The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3605.
I found this fairly straightforward, apart from having to deal with a few compound constructions and some definitions which, while valid, were not obvious – a trademark of Everyman.
| Across | ||
| 1 | VISAGE |
Face struggle to arrest slump (6)
An envelope (‘to arrest’) of SAG (‘slump’) in VIE (‘struggle’). |
| 4 | BOASTING |
Snake and cheat, swaggering (8)
A charade of BOA (‘snake’) plus STING (‘cheat’). |
| 9 | STONECHAT |
Bird towards north sheltered by dry covering (9)
An envelope (‘sheltered by’) of TO (‘towards’) plus N (‘north’) in SEC (‘dry’) plus HAT (‘covering’). Taking a leaf from Pierre’s book:
|
| 11 | EXCEL |
Some Essex celebrities are brilliant (5)
A hidden (‘some’) answer in ‘EssEX CELebrities’. |
| 12 | RITE |
Ceremony fitting in speech (4)
It sounds like (‘in speech’) RIGHT (‘fitting’). |
| 13 | ILL-NATURED |
Mean and horrible under it all (3-7)
An anagram (‘horrible’) of ‘under it all’, perhaps with an extended definition. |
| 15 | CHINESE LEAVES |
Cabbage newly seen beside field covered with herbs (7,6)
An envelope (‘covered with’) of NESE, an anagram (‘newly’) of ‘seen’ plus LEA (‘field’) in CHIVES (‘herbs’). Better known as Chinese Cabbage. |
| 18 | STRATOSPHERIC |
Fresh crop that rises very high (13)
An anagram (‘fresh’) of ‘crop that rises’. |
| 20 | RHINOCEROS |
Thick-skinned creature, old crocodile initially in river, emerged without energy (10)
An envelope (‘in’) of O (‘old’) plus C (‘Crocodile initially’) in RHINE (‘river’) plus ROS[e] (’emerged’) minus the E (‘without energy’). |
| 22 | MOTH |
Insect returning in rush to mate (4)
A reversed (‘returning’) hidden (‘in’) answer in ‘rusH TO Mate’. |
| 24 | BRASS |
Deep voice about right for memorial (5)
An envelope (‘about’) of R (‘right’) in BASS (‘deep voice’), for the kind of church memorial plaque which is often rubbed. |
| 25 | TESTIFIED |
Given evidence bound to include established supposition (9)
An envelope (‘to include’) of EST (‘established’) plus IF (‘supposition’ as in “That’s a big if”) in TIED (‘bound’). |
| 26 | DOCKYARD |
Remove spar in area for maintenance of craft (8)
A charade of DOCK (‘remove’) plus YARD (‘spar’). |
| 27 | SHANTY |
Song sung by sailors in hut (6)
Double definition. |
| Down | ||
| 1 | VESTRY |
Room in church really enshrining saint (6)
An envelope (‘enshrining’) of ST (‘saint’) in VERY (‘really’). |
| 2 | SPORTS CAR |
Son left mark of damage in high-powered vehicle (6,3)
A charade of S (‘son’) plus PORT (‘left’) plus SCAR (‘mark of damage’). |
| 3 | GREW |
Odd parts of garden we cultivated (4)
‘Odd parts’ of ‘GaRdEn We’. |
| 5 | ON TENTERHOOKS |
Anxious one outside shelter on height surrounded by crows (2,11)
A charade of ONTENTE, an envelope (‘outside’) of TENT (‘shelter’) in ‘one’ plus RHOOKS, an envelope (‘surrounded by’) of H (‘height’) in ROOKS (‘crows’, referring to the family of birds to which the rook belongs). |
| 6 | SWEETHEART |
Beloved wife filling churn with skill (10)
An envelope (‘filling’) of W (‘wife’) in SEETHE (‘churn’) plus ART (‘skill’). |
| 7 | INCUR |
Sustain elected scoundrel (5)
A charade of IN (‘elected’) plus CUR (‘scoundrel’). |
| 8 | GOLD DUST |
Travel on day after day in desire for rare commodity (4,4)
A charade of GO (‘travel’) plus LDDUST, an envelope (‘in’) of D D (‘day after day’) in LUST (‘desire’). |
| 10 | HELTER-SKELTER |
Male elk settler disturbed runs in wild haste (6-7)
A charade of HE (‘male’) plus LTERSKELTE, an anagram (‘disturbed’) of ‘elk settler’ plus R (‘runs’). |
| 14 | VIRTUOUSLY |
Against corruption of usury, toil honestly (10)
A charade of V (versa, ‘against’) plus IRTUOUSLY, an anagram (‘corruption’) of ‘usury toil’. |
| 16 | VICTORIAN |
Clubs entertained by broadcast on trivia of a bygone age (9)
An envelope (‘entertained by’) of C (‘clubs’) in VITORIAN, an anagram (‘broadcast’) of ‘on trivia’. |
| 17 | ASCRIBED |
Put down in the role of copy editor (8)
A charade of AS (‘in the role of’) plus CRIB (‘copy) plus ED (‘editor’). |
| 19 | SHODDY |
Careless and casual in fling (6)
An envelope (‘in’) of ODD (‘casual’) in SHY (‘fling’). There is nothing wrong with any of the three definitions here, but none is very obvious. |
| 21 | ISAAC |
One story, not good, about Newton? (5)
A charade of I (‘one’) plus SA[g]A (‘story’) without the G (‘not good’) plus C (circa, ‘about’). |
| 23 | PITH |
Substance hot after excavation (4)
A charade of PIT (‘excavation’) plus H (‘hot’). |
Thanks Everyman and PeterO (Ewelme brought back memories; we rented a cottage nearby at Christmas Common for several years in the early 1960s).
