An excellent and enjoyable example of what the new Everyman can do.
All the elements we’ve come to expect are here: &lit (clue-as-definition), &lit-ish (extended definition), groan-inducing puns, slightly loose but I-see-what-you-mean definitions, imaginative (or just strange) anagram indicators. A neat pair of parallel phrases on the perimeter, too, with LIGHT floating to the top and HEAVY sinking to the bottom.
Thanks Everyman – keep them coming!
Note to readers: I’ll be away on holiday when this blog is published, so apologies in advance for not responding to your comments. But I’m sure your fellow solvers (or others in the Fifteensquared team) will deal with any queries.
Definitions are underlined; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| Across | ||
| 1 | LIGHT-HEADED | He halted dig unexpectedly, being delirious (5-6) |
| Anagram (unexpectedly) of HE HALTED DIG. | ||
| 7 | SEW | Supply embroidery with points? (3) |
| Initial letters (points) of Supply Embroidery With, and &lit (clue-as-definition). | ||
| 9 | NO USE | English pursuing common sense? Pointless (2,3) |
| E (English) after (pursuing) NOUS (common sense). | ||
| 10 | RACONTEUR | He delivers accounts including Norway – slapdash Eurocrat (9) |
| Anagram (slapdash) of EUROCRAT, with N (Norway) inserted. One who tells anecdotes. | ||
| 11 | BETE NOIRE | Speculate one will return with anger, seeing pet aversion (4,5) |
| BET (speculate) + ONE reversed (will return) + IRE (anger). French for a “black beast”, meaning a specific thing/person that one strongly dislikes. | ||
| 12 | I WISH | If only Iceland would import some herring to begin with (1,4) |
| Initial letters (to begin with) of Iceland Would Import Some Herring. | ||
| 13 | WINDSOR | Twists otter heartlessly to make a knot (7) |
| WINDS (twists – verb, as in “wind up a clock”) + O[tte]R (heartlessly). Windsor knot – one of many ways to tie a necktie. | ||
| 15 | SUIT | Exec, oddly stupid, ‘Head of Tasking’ (4) |
| Odd-numbered letters of StUpId + initial letter (head) of Tasking. Slang for someone in an occupation for which wearing a business suit is expected, as in the US TV show Suits. | ||
| 18 | PALM | Most of maple chopped up for wood (4) |
| Anagram (chopped up) of most of MAPL[e]. | ||
| 20 | AL DENTE | Talented cooks taking time to get perfect consistency (2,5) |
| Anagram (. . . cooks) of TALENTED, minus one T (time). Italian cooking term, meaning cooked just long enough to retain a bit of bite. | ||
| 23 | WRING | Twist its limb to subdue rook (5) |
| If rook means a bird, its limb could be a WING; but rook (chess piece) is abbreviated to R. So this is WING containing R. | ||
| 24 | NONENTITY | Loser in nine-piece muffling note encountering enmity? Not half (9) |
| NONET (a group of nine musicians, or a piece of music written for such a group) containing N (note, then [enm]ITY with the first half removed. Loser = nonentity = unimportant person. | ||
| 26 | EGG TIMERS | Those with hourglass figures such as gets German mister in a ferment (3,6) |
| EG (such as) + G (German, as in the old GDR) + anagram (in a ferment) of MISTER. | ||
| 27 | REGAL | Splendid beer knocked back (5) |
| Reversal (knocked back) of LAGER. | ||
| 28 | SIR | No time in prison for gentleman (3) |
| STIR (slang for prison) without the T (time). | ||
| 29 | HEAVY-HANDED | He’d head navy incompetently, being oppressive (5-6) |
| Anagram (incompetently) of HE’D HEAD NAVY. | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | LONGBOWS | Good actors take these weapons (8) |
| Bow = taking applause at the end of a performance: so a good actor might get a LONG BOW. | ||
| 2 | GLUTTONY | ‘Not guilty!’: fervently I denied sin (8) |
| Anagram (fervently?) of NOT GUILTY, with the I removed (denied). One of the seven deadly sins. | ||
| 3 | TIE-IN | Ornamental item Prince put out as promotional device (3-2) |
| TIE-PIN (ornamental item) with P (prince) taken out. For example a book or game based on a film. | ||
| 4 | EARLIER | From longer ago, more reminiscent of a certain nobleman? (7) |
| Warning: contains puns. EARLY = like an EARL. EARLIER = more like an EARL. Groan. | ||
| 5 | DICKENS | Devoid of energy, heartily sickened author (7) |
| Anagram (heartily?) of SICKENED, with one E (energy) removed. I’m not sure you can really call it “devoid of E” if there’s one E left in it? | ||
| 6 | DANDIFIED | Primarily, dressed and provided with something to make a bang? (9) |
| D[ressed] (primarily = first letter) + AND + IF (provided) + IED (improvised explosive device). Clue-as-definition: dressed up to impress. | ||
| 7 | SCENIC | Startled, since Conservative presenting agreeable views (6) |
| Anagram (startled) of SINCE + C[onservative]. | ||
| 8 | WORTHY | Row about your quaint local VIP (6) |
| ROW reversed (about) + THY (old / quaint version of “your”). | ||
| 14 | SPANGLISH | To get across good line is hard (‘Hasta la vista, baby’, say) (9) |
