letter of Trooper and AG for the chemical symbol for silver in DOGS.
17 Treason involved a politician
SENATOR
(TREASON)* Bit of a chestnut, but someone no doubt will be seeing it for the first time.
18 A sailor reportedly set about
ASSAULT
A homophone (‘reportedly’) of A SALT.
19 A goddess duke entertained
AMUSED
A charade of A, MUSE and D. The MUSES were nine Greek goddesses: ERATO is the setters’ favourite because little else fits E?A?O, but CALLIOPE did come up in a daily puzzle I did recently.
21 Doctor behind plan
DRAFT
A charade of DR and AFT.
Many thanks as always to Everyman for today’s puzzle.
I enjoyed the long anagrams @ 14a, 4d & 9d and my other favourites were 1d, 16a, 16d, 20a, 8d, 5a, 10a & 7d (last in).
Thanks for the blog, Pierre. I particularly enjoyed your descriptions of the words ‘don’ and ‘doff’. I parsed 7d as you did.
Thanks, Pierre. I agree that there must be a lot of people “out there” who don’t know what they’re missing!
I parsed 7d as you and Michelle did, with the same reservations as you had about the syntax.
After about 10 attempts I got tagelatelli/tagelettelli/tagletelli correct -like gandhi/ghandi it is impossible to get correct first time round.
I think there are a lot of people who usually post to 225 who do the Everyman puzzle every week but they just don’t post about it. After all, it is hard to remember the finer points of a puzzle after one week. I am only able to comment on these puzzles because I make notes on the Everyman puzzle each Sunday. As I always do the Guardian puzzles online, I find that Everyman and Prize puzzles are the best way to test my solving and parsing skills: the daily puzzles allow me the luxury of using the “check” button when needed.
I look forward to the Everyman puzzle every week – I always enjoy it!
Thanks Pierre,
I always enjoy Everyman each week although I only comment occasionally. For this puzzle, I particularly liked PUT ON
and ON THE BREADLINE which had a great surface and anagram. Thanks Everyman for providing a quality puzzle, week upon week.
Good puzzle and thanks to Pierre for the blog.
I agree that shop would be better as ‘tell on,’ although my Chambers Crossword Dictionary does list just ‘tell’ as a synonym for shop. I’m not sure why Pasta is in italics in the clue for 13a; any ideas?
I liked the misleading ‘set about’ in 18d; I thought at first it must have had ‘tes’ or ‘est’ somewhere in the answer.
Robi, I think the italicisation of pasta in 13ac is just there for the surface.
It was Everyman that got me started on cryptics and we tracked down the compilation book to take on holidays too. Cheers Everyman!
Thanks to all the Everyman bloggers, I always visit on a Sunday or Monday to check last weeks for explanations of ones I didn’t solve.
I always look at Fifteen Squared every week but don’t often comment as here in New Zealand we get the crossword a month later than the UK and probably no one will read my comments anyway.
I am in New Zealand too and it seems that there are growing numbers of us. So well worth commenting – at least we other New Zealanders will read your comments.I really enjoy visiting and do so every week.
Hi Audrey I’m in NZ too, and fellow solvers don’t seem to be thick on the ground here. Today I completed the xword but had no idea why “satellite” was right until fifteensqared explained all
Another great cryptic.
I am in New Zealand too.
makonz@clear.net.nz
Yet another kiwi here
Usually takes me all weekend to finish ..my mum and her friends usually finish it by sat afternoon, but they’ve been doing these longer than me. I like to have something to puzzle over more than half a day!
I just don’t get the relevance of satellite and the blog unfort doesn’t make it clear at all, can some one explain what part of the clue actually relates to satellite?
I also thought “significant event” being E in Sign was a bit of a stretch….
Welcome, kiwis! You are hunting in packs today …
I did vaguely know that the Everyman was syndicated, but wasn’t exactly sure where or with what delay. Nice to know that you enjoy it; don’t feel discouraged from commenting even after a month’s delay. We bloggers get notification when another comment arrives so we can always come back to the blog and answer any questions.
Vanessa, as to your question: ‘attendant’ is the definition of ‘satellite’ and I’ve given the entry from my dictionary. As I said, it was a new one on me as well. Many bloggers will underline the definition in the clue to help you.
Come back and comment again – it’s always nice to hear from overseas solvers.