A sound puzzle from Everyman this morning. One or two clues were a bit convoluted for my liking, but otherwise the usual approachable stuff.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Red borders in fleece
CRIMSON
An insertion of RIMS in CON.
5 Airman with uncertainty in film, not aggressive
PACIFIC
An insertion of AC and IF in PIC. AC for ‘aircraftman’ strictly, I think.
9 Rare object, endlessly old, sorted then crushed
THIN ON THE GROUND
Bit of parsing to do here: it’s THIN[G], plus O, plus (THEN)* plus GROUND.
10 Domain covered by clear enactment
ARENA
Hidden in cleAR ENActment.
11 Alien, quite altered alien back in good form
ETIQUETTE
A charade of ET, (QUITE)* and ET reversed.
12 English spies in division with unknown strength
SPECIALITY
This setter likes his multi-part clues, that’s for sure. An insertion of E and CIA in SPLIT followed by Y for ‘unknown’.
14 Price? Not even shilling
ODDS
A charade of ODD and S for the old currency in LSD.
16 Endured weary drill
BORE
A triple definition.
17 Record retreat involving me in denial
DISCLAIMER
A charade of DISC and ME in LAIR.
20 Dispatched to guard area with stuff for ritual
SACRAMENT
An insertion of A and CRAM in SENT.
22 Extracted opinion in hearing
MINED
A homophone of ‘mind’.
23 Regardless of circumstances in romance, hero is prepared
COME RAIN OR SHINE
(IN ROMANCE HERO IS)*
24 Bad snag ruined element of flood protection
SANDBAG
(BAD SNAG)*
25 Licences, tons ending in pile in rubbish
PATENTS
An insertion of T and E for the last letter of ‘pile’ in PANTS for ‘rubbish’.
Down
1 Kind of sword characters regularly seen in court always use
CUTLASS
The odd letters of CoUrT aLwAyS uSe. And no girl in sight.
2 Song from one with nice whim, far out of order, grabbing attention
IF I WERE A RICH MAN
An insertion of EAR for ‘attention’ in I plus (WITH NICE WHIM FAR)* Sung by Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, and a rare outing for the subjunctive mood (I WERE) in English. And a bit of an extended definition, I suppose, since Tevye’s song is certainly a ‘whim’.
3 Fresh crop said to be scattered
SPORADIC
(CROP SAID)* with ‘fresh’ as the anagrind.
4 Fool about with ingredient of gunpowder
NITRE
A charade of NIT and RE. The mineral form of potassium nitrate. Aka SALTPETRE.
5 Sanctimonious tips I cite after conversion
PIETISTIC
Not really a word I’d expect to see in an Everyman puzzle, but it’s clearly clued as an anagram, so for me it was a question of getting all the crossers, then working out where the remaining letters fitted. (TIPS I CITE)*
6 Relax initially during cruise at sea, ignoring eastern cloud
CIRRUS
The setter’s asking you to remove the E from ‘cruise’, make an anagram, then insert R for the first letter of ‘relax’. The anagrind is ‘at sea’ and the insertion indicator is ‘during’. The thin and wispy ones.
7 Boundary hostility brought about hard, gloomy time
FOURTH DIMENSION
A bit convoluted for my liking, but it’s a sound clue. A charade of FOUR for ‘boundary’ and H for ‘hard’ and DIM for ‘gloomy’ in TENSION for ‘hostility’.
8 Chapter on start of disco set in American clubs
CUDGELS
I refer Honourable Members to my comment for the previous clue. A charade of C for ‘chapter’ and D for the first letter of ‘disco’ and GEL for ‘set’ in US.
13 Lingering, having injured leg in riot
LOITERING
(LEG IN RIOT)*
15 Spoil second series of games, being a monkey
MARMOSET
A charade of MAR, MO for ‘just a mo’ and SET (think tennis).
16 Crosses, dry in parts
BISECTS
An insertion of SEC for the French word for ‘dry’ (usually referring to wine) in BITS.
18 Put clothes on again? Correct
REDRESS
A dd.
19 Capital city some remember, gazing northward
ZAGREB
Hidden reversed in rememBER GAZing. ‘Northward’ only works because it’s a down clue. Capital city of Croatia.
21 Bad time coming up for military unit
TROOP
A reversal of POOR and T. Again, ‘coming up’ only works because it’s a down clue.
