The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3880.
Apart from the expected rhyming pair (of foods this time), and the ‘primarily’ clue, the latter of which provides an easy entry into a puzzle, Everyman here seems to be providing a few other nudges to aid the less experienced solver – but makes up for it with a couple of trickier parsings.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | DELICACY |
Fine food, a weakness (8)
|
| Double definition. | ||
| 5 | UTOPIA |
Primarily unrealistic? Thomas once pictured it acerbically! (6)
|
| Everyman’s trademark ‘primarily’ clue. – ‘Unrealistic Thomas Once Pictured It Acerbically’. ‘Thomas’ is Sir Thomas More, who coined the word for his book of the same name. | ||
| 10 | SPENSER |
Poet writes; ‘special’ Queen Elizabeth described! (7)
|
| An envelope (‘described’) of PENS (‘writes’) in S (‘special’) plus ER (‘Queen Elizabeth’). | ||
| 11 | AMBIENT |
Marmite regularly seen around in France: well, that’s relaxing (7)
|
| An envelope (‘around’) of BIEN (‘in France: well’) in AMT (‘mArMiTe regularly’). AMBIENT in derivation means surrounding, but has taken the sense of relaxing when applied to music. | ||
| 12 | GHANA |
Reported harvest in country (5)
|
| Sounds like (‘reported’) GARNER (‘harvest’). | ||
| 13 | ENGRAINED |
Instilled deeply in English: bad weather and, regularly, feuds (9)
|
| A charade of ENG (‘English’) plus RAIN (‘bad weather’) plus ED (‘regularly fEuDs’). | ||
| 14 | WILBUR WRIGHT |
Whirl twig around welcoming back rub for pilot (6,6)
|
| An envelope (‘welcoming’) of BUR, a reversal (‘back’) of ‘rub’ in WILWRIGHT, an anagram (‘around’) of ‘whirl twig’ for the elder of the Wright Brothers. They both piloted their contraptions, but Wilbur tried to shield the younger Orville from some of the more dangerous flights. | ||
| 18 | THE CARETAKER |
Theatre backer, not bold, abandoned play (3,9)
|
| An anagram (‘abandoned’) of ‘theatre [b]acker’ minus the B (‘not bold’; not in Chambers, but it is right there in the formatting line when you enter a comment), for the play by Harold Pinter. | ||
| 21 | UNSCATHED |
Shuns cat (hedgehog’s partly free from injury) (9)
|
| A hidden answer (‘partly’) in ‘shUNS CAT HEDgehog’. | ||
| 23 | RHINE |
Horned beast losing oxygen and energy in river (5)
|
| RHIN[o] (‘horned beast’) minus the O (‘losing oxygen’) plus E (‘energy’). | ||
| 24 | CRAVATS |
Tax part of … most of … unsophisticated neckwear (7)
|
| An envelope (‘part of’; unusual, but I get the idea) VAT (Value Added ‘tax’) in CRAS[s] (‘unsophisticated’) minus its last letter (‘most of’). | ||
| 25 | ADAMANT |
Pop act of the ’80s, The Firm? (7)
|
| The ‘pop act’ is in two words – ADAM ANT. | ||
| 26 | NAPLES |
Where you see Italians get some shut-eye … and the French (6)
|
| A charade of NAP (‘some shut-eye’) plus LES (‘the French’). Appropriately, all very macaronic. | ||
| 27 | CHESS SET |
Given three seconds, revolutionary lefty oddly missing kings, queens, etc (5,3)
|
| An envelope (‘given’; another unusual indicator) of SSS (‘three seconds’) in CHE (‘revolutionary’) plus ET (‘lEfTy oddly’). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | DESIGN |
A little shade’s ignored in sketch (6)
|
| A hidden answer (‘a little’) in ‘shaDES IGNored’. | ||
| 2 | LEEWAY |
Change course: slippery fish turns around with room to manoeuvre (6)
|
| A reversal (‘turns around’) of YAW (‘change course’) plus EEL (‘slippery fish’). | ||
| 3 | COSTA RICA |
Country with value on continent (not France) (5,4)
|
| A charade of COST (‘value’) plus A[f]RICA (‘continent’) minus the F (‘not France’). | ||
| 4 | CORNED BEEF HASH |
He’s fed her bacon, fried, for meaty supper (6,4,4)
|
| An anagram (‘fried’) of ‘hes fed her bacon’. | ||
| 6 | TIBIA |
Shin up, Everyman? In a bit (5)
|
| A reversal (‘up’ in a down light) of an envelope (‘in’) of I (‘Everyman’) in ‘a bit’, for the shin bone. | ||
| 7 | PFENNIGS |
GNP’s fine! Rolling in cash … once (8)
|
| An anagram (‘rolling’) of ‘GNPs fine’, for the obsolete German monetary unit. | ||
