The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3772.
Oh dear. Perhaps we have been spoiled by Colin Gumbrell’s Everyman puzzles, with their precise clues and meaningful surfaces, but on his departure we are presented with this. The first few clues manage to trample on some of the most basic and widely observed conventions of cryptics. An experienced solver might well recognise 1A as being an anagram – what else could it be? The count matches ‘spa dries’, and the answer is not difficult to spot, but the setter should surely be aware that the convention is that there should be something to indicate the taking of an anagram. Further on, some clues include one , some do not. Next up, 5A indicates the hidden answer with ‘partially’, and it must be said that the answer is part of ‘risk a terrible injury’, but again it is conventional that the phrase containing the answer should consist only of words contributing to the answer, which leaves ‘injury’ doing nothing but suggesting a spurious definition. As for the actual “definition”, ‘on the ice’ is a mere allusion; other setters may occasionally define allusively, by seldom so vaguely (and if they did, would rightly be criticised for it). 1D uses another device, the homophone, unannounced; at least there is a question mark for the approximate definition as well as the uninindicated wordplay.
From there the clues bump along, some adequate, but none with decent surfaces, and nothing in any way outstanding or memorable other than for their shortcomings. If this is the new Everyman, there is a steep learning curve ahead.
| Across | ||
| 1 | DESPAIRS | Loses hope as spa dries. (8) |
| An anagram (‘as’??) of ‘spa dries’. | ||
| 5 | SKATER | Partially risk a terrible injury on the ice. (6) |
| A hidden answer (‘partially’) in ‘riSK A TERrible’ ‘injury’ is just along for the ride. | ||
| 9 | COATI | Endless confused action for raccoon. (5) |
| An anagram (‘confused’) of ‘actio[n]’ minus its last letter (‘endless’), for a relative of the raccoons. | ||
| 10 | IN GENERAL | E-learning astray, by and large. (2,7) |
| An anagram (‘astray’) of ‘e-learning’. | ||
| 12 | MARCHING ORDERS | E.g. “Best foot forward”, given on dismissal. (8,6) |
| I cannot imagine a commander giving this quoted order to a platoon of left- and right-footed soldiers, but the intent of the clue is a definition and literal interpretation. | ||
| 13 | TOSS OFF | Accomplish easily, and dispense with the pre-match routine (4,3) |
| A charade of TOSS (‘pre-match routine’, the coin toss before the match in eg. cricket or tennis) plus OFF (‘dispense with’; better taken as a unit with TOSS).. | ||
| 15 | NAME TAG | Gate man verifies one’s identity. (4,3) |
| An anagram (actually a reversal; either way, there is no indication of the manoeuvre) of ‘gate man’, with an allusive definition. | ||
| 17 | EN GARDE | Opening position heard to be vigilant (2,5) |
| Sounds like (‘heard to be’) ON GUARD (‘vigilant’; of course it is just the translation of the French answer). Most dictionaries give EN GARDE as an interjection or adjectival, but Collins does give this nounal definition. | ||
| 19 | COARSEN | Roughen no cares. (7) |
| An anagram (no indication) of ‘no cares’. | ||
| 21 | CONFERENCE CALL | Telephone meeting to discuss pear name? (10,4) |
| Definition and literal interpretation (extending to the entire clue). The conference pear is so named because it won first prize at the National British Pear Conference in 1885. | ||
| 24 | ROISTERER | Terrorise madly a noisy reveller. (9) |
| An anagram (‘madly’ – yes, an actual anagrind) of ‘terrorise’. | ||
| 25 | AXIOM | Terminate island dependency: that’s self-evident. (5) |
| A charade of AX (‘terminate’; some may object more strongly than others to the unindicated American spelling) plus IOM (Isle of Man, ‘island dependency’). | ||
| 26 | ELAPSE | Pass by eastern failing. (6) |
| A charade of E (‘eastern’) plus LAPSE (‘failing’). | ||
| 27 | BLUE MOON | Rare occurrence of a depressed satellite. (4,4) |
| A charade of BLUE (‘depressed’) plus MOON (‘satellite’). Blue moons, generally the second full moon in a calendar month, are actually not that rare. | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | DECAMETRE | Adorn a device for measuring up to 11 yards? (9) |
| Sounds like (no indication) DECK A METER (‘adorn a device for measuring’). The DECAMETRE is less than 4 inches short of 11 yards; the question mark covers the difference. | ||
| 2 | STAIR | Step one in celestial body. (5) |
| An envelope (‘in’) of I (‘one’) in STAR (‘celestial body’). | ||
| 3 | ATISHOO | Sounds like the ideal accompaniment to a sneeze. (7) |
| A curiosity: a definition and extended wordplay: ‘Sounds like’ A TISSUE (‘the ideal accompaniment to a sneeze’). | ||
| 4 | REIGN OF TERROR | Referring to or concerning a period of brutal oppression. (5,2,6) |
| An anagram (‘concerning’?) of ‘referring to or’. | ||
| 6 | KINGDOM | Lacking dominion in part. Not in this realm. (7) |
| A hidden answer (‘in part’) in ‘lacKING DOMinion’. Again, the definition must span the entire clue to make sense. | ||
| 7 | TARTRATES | Bitter charges for acidic salts. (9) |
| A charade of TART (‘bitter’) plus RATES (‘charges’). | ||
| 8 | RELY | Depend on it, only without me. (4) |
