The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3521.
I did not think this Everyman was one of the very best, with a couple of weakish clues (21A, 8D), and a generous sprinkling of envelopes, but entertaining nonetheless.
| Across | |||
| 1. | Complaint made by Master of Arts, woman (6) | ||
| MALADY | A charade og MA (‘Master of Arts’) plus LADY (‘woman’). | ||
| 4. | Twist almost all of the backbone (6) | ||
| SPINAL | A charade of SPIN (‘twist’) plus AL (‘almost ALl’). | ||
| 9. | Notice embassy’s entrance (9) | ||
| ADMISSION | A charade of AD (‘notice’) plus MISSION (’embassy’). | ||
| 11. | A Parisian, one working for Equity, perhaps (5) | ||
| UNION | A charade of UN (‘a Parisian’) plus I (‘one’) plus ON (‘working’). | ||
| 12. | Jockey‘s attacker article cleared (5) | ||
| RIDER | A subtracion: R[a]IDER (‘attacker’) without the A (indefinite ‘article cleared’) | ||
| 13. | Mediocre, 12 that failed (5-4) | ||
| THIRD-RATE | An anagram (‘failed’) of RIDER (the answer to ’12’ across) plus ‘that’. | ||
| 14. | I’m career chef that’s prepared topping (5,7) | ||
| CREME FRAICHE | An anagram (‘that’s prepared’) of ‘I’m career chef’. | ||
| 18. | Valiant, began carrying out high explosive (12) | ||
| STOUTHEARTED | An envelope (‘carrying’) of ‘out’ plus HE (‘high explosive’) in STARTED (‘began’). | ||
| 21. | Find out when positive (9) | ||
| ASCERTAIN | A charade of AS (‘when’) plus CERTAIN (‘positive’). | ||
| 23. | Wild dog shot following row (5) | ||
| DINGO | A charade of DIN (‘row’) plus GO (‘shot’). | ||
| 24. | Top-class player, last to play, sickly (5) | ||
| SEEDY | A charade of SEED (‘top class player’, in tennis, say) plus Y (‘last to plaY‘). | ||
| 25. | CND includes even a past president (9) | ||
| CLEVELAND | An envelope (‘includes’) of LEVEL (‘even’) plus ‘a’ in ‘CND’. | ||
| 26. | Pointer in joint with no lead, led off (6) | ||
| NEEDLE | A charade of [k]NEE (‘joint’) minus its first letter (‘with no lead’) plus DLE, an anagram (‘off’) of ‘led’. | ||
| 27. | Celebrity impressing you, one having stamina (6) | ||
| STAYER | An envelope (‘impresses’) of YE (‘you’) in STAR (‘celebrity’). | ||
Down |
|||
| 1. | Thin, a Guides’ leader plunging into lake (6) | ||
| MEAGRE | An envelope (‘plunging into’) of ‘a’ plus G (‘Guides’ leader’) in MERE (‘lake’). | ||
| 2. | Priest entertaining Bachelor of Divinity, a Greek character (6) | ||
| LAMBDA | An envelope (‘entertaining’) of BD (‘Bachelor of Divinity’) in a one-l LAMA (‘priest’). | ||
| 3. | Soldier and sailor turned up after leave (6,3) | ||
| DESERT RAT | A charade of DESERT (‘leave’) plus RAT, a reversal (‘turned up” in a down light) of TAR (‘sailor’). | ||
| 5. | Poet‘s pen (5) | ||
| POUND | Double definition; the poet in Ezra Pound. | ||
| 6. | Pest is hidden by shade (8) | ||
| NUISANCE | An envelope (‘hidden by’) of ‘is’ in NUANCE (‘shade). | ||
| 7. | Led across Niger, struggling – hung on (8) | ||
| LINGERED | An envelope (‘across’) of INGER, an anagram (‘struggling’) of ‘Niger’ in ‘led’. | ||
| 8. | Lack of interest in controversy (12) | ||
| INDIFFERENCE | A charade of ‘in’ plus DIFFERENCE (‘controversy’). | ||
| 10. | Camp internee beaten for drunkenness (12) | ||
| INTEMPERANCE | An anagram (‘beaten’) of ‘camp internee’. | ||
| 15. | Get better soldiers in a time for change (9) | ||
| AMENDMENT | An envelope (‘in’) of MEND (‘get better’) plus MEN (‘soldiers’) in ‘a’ plus T (‘time’). | ||
| 16. | I kill two turkeys at home (8) | ||
| ASSASSIN | A charade of ASS ASS (‘two turkeys’) plus IN (‘at home’). | ||
| 17. | Specific Cape on Mediterranean island (8) | ||
| CONCRETE | A charade of C (‘Cape’) plus ‘on’ plus CRETE (‘Mediterranean island’). | ||
| 19. | Popular female, girl of ill repute (6) | ||
| INFAMY | A charade of IN (‘popular’) plus F (‘female’) plus AMY (‘girl’). | ||
| 20. | Bird in apartment close to river (6) | ||
| CONDOR | A charade of CONDO (‘apartment’) plus R (‘close to riveR‘). | ||
| 22. | Member of monarchy runs old American university? Not quite (5) | ||
| ROYAL | A charade of R (‘runs’) plus O (‘old’) plus YAL[e] (‘American university’) without its last letter (‘not quite’). | ||
Maybe it was because I solved this earlier than I normally do after a night out with a couple of friends, but I didn’t find this as easy as most Everyman puzzles. Having said that, when I looked at the clues again after I had finished there was nothing there that should have held me up so it probably was just me being off form. I finished off in the NE with LINGERED after SPINAL.
Enjoyable Everyman fare.
Thanks PeterO; I particularly enjoyed some of the anagrams like INDIFFERENCE. I also liked the two turkeys in ASSASSIN.
This one took me a lomg time to solve especially the rigjt bottom corner with 20d being the last one to get. Nevertheless I always enjoy these Everyman puzzles even though I live in New Zealand and probably no one is reading this.
I had a shedload of trouble this weekend Audrey, mind you we have just moved house and I m not my usual on to it self!
You ‘d probably be surprised how many kiwis do these!! My mistake was spelling meager the American way because I knew Das Meer is German for lake. That screwed up my attempts at 12 ac but never mind…I like having at least one that stumps me.