My fellow blogger flashling commented that last week’s Everyman was harder than usual. I would echo that today.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Dry artist in Scottish town making joke
WISECRACK
An insertion of SEC, the French word for ‘dry’ and RA in WICK.
6 Catch in revolutionary role
TRAP
A reversal of PART.
10 Enduring hesitation, entering volcano attached to line
ETERNAL
An insertion of ER in ETNA followed by L.
11 Kitchen appliance that’s new at store
TOASTER
(AT STORE)*
12 Explosive liquid‘s origin recently worked out
NITROGLYCERINE
(ORIGIN RECENTLY)* with ‘worked out’ as the anagrind. Good clue.
14 Look good in charge, showing sense
LOGIC
A charade of LO! G and IC.
15 Development of main adult state
TAMIL NADU
Possibly not the best known state on the planet, but it’s (MAIN ADULT)*
17 Wasn’t vigilant saint initially tempted to accept honour?
SLUMBERED
A charade of S and MBE for ‘honour’ in LURED for ‘tempted’.
19 Group of eight hundred linked to fringes of tribe in part of Bible
OCTET
An insertion of C for ‘hundred’ and TE for the outside letters of ‘tribe’ in OT for Old Testament or ‘part of Bible’. A thirteen word surface to lead us to a five-letter answer perhaps tells you that this setter is never going to be known for concision of cluing.
21 Abandoned Hellenic truth, foolishly embracing force
LEFT IN THE LURCH
(HELLENIC TRUTH)* with F inserted.
24 Echo in endless ravine, one opening in awesome country
GEORGIA
An insertion of E for ‘echo’ in the phonetic alphabet in GORG[E] followed by I for ‘one’ an A for the first letter of ‘awesome’. The setter is asking you to do five separate things here: find GORGE as a synonym for ‘ravine’ (okay, not rocket science); take the last letter off; put E into that; add I; add A.
25 Some against allocation set up
INSTALL
Hidden in agaINST ALLocation.
26 Note about love beginning for teddy bear
TOTE
An insertion of O for ‘love’ and T for the first letter of ‘teddy’ in TE, a drink with jam and bread.
27 Near me, rat managed to create horrific experience
NIGHTMARE
A charade of NIGH and (ME RAT)* with ‘managed’ as the anagrind.
Down
1 Bird in corner waking up
WREN
Hidden reversed in corNER Waking. And a chance for the obligatory Pierre bird link. It’s not the smallest British bird, by the way. But why is it called Jenny Wren? Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet.
2 Apparent view on dynasty
SEEMING
A charade of SEE and MING.
3 Catch cross in game
CONTRACT BRIDGE
A charade of CONTRACT and BRIDGE.
4 Reptile‘s run under a log, tail twisting
ALLIGATOR
Since it’s a down clue, it’s R under (A LOG TAIL)* Nice surface.
5 Fund of money provided for cat
KITTY
A dd.
7 Wine container, not cold, overturned
RETSINA
A reversal of [C]ANISTER. Possibly the most disgusting drink on earth. Or tied in first place with Pernod.
8 Maintain exercises over time, cutting a tree up roughly
PERPETUATE
A charade of PE for ‘exercises’ and an insertion of T in (A TREE UP)*
9 Star going into battle with ready song
WATERLOO SUNSET
Well, you can’t say it’s not a well-known song, but the surface is pretty meaningless. It’s an insertion of SUN in WATERLOO and SET. And it’s by The Kinks, of course.
13 Torch in escape broken by attack
FLASHLIGHT
An insertion of LASH in FLIGHT, I think. LASH for ‘attack’? It’ll be in a thesaurus somewhere.
16 Poor nag minded being vexatious
MADDENING
(NAG MINDED)*
18 Candid leader of union almost immediately securing following
UPFRONT
Good job that the definition is obvious with a few crossers. U for the first letter of ‘union’ and F for ‘following’ in PRONT[O] for ‘almost immediately’.
20 Act badly in opera, lacking heart for musical work
TOCCATA
An insertion of [ACT] in TO[S]CA for the Puccini opera.
22 Prepare retinue
TRAIN
A dd.
23 Signal containing large hint
CLUE
An insertion of L in CUE.
Many thanks to Everyman for this morning’s puzzle.
Yes, I fear for the past couple of weeks this setter has reverted to where he started off when taking over from Allan Scott. These are getting too convoluted for my taste, and the ‘aha’ moments are sadly lacking as it’s all just a bit of a slog working out why the answer’s right.
I must admit I didn’t help my cause by assuming 16d was Demanding (which works as an anag and could equal Vexatious), but I hope the last couple of weeks are aberrations as he had settled into a nice groove.
I’m doing all these on line over the break which will spoil my next few Saturdays when this crossword usually appears in New Zealand. Rats.
Thanks Everyman and Pierre.
This took me longer than usual. I remember I wrote several answers in once I had some of the crossers, then parsed afterwards. The Kinks and WATERLOO SUNSET were unknown to me, I even checked the song out on the web to make sure I had never heard it before. However, TAMIL NADU was well known. Whales LASH when they attack.