CHINESE LEAVES were new to me, which held me up for a while, and I failed to solve 23d, PITH! I did like RHINOCEROS, TESTIFIED, ON TENTERHOOKS, HELTER-SKELTER and ISAAC among others.
Entertaining puzzle which was fairly straightforward apart from a couple. I liked GOLD DUST, VICTORIAN and ISAAC.
Last two in were CHINESE LEAVES (quite complex wordplay) and PITH (many possibilities for _I_H, also kept thinking of dig for excavation).
Thanks to Pierre and Everyman.
I’ve never heard “shy” being used in the sense of “fling”. Is it some kind of regional thing ?
salsaman, think of a ‘coconut shy’ at a fairground where you throw a ball to try to knock down a coconut and thus win it.
I found this easier than last week, with no particular problems. Favourites were ILL-NATURED, SPORTS CAR, GREW, GOLD DUST and VICTORIAN.
Thanks to Everyman and PeterO.
Where are all the Kiwis? It’s Saturday afternoon. I’m still finding these a struggle. Some are just a bit too convoluted for me. 20a and 25a are good examples. However ,I did get over 2/3rds solved with help from my ‘bible’. (Chambers crossword dictionary.) I will keep persevering as someone loves a trier.
Here’s a Kiwi! Found this very difficult!!
since it takes me all day to solve it, this kiwi is only able to post usually on sundays. To finish by sat evening is a huge win for me. So I usually just read everyone else’s comments….
Has anyone else heard of crib to mean ‘copy’?
I am with Margie though I managed all but three today. Even got ‘stonechat’. Haven’t heard of Chinese leaves, and didn’t get 10 d nor 14 d. Vanessa, ‘I remember coming across ‘ crib’ in books set in English boarding schools, We would say ‘cheat’ instead. I always read your comments Vanessa. I usually look back on Sunday evenings.
Thanks Peter O. I liked your pictures.
This was a bit tough I thought. 23d in particular pithed me off a bit as I concluded digh must be a word and left it at that. Even had showerhat in at 9 across until I thought better of it!However, all done now, one wrong so there you go.
This was a bit tough I thought. 23d in particular pithed me off a bit as I concluded digh must be a word and left it at that. Even had showerhat in at 9 across until I thought better of it! However, all done now, one wrong so there you go.
Hi guys, I’m still reading this blog but refraining from comment as it is all a bit repetitious. Week after week I end up saying the same thing, I guess the answers and make them fit with the clues as much as possible. I still get a certain amount of satisfaction when I nut out the answers which means I look forward to the Saturday puzzle. The weekday puzzles have become a bit more difficult lately too, had you noticed?
Never heard of a stonechat before likewise chinese leaves as a variety ( or other name for? )chinese cabbage. Got it all out but with quite a lot of electronic digging.
Did about 3/4 of this and got bored. Too convoluted this week, or else I got bored. And I really need to go shopping, plus my wife wants the garage tidied. My mind is not in the right space today. No, I’ve not heard of a Stonechat either.
Completed this Sunday Morning – quite an achievement when it can sometimes take until Tuesday & the use of electronic media to work it out. Struggled with top-right corner (Nth-East?) with last 2 in 5d & 6d.
Everyman Crosswords normally contain 28 clues (I don’t recall there ever being more but on rare occasions there have been fewer). This week 12 clues included 13 ‘envelope’ style definitions, with a further 3 ‘hidden’. With over 1/2 of the grid composed by these style of clues, I find solving becomes tedious.
As a relative novice in the art of cryptic crossword solving, are individual setters known for a ‘signature’ style of clue that is used more than others? Is the continual use of envelopes an example of that for this setter?