| A subtraction: [me]RELY (‘only’) minus the ME (‘without me’). | ||
| 11 | GROUND CONTROL | Nerve centre for land management. (6,7) |
| A charade of GROUND (‘land’) plus CONTROL (‘management’). | ||
| 14 | SIGNORINA | Foreign miss by design or inadvertently. (9) |
| A hidden answer (with no indication other than ‘by’) in ‘deSIGN OR INAdvertently’. | ||
| 16 | GENTLEMEN | Convenience for adult males. (9) |
| Double definition. | ||
| 18 | REFUTES | Disproves arbiter set up around university. (7) |
| An envelope (‘around’) of U (‘university’) in REF (arbiter’) plus TES, a reversal (‘up’ in a down light) of ‘set’. | ||
| 20 | AVERAGE | Mean to state how old one is. (7) |
| AVER AGE (‘state how old one is’). | ||
| 22 | AMIGO | Friend to a damaged imago. (5) |
| An anagram (‘damaged’) of ‘imago’. | ||
| 23 | BRIE | Daughter leaves new wife for cheese. (4) |
| A subtraction: BRI[d]E (‘new wife’) minus the D (‘daughter leaves’). | ||
A very odd puzzle – the first time I’ve seen full stops at the end of clues. I agree with most of the quibbles above but thought perhaps “roughen” was doing double duty in COARSEN (a lesser sin).
Thanks for the intro PeterO – I’d no idea the setter had changed but couldn’t believe this dog’s breakfast made it into any publication, let alone The Observer. Surely there must be some explanation – a cock up would be more acceptable than what appears to be a conspiracy to develop a new convention free version of the cryptic crossword. No wonder there was a comment in the week wishing you luck blogging it.
Mm@1 – In an attempt to find some good in this puzzle I too wondered if roughen was doing double duty.
Thanks for blogging, Peter. I’m rather glad it was you and not me, because I’m not sure I would have been quite as restrained as you have been. Regulars and experienced solvers will probably – quite rightly – rip this to pieces, but I can save them the effort. The only thing that needs saying about this puzzle is that it is not fit for a parish magazine. Perhaps one day the story will come out about how this managed to end up in print; perhaps not. I’ll end by addressing newer solvers who are perhaps lurking on 225: please don’t be put off by this, because it’s not up to Everyman standard and – as the song goes – things can only get better. We hope.
My regional UK daily paper has two cryptic puzzles every day (as well as two ‘quick’ ones, which often take longer to solve, but that raises a separate issue). The paper does not generate these in-house, but gets them from some central source or agency, as many other local papers must do – there is no point trying to contact the paper about any questions arising, since it’s nothing to do with them. The standard of these cryptics, when I do them, varies, but a recurrent feature of many of them is the ‘unindicated anagram’, as immediately met at 1 across in Everyman 3772; these become part of a whole set of lower-level conventions somewhere between quick and cryptic, different from those of ‘proper’ cryptics, but immediately recognisable in this Everyman. I seriously wonder if The Observer may have decided to cut corners and outsource its Everyman to some central provider: if so, let’s hope it was a panicky short-term measure. And now we can see what this week brings…
Thanks Peter) for the blog. Even as a relative newcomer I have to agree that the puzzle is a dramatic change from the ones we are used to solving on Sunday morning. Hopefully time will soften the rough edges. But I found I completed the puzzle in about the same amount of time as in weeks past. However as for the clue for 5A. I feel that the word “injury” is needed to give a proper surface. I seem to frequently come across hidden answers where there are words above and beyond what is needed.
This was awful. I was sat in a coffee bar in Kings Cross looking at it, wondering what the hell was going on. So, so many missing indicators and grammar rules broken. It looks like the very first attempt of someone learning to be a setter. I hope today’s is better…**goes to look** – at first glance – slightly.
Today’s looks to be much, much better, perhaps more in the style of a weekday puzzle, but good nonetheless. I think over the years we have been spoiled by the total class of Mr Gumbrell.
It looks like 3772 was a one-off. As others have said, either there was a panic when the Observer team realised they hadn’t got a puzzle and they delegated the job at the last minute to someone “who knows a bit about crosswords” – the janitor perhaps – or the puzzle was a rookie’s hopeful submission which got published in error. If the latter case I feel rather sorry for the setter whose puzzle ended up being published when it shouldn’t have been, especially if he or she has read the criticisms. In both cases, shame on whoever deals with these things at the Observer, who didn’t even have the courtesy to reply to emails with an apology or explanation.
Today’s Everyman is much better and while it’s not particularly exciting, it appears that a competent setter has been engaged. Long may it last!
I agree that today’s is an improvement, although as Skinny @8 says, it’s more like a Guardian weekday puzzle than a classic Everyman. (1a might annoy a purist.)