| 8 | ANTIDOTE |
A holy book … solemn vow … what else? Finally, something to combat evil (8)
|
| A charade of ‘a’ plus NT (New Testament, ‘holy book’) plus I DO (‘solemn vow’ in some marriage ceremonies) plus TE (‘whaT elsE finally’). | ||
| 9 | BANGERS AND MASH |
Terribly bad manners, drinking gallons: a Sirah’s drained with meal (7,3,4)
|
| An envelope (‘drinking’) of G (‘gallons’) in BANERSANDM, an anagram (‘terribly’) of ‘bad manners’ plus ‘a’ plus SH (‘SiraH‘s drained’). | ||
| 15 | RYE BREADS |
Skipping starter, greybeard’s chewed baked goods (3,6)
|
| An anagram (‘chewed’) of ‘[g]reybeards’ minus its first letter (‘skipping starter’). | ||
| 16 | ETRUSCAN |
In ancient culture, centaurs made merry (8)
|
| An anagram (‘made merry’) of ‘centaurs’. Should ‘in’ be a part of the definition? To me, it does not seem quite right either way. | ||
| 17 | JEW’S HARP |
Instrument, Japanese (Eastern), sounding out of tune around West (4,4)
|
| An envelope (‘around’) of W (‘West’) in J (‘Japanese’; Chambers only gives J as IVR for Japan) plus E (‘Eastern’) plus SHARP (‘sounding out of tune’). | ||
| 19 | RIVALS |
Enemies in European and Irish rising (6)
|
| A reversal (‘rising’ in a down light) of SLAV (‘European’) plus IR (‘Irish’). | ||
| 20 | BEAT IT |
A bird going after bee, endlessly (and fly) (4,2)
|
| A charade of BE (‘bee endlessly’) plus A TIT (‘a bird’). | ||
| 22 | AWARE |
Conscious of feature missing in tea set (5)
|
| [chin]AWARE (‘tea set’) minus CHIN (‘feature missing’). |
Quite tough but fair.
New for me: CORNED BEEF HASH, yaw = change course (2d).
Favourite: ADAMANT, WILBUR WRIGHT.
Thanks, Everyman and Peter.
Re 16ac. I am wondering about the word ‘in’ as part of the defitition. I think that without the ‘in’, the answer would be Etruria not Etruscan. I am trying to work it out by comparing it to Mesopotamia/Mesopotamian or Egypt/Egyptian and so on. I think that the definition might be ‘in ancient culture’?
This must have been one of my quickest solves ever, I think. Everything seemed to click. The NW was the last to fall, but it didn’t delay me long. CORNED BEEF HASH sounds pretty awful – pleased to say I cannot remember ever having it placed in front of me. BANGERS AND MASH is fine, though. 27a was a phrase I had looked for in the day before’s Prize! Quick but pleasant. Thanks, Everyman and PeterO.
Started last Sunday but only got about half of it. Returned to it yesterday and finished it but couldn’t parse AWARE. Also, like Michelle @1, did not know that YAW = change course.
Took ages to get RHINE – I was trying to find a River I could turn into Rhino – duh.
Favourite was CHESS SET. Also liked COSTA RICA, SPENSER, CRAVATS, GHANA
Thanks to Everyman and PeterO
‘The Firm’ in 25ac, were a short lived, mid 80s supergroup with Jimmy Page on guitar and Paul Rodgers on vocals. A good idea on paper. More rock than pop.
Tassie Tim @2 Nowt wrong with CORNED BEEF HASH. It’s a taste sensation! And the cuts to your fingers, from opening the tin, will heal eventually.
Thanks to Everyman and PeterO
Sounds alarmingly like Spam, Penfold @4. On second thoughts though, Mum gave us corned beef when I was a kid, and it was OK – but if you put hash in it as well…
TT @5: I agree with Penfold that it’s worth giving corned beef hash a try. Not a meal to impress your friends but one of those staples like mac n cheese. And you don’t have to put any hash in it – though it does benefit from a pot and possibly a Bud.
Fiona Anne @3: the Good Lord, we are told, only turned water into wine. Turning Rhone to Rhino is far more of an undertaking.
Good solid dependable Everyman. Thanks E and PeterO
For once I didn’t make a HASH of this. As usual Everyman (stood and) delivered. RIVALS for enemies was a bit of a stretch, though.
I seem to remember this was largely straightforward.
I think one could see CHESS SET as a charade where the ‘given’ puts together SSS with CHE, followed by ET.
My favourite clue was AWARE – I lazily thought of awake at the beginning, but of course it didn’t parse.
