The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3876.
A couple of unusual parsings and some byways of general knowledge made this perhaps more difficult than many an Everyman.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | PENCIL-PUSHERS | Clerks, chipper unless provoked (6-7) |
| An anagram (‘provoked’) of ‘chipper unless’. | ||
| 8 | RAGU | Pasta accompaniment: some asparagus (4) |
| A hidden answer (‘some’) in ‘aspaRAGUs’. | ||
| 9 | PROCESSION | Conversion of temperature scale in employment file (10) |
| A substitution: PROFESSION (’employment’) with the F (Fahrenheit) replaced by C (Celsius) (‘conversion of temperature scale’). | ||
| 10 | ANNUAL | When startled, pets rejected unpleasant modified lettuce, perhaps (6) |
| An anagram (‘modified’) of ‘un[p]l[e]a[s]an[t]’ minus PEST, an anagram (‘when startled’) of ‘pets’. ANNUAL as a plant with a single year life cycle, with ‘lettuce’ as one example among many. | ||
| 11 | INFORM ON | Fashionable class, Old Norse, to sell out (6,2) |
| A charade of IN (‘fashionable’) plus FORM (‘class’) plus ON (‘Old Norse’). | ||
| 12 | TRADESMAN | Perhaps electrician winds item – a bobbin, ultimately (9) |
| A charade of TRADES (‘winds’) plus MAN, last letters (‘ultimately’) of ‘iteM A bobbiN‘. | ||
| 14 | IDLE | Vain movie star? Sounds like it (4) |
| A homophone (‘sounds like it’) of IDOL (‘movie star’). | ||
| 15 | ARCH | Important part of your foot (4) |
| Double definition. | ||
| 16 | DESCARTES | Partially downgrades car tested by mathematician (9) |
| A hidden answer (‘partially’) in ‘downgraDES CAR TESted’. René Descartes, in addition to being known as a |
||
| 20 | STEP ON IT | Can love and hugs return? Quickly! (4,2,2) |
| A reversal (‘return’) of TIN (‘can’) plus O (‘love’) plus PETS (‘hugs’). | ||
| 21 | ADRIFT | Notice fissure at sea (6) |
| A charade of AD (‘notice’) plus RIFT (‘fissure’). | ||
| 23 | PETIT FOURS | Not quite slim and small, having eaten more than three biscuits (5,5) |
| An envelope (‘having eaten’) of FOUR (‘more than three’) in PETIT[e] (‘slim’, usually applied to a woman, hence the feminine form) minus the last letter (‘not quite’) plus S (‘small’). I would have called them small cakes rather than biscuits, but Chambers demurs. | ||
| 24 | NICE | Agreeable resort (4) |
| Double definition, | ||
| 25 | PENNY-PINCHERS | Who’d make pale ale? Meanies (5-8) |
| If you pinch P (‘penny’) from ‘pale’, you get ‘ale’. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | PLANNER | Poet Laureate (republican) embraces queen: means to sort out future (7) |
| An envelope (’embraces’) of ANNE (‘queen’) in PL (‘Poet Laureate’) plus R (‘republican’). | ||
| 2 | NAURU | Run around collecting gold somewhere near Hawaii (5) |
| An envelope (‘collecting’) of AU (chemical symbol, ‘gold’) in NRU, an anagram (‘around’) of ‘run’. ‘Somewhere near Hawaii’? – there’s a fair swath of Pacific Ocean between them. It might not be quite like saying that Nauru, Tanzania is somewhere near London, but not that much different. | ||
| 3 | IMPALAS | Everyman’s ‘friends’ seen to include a group of antelopes (7) |
| An envelope (‘to include’) of ‘a’ in I’M (‘Everyman’s’ ie Everyman is) plus PALS (‘friends’). | ||
| 4 | PROXIMA CENTAURI | Mix a Puerto Rican cocktail for nearby star (7,8) |
| An anagram (‘cocktail’) of ‘mix a Puerto Rican’, for the nearest known star to our fair Earth; a mere 4.2465 light-years distant (that’s around 4.0172 x 10¹³ km. Or 2.497 x 10¹³ miles, give or take). | ||
| 5 | SEE OFF | Take out fancy coffees, skipping college (3,3) |
| An anagram (‘fancy’) of ‘[c]offees’ minus the C (‘skipping college’). | ||
| 6 | EASY RIDER | Ray, trembling with desire, producing rebel movie (4,5) |
| An anagram (‘trembling’) of ‘ray’ plus ‘desire’. | ||
| 7 | SÃO TOMÉ | Primarily, somewhere African, occupying the ocean, manifestly equatorial! (3,4) |
| First letters (‘primarily’) of ‘Somewhere African Occupying The Ocean Manifestly Equatorial’ &lit. São Tomé is the capital of the the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Principe, an island state off the west coast of Africa, just below the bulge. | ||
| 13 | DECEPTION | Lying down, topless – welcome (9) |
| A charade of D (‘down’) plus [r]ECEPTION (‘welcome’) minus the first letter (‘topless’). | ||
| 15 | ANTWERP | A nationalist idiot in Belgian city (7) |
| A charade of ‘a’ plus N (‘nationalist’ – the abbreviation is in Chambers) plus TWERP (‘idiot’ as loose invective). | ||
| 17 | CLASSIC | In Perth, girl almost admitted to cricket club? Excellent (7) |
| An envelope (‘admitted to’) of LASSI[e] (‘in Perth, girl’ – Perth in Scotland, rather than Australia) minus the last letter (‘almost’) in CC (‘cricket club’). | ||
| 18 | EFFECTS | Carries out clobber (7) |
| Double definition; ‘clobber’ as accoutrements.. | ||
| 19 | SNIFFY | Suffering cold, student leaves, being disdainful (6) |
| An subtraction: SNIFF[l]Y (‘suffering cold’) minus the L (‘student leaves’). | ||
| 22 | RINSE | Frailnesses regularly hidden; hairdresser might suggest one (5) |
| Alternate letters (‘regularly hidden’) of ‘fRaIlNeSsEs’. | ||
I did 9a the wrong way round and converted Centigrade to Fahrenheit in PROCESSION (“file”) to get PROFESSION (“conversion”). Careless.
