The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3728.
I thought this puzzle notable for the variety of clue types. I had to dodge around to get a foothold on it, and ended up in the NW corner, where the two double definitions, 1A COMPOUND and 10A ANGLE were longer in coming than they ought to have been. Altogether an outstanding crossword, even by Everyman’s high standard, but perhaps a little more daunting than usual for the less experienced solver.
| Across | ||
| 1 | COMPOUND | Add to enclosure containing buildings (8) |
| Double definition. | ||
| 6 | OGLE | Stare at Oscar with endless joy (4) |
| A charade of O (‘Oscar’) plus GLE[e] (‘joy’) minus its last letter (‘endless’). | ||
| 10 | ANGLE | Fish in perspective (5) |
| Double definition. | ||
| 11 | PERSONNEL | Staff thus after end of seminar tucked into pasta and left (9) |
| An envelope (‘tucked into’) of R (‘end of seminaR‘) plus SO (‘thus’) in PENNE (‘pasta’) plus L (‘left’). | ||
| 12 | HONESTLY | Pious in retreat? On the contrary, in truth (8) |
| ‘On the contrary’, it is an envelope (‘in’) of NEST (‘retreat’) in HOLY (‘pious’). | ||
| 13 | SKIERS | Captains ignoring very quiet competitors in winter sport? (6) |
| A subtraction: SKI[pp]ERS (‘captains’) minus PP (‘ignoring very quiet’). | ||
| 15 | SOUL-DESTROYING | Monotonous style ruins good broadcast (4-10) |
| An anagram (‘broadcast’) of ‘style ruins good’. | ||
| 18 | CLOSE ENCOUNTER | Observed disc following fool with no time for UFO sighting? (5,9) |
| A charade of CLO[t] (‘fool’) minus the T (‘with no time’) plus SEEN (‘observed’) plus COUNTER (‘disc’). | ||
| 20 | LAWFUL | Player’s second foul allowed (6) |
| A charade of P (‘pLayer’s second’) plus AWFUL (‘foul’). | ||
| 21 | ADVISORY | Consultative volume is probing trouble with railway (8) |
| An envelope (‘probing’) of V (‘volume’) plus ‘is’ in ADO (‘trouble’) plus RY (‘railway’). | ||
| 24 | DETECTION | Discovery coming from confinement with carbon instead of nitrogen (9) |
| DETE[n]TION (‘confinement’) with the first N replaced by C (‘with carbon instead of nitrogen’). | ||
| 25 | ELFIN | Rebel finally, to some extent, impish (5) |
| A hidden answer (‘to some extent’) in ‘rebEL FINally’. | ||
| 26 | EARN | Study without large merit (4) |
| A subtraction: [l]EARN (‘study’) minus the L (‘without large’). | ||
| 27 | TREASURE | Meal about right with definite value (8) |
| A charade of TREA, an envelope (‘about’) of R (‘right’) in TEA (‘meal’), plus SURE (‘definite’). | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | ORGAN | Old tips for restoring an instrument (5) |
| A charade of O (‘old’) plus RG (‘tips for RestorinG‘) plus ‘an’. | ||
| 3 | PLEASED AS PUNCH | Delighted with sale, chap ends up getting tipsy (7,2,5) |
| An anagram (‘getting tipsy’) of ‘sale chap ends up’. | ||
| 4 | UNPOLISHED | Crude vote, nearly held by university, dropped (10) |
| An envelope (‘held by’) of POL[l] (‘vote’) minus its last letter (‘nearly’) in UNI (‘university’) plus SHED (‘dropped’). | ||
| 5 | DARK | Five hundred on vessel without light (4) |
| A charade of D (‘five hundred’ Roman numeral) plus ARK (‘vessel’). | ||
| 7 | GINGER NUT | See about run, refreshed after drink and biscuit (6,3) |
| A charade of GIN (‘drink’) plus GERNUT, an envelope (‘about’) of RNU, an anagram (‘refreshed’) of ‘run’ in GET (‘see’. Do you get it?) | ||
| 8 | ENLIST | Sign up in street topped with funny line (6) |
| A charade of ENLI, an anagram (“funny’) of ‘line’, plus ST (‘street’). | ||
| 9 | MONKEY BUSINESS | Mischief aboard vital vehicle popular during disorder (6,8) |
| An envelope (‘during’) of ON (‘aboard’) plus KEY (‘vital’) plus BUS (‘vehicle’) plus IN (‘popular’) in MESS (‘disorder’). An unusual clue, with four parts to the envelope contents. | ||
| 10 | AGHAST | Horrified tourist’s latest story coming up, about hotel (6) |
| An envelope (‘about’) of H (‘hotel’) in AGAST, a reversal (‘coming up’ in a down light) of T (‘tourisT‘s latest’) plus SAGA (‘story’). | ||
| 14 | PRECEDENCE | Page on garden in preliminary survey getting priority (10) |
| A charade of P (‘page’) plus RECEDENCE, an envelope (‘in’) of EDEN (‘garden’) in RECCE (reconnaisance, ‘preliminary survey’). | ||
| 16 | ULLSWATER | United in due course to protect large south-western lake (9) |
| An envelope (‘to protect’) of L (‘large’) plus SW (‘south-western’) in U (‘united’) plus LATER (‘in due course’). | ||
| 17 | CRAYON | Shaft of light in trick becoming stick of wax? (6) |
| An envelope (‘in’) of RAY (‘shaft of light’) in CON (‘trick’). | ||
| 19 | PLEDGE | Assurance in place with advantage (6) |
| A charade of PL (‘place’) plus EDGE (‘advantage’). | ||
| 22 | OFFER | Upset about supporting bad proposal (5) |
| A charade of OFF (‘bad’, of food) plus ER, a reversal (‘upset’) of RE (‘about’). | ||
| 23 | MIST | Reportedly avoided thin fog (4) |
| A homophone (‘reportedly’) of MISSED (‘avoided’). | ||
Daunting,yes, but somehow managed to finish and enjoyed it all. Many thanks Everyman and PeterO.
