Another fine Sunday crossword from Everyman. Just one clue this morning where I had to rack my brains a bit to discover the parsing.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 A bishop’s sermon is profound
ABSTRACT
A charade of A B’S and TRACT. I suppose ‘profound’ and ABSTRACT are synonyms. Just.
5 Field event record set by American
DISCUS
A charade of DISC and US.
9 Prepare to fire at ducks and a parrot
COCKATOO
My favourite this morning. A charade of COCK, AT and OO for two ducks.
10 Dominating woman in house hiding key
VIRAGO
An insertion of A for the key which has three sharps in it in VIRGO for one of the twelve ‘houses’ of the Zodiac.
12 Gentleman’s gentleman mislaying article at end of dance
VALET
A valeta is a ballroom dance in 3/4 time, so it’s VALET[A].
13 Horror novel: males butchered in opening
SALEM’S LOT
An insertion of (MALES)* in SLOT. A 1975 book by Stephen King. I hadn’t heard of it, so needed a few crossers before I could work it out.
14 Seen reaching out for Internet facility
SEARCH ENGINE
(SEEN REACHING)* Nice anagram.
18 Flog dish, potty, and basin in place lacking privacy
GOLDFISH BOWL
(FLOG DISH)* followed by BOWL for ‘basin’. ‘Potty’ is the anagrind.
21 Having a litre in bar is common
PREVALENT
An insertion of A L in PREVENT.
23 Man in Bible, one backing church
ENOCH
A reversal of ONE and CH. Not one of the most famous Old Testament figures, perhaps, but the wordplay is clear enough.
24 A place where event is held in broad road
AVENUE
A charade of A and VENUE.
25 Simone’s dishevelled after party game
DOMINOES
Very naughty of Simone. Must have been Naked Twister. A charade of DO and (SIMONE)*
26 Sample taken from plant by botanist, ultimately
TASTER
A charade of T for the last letter of botanisT, and ASTER for the plant.
27 Contemporary, a top duet in variety
UP-TO-DATE
(A TOP DUET)*
Down
1 Capone’s chap in corner
ALCOVE
A charade of AL (Capone) and COVE, a rather dated British English slang word for ‘chap’ or ‘man’.
2 Head of state, in a hostile manner, leaves Mediterranean island
SICILY
A charade of S for the first letter of State, and ICILY.
3 Meat dish – best fare, possibly, around centre of Bologna
ROAST BEEF
(BEST FARE O)* with ‘possibly’ as the anagrind. Going to pop mine in the oven when I’ve finished the blog.
4 Transvestite annoyed actor’s assistant in the theatre
CROSS-DRESSER
A charade of CROSS for ‘annoyed’ and DRESSER for the person who helps an actor get dressed for his or her various scenes in the theatre.
6 Nothing seen in one obscure turn of phrase
IDIOM
An insertion of O in I DIM.
7 Take tea with ordinary clergyman
CHAPLAIN
CHA for ‘tea’ followed by PLAIN for ‘ordinary’.
8 Fielder, not long a member
SHORT LEG
A charade of SHORT and LEG for ‘member’. Close to the batsman on the leg side: in England’s case usually Belly, trying to snaffle one off an Aussie bat and pad when Swanny’s ripping it sideways.
11 What may be clearly listed in an ABC Food Guide?
ALPHABET SOUP
A cd.
15 We come in barking about ten, in a state
NEW MEXICO
(WE COME IN X)* with X for the Roman numeral and ‘barking’ as the anagrind.
16 A vegetable in, for example, good plot close to quickset
EGGPLANT
A four-part charade: EG for ‘for example’, G for ‘good’, PLAN for ‘plot’ and T for the last letter of ‘quickseT’. I think this is American English; over here in Blighty we call it an aubergine.
17 Stupid sort of crossword that nobody can solve?
CLUELESS
A cd cum dd. If Everyman set us a crossword with no clues, then we’d struggle to solve it, wouldn’t we?
19 Girl ringing about ring
CORONA
Well, it’s taken me a while to work this one out. It’s an insertion of ON for ‘about’ in CORA, which is apparently a girl’s name. Can’t say I’ve heard of that one. ‘Ringing’ is the insertion indicator.
20 Henry in class, modest
CHASTE
An insertion of H in CASTE, for the mostly Indian class structure. H is the abbreviation for Henry, the unit of inductance.
22 A pleasantly appealing French accent
ACUTE
A charade of A and CUTE gives you the French accent (technically a diacritic) that you see in words like café, école or épice. E is the only letter that the accent aigu can modify in French.
Many thanks as always to Everyman for today’s puzzle. Right, let’s get the 3dn on the go.
Re 19d.
I had a pupil once in class called Cora – but that was in Holland and not in the UK.
So, it is apparently in one way or another a girl’s name.
And she is also a daughter of Zeus and Demeter, more often called Persephone.
I enjoyed this puzzle a lot. I particularly liked 9a, 13a, 11d, 2d, 21a, 19d (last in) and my favourites were 4d CROSS-DRESSER, 25a DOMINOES & 17d CLUELESS.
Thanks Everyman and Pierre. Re 19d, Cora is perhaps not a very common name but according to Wikipedia there is a “Cora Cross (née Anderton) who is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Ann Mitchell”.
I parsed 13a as *MALES + SLOT which I now realise is incorrect, but it is interesting that it could actually work that way too.
Thanks Pierre,
Another entertaining puzzle from Everyman. Great surfaces leading to COCKATOO and PREVALENT.
I didn’t have a problem with Cora but did have a problem with ‘leaves’ in 2d. Obviously, the
clue would not make sense without it but it seems superfluous or am I missing something ?.
Thanks Everyman.
Another pleasant Sunday drive.
Thanks Pierre; I too took a while to parse CORONA.
At first I thought the opening in 13 was slit, not slot, but that changed with a few crossers and SALEMS LOT was one of my favourites. I also particularly liked the CLUELESS clue. 😉
I misinterpreted the ‘leaves’ in 2 as a deletion, but got there in the end.
Hi Davy. Have been busy all day so only just got back to the blog. In 2d, I think if you interpret ‘leaves’ as ‘leaves you with’, then it makes sense.
i didn’t get dominoes. Was right off track. Tried to use Simone’s as anagram but with what?? I’ve also taught a Cora here in NZ but didn’t get the answer. Guessed 13a only because of the letters. I’ve never heard of the book .Lots of good ones and luckily the easy ones were also the longer ones. Made solving quite easy.