It’s an Everyman, Jim, but not as we know it.
If you haven’t been following proceedings, Colin Gumbrell, who produced the Everyman puzzle every week for a number of years after Allan Scott retired, stepped down in mid-January. Despite this being well advertised in advance, it seemed to catch the paper out, because the first puzzle thereafter was clearly a panic purchase, probably bought in from a puzzle bank. Last week’s was an improvement but had mixed reviews on Fifteensquared. This week’s … well, here are the explanations, and what I thought. Other opinions will no doubt be available by the end of the day.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 ‘Don’t get so excited‘? I’m astonished and illuminated!
COOL IT
A charade of COO! and LIT.
4 Break-fast time?
EASTER
Not long before we get a contentious clue. It’s a cd, because Easter in the Christian tradition is the end of the forty days of Lent, so is the time when the fast associated with Lent would be broken (and of course ‘breakfast’ itself as the first meal of the day has this connotation). I don’t understand why the setter has used a hyphen: ‘break-fast’ is meaningless. Just ‘breakfast’ would have worked because you could then have relied on the ‘lift and separate’ principle. Whether that would have been a good device to use in an Everyman crossword is debatable.
9 DCI endlessly wedded to poetical writing: Morse is a good example
CODE
You need to remove the outside letters of ‘DCI’ and then add ODE.
10 Insufficient funds to obtain biscuits
SHORTBREAD
A charade of SHORT and BREAD for a slang word for ‘money’.
11 Disrespectfully, the Queen’s on the side of a road leading to a windswept village
LIZARD
Fairly random surface, but we’ll move on past that. A charade of LIZ (aka Brenda or Her Maj), A and RD. LIZARD is a village on The Lizard, a peninsula in Cornwall which is near the most south-westerly point of England. It is no doubt often windy, but it’s not exactly world-renowned for it.
12 Miracle cure: get practically starkers, caked in dirt
SNAKE OIL
An insertion of NAKE[D] in SOIL.
13 Spicy snacks go with Italian lager
PEPPERONI
A charade of PEP and PERONI, which is indeed an ‘Italian lager’. PEPPERONI is spicy; but I personally wouldn’t consider it a ‘snack’, even less ‘snacks’. If the setter’s defence is that it’s a borrowing from an Italian word which is a plural, I’m afraid that doesn’t wash (with me, anyway). He or she has of course had to use the plural in English to make ‘go’ work as part of the clue.
15 Goitre has no appeal: it’s a queasy sight
GORE
GO[IT]RE. The crosswordland correspondence of IT for ‘sex appeal’.
16 Scammers, pests and menaces, primarily
SPAM
The initial letters of the first four words of the clue. An attempt at a cad, except that ‘scammers, pests and menaces’ are the mindless idiots who send SPAM; they aren’t SPAM itself.
17 I’d like to sleep easy after a massage
YES PLEASE
Excellent clue. (SLEEP EASY)*
21 French can add butter to both sides of
BASTILLE
As well as the entertainment of a cryptic crossword, we have the added bonus of playing ‘guess the missing word’. My theory is that it is a word that clues for ILL, since that’s what you have to insert in BASTE for ‘add butter’ to give you the word for the French prison (‘can’) famous from the Revolution. I am happy to be corrected if the clue is in fact complete.
Edit: the clue was later amended in the online version. It now reads: French can add butter to both sides of ‘pain’. Putting the French word for ‘bread’ in inverted commas is clunky at best, but you have to read it in English to give you the (rather loose) synonym for ILL that I was mentioning. Now that I look at the clue again, does BASTE really mean ‘add butter’? It means ‘pour existing fat or juices over’. They don’t need ‘adding’; they are already there.
22 ‘Vigorously resist habits’ – one who has them
SISTER
(RESIST)* with ‘vigorously’ as the anagrind.
24 With time to spare, foolishly romanticise a far-off place
MICRONESIA
(ROMAN[T]ICISE)* The removal indicator is ‘to spare’; the anagrind is ‘foolishly’. Clueing MICRONESIA as ‘a far-off place’ could be construed as loose, I fancy.
25 White lie, mostly tall story ultimately
LILY
A charade of LI[E] and LY for the last letters of ‘tall’ and ‘story’. None of my dictionaries give ‘white’ as a definition of LILY. Lily-white is an adjective, often used to describe skin; but it doesn’t follow that LILY means ‘white’.