NITROGLYCERINE and ALLIGATOR were good and INSTALL and WREN well hidden.
I didn’t help my cause by having TABBY for 5D Fund of money provided for cat. If you have a TAB at a bar that represents a fund of money, and ‘Provided’ could be ‘BY’. No less convoluted than many of the other clues!
The clue which particularly struck me as possibly too convoluted for Everyman’s target audience was UPSHOT. Having said that, I did enjoy the puzzle. My favourite was NIGHTMARE.
Thanks Everyman and Pierre.
Jennyk @ 4
…because it isn’t in the puzzle? 😉
Simon S @5
Oops!!! 😀
Make that UPFRONT.
Ah, that reminds me, since when was Up Front one word?? It’s two, surely. Even as one hyphenated it looks ghastly.
Barrie, I’d always write UPFRONT as one word. ‘She was completely upfront about her plans for the department.’ My dictionaries confirm this. Nice to see you in UK time – comments from you and your NZ cruciverbal friends often get lost a month later (but keep them coming if that’s what you prefer to do).
Thanks Pierre, will do.
Upfront is not in my hefty double volume OED nor Collins.
Authorities(?) on Google are varied with many remarking that it is a recent interloper. Can’t say I’ve encountered it before as one word, but will reluctantly submit to progress.
Thanks Pierre.
I too found this trickier than usual.
I was a bit confused by the reference to jam and bread in the explanation of 26 across until my wife pointed out that it referred to the Sound of Music song. I have always thought the words were “a drink with German friends”. A quick search showed me I’m not the only person to get this wrong.
Barrie @9. My Chambers in the bedroom does not have upfront, but the modern one in the kitchen does allow upfront up-front or up front.
Looking at it I discovered my modern Chambers is over 20 years old.
I too will reluctantly submit to progress and maybe it is time to get a new Chambers.
My two-pence worth from Nu Zild. I concur with Charles.
My Chambers says UPFRONT and UP FRONT and UP-FRONT are all acceptable.
12th Edition published in 2011.
Barrie, you confused the hell out of me when you appeared first on the list. But I must ask, why do that to yourself and spoil a good Saturday morning’s rumble with Everyman? I had not heard of Tamil Nadu, but the Kinks are a favourite and are often heard on Coast radio here, a station for those of us who like to live in the musical past.
Pierre, I doff my hat to you, I never knew I was a cruciverbalist! Or that there was a word to describe such a person! I am definately going to throw that one into a conversation at the earliest opportunity.
As I have said many times before, if an answer feels right and fits, worry about the reasons why later. Works for me anyway.
Rod, you are absolutely right. My recent Saturdays have not been the same. I still have one or two in the tin, but I shall desist forthwith and rejoin kiwi time. If I have a need for further crossword fixes (likely as I’m currently on hols enjoying some beautiful Coromandel sunshine) I’ll go find a nice Rufus or othe Grauniad setter online and leave the Everymans for their rightful place.
Barrie@1:
I found this puzzle challenging, but altogether satisfying once I’d worked things out. I.e. *lots* of “Ah-ha!” moments.
Cookie@2:
Some who has (a) Not heard of the Kinks and (b) *Has* heard of Tamil Nadu,
is living in a different Universe from me.
Like anyone who doesn’t actually *live* there, I had never heard of the town of Wick, but it was easy to work out once a few cross-letters were in.
Retsina is a very enjoyable wine; a Greek meal without it is much less enjoyable than it might otherwise be.
I meant “Someone who has” not “Some who has”.
Good on yer, Barrie, welcome back, and Rolf, I’m yet to find any alcoholic drink unpalatable!
i actually found this one not too bad and i still consider myself a novice. I certainly have to revert to lists , particularly in ref to games, in the UK I understand games include all that we would down here describe as sport….and i believe their definition of sport is more correct than ours. Luckily it was a game in the NZ sense this time
Never heard of Tamil Nadu either; could have just as easily been ‘Danu’ as far I was concerned but luckily, for once the 50/50 came out in my favour. Woohoo!
I did a ‘Barrie’ a while back too but found it did put my life out of sync somewhat – creatures of habit and all that…
I too was surprised to find Barrie at the top today. This was not one of my favourite puzzles with too many of the kinds of lengthy clues that I don’t like. Having said that, I have heard of Tamil Nadu, and am surprised that other Kiwis haven’t. It comes up on the news from time to time. I can’t understand the clue for tote. It was tea, a drink with jam and bread, wasn’t it?
Glad to hear that Barrie will soon be back with us.
Hi Audrey (and our other NZ friends). TE is the spelling of the seventh note in the tonic sol-fa; it’s just that the Sound of Music song used homophones to help the children to learn. DOE is ‘a deer’, but the note is spelt DOH, and so on. My random reference to the song has nothing to do with the clue.
Always interesting to get antipodean comments – keep them coming.