| SPAN (to get across) + G[ood] + L[ine] + IS + H[ard]. A mixture of Spanish and English, spoken in regions where there are native speakers of both languages – or by Brits on their summer holidays. | ||
| 16 | UNHINGED | Mad Enid hung around (8) |
| Anagram (around) of ENID HUNG. Bonus points for misdirection because “mad” looks as though it could be the anagram indicator. | ||
| 17 | RECYCLED | Visibly ashamed to admit vehicle turned to scrap, perhaps (8) |
| RED (blushing = visibly ashamed) containing CYCLE (vehicle). | ||
| 19 | MANDELA | He led resurgent Africa (at least at first)? (7) |
| MAN (he) + LED reversed (resurgent = going up, in a down clue) + first letter of A[frica]. &lit: Nelson Mandela was the president of South Africa after the end of apartheid. | ||
| 20 | AMNESTY | Campaigners wanting many set free (7) |
| Anagram (free) of MANY SET. &lit-ish extended definition: short name for the campaign organization Amnesty International. | ||
| 21 | TWEETS | Affected, vacuous tidings? (6) |
| TWEE (affected) + T[iding]S (vacuous = empty). &lit: Twitter messages as seen by those who don’t get involved in such things. | ||
| 22 | FINGER | Meddle with tariff in Germany? Partially (6) |
| Hidden answer (partially) in [tarif]F IN GER[many]. | ||
| 25 | NORMA | Opera standard? Not quite (5) |
| NORMAL (standard), but not quite all of it. Norma, the opera by Bellini. | ||
My favourites were BETE NOIRE, LONGBOWS, EGG TIMERS, TWEETS.
I could not parse 19d MANDELA
Thank you Everyman and Quirister.
Re 5dn I share Quirister’s misgivings about ‘devoid of energy’ and also wondered about ‘heartily’ as anagram indicator.
Generally though, a very good workout.
Well, either I’m getting used to the style, or the new Everyman is getting into his/her stride. I suspect a bit of both. Either way, both this week & last have been much more satisfactory – agree with everything in Quirister’s summary. Struggled with a few clues but having seen the solutions I should have ‘got’ them.
Very nice puzzle. I particularly liked UNHINGED at 16d.
Thanks Everyman and Quirister.
Thanks Quirister
I failed on 23ac thinking it might be STING – starting with “its” backwards (twisted) and the whole thing meaning “rook” as in “cheat” or “sting”, although I couldn’t explain the “ng”.
So then I couldn’t get 21d.
I’m now liking the new Everyman’s style and solving the puzzles more quickly than before, though that could be a case of practice makes perfect rather than the crosswords getting easier.
I thoroughly enjoyed this, with the same reservation as others about 5d. GLUTTONY was a particular favorite.
I parsed 7a differently: I thought “with points” means simply “made of letters that are points of the compass,” leaving “supply embroidery” as the (somewhat odd) definition. But your parsing is definitely better.
Thanks to Everyman and Quirister!
Funny, isn’t it?
The quality of the crossword seems to be inversely proportional to the number of comments.
If that’s what it is, Pierre will be doomed next week …..
Many thanks to Quirister & Everyman.
Yes this was ok, although I find some of the surfaces a bit strained and I think this setter rather overdoes the &Lits.
20A would be better with ‘taking time out’ rather than ‘taking time’ imho. Also ‘cooks’ as anagrind following its fodder is loose. Cook as imperative or cooked as adjective would work, but I can’t see how cooks can.
Don’t like heartily as anagram indicator either. But minor niggles, this was a good crossword.
Barrie @8: as an amateur baker, I might say that a cake “cooks” when it’s in the oven, meaning much the same as “gets cooked”. So “talented cooks” could be an anagram indicator for TALENTED. As I said, Everyman does seem to like non-standard anagram indicators. In my opinion, “cooks” just about works, but “heartily” doesn’t.
Good crossword. Liked longbows, gluttony, nonentity.
Great puzzle. Many excellent clues but specially enjoyed 26ac, 18d & 20d. I’m getting better at spotting the &lit clues now and appreciate this extra element. Like Adrianw @5 I got Sting for 22ac but my parsing was string fo As a limb with the R removed (rook subdued). As a result I failed to get 21d. I also only saw the compass points in 7ac. Thanks Everyman for an enjoyable challenge.
Only niggle is as others have said – heartily doesnt work as an anagram indicator, liked Longbows, egg timers, earlier and gluttony. Never heard of stir for prison and found the explanation for dandified a bit obscure, but otherwise enjoyed
I threw a spanner in the works getting ELAM (wood in Liverpool area) instead of PALM & we got stuck on a couple of others but overall a good crossword thanks.
I got stuck on several items. Like others, I put in “sting” for 23 across (sting == rook, as in trick or fool), taking “sti” being “its” twisted; couldn’t figure out the “ng”, but thought “What the hell?”
Consequently 21 down was a hopeless case
Couldn’t get 20 across (“al dente”) at all.
Kicked myself for not getting 6 down (“danified”).
Despite not being to finish, I thought this was a good (and fair) puzzle.
I don’t think I would ever have got 6d