26 The aged are welcomed into German band
GARTER
An insertion of ART in GER. ‘Art’ as in ‘thou art’, the archaic second person singular of the verb to be which has been replaced in Modern English with ‘you are’.
27 Rail is missing from banister
BANTER
BAN[IS]TER.
BANTER is given as one definition of ‘rail’ in my SOED, but I bet 99 people out of 100 would only ever use ‘rail’ to mean ‘protest’ or ‘complain bitterly’. The clue is fair, but this is an Everyman …
Down
1 Sweet treat, cold, with superior casing
CHOC ICE
An insertion of C in CHOICE.
2 Toothsome Ganymede, essentially Greek character
OMEGA
Hidden in toothsOME GAnymede.
3 One of us overheard where vitamin C can be found
INSIDER
A homophone of IN CIDER. You can’t argue with the homophone, but you might find ‘cider’ a less than obvious option as a source of Vitamin C. It does contain traces of it.
5 19 martial arts are on the rise? Not entirely
ASTRAL
The previous two long-standing Everymen eschewed cross-referencing clues, since it’s a crossword for less experienced and new solvers. I personally think that practice should continue. The solution to 19 is STELLAR, and it’s hidden reversed in martiaL ARTS Are. ‘On the rise’ works since it’s a down clue.
6 Company, they say, with problem, so it’s said: Freeman Hardy Willis, say
THREESOME
There’s a lot of saying going on here. A charade of THREE and SOME. The latter part of the solution is a homophone (‘so it’s said’) of SUM or ‘problem’. The former part (I think) comes from the saying ‘two’s company; three’s a crowd’. Except that THREE is ‘crowd’ and not ‘company’. I am losing the will to live here.
7 Twig taken from trees all Gipsies regularly ignored
REALISE
Every other letter of tReEsAlLgIpSiEs.
6 Rhyme, but not reason?
NONSENSE VERSE
A cd.
14 One who you hope leaves their coat in your home
PLASTERER
Another cd. That’s probably two cds too many in an Everyman.
16 Embarrassing when ghastly performer appears in chorus
SHAMING
An insertion of HAM in SING.
18 Sauce added principally into Italian food?
PASSATA
I think this is another attempt at a cad – clue as definition – but it’s a bit strained. The setter is asking you to add S and A for the first letters of the ‘sauce’ and ‘added’ into PASTA.
19 Sell, rat out: characteristic of The Sun, etc
STELLAR
(SELL RAT)*
20 Quietly pounce and land in water
PLUNGE
A charade of P for the musical ‘quietly’ and LUNGE. Is PLUNGE really ‘land in water’?
23 At the outset, straining posterior muscle produces an amusing noise
SPLAT
A charade of S and P for the first letters of ‘straining’ and ‘posterior’ and LAT for the common abbreviation for the latissimus dorsi muscles. Is SPLAT an amusing noise? To about the same extent that this puzzle was amusing, I would aver. Which wasn’t very.
Many thanks to the setter (with fingers crossed, I won’t call him or her ‘Everyman’ yet) for this morning’s puzzle.
This beginner-ish Every Man misses the old Everyman.
Frustrating: some perfectly acceptable clues here, and a few good ones, but I agree with Pierre that some of them just don’t work. I hope to be pleasantly surprised by the next Everyman today, but I may be disappointed.
I also wondered about “far-off place” for Micronesia in 24a, but decided it just about worked: Micronesia is in the Pacific a long way from any other landmass, so I suppose it’s far-off to everyone except its residents.
Any setter is going to be up against it when following Colin Gumbrell, but I do wonder how much thought – and respect for us solvers – the paper has put into maintaining the Everyman style. I seriously doubt that 6d THREESOME has been vetted by any editor for a start. Which isn’t fair on the setter. (I agree with Pierre that there are other clues that don’t come up to scratch, but there were some good ones too.)
I think you said it Pierre on 6d
or as you’d say in France losing the huile d’olive
I dont think this setter wanted the gig-either that or he compiled it in a brewery.
Normal service has been resumed today.
Merci, Pierre mais non a chaque homme!
Raise a glass to our fine crossword setter,
Who knows every word by each letter,
And whose humour and guile
Make us think and then smile
(Unless it is blogged: Could do better!)
A very mixed bag – the blog and comments here say it all. Today’s sounds more hopeful. Thanks Pierre and the ever-changing Everyman.
