Good crossword, that had me stumped in several places.
Our not-so-new-now setter posed a tough challenge this week, for me at least. Some allusive definitions taxed the grey matter.
I like it, with a particular mention for the elegant surfaces.
I hope it’s not too tough to put off the new (and not-so-new) solvers – I, for one, cut my solving teeth on everyman puzzles that were a bit easier than this one.
| Across | ||
| 1 | TRANSGRESS |
Horrible stranger’s second sin (10)
Anag (horrible) of STRANGERS then S(econd) Although the construction was fairly clear, it took me ages to see the answer pop out of the anagram fodder. |
| 6 | ACID |
Bitter revolutionary in predicament (4)
Hidden (in), reversed (revolutionary) in preDICAment |
| 9 | LOBELIA |
Projecting part, large one attached to a plant (7)
LOBE L I A Clear construction, but stands out for a slightly clunky surface in a crossword where they are otherwise very smooth and pleasing. |
| 10 | LEISURE |
Lie concocted with certain freedom (7)
Anag (concocted) of LIE, then SURE (certain) |
| 12 | RASPS |
Fight back, restricting opening of secret files (5)
Nicely misleading surface / definition. SPAR backwards, around S (opening of secret). |
| 13 | TONED DOWN |
Number, day by day in urban area, subdued (5,4)
ONE D D in TOWN. Like the use of “day by day” |
| 14 | TREACHEROUS |
False idol accepted by foolish curates (11)
HERO in an anagram (foolish) of CURATES Another great surface |
| 18 | INCARCERATE |
Mad to keep new vehicle around rear of insecure jail (11)
IRATE (mad) around N(ew) CAR (vehicle) C (around) E (rear of insecure) |
| 21 | CERTITUDE |
Church right with trade union in tendency to show conviction (9)
CE R TIDE (tendency) around TU (trade union) |
| 23 | SWING |
Some campaigns win great change (5)
Hidden answer |
| 24 | RIVIERA |
I arrive to unwind in coastal region (7)
Anag (to unwind) of I ARRIVE |
| 25 | ALBANIA |
Outlaw protected by pseudonym mostly in country (7)
BAN (outlaw) in ALIA (pseudonym, mostly) |
| 26 | SOLD |
Promoted thus by lord (4)
Is “promote” the same as “sell”? I guess it can be. SO LD |
| 27 | SETTLEMENT |
Colony’s resolution (10)
Double def |
| Down | ||
| 1 | TOLERATE |
Swallow in group coming north over Spain with speed (8)
LOT reversed (coming north) E (Spain) RATE (speed) Not the first synonym for swallow that springs to mind, but it works.
|
| 2 | AMBUSHED |
Surprised to get exhausted after a mile (8)
A M BUSHED |
| 3 | SELF-SACRIFICE |
Cleric’s safe if involved in generous action (4-9)
Anag (involved) of CLERICSSAFEIF
|
| 4 | ROAST |
Cook when in decline (5)
AS (when) in ROT (decline). Took me a while to see how this one worked. |
| 5 | SPLENDOUR |
Give love, seized by urge for glory (9)
SPUR (urge) around LEND (give) O (love) |
| 7 | COUPON |
Company happy about entry form (6)
CO (company) UP (happy) ON (about). |
| 8 | DYEING |
Colouring fading, according to report (6)
Sounds like (according to report) “dying” (fading). Hmmm, nothing wrong with it, but feels like a weak clue for some reason, in a crossword full of strong clues. |
| 11 | INDISPENSABLE |
Essential corruption of a penniless bid (13)
APENNILESSBID* (corruption). Confused myself by completely forgetting how to spell the answer word (“…ible”) |
| 15 | ENCOURAGE |
Cheer on cue stirring passion (9)
CUE* RAGE (passion)
|
| 16 | VARIANCE |
Disagreement’s very bad in a race (8)
V(ery) INARACE* (bad) |
| 17 | SERGEANT |
Police officer having material on worker? (8)
SERGE (material) ANT (worker) |
| 19 | SCORES |
A great many scratches (6)
Double def |
| 20 | DRIVEL |
Nonsense from learner following ambition (6)
DRIVE (ambition) L (learner) |
| 22 | EXACT |
Cut up court? Correct (5)
AXE (cut) backwards (up) CT (court) |
Thanks Everyman and Matt
This was a very enjoyable solve due to the clear clueing and elegant surfaces.