Perhaps it’s going to be a series of guest setters before a permanent replacement is found.
We must have spent as much time discussing these awful clues as we did completing the wretched thing. As for 3773, the only thing I have to say is “mais oui”…. Ou est mon dictionaire francais?
Yes, an oddity of a puzzle but I did quite like “Daughter leaves new wife for cheese” but only because it sounds so absurd.
Thanks Peter for the blog.
A dog’s breakfast – I think quenbarrow @5 might have the explanation for its publication.
Thank you for the blog PeterO.
I did wonder who was going to replace Colin. He got a lot of stick here when he started too. But even if I was editor I wouldn’t let this pass and I’m very much in the can you get the answer rather than strict xim camp
Today’s Everyman is a vast improvement, last Sunday’s was so poor it could almost have been written collectively by the England cricket team.
Cookie @13 & quenbarrow @5, would a commercial crossword supplier have the basic error of full stops at the end of its clues? I still think it looks like a puzzle that was rushed in-house, maybe with more than one setter.
Anyway, we wouldn’t be still speculating if the Guardian/Observer weren’t notoriously uncommunicative about their mistakes.
Palindrome @16, I originally thought it might be a crossword dug up from the past because of the full stops at the end of the clues…
I decided not to say too much about this crossword after last Sunday’s blog – the puzzle’s just not worth it.
[although, I cannot really understand that someone wrote this crossword thinking that it was probably OK]
There are two things I would like to add, two things that could also have occurred in another crossword (and that’s why I thought it might be of interest for the reader).
In 9ac: ‘Endless confused action’ tells us not (ACTIO[n])* but actually (ACTION)* minus the last letter of that anagram (which could be ‘anything’).
8d: The definition for RELY (‘depend on it’) is not correct. There should be no place for ‘on it’.
Today’s crossword was encouraging but, like perhaps others, I am not sure they will find someone writing a quality crossword every single week.
A pool of setters [the names of three or four setters immediately spring to mind] may be an idea.
At least, for the time being since – as far as I know – Everyman crosswords were always the work of one setter, perhaps traditionally so.
Many thanks to PeterO &, well, our poor setter too.
In a word, “Sucked!”
All I can say is, I wish we still had the old Everyman.
I could not parse 1d, and new for me was ATISHOO: I have often used this word but I never knew how to spell it.
My favourite was AVERAGE.
Thank you Everyman and Peter.
I decided to jump ahead and do this crossie after reading all the comments in 3771. OK sure this was not up to the high standards of Colin but it wasn’t that bad, was it. Despite some of the incorrect clueing I was able to complete three crossword. What I’m trying to say is I’ve seen worse.
Me too Rats. Bit like the lure of a car crash! Never realised the Poms took their crosswords so seriously. I found this to be more like the weekday Herald which I don’t bother with. Saves buying the paper next Saturday. I remember when Colin’s started thinking they were a bit soulless and all the multipart clues rather tedious, but I got used to them and came to appreciate the perfection of the cluing. This one is probably at the other end of the spectrum.
13 Ac. TOSS OFF !!!!!!! (really !!) This setter did not know what that phrase was “common”ly used for ? Ha Ha… methinks this setter’s first language (or last) is not English…. Poor Thing…
Ah, it has finally arrived in print in New Zealand. Interestingly the punctuation has been tidied up (i.e. errant full stops removed) which makes it easier on the eye, but since the very first clue is one with no anagrind it did rather get me off on the wrong foot.
Certainly a lot to be sniffy about here, and a major step back from the past, but I have to say I quite liked the sneezing clue.
One down and 13 across were blooming disgraceful.
Tony Potter,
Auckland,
New Zealand
Oh well. It can only get better, and from the sound of things it will. That ‘s one of the advantages of being a month behind.
h dear. what an amusing read all the barbs. I did wonder if anyone else’s eyebrows shot up like mine when the answer for 13ac was published. I didn’t dare write it in and left that clue unfinished. I suppose it is all a bit funny really. The whole thing certainly wasn’t the standard we have been spoilt to have for so long….but it cannot possibly get worse. The poor setter is hopefully not reading all these comments ..or perhaps it would be good if they did.
good luck northern hemisphere
Vanessa@27. I have always understood that the setter, as well as the blogger, get to read all the comments. But I might be wrong.
I looked forward to solving a decent puzzle in and hour or so, however even with 3 non indicated anagrams this was no brain teaser. Very disappointed, hope for much improvement.
The puzzle was pretty mediocre but not the crime against humanity that people are making out. Like Paul@22 I found it to be rather similar to the weekday puzzles that appear in the New Zealand Herald, which apparently originate from The Scotsman. (Dunno where *they* get them from!)
Like others I was amused by 13 across.
Have to take issue with PeterO over ‘no indication of the manoeuvre of ‘gate man’. The word ‘roughen’ can be seen as doing two jobs – meaning of the answer, and instruction to treat the letters roughly
Just saying…
Tony, Remuera says
Much better than the effort on February 28. I particularly like the16 down clue, and 1 down, but generally the quiz has been dumbed down.