Everyman has definitely settled into a consistent style now.
Familiar patterns: a variety of anagram indicators, and a few neat examples of &lit (clue as definition). We don’t have matching entries around the edge as in some recent puzzles, but 15a and 18a are clearly intended as a pair.
One thing I’ve commented on in recent Everyman puzzles is the occasional dubious definition. No issues this time: I wasn’t convinced by the definition in 1a, but Chambers seems to be on the side of Everyman so I’ll concede that one. However, I do wonder whether Everyman has been taking note of the comments: 11d 5d seems to be a good description of the sort of thing I was talking about!
Some very good surfaces: my favourites were probably the tongue-in-cheek 22a and 14d, but I enjoyed the straightforward 25a and the &lit 6d too. Thanks to Everyman as always.
Definitions are underlined; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| Across | ||
| 1 | ALMOST | Just about to slam furiously (6) |
| Anagram (furiously) of TO SLAM. I wasn’t sure about the definition here: to me, “just about” suggests reaching the target but “almost” suggests missing it. However, Chambers has “nearly” as a definition of “just about”, so let’s say it just about passes. |
||
| 4 | EUROSTAR | With which tours are devised? (8) |
| Anagram (devised) of TOURS ARE. &lit (clue as definition): Eurostar is the train from Britain to Europe, so perhaps the starting point for a European tour. |
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| 9 | CRISPS | Firm finally junks junk food (6) |
| CRISP (firm = stiff) + final letter of [junk]S. | ||
| 10 | AS I SEE IT | Without alterations? Derelict, oddly deficient (in my opinion) (2,1,3,2) |
| AS IS (without alterations) + [d]E[r]E[l]I[c]T with the odd-numbered letters missing. | ||
| 12 | RUTS | Ditches; gets ready for new partner (4) |
| Double definition: rut (noun) = furrow, and rut (verb, used of an animal) = try to attract a mate. | ||
| 13 | CENTIPEDES | Bugs inspected sneakily, implicating East (10) |
| Anagram (sneakily) of INSPECTED + E[ast]. | ||
| 15 | THIS MEANS WAR | ‘I’ll get my revenge,’ as one international lawyer said to another (4,5,3) |
| Metaphorical declaration of taking offence at someone’s words or action, or perhaps lawyers discussing the state of relations between two countries. | ||
| 18 | THAT’S YOUR LOT | ‘It’s finished,’ as one auctioneer said to another (5,4,3) |
| Similar to 15a: “there’s nothing else to come”, or a conversation about auction lots (items for auction). | ||
| 21 | NANOSECOND | Seed-spiller gets back to back in a trice (10) |
| ONAN (Old Testament character) reversed (back), then SECOND (back = support someone’s proposal). The explanation of “seed-spiller” is not suitable for polite conversation, but see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onan (or Genesis chapter 38) if you really must know. |
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| 22 | ACAI | Berry that’s apparently complex antioxidant import – for starters (4) |
| Initial letters (for starters) of Apparently Complex Antioxidant Import. &lit-ish: Açaí berries have been the subject of various health-food claims. |
||
| 24 | IMPISHLY | Mischievously insinuate (describing in a way) (8) |
| IMPLY (insinuate) around (describing) ISH (suffix indicating “in a way”). | ||
| 25 | ARARAT | Revealed by radar: a rather historic landing site (6) |
| Hidden answer in (revealed by) [rad]AR A RAT[her]. The Ararat mountain range, where Noah’s Ark came to rest after the flood. |
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| 26 | ODYSSEYS | Sagas recalled in songs? Yes, Syd: ornately (8) |
| Hidden answer, reversed (recalled) in [song]S YES SYD O[rnately]. The Odyssey (by Homer) is singular, but odysseys (tales of wandering in general) can be plural. |
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| 27 | OH DEAR | Duck heard, weirdly – that’s a worry (2,4) |
| O (duck = zero in cricket scoring) + anagram (weirdly) of HEARD. | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | ACCURATE | A cold clergyman is strict (8) |
| A C[old] CURATE. | ||
| 2 | MAINTAIN | State isn’t casually taken over by chief (8) |
| AIN’T (casual speech for “isn’t”), contained in (taken over by) MAIN (chief). State (verb) = maintain = assert. |
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| 3 | SIPS | Has a taste of course in León: pimentos without stuffing (4) |
| SI (Spanish for yes, so “of course” in the Spanish city of León) + P[imento]S. A slightly tortured construction, but at least the accent helps to indicate the Spanish city rather than the UK restaurant chain. |
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| 5 | UNSATISFYING | Lacking content: fully sustaining? That’s wrong! (12) |
| Anagram (wrong) of F[ull]Y (lacking content) + SUSTAINING. &lit (clue as definition): an unsatisfying meal doesn’t have enough content to sustain one fully. |
||
| 6 | OESOPHAGUS | A soup goes here initially to be digested? (10) |
| Anagram (to be digested) of A SOUP GOES + H[ere] (initially). Another &lit: the entrance to the digestive system. |
||
| 7 | TWEEDY | Precious, extremely dainty – but ready for the outdoors? (6) |
| TWEE (precious = affectedly dainty) + D[aint]Y (extremely = first and last letters). Tweedy: describes clothes typically worn for horse-riding and other country pursuits. |
