Another fairly straightforward everyman, with a couple of new words and some parsing that escaped me.
Favourite clue, 15ac.
Not sure if I’ve seen this grid before, with the black spaces halfway down each side.
| Across | ||
| 1 | INSECURE |
Vulnerable at home? See about vicious mongrel (8)
IN (at home) CUR (vicious mongrel) in SEE
|
| 5 | LAPDOG |
Harry’s after drink for pet (6)
Charade: LAP (drink) DOG (harry)
|
| 10 | PILAU |
Rim round gold dish (5)
LIP reversed, AU
|
| 11 | FRANCOLIN |
Spanish general sent over duck and partridge (9)
Not really up on my varieties of partridge, so this was a new word for me, but the parsing was fairly straightforward.
FRANCO (sp general) NIL (duck, reversed)
|
| 12 | DINETTE |
Male, one leaving Parisian shopgirl in alcove (7)
Two new words in a row. Not sure how this one works, if you’ve got any ideas?
|
| 13 | RECOVER |
Get better insurance on real estate, initially (7)
RE (first letters of real estate) COVER (insurance)
|
| 15 | EARTH TREMOR |
Slight quake – metro rather damaged (5,6)
Good surface reading here. Anagram (damaged) of metro rather
|
| 16 | SCOTCH BROTH |
Soup dish taken by British boiling hot (6,5)
This one fell out from the crossing letters, but I haven’t quite got the explanation. BR(itish) OTH (boiling hot) is clear enough, but the rest?
|
| 21 | STOLLEN |
Bread taken around beginning of Lent (7)
Seasonal. STOLEN (taken) around L
|
| 22 | INSIGHT |
Strange thing is perception (7)
Anagram (strange) of thing is
|
| 23 | UNDERLING |
Stress almost good for subordinate (9)
UNDERLINe (stress, almost) G
|
| 25 | NOOSE |
Snare wild one, so (5)
Anagram. Thought the surface could have been polished with some …. at the end perhaps?
|
| 26 | SONATA |
Composition from Strauss on a tape (6)
A nice hidden answer.
|
| 27 | APPEASED |
Calmed, took off to collect vegetables (8)
APED (took off) around PEAS
|
| Down | ||
| 1 | IMPEDE |
Editor supporting one politician over energy check (6)
I MP ED E
|
| 2 | SILENCE IS GOLDEN |
Peace slogan in lodge, since lines altered (7,2,6)
Anagram (altered) of lodge since lines
|
| 3 | COUNTERFOIL |
‘Stub‘ – no clue for it, cryptically (11)
Nice, slightly ‘meta’ clue. anagram (cryptically) of no clue for it
|
| 4 | REFRESH |
Breathe new life into slave throttled by her on the way up (7)
SERF in HER, all backwards
|
| 6 | ARC |
Curved path in marchlands (3)
Hidden answer
|
| 7 | DELIVER THE GOODS |
Carry out what is required? It could be the lorry driver’s job to do this (7,3,5)
Double definition
|
| 8 | GENTRY |
Information on tax for privileged classes (6)
GEN (info) TRY (tax, as in – this is not a very taxing / trying crossword)
|
| 9 | FAIRER |
Cleaner river in France (6)
AIRE in FR
|
| 14 | COMMON SENSE |
Gumption shown in House seen in a new light (6,5)
COMMONS (house) anagram of SEEN
|
| 17 | CANDID |
Outspoken Shaw play, abridged (6)
shortening of CANDIDE, a play by GB Shaw
|
| 18 | BRING UP |
Round in bar taken over to rear (5,2)
RING (round) in PUB (bar) backwards
|
| 19 | ISSUES |
Matters for discussion in publications (6)
Double def
|
| 20 | ATTEND |
Go to a nurse about start of treatment (6)
A TEND (nurse) about T
|
| 24 | RAT |
Deserter, sailor, capsized (3)
TAR, backwards
|
*anagram
Thanks Matt.
The Parisian shopgirl in 12A is une midinette. I think SCOTCH in 16A is ‘dish’ in the sense of ruin.
I failed on 11a. 9d and 12a . Re 12a I knew neither the Parisian shop girl nor the alcove. More suited to Anax at his most fiendish than Everyman.
I suppose Francolin was gettable.
RE 12a: Can I ask how you got the answer if you didn’t know the word and couldn’t see the parsing? (I was in exactly the same boat, which is why I’m asking!)
SCOTCH perhaps from taken = nick = scotch (scotch arch. make incisions in)
or from dish (coll. put an end to) = scotch (decisively put an end to)
PeterO @1, I missed seeing your ‘ruin’ for SCOTCH, apologies.