Thanks PeterO and Everyman. Usual smooth surfaces. I liked the “south-western” misdirection in 16d
Excellent stuff from Everyman which I found easier than last week’s. Yes I know we’re all different but I made steady progress on this all the way through. I especially liked SOUL-DESTROYING and LAWFUL which had a great surface. Thanks to PeterO and Everyman.
….last one in was CLOSE ENCOUNTER which it took me far far too long to solve.
I am a beginner and I finished it. This does not often happen…Bliss!
Got “honestly” but had problem parsing it, strangely enough. I like this site. It helps me improve my understanding of cryptic crossword clues. Thanks to all of you for the help you give.
Not the most straightforward of Everymans, but not the trickiest either. The long answers I suspect caused much of the hold-up, as did not knowing 16d and having to unpick it from the wordplay. Also being tired after hacking down a tree in the back garden may have had some influence on the solving time. The joys of spring.
I’m glad you (and everyone else) liked it PeterO. This is the one I posted about on the Guardian site to get people to have a look at it. Like you I thought there was great variety in the clue constructions, and as you said in a comment on Paul’s Friday puzzle they are no pushover without being over-elaborate and are always cleanly clued.
Thanks for the blog and for the excellent puzzle Everyman.
Thank you Everyman and PeterO.
My last in were also COMPOUND and ANGLE!
Well done Pierrot @5, this was not the easiest of Everyman crosswords.
A mixture of harder (Precedence, Close Encounter) and simpler (Mist, Crayon, Pledge, Angle) which I guess is as it should be. I just wish bloggers would stop referring to this as a beginners’ crossword, it’s quite dispiriting, and frankly many of the clues here would not be out of place in any Times, Telegraph or Guardian crossword, so why the lofty put down?
Sorry, I have a bad back. Makes me grumpy.
Agree with Barrie and I’ve said before that this is not a beginner’s crossword. Having said that I found this a very enjoyable crossword and I finished it more quickly than sometimes. Had to think hard to get Ullswater, as it’s in another country. How about Taupo next time? Liked detection, treasure, among others. Ginger nuts are what the blokes at bowls like me to get them for afternoon tea. Great for dunking.
Barrie, hope your back gets better.
Audrey, Albany @10
Yes and no: I would not describe Everyman as a beginner’s crossword – and kudos to the self-styled beginner Pierrot @5 for completing this one. However, I would direct the less experienced solver (to repeat the term I used in the preamble) towards his crosswords for the exemplary clueing. I think that this is something that solvers at all levels should appreciate. Indeed, Barrie, Remura @9, the setters of some crosswords in more exalted places could benefit form the lessons that Everyman provides. And get well soon.
A bit trickier than usual. Only got 12ac this morning. Was not able to parse precedence and close encounter though I guessed them correctly. Messed up 9dn having gone for donkey business and hence could not parse “dess” for disorder.
Yes, I’m with Davy@4 – we are all different and I too found this a lot easier than last week. Must admit to not having heard of “Ullswater” before, but the strength of this setter is such that these sorts of answers can be worked out from the cleverness of the clues (as has already been mentioned). Besides we Kiwis should probably be more familiar with the geography of the mother country! Not sure about using Taupo though Audrey; something like Waikaremoana might give us a bit more of an advantage.
Thanks to all.