Everyman 3,895

62 comments on “Everyman 3,895”

1. I thought NINJA was an excellent &lit/hidden clue. Also liked GUANTANAMO and COLD FEET. Like Sil, I hesitated over MOPED. While LIP BALM took a bit of piecing together, and SENSE seemed weak, overall I enjoyed this. Can’t help with the parsing of ETERNAL, though. Thanks, Everyman and Sil.

2. 7. eterenal = e x ternal . . . Maths! remember maths you word person?

3. Tim @1: I don’t think NINJA is quite an &lit.

   John @2: I think we can see that it’s likely to be the removal of x (times) from external to make eternal – but doesn’t it need a definition of ‘external’ somewhere in the clue? I could be missing something obvious though.

4. I found this unusually tough for Everyman, it took several attempts in fact, and was not much fun in the process. I can’t help with ETERNAL, in fact my whole last session was spent attempting to parse it, and my failure to do is why I am here. I ‘m relieved to see I was not alone …. …
   (on the other hand today’s Everyman is quite fun, and much simpler so far …. I’m down to the last three clues … actually I’ve been down to these for the last ten minutes, and am not making much progress, so I may eat my words about simplicity!)

5. Sil, like you I think I’ve seen NINJA as a hidden a few times, with a similar construction.

   ‘Killer puzzle’s hidden message initially judged boring’ would be okay if only most solvers away from the blogs knew what a Nina was.

6. With times moving on since abandoning the dated NZ Herald edition & solving online I’ve finally caught up with the old country; only to discover I now have to wait a week for this blog!
   Further to John@2 External = that may be seen, so quite a good clue I think. Overall though I also found this puzzle a chore & less than satisfying, yet after revisiting the clues from this blog I’m not sure why.
   Thanks Sil & Everyman.

7. Paul @7, great spot. I was missing something obvious(ish) after all. External can mean visible.

   Good clue, fiendish disguise.

8. Thanks for the blog.
   Well done John@2 . “that may be seen ” is a straight definition from Chambers for external.
   NINJA is inside Hitman in Japan, hence hidden ?

9. I think ‘Hitman in Japan, hidden’ could be seen as an &lit. I don’t think ‘Hitman in Japan’s hidden’ could.
   I don’t have a problem with the clue, though.

10. Yes, well done Paul T @6 with eternal, it had me head-scratching too. As for the rest, can’t remember what I felt about it so it couldn’t have been too intense either way. Looking it over now, I find a couple of dnks, one being the novel Cloud Atlas, the other being haw meaning turn left. Thanks for gee meaning turn right, Sil, and for the rest of the blog, and thanks Everyman.

11. Bit of a mixed bag for me this week. Didn’t get RICKSHAW (not heard of HAW for to turn left) or AWNINGS (duh) and although I got ETERNAL also didn’t manage to parse it.

    Also not heard of FEET = poetry but it couldn’t be anything else.

    Favourites were MUTANTS (made me laugh) NUTHATCH (which was in a cryptic last week with a different clue) CAWS and STEPSISTERS

    Thanks Everyman and Sil van den Hoek

12. It might not be the done thing to say it, but they’re just generally very poor puzzles. This week was OK, at a stretch. But it really should be more than just OK, shouldn’t it?

    This blogged puzzle was one of the worst I’ve suffered through. And that includes my own.

13. We’ve got MUTANTS and NINJA so where’s the turtle?
    I loved the ‘hidden’. I wondered if Everyman was responding to criticism of late that it’s not an entry level puzzle.
    Liked the fodder for IMITATION MEAT – mint tea (etc)
    I saw the E(X)TERNAL in the same way as Paul@6.
    Looked up HAW, but didn’t see the GEE, thanks Sil. Maybe that’s why cowboys go Yeehaw. Looked that up and there’s some credence to GEE HAW, but wouldn’t that confound the horses? But funnily I also found Cowboys go Yeehaw and Ninjas go Hee yaw ( but there’s no evidence for that).
    Didn’t have problem with the ‘ghastly cheese and fruit’. Some people don’t like both, but I think they go together like a horse and carriage. 🙂

14. Delighted to see another outing for Steps following the recent outrage over the inclusion of H from the band in a clue. It would be a tragedy not to see more clues in this vein. Maybe S Club 7 next? Difficult to clue but I’m sure they could show him how. I was bought this was mostly fine bar a few dodgy surfaces but I rarely read them in a narrative sense. Haw was obscure but Enigmatist recently filled a puzzle with equally recondite offerings and was showered with praise.

