This seems to be becoming a regular occurrence, my blogging the Everyman. As usual, most of the puzzle was impeccable but this week I do have one quibble.
I assume that 19ac is intended to be a double def. but I’ve had difficulty in seeing two separate meanings for the word ‘step’ that are also synonymous with the two words in the clue.
Across
1 Cynical practice restricting road used by number (4-6)
HARD-BITTEN – HABIT (practice) around (restricting) RD (road) plus TEN (number)
6 Trim around edge (4)
CLIP – C (around) LIP (edge)
9 Song from clients shown going wild about result (4,2,3,6)
SEND IN THE CLOWNS – an anagram (going wild) of CLIENTS SHOWN around (about) END (result)
11 Bad to accept support by a criminal (7)
ILLEGAL – ILL (bad) around (to accept) LEG (support) A
12 Distressed, following ascetic discipline, giving up a dairy product (7)
YOGHURT – HURT (distressed) after (following) YOG[a] (ascetic discipline, giving up a)
13 Point made by soldier meeting saint (4)
GIST – GI (soldier) ST (saint)
15 Bending excessively in jump, not right (8)
STOOPING – TOO (excessively) in SP[r]ING (jump, not right)
18 Majestic risk involving ace (8)
IMPERIAL – IMPERIL (risk) around (involving) A (ace)
19 Measure / pace (4)
STEP – double def.? – one of the definitions of ‘step’ in Chambers is “to measure by pacing” so not really a double def. A measure is also a dance but it’s not a dance step.
22 Tune for example popular around country (7)
NIGERIA – AIR (tune) EG (for example) IN (popular) reversed (around)
23 Period without rain, day before stormy time (7)
DROUGHT – D (day) ROUGH (stormy) T (time)
25 How dodgy then is a peculiarly poisonous plant? (5,10)
WOODY NIGHTSHADE – an anagram (peculiarly) of HOW DODGY THEN IS A
26 Ceremony just reported (4)
RITE – sounds like (reported) ‘right’ (just)
27 Article by people with impressions about thousand changes (10)
AMENDMENTS – A (article) MEN (people) plus DENTS (impressions) around (about) M (thousand)
Down
1 Hot while going around smart resort (8)
HASTINGS – H (hot) AS (while) around (going around) STING (smart)
2 Proper to include name relating to kidneys (5)
RENAL – REAL (proper) around (to include) N (name)
3 Crest topped by black cross (6)
BRIDGE – B (black) RIDGE (crest)
4 Limitation a tsar abandoned in dictatorship (15)
TOTALITARIANISM – an anagram (abandoned) of LIMITATION A TSAR
5 Sometimes extremely negative, therefore receiving stick after end of game (5,3,3,4)
EVERY NOW AND THEN – [gam]E (end of game) VERY (extremely) NO (negative) THEN (therefore) around (receiving) WAND (stick)
7 Cheap wicket followed by shift in fortune (3-6)
LOW-BUDGET – W (wicket) BUDGE (shift) in LOT (fortune)
8 Energy in annoyance over a former unit of currency (6)
PESETA – E (energy) in PEST (annoyance) A
10 Journal, good one, on opening of art gallery (6)
LOGGIA – LOG (journal) G (good) I (one) A[rt] (opening of art)
14 Fairground ride, not big, was out of order (5,4)
SWING BOAT – an anagram (out of order) of NOT BIG WAS
16 High-spirited? That’s standard in heaven (6)
SPARKY – PAR (standard) in SKY (heaven)
17 Immaculate spy, moral? Not on (8)
SPOTLESS – SPOT (spy) LESS[on] (moral? Not on)
20 Response from barbarians we resist (6)
ANSWER – hidden in (from) ‘barbariANS WE Resist’
21 Marsupial with power, very large problem (6)
POSSUM – P (power) OS (very large) SUM (problem)
24 Artist, seized by spirit, creating texture (5)
GRAIN – RA (artist) in (seized by) GIN (spirit)
Thanks Gaufrid and Poins.
Re 19across. I took “measure” as in “to take measures to prevent it happening again”.
Thanks, Gaufrid. I initially entered rate instead of STEP. I know others disagree, but I don’t like clues from which the definition and wordplay can produce more than one answer. LOW BUDGET was my last in as I missed the budge=shift, having stared at low_____t for far too long.
thank you for the blog
I recall that I enjoyed this crossword
My @1, that should have been Everyman, to whom apologies.
Thank you Everyman and Gaufrid.
A pleasant crossword. SEND IN THE CLOWNS was unknown to me but gettable from the crossers, with the help of the anagram, since “marines” would not fit. As regards 19a, I thought, like scchua @1, of “a step taken in a course of action” / “a measure taken in a course of action”. BRIDGE was my last in, can’t remember why…
I liked the clue for TOTALITARIANISM!
Enjoyable as ever but, like Gaufrid, one quibble this week and it relates to good old 19a. Like matrixmania I immediately entered RATE which does indeed fit the clue. It was only when I got LOW BUDGET that I realised that RATE was wrong. I liked the clue for ILLEGAL.
It always amazes me what people have never heard of (sorry Cookie) but Send in the clowns is probably the best known song of Stephen Sondheim who also wrote the lyrics for West Side Story. I’m sure though there’s plenty of stuff that I don’t know which would seem obvious to other people. So it goes.
Thanks to Gaufrid and Everyman.
Davy @6, not something one was likely to hear in Egypt…
As far as I remember, an enjoyable Everyman, as usual. Favourites were WOODY NIGHTSHADE, HASTINGS and EVERY NOW AND THEN. Like scchua and Cookie, I thought “measure” = “pace” was fine. “Rate” didn’t occur to me so I didn’t have a problem with that. Anyway, I don’t mind ambiguities which require crossers to resolve them (it’s a crossword), just those which still can’t be resolved after all the crossers are in place.
Thanks, Everyman and Gaufrid.
If I’d managed to spell 4d correctly then 15ac and 7d might have gone in a lot more quickly than they did. As it was I didn’t, and spent an age staring at them at the end… As for the rest, new to me were 14d and 25ac, but the wordplay was friendly enough. Liked 23ac.
I remember now, I first entered TROT at 19a, probably thinking of fox TROT or turkey TROT – apparently TROT is a traditional dance of Cambodia.
19a was my last one in. I thought it had to be STEP, but also struggled to fully justify it.
Started off simple enough and completed around 75% in 15 minutes. Then I got stuck on the NW corner. In the end gave up on 1ac. The USED in the clue confused me as I was looking for a synonym or some other cryptic definition. I can’t say I enjoyed seeing USED used as a connector.
A satisfactory solve, I wondered about Step but came to the same conclusion as Scchua and others.
Speaking of double possibilities, I put FARE in 26A which messed me up for a while, thinking it sounded like Fair (just) – which it does, but Fare is the wrong spelling for a ceremony.
Couldn’t fully parse the LESS(on) in 17D and haven’t really heard of hard-bitten or Woody Nightshade – Deadly yes, woody no.
But a nice solve all up, thanks Everyman and Gaufrid, you do seem to have a regular spot here.
Had much the same problems as others but a nice crossword generally although there were a few I couldn”t parse.
After two consecutive weeks of getting nowhere I’m happy to say I finished this one in my usual time. Enjoyed the unintentional nod to the Weekend Herald’s Michael Cheika cartoon hullabaloo far more than I’m enjoying the match this morning!