Didn’t get 21ac and reading the explanation here, I can see why; it’s an appalling clue (IMHO)
4ac I read as a weak double definition – Easter is a break (in school term times) and is a fast time (as in the end of lent). That seems pretty weak, but does have the benefit of rationalising the hyphen.
A lot of weak surfaces and dubious wordplay.
Thanks for the blog, Pierre
Laughter over precision. You find the latter everywhere but sparkle is a rare and precious thing for which I forgive a lot.
I had the crossers for 4a but was stuck. It was the hyphen that gave it away in the end and I laughed out loud.
Many thanks to the setter for an unusually enjoyable crossword.
The thing about the Everyman puzzle is that it doesn’t appear to have an editor – presumably due to the “arm’s length” relationship between the Graun and its Sunday stablemate – which is let’s face it a ludicrous anachronism.
The puzzle therefore needs a trusted setter who can produce a well-written, uncontroversial, easy-end puzzle once a week which will go straight into the comic without tweaks. Colin was obviously more than capable of filling this brief and it’s fair to say, on the evidence so far, that his replacement is still being sought. The mild upside to the current situation is the pleasure one derives from reading Pierre’s critiques…
Obviously, the Everyman puzzle could be placed temporarily under the tender care of the G crossword editor which might not be a bad start, although quite how interventionist Hugh is is a matter of conjecture
I’m afraid I wasn’t convinced by this week’s as well as last week’s, so no sign of an upturn here. A pity, Everyman has been part of my Sunday routine for over 10 years now. Fingers crossed normal service will be resumed.
Hmm, agree with all those who say Everyman is somewhat lost at the moment. I like a bit of a challenge, but this is not that. My Sunday morning pleasure has been removed, temporarily I do hope. This week’s is so far a dog’s breakfast and bit of a nightmare. Come on, Obs and/or Guardian, please find someone who can set at the right level.
What is also disappointing to me is the grid construction.
Traditionally, there were always four entries of eleven/fifteen letters, plus easy access from one corner to another.
I did leave a message a few weeks ago asking the editor to call me, but have heard nothing. That’s particularly annoying as I believe I know who would make an excellent Everyman.
I agree. 3775 is only different from 3774, in that we are now expecting the unexpected, whacky and illogical. 50 minutes today, 4 hours last week, and we never got splat or threesome. It is not about hardness or not, it is about concise and beautifully crafted clues, that we have got used to with Colin. Hope he is doing well, will the crossword gods pass on my wife and I’s best wishes…..ie come back soon!
Someone really needs to have a word with this chap (why do I not think it is a woman??!!) about kitchen lore. Basting? Cider as a source of vitamin C?? Just don’t let the government get hold of that idea!!
My new Sunday morning treat is to read the uproarious reviews of last week’s Everyman. Thanks Pierre.
One or two reasonable clues here (I quite liked YES PLEASE) but also some truly dreadful ones. The clue for BASTILLE was missing ‘pain’ when I printed it out but even with the missing word, the clue makes no sense whatsoever. Also, PLASTERER produced an audible groan from me. To sum up this puzzle, it was no fun and hard work to finish. About half way through, I thought what am I doing this for as it isn’t remotely entertaining but I persevered. Let’s hope today’s is better. Thanks Pierre for the blog.
Terry @13. You are right, the comments are now more entertaining then the crosswords. I look forward to seeing the feedback for 3775, which includes a clue that is just plain wrong!
Reference PLASTERER – surely a painter/decorator puts on a coat of paint; A plasterer puts on a layer of plaster.
The cider clue is a classic for all the wrong reasons.
I thought ‘French can’ for Bastille was brilliant misdirection. Yes the rest was messy but I knew I had the right answer.
I’m in a minority of one it seems (unsurprising given the purpose of our community 🙂 but I’m posting again because the change in Everyman is a once in a generation moment. We should step back and discuss whether we want exactly the same for the next 30 years or even how to attract new converts to our wonderful hobby. Should we take the chance to freshen it up a bit?
For instance several times the distaste is because the non-cryptic part (eg a windswept village) isn’t unique enough to identify the answer (Lizard). Yes it’s a currently accepted rule but it leads to turgid clues where you see the synonym straight away, check the rest of the clue, bang it in, next, whatever. No thought required, no chance of that marvellous a-ha moment. Whereas I see Lizard and then twig it’s that place on the coast and lo! it’s job done with a smile.