The STOLLEN I filled in with doubts at the end not coming up with something better. I thought it was more a Christmas bread, and on googling could find no reference to its use on Shrove Tuesday or in Lent.
I suppose for crossword usage that is neither here nor there, things can be taken out of context.
COUNTERFOIL, APPEASED and REFRESH among others were good.
Thanks Everyman and Matt
Thanks, Matt.
It’s unusual that I have niggles with an Everyman, but there were a few here where – like others – I couldn’t quite get what was going on.
I think the SCOTCH as ‘dish’ is as others have suggested, but it’s a bit of a stretch. The Parisian shopgirl was completely beyond my ken, although I did stick in DINETTE on the basis that it couldn’t be anything else. Is STOLLEN a cake rather than a bread?
Like Matt, I thought the surface for EARTH TREMOR was good.
Thanks to Everyman too.
Cookie @ 6
“beginning of Lent” serves the double purpose of giving an L for the solution and also a misdirection pointing you away from the relevant season – it could just as easily have been the beginning of lunch!
John @3: You can enter the crossing letters into a ‘wildcard’ search on some of the online dictionary sites, including Chambers. My preferred site for this is OneLook because it searches multiple free online reference sites, including Wikipedia, so proper nouns and names also get returned.
Simon S @8, thanks, I am getting a little more with it, or should I say corrupted?
I should add to my comment @9 that I personally only use electronic search facilities as a last resort. Like most crossword puzzle solvers I prefer to come up with the solutions under my own steam, so to speak. But if I’ve got all of the crossing letters and it still eludes me after a long while, I don’t have any qualms about doing this. I certainly don’t hold with the self-imposed restriction of using no reference works that some solvers claim to adhere to. And I’m almost always vindicated by such clues being for words or phases I’m unfamiliar with, although I must admit there are odd occasions when I miss something obvious and I end up kicking myself.
Thanks to Everyman for the puzzle and to Matt for the blog.
Thanks Everyman & Matt.
FRANCOLIN was unknown but the cluing was precise. I found that 9 & 12 took almost as long as the rest of the puzzle. Midinette had to be looked up and DINETTE checked. Scotch=dish took a while to see.
I was quite pleased with myself after the first run through and having only four to parse! In keeping with several others 11a, 12a, 4d and finally 9d took longer than the rest of the puzzle put together. Rather like a jig-saw three of them fitted-Francolins were a cmmon game bird in Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), dinette (as an alcove I knew) thanks to PeterO for the full reasoning and refresh (a neat clue) followed and fairer was about the only possible final solution.
Thanks as always to Everyman for the puzzle, Matt for the blog and the rest for your entertaining comments.
16a. I took scotch as a dish being a dish of Scotch fillet steak. More literal.
I came up four short, same ones that others found hard.
I too struggle with Scotch for Dish. Too obscure for a crossword at this level imho.
On the plus side I thought 5 and 27 a were nice clues.
On the minus side 19 d was a bit hoary.
Happy New Year Everyman (and woman).
Missed 4 of these, the same as most others. Never mind. It’s holiday time and the weather’s lovely.
Perfect for bowls, Audrey!
Still don’t get 12a. Also didn’t get 16a (got the BROTH part) and 17d.
FRANCOLIN was a good clue, with the duck being appropriate as NZ capitulate to some poor shot play. We’ll see how our bowlers go.
Late in this weekend, was away most of yesterday. When I read all the other blogger’s comments I am amazed how much they mirror my own thoughts and ideas. I am definately on the same page as Angstony regarding outside assistance. 9d was my failure this week. Passed through Mangawhai after a trip down memory lane at Waipu on New Years Day Ian.
I dont get 12 a either, the others I was pleased with.
Felt somehow it would be harder since the mind is on holiday as well as the body!
I dont understand why harry means dog either? Or is it a breed?
Hi Rod I’m in agreement with regard to outside help as a last resort which complements the solving of the puzzle-I’ll have to add OneLook to my repertoire! For 9d (my loi) I reached fairer as a probable solution and then sourced a river Aire in the Ardennes. So! Are you a Highland Dancer (my mother was)? The Waipu museum is well worth a visit for Scottish relatives. Vanessa I think that to dog someone is used in the sense of following/pestering=harrying them when used in this context.
Vanessa, to ‘dog’ is to harry as in harass, worry or torment.
Yes Barrie. We.re in the middle of the Nationals at Bowls and the weather couldn’t be more perfect. Let’s hope it lasts till Friday like this.,
A good easy crossword apart from Dinette , Francolin and the Scotch in Broth which I didn’t like