Everyman 3,542

by

A quick solve for me this week with the SE holding me up the longest.

Just the sort of enjoyable Everyman that we’ve come to know and love.

completed grid

Across

1 One regarded with contempt in back of Swiss taxi (4)
SCAB
last of (swis)S & CAB, taxi

4 Clergyman, one in important church (8)
MINISTER
1 inside MINSTER

10 Slow turtle can, surprisingly (9)
RELUCTANT
[TURTLE CAN]*

11 Article on daily crime (5)
THEFT
Definite article THE & F(inancial) T(imes)

12 Lose one’s grip and experience a setback? (4,7)
COME UNSTUCK
Double definition

14 I had contracted to appear in competition easy to see (7)
EVIDENT

I’D (I had) in EVENT

16 Makes certain criticisms once leader’s gone (7)
ENSURES
First letter of (c)ENSURES removed

18 Very small weapon brought outside in temper (7)
SWEETEN
WEE (very small) in STEN (a type of gun)

19 King in card game brother cut (7)
SOLOMON
SOLO (a card game) & MON(k) brother cut short.

20 Novel associated with Rip Van Winkle? (3,3,5)
THE BIG SLEEP
Cryptic def, 20 years ought to be enough of a snooze for anyone.

24 Concede a European king needs to be ousted (5)
AGREE
A GREE(k) with K(ing) removed

25 I approach home resolutely (2,7)
IN EARNEST
I NEAR NEST

26 Star of Oh, Mr Porter! attending passion play (3,5)
HAY FEVER
(will) HAY, star of Oh, Mr Porter & FEVER (passion)

27 Band from the south has re-formed (4)
SASH
S(outh) & HAS* reformed

Down

2 Harlequin’s sweetheart’s flowers (10)
COLUMBINES
Almost double def, the lover of Harlequin was COLUMBINE

3 Reason given for climbing Everest as I test her out (7,3,5)
BECAUSE IT’S THERE

BECAUSE (as) & [I TEST HER]*

5 ‘elpful tips about more discourteous gatecrashers (9)
INTRUDERS
RUDER inserted into (h)INTS

6 Talks to realists for a change, as people have different opinions (2,5,3,5)
IT TAKES ALL SORTS
[TALKS TO REALISTS]* Rather nice surface too

7 Row right after cup game (4)
TIER

TIE (cup game) & R(ight)

8 Merit a percentage (4)
RATE
Double definition

9 Male donkey’s load (4)
MASS
M(ale) & ASS (donkey)

10 Disease caused by insects? Not originally (7)
RICKETS
Initial letter removed from (c)RICKETS

13 Musicians strum, first to last enthralling boy (10)
TRUMPETERS
TRUMS i.e. STRUM with first letter at the back, around PETER

15 Taste before gathering in fruit (9)
TANGERINE
TANG taste & IN inside ERE

17 Sit around then by piano, in a place where youngsters can play (7)
SANDPIT
AND (then) & P(iano) all in SIT

21 Piece of news I came across after revolution (4)
ITEM
I & MET reversed

22 Birch in centre of willowy wood (4)
LASH
centre of (wil)L(owy) & ASH

23 Ancient city, partly destroyed (4)
TROY
hidden in desTROYed

*anagram

12 comments on “Everyman 3,542”

  1. Thanks Everyman for an enjoyable solve and to flashling for a nice blog.

    I didn’t know Will Hay but he was easy to find. I particularly liked INTRUDERS, TRUMPETERS & TANGERINE.

  2. I cry foul over 1d where I’d never heard of Harlequin other than as in the rugby side and their patterned top and hadn’t heard of the flower either. Highly obscure to me -but perhaps everyone else knew one or both?

  3. Another pleasant Sunday morning puzzle from Everyman, IMHO. I thought the clue for TANGERINE was nicely constructed. I can see Bamberger@2’s point about the GK requirements for COLUMBINES. I knew both meanings but I’m sure there are plenty of people who don’t know either. Having said that, the checkers were very helpful. The HAY FEVER/LASH crossers were my last ones in.

  4. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/comm/hd_comm.htm

    Hi Bamberger – you might find the above link helpful. The patterned top that Harlequins wear comes from a traditional type of drama known as Commedia dell’ Arte and the characters appear in all sorts of art forms such as opera and porcelain figurines. A principal character is Harlequin and, yes, he wears the Rugby top and his girl friend is called Columbine…

    Hope this doesn’t come over as too nerdy!

  5. Thanks flashling,

    A good puzzle from Everyman which I don’t remember very well, but I’ve ticked eight clues
    so I must have enjoyed it. I didn’t know Harlequin in a pantomime sense but I would have
    thought columbine was a pretty well-known flower and the answer couldn’t have been anything
    else…to me anyway. The rest of the puzzle did not present any problems not even the last two
    or three that I usually struggle over. Some marvellous surfaces here : SWEETEN and SASH to mention
    just two. Thanks Everyman.

  6. I enjoyed this puzzle. My favourites were 5d and 25a and I also liked 24a, 10d, 6d, 15d.

    THE BIG SLEEP came to mind quickly because of Lauren Bacall’s recent death. And in contrast to some, I did know about Harlequin and Columbine.

    Thank you Everyman and flashing.

  8. I didn’t get sweeten either even though it crossed my mind that it could be the verb form of ‘temper’. Didn’t get 26 AC or 22d either. The rest came to mind fairly quickly today, though never heard of the card game ‘Solo’.

  9. Thanks Flashling and Everyman.
    Like several others I struggled with SE corner, and needed google for William Hay, eventually 22d and 26a tumbled after agree(k) which required flashling’s fuller explanation ‘cos I was toying with King George! Solo is an excellent card game with similarities to whist and bridge (and I presume 500) but as the name suggests played as an individual with (I think from memory) the number of tricks being nominated by the player again I got the mon bit from the letters in so flashling came to the fore again.

  10. The NZ Herald has printed this crossword before, or is this déjà vu?
    The weekday puzzles are taken directly from The Scotsman double crossword published in July 2009. They can be viewed on the net.

  11. The answers to Herald crosswords for Monday 29 Sept 2014 can be found by searching double crossword the scotsman published 06/07/09. The clues were on 03/07/09, a Friday.

  12. Tricky , got stuck in bottom left corner . ( didn’t like Columbines or Hay Fever or Sweeten ) but there were also many great clues. Thanks.

Comments are closed.