The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3784.
Another dog’s breakfast of an Everyman. There are some good clues – I particularly liked 1A, 27A and the &lit 25D – but a few clues so simple to make me wonder what I am missing, and a bunch of dubious anagrinds. Then there is the pair of 9D and 14D to leave a sour taste in the mouth.
I see some similarities with last week’s Everyman, and it is interesting that Sil was broadly positive about that one, while for me this one tilts in the opposite direction.
| Across | ||
| 1 | NORTH AMERICAN | Nation excited with charmer like Justin Trudeau (5,8) |
| An anagram (‘excited’) of ‘nation’ plus ‘charmer’. | ||
| 10 | ENTHUSE | Umpteenth US evangelical stifles praise (7) |
| A hidden answer in ‘umpteENTH US Evangelical’. | ||
| 11 | O CANADA | Local’s stripped down to nothing in Spain, giving patriotic song (1,6) |
| A charade of OCA (‘lOCAl stripped down’) plus NADA (‘nothing in Spain’). | ||
| 12 | TOOLS | Illicitly loots workman’s implements (5) |
| As simple an anagram (‘illicitly’?) as they come, of ‘loots’. | ||
| 13 | AGE LIMIT | Time lag I suffered to overcome this? (3,5) |
| An anagram (‘suffered’?) of ‘time lag I’, with a not very convincing extended definition. | ||
| 15 | IN THAT CASE | Nervously hint at lawsuit, then (2,4,4) |
| 16 | LAIR | Former prime minister – no leader – in retreat (4) |
| I was half-expecting a Canadian Prime Minister, but it is Tony [B]LAIR minus the first letter (‘no leader’). | ||
| 18 | EATS | Teas consumed? (4) |
| An anagram (‘consumed’) of ‘teas’. I should have pointed out that EATS is to be taken as a noun. | ||
| 20 | DELIVERING | Deign to advance one letter, with organ enclosed in posting (10) |
| An envelope (‘with … enclosed’) of LIVER (‘organ’) in DEIGN, which is ‘deign’ with the N moved up (‘to advance one letter’). | ||
| 22 | TIBETANS | Mountain folk live among giants (8) |
| An envelope (‘among’) of BE (‘live’) in TITANS (‘giants’). | ||
| 24 | PLATH | American poet finds path around lake (5) |
| An envelope (‘around’) of L (‘lake’) in ‘path’, for the poet Sylvia. | ||
| 26 | ROSSINI | Composer with some dross in Italian (7) |
| A hidden (‘with some’) answer in ‘dROSS IN Italian’. | ||
| 27 | TOLKIEN | To make up story about king, head of Númenor: this author did! (7) |
| A charade of TOLKIE, an envelope (‘about’) of K (‘king’) in TO LIE (‘to make up story’); plus N (‘head of Númenor’), with an extended definition. Note that this clue has what I refer to as an extended definition, or a semi-&lit, in that ‘this author did’ does not contribute to the wordplay. 25D is a true &lit, in that the entire clue may be read as wordplay or definition. | ||
| 28 | SOUTHEND-ON-SEA | Rising sun soon heated coastal resort (8-2-3) |
| An anagram (‘rising’?) of ‘sun soon heated’. | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | OPTS OUT | Declines surgery: pets only half sedated (4,3) |
| A charade of OP (‘surgery”) plus TS (‘peTS only half’) plus OUT (‘sedated’). | ||
| 3 | THURSDAY | 72 hours or so ago, child born then has far to go (8) |
| This crossword being published in the Observer on Sunday, we have to set our calendar from that, even if not actually solving on that day. That then takes us to Thursday, and the appropriate line of the common version of the nursery rhyme “Monday’s Child”. | ||
| 4 | AXES | Does away with lines on a graph (4) |
| Double definition. | ||
| 5 | ENOUGH SAID | Old, anguished, wretched: there’s nothing to add (6,4) |
| An anagram (‘wretched’) of O (‘old’) plus ‘anguished’. | ||
| 6 | IN ALL | Criminal lawyer hides after considering everything (2,3) |
| A hidden answer in ‘crimINAL Lawyer’. | ||
| 7 | ANAEMIA | In AA, I mean to raise condition (7) |
| An envelope (‘in’) of NAEMI, a reversal (‘to raise’ in a down light) of ‘I mean’ in ‘AA’. | ||
| 8 | WEST SIDE STORY | Direction borders on conservative in Romeo and Juliet adaptation (4,4,5) |