My favourites were 18a, 7d, 3d, 5d, 14a (LOI)
Matt – I think that 15d is an anagram of ON CUE + RAGE and the definition is “cheer”.
Yup, right you are Michelle.
Yes, took me a few sittings over the Sunday to complete this one, but every clue fairly and elegantly constructed.
Thanks Everyman and Matt.
This was hard going, and entering CAMELIA first at 9a held me up in the NW corner (cam for a projection on a rotating part in machinery, but could not account for the e). ROAST took quite a while to parse. SOLD was the last in, it seemed the only possibility.
RASPS, TREACHEROUS, SPLENDOUR, TOLERATE and INCARCERATE among others were good.
Really enjoyed this and I didn’t find the DYEING clue weak, in fact it was my last
one in following VARIANCE. Among many great clues, I thought that TRANSGRESS, TREACHEROUS, SPLENDOUR and VARIANCE were particularly good.
Many thanks to Matt and Everyman.
I found this an enjoyable Sunday puzzle with some very nice surfaces. My favourites were TRANSGRESS, LEISURE, TREACHEROUS, ENCOURAGE and VARIANCE.
Thanks to Everyman and Matt.
What everyone else said. Thanks to S&B.
I count myself as a beginner, and this was the first Everyman I’ve finished (after an hour or so), so the level is just right for me.
I’m struggling with two in this weeks, though.
Brian
Keep going, Brian. Cup of tea/glass of something/long walk and then come back to it. It’s surprising how often when you do start again you see those last ones. Nice to hear from you.
Nice crossword, had to check names of flowers ending LIA and Variance took a bit of time. Got Coupon but couldn’t see where Happy fitted in, so thanks for that. Thought the standard of the last couple of these crosswords is spot on.
Thanks Matt and Everyman.
I found this offering to be more straightforward than those of previous week’s but nonetheless a stimulating challenge. The clues seemed to me to be much less convoluted-the surfaces must have been more transparent! In keeping with Vanessa from 3587 I am forever intrigued by the variances in difficulty that each solver encounters with different clues. Hence my interest in which is the loi-this week 26a for me (and @4 above).
Many thanks as per usual to Everyman, Matt and other contributors. Go the AB’s tonight!!
Agree with the other comments. This is the right level for me. It’s the second one I’ve managed to finish, though some of the clues took a while to puzzle out. Like Matt it took ages to get Transgress, and in fact the top left corner was the last to get.
Liked treacherous, rasps, encourage, toned down, and lots of others .
Couldn’t parse tolerate because I forgot Spain was E and not S.
Thanks Matt and Everyman. Looking forward to the AB’s game tonight and hope it’s the outcome we would all like.
Funny, I did this a week or so ago online when I was home sick, tried again today and still struggled with some of them! The man-cold I had must have messed with my brain. In fact I’m sure of it, has now taken me two goes to get the sum right at the bottom. 2 – 2 = four?
Enjoyed it though, especially Rasps.
Don’t think there’s much wrong with your brain Barrie. You were able to write a very easily-understood description of what ‘surfaces’ are even when you were sick.
Either this was easier than recent ones or I’m getting used to the new setter. Completed this with only a little help from my ‘bible’. Most of the clues seemed a bit more straight forward and at about my level of ‘cryptic’. Too many that I liked to mention individually. Thanks, Mr Setter. Go the All Blacks.
I found this crossword to be a Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde affair. Some clues I thought were super easy and others, super hard. Having said that, I enjoyed it and my loi was rasps, just couldn’t see past files as in cabinets! Thanks Matt and Everyman, we are in a phase of continuous improvement.