Thanks Everyman and PeterO.
Nice mixture of easy & challenging. I see Adam Ant is still going strong. Missed seeing him with the Ants when the punk gig got too violent for my liking. Those were the days.
Yes, this was quite straightforward and all the better for it. I don’t want to spend hours getting the last two or three clues.
I was amused by the image conjured up for “centaurs made merry” and Etruscan is certainly an unlikely anagram. Corned beef hash is a very tasty meal and not just for the poor people. The dictionary says “A dish of cooked meat cut into small pieces and cooked again, usually with potatoes”. That’s good enough for me plus onions and carrots too. My last one was DESIGN which I thought was well-hidden.
Many thanks to Peter and E.
12A was my last one in. My least favourite type of clue that depends on English being spoken with a Home Counties accent. This one is doubly offending having two rhotic r’s. To us Scots and many other English speakers garner and Ghana are not remotely homophonous. And thanks to Eileen in a recent blog for introducing me to the term rhotic 🙂
My FOI simply because my eyes fell on it was 9d, BANGERS AND MASH. I immediately played a game with myself and rather than look at the clue for 4d I look at how the fourteen letters were separated. Yes, exactly as expected (6,4,4). I inserted the answer and then checked the clue. I’m guessing I’m far from being alone in seeing one and immediately knowing the other?
Tassie Tim @2 Corned beef hash is delicious! It’s not at all like spam. I had it for breakfast yesterday. In the US, it’s a common option on the menu along with other breakfast meats like sausage or bacon. I think the Atlantic is between the adjacent columns of 4d and 9d, because we haven’t got bangers.
Penfold, now that you mention it, I remember old corned beef hash that you had to open with a key that peeled off a strip of metal around the top of the can, but these days it comes in ordinary cans you open with an opener.
How does “describes” – “pens?”
I couldn’t parse AWARE or RIVALS. Thanks, PeterO.
21a – why is ‘partly’ in italics?
BodsnVimto@12 You are right, though the clues came the other way round for me.
Fingal@11
I was just so pleased to get a homophone clue without crossers (I usually don’t) I loved it even if I did think the pronunciation wasn’t quite right. I finally looked up rhotic and see why.
I used to be a chemistry teacher – and the first time I said iron (pronouncing the r) to the class (In England) they all looked at me completely blankly – and asked what I meant. I was baffled and wrote it on the board at which point they all said – oh ion – which to me is a charged particle.
And a whole load of kids in England and Japan now pronounce Bunsen Burner just as Herr Bunsen would have wanted.
Valentine @13; described in 10A is the containment indicator, writes = PENS.
Mycat @14; Everyman has a habit of putting some things in italics that don’t necessarily need them. I think it is as a stress/indicator that ‘partly’ here means ‘in a part’.
[Fiona Anne @16 A Bunsen Burner song for you (and PostMark).]
Robi @ 18 Thanks.
Penfold @19 – but he says the first syllable as bun – not right – supposed to be like boon – really
[Fiona Anne
Another ex-chemistry teacher here. When I move to Lancashire, the students always laughed when I said “dust”, as they pronounced it (more or less) as “doost”. I’m from Devon, so I do pronounce my Rs, though! (I don’t see the point in including them in the spelling if they don’t contribute to the pronunciation).
I was once on a bird-watching holiday with another member of the group who pronounced “flowers” as “flahs” and “wires” as “wahs”!]
16d would work better if the definition came at the end:
Centaurs made merry in ancient culture (8)
Well, Robi (and Mycat), have a look at today’s puzzle – but no spoilers, please.
Once more, there are italics, …s and (brackets) aplenty, for the third week in a row.
And I don’t think they’re all needed.
Everyman all at once seems to like (them) …
Fingal @11. You don’t have to have a Home Counties accent – and Aussie one will do 😉
Valentine @13 – I wouldn’t touch any ‘meat’ that came in a tin, no matter how you open it!
I thought this was one of Everyman’s better efforts.
No issues with Garner/Ghana, in fact was one of my first ones in.
Must say I thought ‘yaw’ was rather a more alarming manoeuvre, possibly unplanned, than a course change.
Over here corned beef doesn’t much come in tins, it’s what’s known as salt silverside in Blighty.
A really good puzzle. Thought we might sneak in before Barrie for once, but Cath had to pick vegetables before the rain set in…
Damn and drat.
Great puzzle & so little controversy! (Is there a such a thing as a homophone accepted by all English dialects?) My favourite was chess set.
Plenty of canned corned beef in Auckland if you want it. Lots more exported to the Pacific islands.
Got 11A then checked the definition – seems to be what we used to call musak(c)!