Everyman 3,637

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The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3637.

A couple of clues here required care to parse correctly. It would have helped if I had known the Dame in 18A.

Across
1 DOWNPIPE Drainage conduit shut up, second half first (8)
The phrase PIPE DOWN (‘shut up’) with the order of the two words reversed (‘second half first’).
5 CROCUS Nothing in arena apart from one flower (6)
An envelope (‘in’) of O (‘nothing’) in C[i]RCUS (‘arena’) minus the I (‘apart from one’). A flower that actually blooms.
9 MOIST Wet nearly all round island (5)
An envelope (’round’) of I (‘island’ not necessarily Scottish) in MOST (‘nearly all’).
10 ANCHORAGE Harbour extremes of ambition with job bringing in silver (9)
An envelope (‘bringing in’) of AG (chemical symbol, ‘silver’) in AN (‘extremes of AmbitioN‘) plus CHORE (‘job’).
12 SCHOLARLY Academic all shy or nervous about clubs (9)
An envelope (‘about’) of C (‘clubs’) in SHOLARLY, an anagram (‘nervous’) of ‘all shy or’.
13 SWEET Declared set of furniture charming (5)
Sounds like (‘declared’) SUITE (‘set of furniture’).
14 INCONTESTABLE Certain popular trick experiment accomplished (13)
A charade of IN (‘popular’) plus CON (‘trick’) plus TEST (‘experiment’) plus ABLE (‘accomplished’).
18 EVELYN GLENNIE Percussionist playing line gently, even with time running out (6,7)
An anagram (‘playing’) of ‘line gen[t]ly even’, minus the T (‘with time running out’).
20 ADULT Democrat in error, not following one who’s achieved majority (5)
An envelope (‘in’) of D (‘democrat’) in [f]AULT (‘error’) minus the F (‘not following’).
22 THANKLESS Hot joints in westward street unappreciated (9)
An envelope (‘in’) of H (‘hot’) plus ANKLE (‘joint’) in TS, a reversal (‘westward’) of ST (‘street’).
24 FORT WORTH Pro with merit securing team’s first place in Texas (4,5)
An envelope (‘securing’) of T (‘Team’s first’) in FOR (‘pro’) plus WORTH (‘merit’).
25 AROMA Bouquet from Casanova, romantic (5)
A hidden answer (‘from’) in ‘CasanovA ROMAntic’.
26 RIDDLE Make many holes in puzzle (6)
Double definition.
27 CROTCHET Note nonsense about man in court (8)
An envelope (‘in’) of ROT (‘nonsense’) plus C (circa, ‘about’) plus HE (‘man’) in CT (‘court’).
Down
1 DOMESTIC Servant in habitual action beneath vaults (8)
A charade of DOMES (‘vaults’) plus TIC (‘habitual action’).
2 WEIGH Consider manner in speech (5)
Sounds like (‘in speech’) WAY (‘manner’).
3 PETULANCE Bad temper in scheme restricting English trade union and church (9)
An envelope (‘restricting’) of E (‘English’) plus TU (‘trade union’) in PLAN (‘scheme’); plus CE (‘church’ of England).
4 PRAIRIE OYSTER Groggy, finally managed rest after plain old hangover cure? (7,6)
A charade of PRAIRIE (‘plain’) plus O (‘old’) plus Y (‘groggY finally’) plus STER, an anagram (‘managed’) of ‘rest’.
6 ROOTS Searches for origins (5)
Double definition.
7 CHAMELEON One frequently changing ruffled hem on lace (9)
An anagram (‘ruffled’) of ‘hem on lace’.
8 SIESTA Nap in cosiest alcove (6)
A hidden answer ‘in’ ‘coSIEST Alcove’.
11 CRYPTOGRAPHER Weep over good artist, taken in by false prophet, becoming deviser of codes (13)
A charade of CRY (‘weep’) plus PTOGRAPHER, an envelope (‘taken in’) of G (‘good’) plus RA (‘artist’) in PTOPHER, an anagram (‘false’) of ‘prophet’.
15 CHEQUERED Payment order revolutionary varied (9)
A charade of CHEQUE (‘payment order’) plus RED (‘revolutionary’). The phrase “a chequered career” comes to mind.
16 BREAKFAST Interrupt hurried meal (9)
A charade of BREAK (‘interrupt’) plus FAST (‘hurried’).
17 REDSTART Dealer upset to receive stone for songbird (8)
An envelope (‘to receive’) of ST (‘stone’) in REDART, a reversal (‘upset’ in a down light) of TRADER (‘dealer’).
Common redstart
19 GAFFER Boss getting resistance after blunder (6)
A charade of GAFFE (‘blunder’) plus R (‘resistance’).
21 TOWEL Pull with energy on large cloth (5)
A charade of TOW (‘pull’) plus E (‘energy’) plus L (‘large’).
23 EPOCH Manage to rise above hard time (5)
A charade of EPOC, a reversal (‘to rise’, in a down light) of COPE (‘manage’) plus H (‘hard’).
completed grid