Favourites: PROCESSION, DECEPTION, ANNUAL
New: Sao Tome
Reading the blog, I see that I had not parsed PENNY-PINCHERS. I agree with Peter re 2d clue, which reflects a certain POV about ‘places over there’ (or far away from here = UK). If Aberdeen was clued as a town ‘somewhere near London’, there would be an outcry on this blog, I’m sure!
Thanks, Everyman and Peter
A pleasant, not too taxing solve for me. However, like PeterO, I have to baulk at NAURU being near Hawaii. They are over 4500 km apart as the crow flies. By this reckoning, London is near Canada. A couple of dubious definitions, I thought: does vain = idle, or important = arch? Still they didn’t hold me up much. PROCESSION and TRADESMAN were neat. Thank you, Everyman and PeterO.
I liked 23a PETIT FOURS, but it could have been made more concise by leaving out the “Not quite” at the beginning. Petit four in French literally means small oven, but small refers to the size (i.e. strength) of the fire in the oven rather than the size of the oven.
Tassie Tim@3, for vain/idle, think useless or of little value, as in a vain/idle thought, and for important/arch, think principal, as in important/arch rival. Not exact equivalents, but pretty close. Like you I especially liked PROCESSION and TRADESMAN. I also liked the two double-P clues at 1a and 25a, but I looked idly and in vain for the expected double-P at 4d.
Thanks Everyman for the (for me) tougher than usual Sunday puzzle, and PeterO for parsing 25a PENNY-PINCHERS, which I wouldn’t have figured out in a month of these days.
Making pale into ale was very cute. Easy Rider took me back (Jack Nicholson was young!). Merci for the petit four info, cello @4. Quite a fun puzzle, ta both.
Found this a bit harder than usual for Everyman. Last two were ANNUAL and IDLE which I bunged in yesterday without being at all sure. Like Tassie Tim @3 found vain = idle a bit loose (thanks Cellomaniac @4 for explanation) and, as PeterO says, there are loads of annuals so “lettuce, perhaps” wasn’t very helpful. Also did not parse TRADESMAN (good clue) and PENNY-PINCHERS.
Thanks to Everyman and PeterO
Thanks, cellomaniac @4, for your suggestions, but I am not convinced. I would have been more so if you had said you “looked idly and vainly for” – or “in idle and in vain for”, but neither of those would work. Looking idly = looking without much effort, surely? and looking in vain = looking without much result. An archbishop is important, but s/he isn’t an important bishop (and a rival would have to be the most important rival to be arch? But, as you say, close-ish, and I did get them without lots of angst.
Like Peter O and others, I raised an eyebrow at NAURU and the suggestion it is near to Hawaii. However, I had no problem with the use of “nearby” in describing PROXIMA CENTAURI, despite it being approx 10 billion times further away. Marvellous things, scales.
I read ARCH as “important part” as in the arch of a bridge.
Nice to see IDLE being clued without reference to Eric for once, though, for a second, I read it that way, which would have been unfair. I feel Everyman is getting harder. Either that or the check button during the week is making me lazier.
Chambers gives vain as one of the definitions for idle and both can mean empty or futile. I’d agree that it’s hard to find a good example based on contemporary use of the words but surely setters are entitled to use unusual and archaic meanings?
PENNY PINCHERS was my favourite
Cheers
I seem to have lost my copy with notes on it, but I seem to remember that I enjoyed this.
[When researching the distance from Hawaii to Nauru, I found this useful fact: ‘The distance between Nauru to Hawaii is 0 Km by road.’ So, now you know! And also: ‘We are unable to find a way to get between Nauru and Island of Hawai‘i’However, ‘For ultimate globetrotting bragging rights, head first to Brisbane and then board the daily four-and-a-half-hour flight to the island with Nauru Airlines.’It is also: ‘The fattest country on Earth.’]
