Solid puzzle.
Some good clues. Most of my difficulties came from my own mental blind-spots, on a day when the gears were grinding.
| Across | ||
| 1 | DISLODGE | Move is last of several in trick (8) |
| IS L (last of severaL) in DODGE | ||
| 6 | AFAR | At a distance from Niagara Falls, looking back (4) |
| Hidden (from) reversed (looking back) in niagaRAFAlls | ||
| 10 | PEANUTS | Trifling sum made from comic strip (7) |
| Double definition | ||
| 11 | HERBALS | King first to believe in cures in medicinal plant books (7) |
| R (king) B(elieve) in HEALS (cures) | ||
| 12 | LEEDS | City guides on audio (5) |
| Sounds like LEADS (guides) | ||
| 13 | RACONTEUR | Informer admitting fraud with regret about being storyteller (9) |
| CON (fraud) in RAT (informer) then RUE (regret) backwards | ||
| 14 | COLORADO BEETLE | Pest unfit to be cool leader (8,6) |
| Anag (unfit) of TOBECOOLLEADER | ||
| 18 | GRASP THE NETTLE | Good soldiers, with power at that time in land, set about difficult task (5,3,6) |
| G(ood) RA (soldiers), then P(ower) THEN (at that time) in SETTLE (land) | ||
| 20 | FRAGRANCE | Smell piece of old cloth in country (9) |
| RAG in FRANCE | ||
| 22 | EAGER | Anxious gamble, starting east instead of west (5) |
| WAGER (gamble) with E instead of W at the start | ||
| 24 | ADORNED | Fuss, blushing about information finally embellished (7) |
| ADO (fuss) RED (blushing) about N (informatioN, finally) | ||
| 25 | TRIUMPH | Success whipped up mirth (7) |
| 26 | RATE | Admire pace (4) |
| Double definition | ||
| 27 | EUROSTAR | Rail service tours are all over the place (8) |
| Anag (all over the place) of TOURSARE. | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | IMAGE | I cope without an idol (5) |
| I ManAGE (cope, without AN) | ||
| 3 | LOUIS ARMSTRONG | Trumpeter stirring mortals, rousing (5,9) |
| Anag (stirring) of MORTALSROUSING | ||
| 4 | DISCREDIT | Record supported by Republican correct? Shame (9) |
| DISC (record) R (republican) EDIT (correct) | ||
| 5 | ETHIC | Raised quote about hard set of principles (5) |
| CITE (quote) backwards (raised) around H (hard) | ||
| 7 | FLAGEOLET | Tell of unusually absorbing time producing bean (9) |
| Anag (unusually) of TELLOF around AGE (time) | ||
| 8 | RESORT | Run English class in holiday location (6) |
| 9 | FRINGE BENEFITS | Perks, in brief, fine gents exploited (6,8) |
| Anag (exploited) of BRIEFFINEGENTS | ||
| 10 | PALACE | Comrade with great mansion (6) |
| PAL (comrade) ACE (great) | ||
| 15 | LARK ABOUT | Play with vessel in laboratory not allowed (4,5) |
| ARK (vessel) in LAB, OUT (not allowed) | ||
| 16 | BEEFEATER | Warder beginning to exaggerate achievement during drink (9) |
| E (beginning to Exaggerate) FEAT (achievement) in BEER | ||
| 17 | SEARCH | Quest to get attention in school (6) |
| EAR (attention) in SCH (school) | ||
| 19 | AFFAIR | Concern caused by a very loud tune (6) |
| A FF (very loud) AIR (tune) | ||
| 21 | NUDGE | Reminder uncovered around end of meeting (5) |
| NUDE around G (end of meetinG) | ||
| 23 | GAMMA | Letter from team magistrate turned over (5) |
| Hidden answer, reversed (turned over) in teAMMAGistrate | ||
*anagram
Thank you Everyman and Matt.
An enjoyable solve, my favourite clue, PEANUTS, took me a while to get, and I also liked FRINGE BENEFITS and the well hidden AFAR.