15 comments on “Everyman 3,637”

  2. Thank you Everyman and PeterO.

    An enjoyable puzzle, but quite hard for me. I had to Google to find the percussionist Dame Evelyn Glennie, marvellous, and apparently she has been profoundly deaf since the age of 12, she “listens” with her body.

  3. 4d and 18ac new to me as well, giving me pause for thought, but the rest was the fairly straightforward Everyman we know and love.

  4. I didn’t make any notes about difficulty last Sunday, so I must have thought it was about right for an Everyman. I was lucky that I knew both of the ‘tricky’ clues (I’m a great admirer of Dame Evelyn).

    Thanks, Everyman and PeterO.

  5. Thanks, Peter, for blogging.

    Another good one from Everyman. I did know EVELYN GLENNIE, although I’m not massively into classical music. What she’s achieved despite her deafness is remarkable, although she’s never made a big deal of it.

    Lots of pleasing clues in this one.

  6. Surely am not kiwi no.1 today?? I really enjoyed this one, I thought crocus, chequered and crotchet were fabulous clues.”.. Learnt a new word _ gaffer – today thought it was only someone on a TV crew

  7. ….and had to look up redstart…totally new name for me and doubt I’ll ever need to use it again…..

  8. Quite tricky in places but got there eventually. First in 16d Breakfast, and last in 24a Fort Worth. Quite liked 15d Chequered, and 26a Riddle. There are a number of interesting clues. Had not heard of 18a Evelyn Glennie but solved the anagram. Learned about 17d Redstart, a songbird.
    Quite enjoyed the the challenge. Thanks to the setter and Peter O.

  9. If I may add there is nothing easy about this crossword. It took me half an hour to find one clue that I could answer.
    4d Prairie Oyster is of interest. I googled ‘hangover cures’ and found Prairie Oyster, that fits ok. Otherwise I’d never heard of Prairie Oyster.
    Personally I prefer ‘the hair of the dog’ ie another drink of alcohol. Codeine works well if you can get it. Plus bacon and eggs, coffee, and relaxation.
    Yes I agree 27a Crotchet, and 5a Crocus are answers to good clues. 22a Thankless is good too.
    Cheers. I’ll have another glass of wine. I don’t get hangovers.

  10. Found parts of this quite challenging this week. Gave up on “redstart” after getting hung up (not hungover although I may as well been!) on insisting that it was an anagram from dealer and st. Anyway, ended up enjoying the rest. Thanks to all.

  11. Afraid to say I threw in the towel with redstart and crotchet unsolved and Prairie whatsit, Crocus and Domestic not fully parsed. Dome = vault?

    Never heard of the stick lady but figured her out.

    Yes, thought this was back towards the trickier end of Everyman’s range.

    Thanks PeterO and EM.

  12. We finally got there but with a lot of electronic digging. Found there was a redshank bird but it was a wading bird not a songbird. We were about to give up when we found that there was a redstart bird. . . Now if the setter had used tui or kereru (or even kiwi)for a bird we might have hit it sooner.

  13. Didn’t start till late this weekend and I, too, threw in the towel before I’d finished. Thought this one was too hard for me to really enjoy though there were some good clues.,

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