I thought the clue for PENNY-PINCHERS was superb; it took me a while before I parsed it.
Thanks Everyman and PeterO.
The plural of ‘petit four’ is ‘petits four’
Sorry : that should be ‘petits fours’
Wolfie’s comment really made me smile! If we are to have foreign words, and no reason why not if they are reasonably well known, then at least let’s have them spelt correctly, says the pedant in me. I suspect there are many pedants in crossword solvers. Thanks, PeterO for the explanations, I struggled to parse 1d and 10a, but of course, they look so simple when clarified. A mixed bag, a good number went in easily, the final few, not so. I still grumble a little to myself about the loose definitions, but I suspect they will continue.
I found this in the OED, Merriam-Webster and Wiktionary: ‘petit four (plural petits fours or petit fours)’ One can’t blame the setter for using dictionary definitions.
Re: petit(s) fours, I would consider it a loan word rather than a foreign word. Once we ‘borrow’ a word into the language we then tend to pluralise it however it makes sense to us.
I came to get 12 differently. I read PERHAPS ELECTRICIAN as being part of both the clue and answer – it’s a trade – with the S being the last letter of WINDS
Pets for hugs just doesn’t work for me.
Thanks Everyman and Peter O
Re petit(s) fours, I’m not a grammarian, but I think in English we don’t pluralise adjectives (e.g. Governors General, rather than Governor Generals or Governors Generals), so, as Lin says, if we consider petit four to now be English, it would be petit fours, But if we consider it to still be a French word that we have not taken into the English language, it would be petits fours. One test might be how we pronounce it – if we pronounce four as 4, we are speaking English, if we pronounce it as FOOR, we are using it as a French word, and perhaps we should pluralise accordingly.
Of course, what we Anglos should have done is change the spelling to petty four, to make it really our own.
Is there a similar issue with accents?
Thanks to Everyman for the entertainment and PeterO for the explanations.
I do take issue with a couple of the clues though – they are even looser than usual. The NAURU location is one and a better neighbour could have been found. The other one is equating “pets” with “hugs”. I take the former to be a patting or stroking motion, whereas the latter is a clasping or enfolding motion.
Quite a rapid solve for me, despite all the loose definitions identified by other commenters. Last one in was PROCESSION, which was very clever, I thought. I didn’t hang around to parse PENNY-PINCHER, because the answer was so obvious from crossers and definition, so thanks to Peter O for doing it for me! (Like the reference to Monty Python in your notes on DESCARTES. 🙂 )
The clue for NAURU is an odd one, particularly given that nation’s close relationship with Australia, to which it appears to be closer than it is to Hawaii. (It doesn’t seem to have occurred to the Ozzie government to send asylum seekers to PROXIMA CENTAURI instead, but give them time…)
Quite tough but fun this week. I was fine with “pets” for “hugs” as I remember a sign at our local swimming “baths” when I was very young – “No petting” – with a cartoon drawing of young lovers surrounded by hearts. Miserable sods. The parsing of “PENNY_PINCHERS” defeated me but was clever and cute.
Pets for hugs isn’t too far fetched, even though my days of heavy petting in the front of my MG are perhaps best behind me.
DNF 10A, did a Gladys with 9A, and had SNUFFY for 19D which seemed to work and might be a word.
Didn’t parse 25A – pity, very good clue.
Good crossword, one of Everyman’s best.
Never forget that the setter is in the UK. Perth means Scotland not WA.and Nauru is near Oz and NZ.
I liked this one even with the laugh of apparent Nauru Hawaii proximities
Did not get the reason for 10 ac at all …v odd
Lined penny pinchers, adrift step on it, sniffy and classic best
I’m not fond of clues where letters are substituted so I stumble most on them but enjoyed this on this gorgeous Saturday in akl
Good luck TNZ!
Great crossword (once I had 9a & 25a explained). Enjoyed the discussion on Nauru, especially Sheffield Hatter @22 – just hope the Aussie government don’t pick it up. I’m fine with the definition in relation to Hawaii. Is there a closer neighbour?
Not sure that we need to know about Barrie’s front seat of his MG. But impressed by any achievement in such a small space.
Good fun this week – Cath liked adrift, Alan liked petit fours.
A lot to dislike in this puzzle. Nauru being near Hawaii, petit fours should be petits fours, “annual” is the *last* word that comes to mind when thinking about lettuce, profession/procession — impossible to tell which.
I took 11 across to refer to Eric Idle; he has starred in more than a few movies.
Couldn’t really parse “tradesman”; couldn’t parse “penny pinchers” at all.
An interesting contrast — yesterday I did the “Mathilda” cryptic in the 5 March Guardian Weekly that we’d recently received. Every clue was challenging, every answer was satisfying once you got it. Every answer made you smile. Difficult but do-able. That’s the way a cryptic should be.