Everyman N° 3,525

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The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3525.

Everyman is branching out – last week a Nina, here a mini-theme, if two Tolkien clues (and maybe in 12A a third, at a pinch) counts as such. This struck me as harder than your average Everyman, with a couple of knotty wordplays. We have at 23A and 4D the titles of two novels, but Everyman chose not to point out the films at 23A (Parts I and II) and 27A.

 

Across
1. Go after Asian river business (8)
INDUSTRY A charade of INDUS (‘Asian river’) plus TRY (‘go’).
5. In Tolkien, Tom Bombadil’s put six feet under . . . (6)
ENTOMB A hidden answer (‘in’) in ‘TolkiEN TOM Bombadil’.
10. . . . Baggins (hobbit) heartily upset about Bombadil’s end (5)
BILBO An envelope (‘about’) of L (‘BombadiL‘s end’) in BIBO, an anagram (‘upset’) of OBBI (‘hOBBIt heartily’).
11. Embargo on ballistic missile (9)
BOOMERANG An anagram (‘ballistic’) of ’embargo on’.
12. Produce item of jewellery found inside container (5,2)
BRING IN An envelope (‘found inside’) of RING (‘item of jewellery’) in BIN (‘container’).
13. Battle of New Orleans? (7)
SALERNO An anagram (‘new’) of ‘Orleans’. The battle of Salerno was the major engagement at the start of the Allied invasion of Italy in 1943.
14. About average on violin, having committed tune to memory originally (4,2,8)
FAIR TO MIDDLING An envelope (‘having committed’) of AIR (‘tune’) plus ‘to’ plus M (‘Memory initially’) in FIDDLING (‘on violin’).
17. One altering certain features in a theatre? (7,7)
PLASTIC SURGEON Cryptic definition.
21. Hot drink required in not entirely warm French castle (7)
CHATEAU An envelope (‘in’) of TEA (‘hot drink’) in CHAU[d] (‘not entirely warm French’).
23. Terrible tsar stuck on promontory in novel (7)
IVANHOE A charade of IVAN (‘terrible tsar’) plus HOE (‘promontory’; this less common meaning of the word might be familiar from Plymouth Hoe, where,
if you believe the tale, Sir Francis Drake played bowls while waiting to engage the Spanish Armada).
24. PM includes this one not far away (9)
AFTERNOON An anagram (‘away’) of ‘one not far’.
25. Group’s leader brought in awful song (5)
DIRGE An envelope (‘brought in’) of H (‘Group’s leader’) in DIRE (‘awful’).
26. Former Scottish philosopher, the opposite of 5 (6)
EXHUME A charade of EX (‘former’) plus HUME (‘Scottish philosopher’).
27. Knowing nothing, such a crossword can’t be solved! (8)
CLUELESS Double definition.

Down
1. Drink – one tipple brought in by me (6)
IMBIBE A charade of I (‘one’) plus an envelope (‘brought in by’) of BIB (‘tipple’) in ‘me’.
2. From a republic in Africa, a young man’s turned up to see spiritual leader (5,4)
DALAI LAMA A reversal (‘turned up’ in a down light) of ‘a’ plus MALI (‘republic in Africa)  plus ‘a’ plus LAD (‘young man’).
3. Small lumberjack, one who toils (7)
SLOGGER A charade of S (‘small’) plus LOGGER (‘lumberjack’).
4. Ornate orb connoisseur misrepresented in book (8,6)
ROBINSON CRUSOE A charade of ROB, an anagram (‘ornate’) of ‘orb’, plus INSONCRUSOE, an anagram (‘misrepresented’) of ‘connoisseur’.
6. Annoyed, wanted to catch learner driver (7)
NEEDLED An envelope (‘to catch’) of L (‘learner driver’) in NEEDED (‘wanted’).
7. Being broadcast from Barcelona, ironically (2,3)
ON AIR A hidden answer (‘from’) in ‘BarcelONA IRonically’.
8. Past patron saint causes an exclamation (2,6)
BY GEORGE A charade of BY (‘past’) plus GEORGE (‘patron saint’ of England).
9. Legal walk (14)
CONSTITUTIONAL Double definition.
15. Train in club on piece of gymnastic equipment (4,5)
IRON HORSE A charade of IRON (‘club’) plus HORSE (‘piece of gymnastic equipment’).
16. Watch tapes etc., haphazardly (8)
SPECTATE An anagram (‘haphazardly’) of ‘tapes etc’.
18. Article on more complex proposition that has been proved (7)
THEOREM A charade of THE (‘article’) plus OREM, an anagram (‘complex’) of ‘more’.
19. Haughty and extremely excitable man of high rank abroad (7)
GRANDEE A charade of GRAND (‘haughty’) plus EE (‘extremely ExcitablE‘).
20. Time off in bay (6)
RECESS Double definition.
22. A long letter (5)
AITCH A charade of ‘a’ plus ITCH (‘long’).

10 comments on “Everyman N° 3,525”

  1. I thought this was mostly another pleasant and straightforward Everyman puzzle, although I confess that I didn’t bother to try and parse the clue for CHATEAU, which was probably no bad thing IMHO. I liked the two Tolkien clues. For some reason I didn’t see PLASTIC SURGEON straight away and it was my LOI after I got the final checker from ROBINSON CRUSOE.

  2. Thanks for the blog, PeterO. A couple of the parsings escaped me (GRANDEE and CHATEAU) so your comments were helpful.

    Also thanks Everyman. I liked the misdirection in 24ac and thought the anagram in 4dn was brilliant.

  3. Another good Everyman puzzle.

    Thanks PeterO for the blog. I think I would have been tempted to leave out ‘Baggins’ in 10 to make it a semi-&lit. It was a bit of a giveaway with it in. In 4d I’m not sure that ‘ornate’ is really required. Surely misrepresented would cover both the preceding words? In 23 I was misled at first by the ‘terrible tsar,’ thinking it must have been an anagram.

    I loved PLASTIC SURGEON and AFTERNOON.

  4. First time in ages we got the entire crossword out.
    Loved entomb and exhume as opposites!
    Here in NZ we’ve given up on the New Zealand Herald where this is published (the cryptic was the only thing worth reading…!), and are slowly catching up on the rest of the world….

  5. Also from NZ. We continue to subscribe to the Herald-the daily cryptic has become more challenging of late-but I always look forward to Saturday’s more demanding and accurate cryptic with the above solutions and comments with intense anticipation. Many thanks PeterO

  6. I agree with the other two kiwis although we still buy the Herald. Just a pity there is no decent crossword here on Sunday. Hadn’t heard of bib for tipple and thought afternoon was clever. Like others I was fooled by the PM for a while.

  7. Like some other kiwis we still buy the Herald, and I agree the Saturday cryptic is better and more accurate than the weekly one. At long last, too, there are more Kiwis writing comments on this blog.
    Today I got stuck on 24 across, while trying to think of a Prime Minister. Found the rest easy.

  9. To Robi 4d is two separate anagrams thus the two indicators. Could have had one but would have made the clue a lot harder and I think it was clued the way it was deliberately.

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