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| 8 | RETEST | Make a further assessment of High Street (6) |
| Anagram (high = drug-crazed) of STREET. | ||
| 11 | SEMANTICALLY | ‘Sailor not a jerk’: friend with sense under discussion (12) |
| SE[a]MAN (sailor, not A) + TIC (jerk = spasm) + ALLY (friend). Semantically: with regard to sense or meaning. |
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| 14 | EMPHASISES | European politician experiences no credit crises or stresses (10) |
| E (European) + MP (politician) + HAS (experiences) + [cr]ISES (without CR = credit). | ||
| 16 | A LA CARTE | Learner joins motorists’ club before getting vehicle, with energy and freedom to choose (1,2,5) |
| L (learner) in AA (Automobile Association) before CART (vehicle) + E (energy). A la carte: a choice of food from a menu, rather than a set meal. |
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| 17 | ATWITTER | Noisy America, Trump’s chosen conduit (8) |
| A (America) + TWITTER (as used by Donald). It had never occurred to me that the English language needed a word for “in a state of twittering”. Apparently such a word exists. I doubt I’ll ever use it again. |
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| 19 | INDIGO | India (Goa): wanting articles to supply bit of colour (6) |
| INDI[a] + GO[a], without two instances of A (the indefinite article). | ||
| 20 | SNAPPY | Stylish, special item of clothing for the young (6) |
| S (special) + NAPPY (baby underwear). Stylish as in “snappy dresser”. |
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| 23 | ARCH | Principal pollarded tree (4) |
| LARCH (tree) with the top letter removed (pollarded = trimmed back). Principal as in archbishop or arch-enemy. |
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My favourites were TWEEDY, IMPISHLY, SIPS, NANOSECOND (loi).
Thank you Everyman and Quirister.
Mostly fine, with ACAI as my only unknown but clued very fairly for something that’s a bit obscure.
I wasn’t sure about ‘s’ as a standalone abbreviation for ‘special’ but Chambers has it.
I felt the clue to 15ac was somewhat 5d and repetition of the ‘said to another’ idea in the very next clue was a bit lazy although for me it worked a lot better in that one.
I got through this, but there were a lot of head-scratchers; odd definitions and surfaces such as 1a, 26a, 3d, 7d for example. I could see where they were leading, but they require a leap of faith. There’s a looseness that maybe I need to get used to.
Thanks to Everyman and Quirister.
Um, 4a above. Britain will remain geographically part of Europe whatever happens. Eurostar trains run from Britain to the mainland might be a better description. Sorry about the pedantry.
Skinny @3, I know what you mean about some of the definitions, but as long as the defintion isn’t just plain wrong we’ll have to accept that it’s a matter of taste. I’m still finding some of the surfaces strange, eg the one for ODYSSEYS – something that could only be a crossword clue.
Will the Director of Blackpool Zoo be amused by 15a in today’s puzzle? I wonder.
I always do the Everyman about three clues at a time whenever I look at it and sometimes get none. I finally finished this puzzle on Thursday, my final answers being TWEEDY AND RETEST. On balance, I did enjoy this puzzle and the setter (Is now the time to reveal yourself?) has settled into a more libertarian style. I wasn’t keen on ‘high’ as an anagram indicator but seemingly anything is used these days. Also, being someone who is anti-religion, I though that Onan was a trifle obscure. Some excellent anagrams here particularly EUROSTAR and OESOPHAGUS.
Many thanks to Everyman and Quirister
I have been disappointed with some Everyman puzzles of late but I had no problems with this. In fact this was pretty good with A TWITTER being particularly good. I look forward to today’s.
Thanks Everyman.
A recognisable style certainly now, and not one I’ve quite got to grips with yet. 15ac didn’t convince me, but the rest seemed fine, if on the tricky side. Is it just me, or is Everyman no longer a puzzle you would recommend to new solvers?
Jon s is dead right. I used to look forward to and enjoy Everyman, my first foray into cryptics but no longer. Give some of us a chance please.
Dorothy named her canary Onan because it spilled its seed on the ground.
Sorry — left out a key word: Dorothy Parker.
I still find some of this setter’s definitions a bit odd, 15a being a case in point. But some nice clues here. Misread 2d as ‘chef’ which didn’t help.
Great crossword I thought. No complaints at all. 9A took a lot longer that it should have as I’m not so familiar with the English term crisps and having the C at the start was determined it must be CO for firm. Thanks Everyman & Quirister.
Found this one very hard, and a lot of clues seemed unfair. Could not get 2 down (“mainstay”) — ain’t for isn’t never occurred to me. Could not get 12 across (“ruts”). I thought “tweedy” (7 down) meaning “ready for the outdoors” was very poor. (Perhaps it resonates with Pommy thinking.)
Loved 21 across (“nanosecond”) but.
Rolf @14 – yes, Everyman is writing for British readers, and I think all the clues you mention are fair in British usage (though perhaps not so obvious elsewhere). “Tweedy” = “ready for the outdoors?” is a little loose, which probably explains the question mark – but to a Brit (well, to me at least) the word “tweedy” creates a clear mental image of a certain clothing style and its context.