I think the parsing of RESORT is R(un) E(nglish) SORT(class)…
Thanks both. Good stuff
I think that a couple of parsings have not appeared – 25a (anag of UP MIRTH) and 8d as Cookie has said
Sorry, yes, for some reason a couple of parsings haven’t appeared.
thanks Matt and Everyman
I enjoyed this puzzle
Nice puzzle, good level, favourites AFAR and IMAGE.
Thanks, Everyman and Matt.
10ac held out for a while at the end, but any other delays (such as 3d not immediately leaping to mind) must be put down to Sunday morning and the accompanying lack of mental agility.
Thanks for the blog Matt.
This was a fairly gentle puzzle although I needed your blog to parse GRASP THE NETTLE. I had RAS for soldiers (plural) and then was wondering what on earth an ETTLE was. Thank you for the enlightenment!
As you’re probably aware the NZ Herald will no longer be publishing Everyman crossies. So I am now playing catch up in order to get to where you good folk in the UK are at.
I managed to smash this one in no time. The only one I could not parse was GRASP THE NETTLE.
Rats @8, not so fast, we are back, last week an aberration apparently caused by the NZ Herald Crossword Ed being absent from her post. But then I think you know that by now.
Nice gentle offering as others have noted. Possibly even to Joe’s liking?
Liked Raconteur and Adorned. Didn’t realise Herbal was also a noun.
Thanks Matt and Everyman. So good to see order restored and the sun beaming : )
Yes we’re back. Liked this puzzle. I didn’t get Herbals either. Thought it might be Herbage or herbary so I couldn’t get resort either.
Off to Opening Day at Bowls now, and moving house next weekend.
Great to see that normal transmission has resumed. Don’t know whether it was because last weeks excitement sharpened the brain or it was mostly a bit easier this week but I whipped through the early stages of this pretty quickly. Eventually took an “age” to get flageolet (finally having to trawl through Mr Collins book). Had never heard of it but then my knowledge of beans doesn’t really extend beyond baked. All in all, good fun though.
Thanks to all who wrote to the Herald, I’d like to think it made a difference although it seems they didn’t respond to some of us at least (including me).
Yes, don’t panic the crossword did not implode after all.
Moving house again, Audrey? That was quick.
Great day for bowls, my golf was canned – frost.
No, I didn’t get a response from Grannie either but it doesn’t matter, the letters plus Coffee Guy did the trick.
Great to see Everyman back in this week’s Herald. Fairly straight forward this week apart from flageolet – needed to use crossword solver app on phone to get that one!
I too went unreplied to, but was relieved to see we were back in business this week. 22a brought a smile, grasp the nettle is not a phrase I’ve ever used, or indeed heard of and like Mariangi Mark, 7d needed electronic assistance. Good fun, thanks to the workers, see you all next week
Barrie @13. Yes we are moving again. Didn’t like it here. Too far north. This time we’re going to a retirement Village in Albany. More our kind of area.
Thanks to all who wrote to the Herald. I’m sure it all helped.
And also, I’m sure there have never been so many comments on the blog. They carried on right up till Friday.
Great relief felt all round after opening the Herald though tks to Coffee Guy was optimistic his intel was correct. Loved the challenge again but actually found it hard …and everyone else found it easy! a .. maybe was a bit dead in the head after son’s 21st on Friday night so that is the excuse I am sticking to. Really struggled to get 18ac had never heard of that at all. And the one many found hard 10ac was one of my first in. But then the UK may not have grown up with that cartoon like we did down here…
wonder what Joe thought of it!?
I’d just like to point out that the Herald had no intention of removing the Everyman crossword, the Editor (The overall Boss) was away, and those left at the coal face did not know the subscription for the crossword was due for renewal. The day she arrived back it was sorted. It was a simple error not an intention.
Unacceptable comment removed by Admin.
Nice to see order restored. Following confirmation of permanence from Herald Subscriptions I had jumped ahead and completed this one online. To make up this weekend I tried a couple from the Everyman back catalogue. It made me realise how I must have gotten used to this “new” setter as the lateral thinking demands from his/her predecessor had me stretched.
@21 Paul
I’ve been doing the same Paul as I missed a whole bunch through late last year and early this year due to working weekends .