Everyman 3,630

by

It’s a May Day puzzle, but no need for alarms or SOS here

Quite a gentle puzzle with nothing really too tricky, just right for a Sunday morning.

Thanks Everyman

completed grid

Across

1 Depict stern problem (8)
DRAWBACK
DRAW (to depict) & BACK (the stern)

5 List of charges made by revolutionary artist in quarrel (6)
TARIFF
R.A. (an artist) reversed in TIFF (quarrel)

10 Head off in area covered with trees and everything (9)
FORESTALL
FOREST (area with trees) & ALL

11 Contradict opinion lacking force (5)
BELIE
F(orce) removed from BELIE(f)

12 Delight about honour and support for hotel worker (11)
CHAMBERMAID
M.B.E.(honour) in CHARM (delight) & AID (support)

15 Current appeal about election’s first posted by Democrat (7-3)
PRESENT-DAY
E(lection) & SENT (posted) & D(emocrat) all in PRAY (appeal)

16 Total love for wrestling (4)
SUMO
SUM(total) & O(nothing, love)

18 Time needed by mimic to make record (4)
TAPE
T(ime) & APE (to mimic)

19 Attractive quality in crowd containing alien element (10)
PRETTINESS
E.T. (the crossword alien) & TIN (an element) in PRESS (crowd)

21 Silly distortion of online scans (11)
NONSENSICAL
[ONLINE SCANS]* distorted

24 Home movie’s last part lacking skill (5)
INEPT
IN (home) & last of (movi)E & P(ar)T

25 Nervous on airing composition initially devoid of life (9)
INORGANIC
[ON AIRING]* nervously & C(omposition)

26 Understand article in newspaper after reflection (6)
GATHER
THE (article) in RAG (newspaper) reversed

27 Island’s sound central element (8)
KEYSTONE
KEY’S (island’s) & TONE (sound)

Down

1 Remove act, very loud (4)
DOFF
DO (act) & FF (very loud)

2 Right in strange way? Wrong (4)
AWRY
R(ight) in WAY* strangely

3 Symbol in music book linked to scales played with frequency (4,4)
BASS CLEF
B(ook) & SCALES* played & F(requency)

4 Typical letter, one with endless criticism (14)
CHARACTERISTIC
CHARACTER (letter) & 1 & STIC(k) endlessly

6 Gold, smart colour (6)
AUBURN
AU (gold) & BURN (smart, hurt)

7 Cross I drew, covering boundaries of London airport (3-7)
ILL-NATURED
I & (L(ondo)N A(irpor)T ) inside LURED (drew)

8 Rodent filmed swimming on river (5,5)
FIELD MOUSE
FILMED* swimming & the river OUSE. Nice pictorial surface

9 Vegetable oil back here got recycled (5,9)
GLOBE-ARTICHOKE
[OIL BACK HERE GOT]* recycled

13 Cheerful deputy, good and honest (10)
UPSTANDING
UP (cheerful) & STAND-IN (a deputy) & G(ood)

14 New study breaking dictator down (10)
DESPONDENT
N(ew) & DEN (study) breaking into DESPOT

17 Very bad times for small communities (8)
VILLAGES
V(ery) & ILL (bad) & AGES (times)

20 Calm people agree (6)
SETTLE
I think this is a triple def, to people = to settle in a place

22 Open ground occupied in part (4)
UNDO
Hidden answer (in part)

23 Hour in great discomfort (4)
ACHE
H(our) in ACE (great)

17 comments on “Everyman 3,630”

  4. Thank you Everyman and flashling.

    An enjoyable solve. KEYSTONE and SETTLE also held me up for a while and I did not realise the latter could be a triple definition.

  5. Thanks Flashling. The OCD/OED in me spotted a typo in your 4d explanation: CHARARCTER.

    [Fixed thanks]

  7. Thank you Everyman and flashling

    Nothing to frighten the horses here. Thanks Andrew @3 for the link to today’s puzzle

  9. Enjoyable. I started very quickly but the last 4 or 5 clues took me a while. I couldn’t parse INEPT. I had IN (“home”) + EP + T (“last part”), so I needed to get EP from “movie”, which I couldn’t do. Oh well, it seemed plausible at the time. My favourite was FORESTALL, for the change in pronunciation).

    Thanks, Everyman and flashling.

  10. I’m the first Kiwi again. Where is everyone? Got off to a quick start this week but then got stuck on settle and keystone. I have never heard islands called keys, or quays. Must be an English term.

    Barrie, I hope your play went well despite the people in the audience with cellphones on.

    Thanks Flashling and Everyman.

  11. Hi Audrey-another kiwi here. Keys as in the Florida keys. I gave up on 27 across but the ref ok. Surfaces are definitely getting betterncrom our ‘new’ setter. Thanks to Everyman and flashling.

  12. I had problems with the same two as many others, figured the triple def in Settle eventually but could only offer Seashore for 27 on the basis that it’s a central element of an island…knew it was probably wrong.

    Thanks Audrey, the play went really well but the cellphones were a pain. Happened again at another theatre the other day, I was in the audience that time and I had to shoulder tap the lady in the row in front to get her to stop bloody txting as the light was Flashling everywhere.

    Thanks all.

  13. Delay must have been the fantastic weather …My two betes-noir were also the same two as others found. Keystone and settle. I also had seashore in mind but was reluctant to write it in.
    isnt that funny
    Laughed at myself for my reluctance to write in forest-all and then the penny dropped

  14. Mmmm: same as the others ‘settle’ and ‘keystone’ were a struggle – and ‘undo’ of all things. Comforting to know that most were battling with the same words; got there in the end though so all good. Thanks to all

  15. Sorry, but I have to disagree with Flashling who wrote that this is a gentle puzzle with nothing too tricky. I find it very hard, difficult and tricky. So much so that it is beyond the point of enjoyment. Please make these puzzles easier and more fun!
    I solved 20 d Settle all right. I would never have solved 27 a Keystone because I did not know that a key is an island. Without researching the point, I don’t believe it. I was thinking of reggae, Marley, calypso…
    I quite like 17 d Villages, that’s what I call gentle, not too tricky, and enjoyable.

  17. My old dictionary refers:
    Key, n, a low-lying island, reef, or ridge of rocks near the surface of the water.
    Keystone, n, the central stone of an arch serving to bind the other stones together; (fig.) principal element, basis, that which round all else is built.
    I was looking for a chemical element like carbon or lithium.
    Oh well, better luck next week.
    Thank you for a fine, if challenging, crossword, and analysis.

Comments are closed.