| A charade of WEST (‘direction’) plus SIDES (‘borders’) plus TORY (‘conservative’). | ||
| 9 | EASTER EGG HUNT | Pursuit in which diet is foiled? (6-3,4) |
| I can only suppose that this is a cryptic reference to foil-covered chocolate Easter eggs, in which case topicality must be the main excuse for the clue. | ||
| 14 | SCREEN SIZE | Measure that monitors monitors? (6,4) |
| Please tell me that I am missing out on something. If this is the right answer, it looks like a charade of SCREENS (‘the first ‘monitors’) plus IZE, an unannounced homophone of EYES (‘monitors’). The definition is not too hot, either, even if it is extended. Perhaps I am over-analysing in looking for a wordplay, and the clue was intended as just a cryptic definition. In that case, the first ‘monitors’ would be a verb, and chosen for the repetition rather than its meaning. The (marginally better, in my opinion) solution is SCREEN TIME. | ||
| 17 | ZEPPELIN | Zane’s gutted, with chafed nipple in airship (8) |
| A charade of ZE (‘ZanE‘s gutted’) plus PPELIN, an anagram (‘chafed’?) of ‘nipple’. Poor Zane. | ||
| 19 | TABASCO | A billion tacos cooked with this condiment? (7) |
| An anagram (‘cooked’) of ‘a’ plus B (‘billion”) plus ‘tacos’. | ||
| 21 | IMAGINE | Suppose I’m a gin enthusiast primarily (7) |
| What could be more simple? “A charade of ‘I’m a gin’ plus E (‘Enthusiast primarily’). | ||
| 23 | TWIST | Playing whist, void of hearts, trump’s opening: another card, please (5) |
| An anagram (‘playing’) of ‘w[h]ist minus the H (‘void of hearts’) plus T (‘Trump’s opening’). I learn that only in the British version of the card game twenty-one, called pontoon, is TWIST used to request another card. | ||
| 25 | STUD | Suitor that’s utterly desirable at first? (4) |
| Initial letters (‘at first’) of ‘Suitor That’s Utterly Desirable’, with an &lit definition. | ||
Re 14d, I think you’ll find it’s SCREEN TIME – a measure monitoring how long people spend looking at monitors. I think that makes it a fair cryptic definition, though not necessarily a very good one.
15a: “nervously” is the anagram indicator for HINT AT becoming IN THAT.
Otherwise I agree that a couple of clues were a bit weak, but on the whole I thought it wasn’t too bad. Can’t believe I missed the NINA, though, as highlighted in your grid.
Thanks PeterO. As you say this is a dogs breakfast although I would hate to see Everyman clue that. SCREEN TIME was my last one in as I had trouble deciding it really was that. I bunged EASTER EGG HUNT in because of the weekend, then tried to parse it later. Mistake. The clue seems to be missing all sorts of bits.
I also had to convince myself with EATS until I decided it is a general term for food. Otherwise the “consumed” bit give me EATEN and then I wondered if we were somehow supposed to imply an anagrind as an extra level of difficulty.
You do not make it clear Numenor was created by Tolkien but I did like that one. Not being “local” I had to trawl through a list of seaside resorts to verify 28A. I too missed the compass points but that was probably through disappointment.
I missed spotting the compass points. I had SCREEN TIME also and thought it made sense. I did a google search to discover SOUTHEND ON SEA.
Thanks Peter and Everyman.
I had SCREEN SIZE too, but the check facility reveals it is TIME. Not surprisingly, I wholehearted agree with PeterO about the quality of the clues, and this one in particular. SCREEN TIME can also refer to how long someone like an actor gets on a TV program or movie, I can’t help thinking that a better, tighter clue couldn’t have constructed.
Thanks to PeterO for the blog
Yes, a weird one. I agree some clues were suspiciously easy (TOOLS, EATS, PLATH), and I assumed IMAGINE was simply a hidden word. SCREEN TIME though is a relatively recent term. My iPhone has taken to telling me, every Sunday morning, that my screen time last week was x% up or down from the previous week. You don’t really need to monitor screen size; it is what it is.