Many thanks to Everyman for this morning’s puzzle. Did you remember to put the clocks back?
Thanks Everyman and Pierre.
I enjoyed the crossword. PIETISTIC was a faint memory and I had to check it in the dictionary. FOURTH DIMENSION the last in, if I remember rightly, needed the crossers.
Yes, we remembered to put the clocks back last weekend, but we are now really on ‘summertime’ here in France, in summer we are two hours ahead of what the real time is; we should be the same as Greenwich, but the Nazi regime in WWII put the clocks an hour ahead in winter, two hours ahead in summer, and thus things have stayed.
Despite completing a few of the new setters crosswords a while back I’m back to struggling with them again. There seems to be a large reliance on word substitution which I find difficult (four for boundary for example) and although most comments on here seem to have adapted I find it more chore than enjoyment and miss the old days. Can anyone suggest a cryptic more in the old style?
Snitwock @2, I have not really adapted, although I say I enjoyed the puzzle it took me a long time. The old Everyman still sets crosswords in the FT, as Falcon. The Quiptic crossword is supposed to be for beginners, that is published on Mondays. Also published on Mondays is an easy Guardian Cryptic, usually by Rufus who also sets crosswords in the FT as Dante.
Yes, there were some trickier clues than perhaps would be expected in the Everyman slot. My personal problem was that after I had IF I WERE A RICH MAN and the main anagram, I got stuck trying to sort out the AEIR. Even knowing that either A or I had to be “one”, I still somehow missed that “attention” was EAR, so that wasn’t fully parsed. “Boundary” in the clue for FOURTH DIMENSION held me up for a while too.
Thanks to Everyman and Pierre.
Snitwock @2
As Cookie said, the two Monday Guardian puzzles are worth trying, but be aware that both can vary in difficulty quite a lot. Often the supposedly “for beginners and those in a hurry” Quiptic is more difficult than its regular Cryptic companion.
I find Rufus on a Monday impossible, I can’t do his cryptic definitions. Azed takes me an hour or two.
The Independent’s Sunday puzzle is supposed to be on the easy side. Dac on Wednesday is a very consistent setter but harder.
Azed is well worth a look, it may have lots of obscure words but the clues are always fair and you will probably surprise yourself.
Many thanks for the suggestions everyone, I’ll give them a try.
I’m the first Kiwi in at 10 past 8! I find with this guy now that you get the crossers and think or find a word that fits some of the clue and not worry too much about the fiddly bits! Like pietistic, who has ever used that in a sentence? 2d reminded me of the disgraced Rolf Harris, an Australian, by the way.Thanks Everyman, and thanks Pierre for clearing the cloudy ones.
All done, and I rather enjoyed it although I couldn’t be bothered parsing 2 or 7d. Agreed with Pierre re 5d. Not a word I’ve happened across.
Our clocks went the other way a couple of weeks or so ago although summer is slow to arrive.
And New Zealand currently hold the record for the highest score in a day night cricket test! I expect that to last about another few hours.
Thanks Pierre and Everyman.
Like Rod there’s always a couple I manage to fill in and then rely on Pierre to supply the full explanation. Thank you for that. Mr Colllins assisted in a couple also. I did try “Tie me kangaroo down sport” in 2d but it didn’t fit!
This crossword, if it deserves the name, is the last straw. The setter is more interested in algebra than the meaning of words and humorous riddles. In my opinion this setters work is dull, tedious, and uninteresting. I am no longer interested and I won’t be back until there is a new setter. I am not going to waste my time trying to do the impossible. Many thanks to Pierre.
25 across. Never heard of pants for rubbish. Got it all out but with more help than usual from quinapalus.
Agree with the comments re the convoluted clues. They are really not clever;more than half the enjoyment is cracking a really cleverly constructed clue. Maybe this setter enjoys inputting the maddingly frustrating constructions like 7d and 8d amongst the other more conventional ..Am sure he or she is perfectly capable of producing clever clues but just prefers not to, in order to enrage the audience!
Never heard of pants for rubbish, where does that come from?
I’d love to tell you where ‘pants’ for ‘rubbish’ comes from, vanessa, but I can’t. I should have explained that it’s a common word in British English for ‘rubbish’ in the sense of ‘not very good’. ‘That new phone I bought the other day is pants.’ ‘That joke that Pierre put in his last blog was pants.’
Don’t give up, Joe.