Has anyone who emailed to complain about the new Everyman received a reply? I certainly haven’t. I also know that Azed told the paper that there were serious misgivings — he didn’t get a reply either, which was very disappointing. Does anyone know what is going on?
I think that’s a question we’d be hoping you had some answer to, Don. Your connections in the crossword world are better than ours, for sure. I haven’t had a reply, nor have any of the other people I know who complained. My sense is that’s because no-one’s in charge. If we keep complaining, you would hope that the message will eventually get through and a proper replacement found. Ideally one setter, because part of the appeal of the Everyman is that you get a consistency of style, which less experienced solvers appreciate. If it has to be shared out week by week, like the Quiptic, so be it. Just no more of the error-ridden, funless stuff we’ve had to endure today. Please.
At present, it is certainly not the Everyman as we used to know it.
In response to Don Manley: no, I had no reply to the email I sent to the “crossword editor” at the Observer concerning the dreadful Everyman 3772. As far as I know, nobody else has either.
In fairness, the offerings that followed are streets ahead of 3772, for all their faults. To be quite frank, I don’t think they’re any worse than some of the stuff we’ve seen in the Guardian in recent years. Still, they are definitely not in the Everyman tradition, as others have said. What we need is a setter who can combine accuracy of clueing with an entertaining style, and who is versatile enough to write relatively simple clues.
Since you’re here, Don… any chance?
No, sorry!
I apologise if this sounds like a whinge (which of course it is), but it’s also rather disheartening for setters like myself who can’t persuade newspaper puzzle editors to look at our blocked puzzles, let alone print them, when crosswords like the recent Everyman ones get published. End of whinge 😉
I think that’s a point well made, ASetter.
First Kiwi in. Not that I managed to complete it – just persevered enough to fully appreciate this blog! I have to agree with Dougalf in terms of style. A little bit of imprecision doesn’t bother me if the solve puts a smile on my face. I’d rather have a chuckle over a clue when I finally work it through (or discover the solution in this blog) than have it jump out from the definition and then trawl back through the parsing mechanics. I also don’t mind the fact that many of the clues were just too tough for me, but the quality was so inconsistent from the brilliance of 17ac to the really lame 14d. Isn’t it ironic that we all want some consistency when the whole premise of cryptics is to expect the unexpected!
I was unable to get to grips with this one. I do wish the setters would realise that there are New Zealanders doing this puzzle. Micronesia is not that far away from us. Too many French and European clues can be unfamiliar too. At least Colin sometimes put in a clue for us.
Was that Alan Scott, the ex setter commenting @12? How I loved his crosswords. I hope Everyman follows up on his offer.
Two good clues, the rest middling to awful. Can’t get on the same wavelength as this setter at all.
This is deja-vue all over again! Remember the moans and groans at the last setter change? As your man John Lennon said, give peace a chance, at least for a few weeks until we come to terms with this new bloke, or bloke-ess!
I tried doing this crossword over 2 WEEKS and I still couldn’t complete it. Even with electronic help. I think Pierre summed up the clues very nicely as I too have similar misgivings about certain clues.
Overall not impressed. The BASTILLE clue could have been a really good one with it’s “French can” start but the rest of it was gibberish. I wonder what the setter has for in-store for us next week …
Abandoned after about 12 clues
Haf to go to the blog for answwrs. I didn’t understand many of the explanations at all
Bastille/ lizard /garter /
Passata /sister / banter
all had question marks and
Cider has never been purported to be a Vit c source as far as I know
I don’t mind ‘harder than my pay grade’ But the clues have to make sense
Not a good day
thought I’d finished this, but I put in “Pescara” rather than “passata” for 18 down. Was using a wildcard dictionary on the cross letters. It yielded a plethora of possibilities, so I resticted to “common words” and only “pescara” came up! I googled “pescara sauce” and there *is* such a sauce, so I went for it, even though I couldn’t see an adequate parsing. Never heard of “passata”.
There were a number of answers that I got right but could not parse.
Like others I thought that “French can” was really good, but more care should have been taken with the rest of the clue.
i do hope the editors pay some attention to the complaints and in particular pay some heed to Alan Scott!!!
Re: 21a – “can” got me thinking “toilets” not “prisons” … oh dear!!
A bit like some NZ back roads. Some smooth bits, some rough buts, some strait bits, some hair-pin bends; they may not be the easiest to drive on – but they do make the journey more challenging. There were a few places in this crossword where we misread unclear signposts and finished up bogged down a no-exit
road and had to extricate ourselves.