I think the issue with Everyman at the moment is that there is an expectation that it will be bad. I thought this was OK, the simple clues helping beginners. As has been pointed out above, the correct answer for 14D is SCREEN TIME and the ‘nervously’ in 15A is an anagrind. I don’t see anything wrong with illicitly as an anagrind because it can mean wrongly and suffer is in my Chambers list of anagrinds. ‘Rising’ is rather unconventional but I suppose it can mean rebelling or revolting, both of which are kosher anagrinds.
The only clue I really had reservations about was 18A where I thought the answer should be ate or eaten but Mystogre @2 points out the EATS of course can also be a noun, so I think that one is probably OK.
I quite liked EASTER-EGG HUNT with its topicality and the use of ‘foiled,’ although it might have been better to substitute diet with snack or some such.
So, overall I thought this was much better than some previous Everyman crosswords. Thanks Everyman and PeterO.
Adw @5
“You don’t need to monitor screen size, it is what it is”.
You do need to monitor, and respond to, screen size if you are writing a computer program that can run on different devices (or a single device that supports multiple resolutions). A rather niche example, to be sure !
Sorry to spam the comments about 14, but no-one has actually explained the clue WRT to the correct solution.
SCREEN TIME is certainly a term that is a “Measure that monitors people who use monitors”, but in the actual clue, the second “monitors” either refers to the physical devices (computer monitors) in which case the clue is simply wrong, or it refers to human “monitors” i.e. people who watch over something, in which case it surely needs a “for example” since humans using devices with a screen may be doing something other than “monitoring”.
I too had SCREEN SIZE. I can see no reason why SCREEN TIME is to be preferred because neither of them makes any more sense than the other.
I take “posting” and DELIVERING to mean two different things.
I enjoyed this puzzle and thought that the level of difficulty was about right for an Everyman, which, I believe, are supposed to be accessible to inexperienced and inexpert solvers. (I’m the latter but not the former, having attempted the Everyman most Sundays for nigh on forty years.) A scattering of easy clues seems entirely appropriate. The ‘Nina’ was an added bonus, I didn’t see it , so thanks to Peter O for pointing it out. If anyone, like me, doesn’t know what a Nina is, or why they are so-called, try here: https://www.crosswordunclued.com/2009/10/what-is-nina.html
My only criticisms are that some of the anagrinds are a bit obscure and that, re screen time and screen size: you shouldn’t really have two plausible answers in a prize crossword.
As for today’s offering, well I’ve finished it but I’m not sure of some of the parsing
I agree with poc, posting and delivering (20a) are the two ends of sending something, not the same thing.
Maybe it’s just me, but I take exception to North American (1a) relating to people. Fidel Castro was technically North American!
Presumably ‘Ninas’ are going to be a standard feature.
bobm @11 — Castro was technically Caribbean (and culturally Latin).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_geoscheme_for_the_Americas
In view of the contempt shown to solvers shown by “clues” such as 24a, I’m out.
Permanently.
Once an esteemed publication such as this once was is on such a slide, I can see no resurrection. Very sad.
I kinda enjoyed this puzzle. Perhaps it’s Stockholm Syndrome?!
I didn’t find this too bad, actually, other than 17d being rather inelegant
gosh what a lot I learnt about screen size. I enjoyed this although some of the clues were strangely easy. I actually thought Easter egg hunt was a really good one but agree with the chat re the apparent mismatch over 18 eats . I made an error putting Bars for 4 d and then realised it had to be something else and once I had that one in, i though 4d was great clue also.
Yeah I’m not unhappy about the current state of crosswords, just taking time to get used to the new setter. Some nice clues, some easy, some definitely not, but it’s coming together I think. And I learned what a ‘NONA’ is’. Many thanks to Everyman and Peter O for the blog.
14d is definitely SCREEN TIME.
A real mixed bag. I loved 22a, for example. But I hated 18a – sorry, I have real issues with “consumed” as anagrind – and the whole thing is a bit basic.
14d is definitely SCREEN TIME.
A real mixed bag. I loved 22a, for example. But I hated 18a – sorry, I have real issues with “consumed” as anagrind – and the whole clue is a bit basic. “Rising” in 28a is also a poor anagrind – “heated” is a better anagrind – but that misdirected me!
I got SCREEN TIME too
Like most Kiwis I liked this one and got all except Easter Egg Hunt (pity that was a few weeks ago) which I still enjoyed. I really think some of the earlier comments (including PeterO’s) were a bit picky. This was streets ahead of the now infamous 3772.