15. I barely solved anything on my first parse until I cracked MONOGRAMMED. LH side was easier than RHS. I was tempted to just give up as I was not really enjoying the solve or the clunky surfaces, and I wanted to get on with my day. In the past, doing the Everyman was a very enjoyable start to my Sundays. Not anymore, sadly.

    Did not parse ETERNAL, or HAW bit of RICKSHAW.

    Needed google for STEPS = pop quintet. Never heard of them.

    Liked CLOUD ATLAS.

    Sorry to sound like a broken record, but I really miss the old Everyman.

16. Re NINJA – at the risk, Sil, of giving you a deja vu moment, Everyman clued NINJA two years ago and you blogged it!

    Assassin in Japan’s concealed? (5)
    Hidden answer [concealed]: Assassin in Japan(‘s)
    Unfortunately, the definition is part of the fodder. A pity.
    That said, if you see ‘in Japan’ as being part of the definition, this clue might perhaps be seen as attempt to write another &lit?

    I found two other clueings that were not hidden – one, a dubious homophone, the other, a clunky assembly!
    They could kill & maim, say (Boatman, Guardian)
    Mercenary pair of Nationalists securing international agreement in Berlin (Gila, Independent)

    Re the overall quality of Everyman puzzles, Sunday is the only day I really don’t look forward with pleasure to the solve. Thank goodness for the IOS. I’m afraid I’m with Lohengrin @12 and just find them very poor puzzles with the occasional good clue. Not really sure why I do them other than the fact that they are there and I do enjoy popping into this community.

    And michelle @15: I am certainly not going to borrow a recent phrase and say ‘shame on you’ but to have found time and inspiration to Google Steps but to be too lazy, as you put it, to Google Saki… If you do get around to exploring the latter, I’d hope you’d find a lot more potential for interest 😀

    Thanks E and Sil

17. I thoughtn there was going to ne a cartoon characters theme with MUTANT NINJA and DOWNING STREET, but I suppose we have had enough of those, As others have said, Everyman was my entry point for cryptic crosswords, but recent offerings have not been so accessible.

18. [Good point, PostMark@16
    I find that recently the Guardian puzzles often put me in quite a bad mood and I can’t be bothered with learning new things via these puzzles. Sad but true. I often do not find the puzzles ‘inspirational’ or conducive to learning. I just want to get away from them as they are not so enjoyable anymore.

    Maybe I should give up on the Guardian and buy a book of puzzles.

    Sorry to sound so negative, but I am now halfway through today’s Everyman and not feeling very cheerful or inspired.]

19. Thanks Sil and also @4robshaw and @12lohengrin for confirming that is is not just me. I was getting quite depressed at having 8 unparsed and a couple only solved after getting help. I am only persisting with Everyman because I have enjoyed it for 30 years and am hoping the recent downturns are not permanent.

20. Well, I wrote ‘not bad’ (there have been worse ones IMHO) on my copy, despite some clunky surfaces.

    I, too, couldn’t parse ETERNAL, but John @2 and Paul @6 have nailed it, I think. I liked DOWNING STREET. I agree that ‘haw’ for turn left is pretty obscure.

    Thanks Everyman and Sil.

21. michelle @18: thanks – and chapeau – for taking my mild chastising in good spirit. As your bonus prize, here is a link to Sredni Vashtar, a slightly macabre short story (1,800 words, two and a half pages) and one of his classics (just remember it was written over a century ago). I hope you enjoy.

22. I generally like the current Everyman puzzles. Yes they are idiosyncratic and sometimes the clues are a bit clumsy, but I usually enjoy doing them.

    I ticked NINJA which seems fine as a CAD to me – Wikipedia describes a ninja as a “covert agent” in feudal Japan. I couldn’t parse RICKSHAW. I wondered about “haw” meaning “turn left” but it wasn’t in the couple of dictionaries I checked in. (I didn’t get as far as the SOED.) So that was a bit obscure.

    But my major moan was about 2d OUTSTAY. How on earth is “might suggest” an anagram indicator?

    Thanks Everyman and Sil.

23. [PostMark@21
    thanks – I will read it.

    I think it will be better that I stop doing the Everyman puzzles from now on. I used to enjoy them a lot but that was when we had the old Everyman. Now the puzzle gets me off to a bad start on my Sundays.
    I will try my best to break the habit of doing Everyman puzzles from now on.]

24. [PostMark@21 – haha, I love that story!
    I will defintely read more of Saki. Thank you for making this Sunday a very good one.
    It was also wonderful to discover that site, wikisource. ]

25. Thanks everybody for the comments and solutions. I really enjoy Everyman – and it takes me a week to do! I find many clues really witty, but being a bit less experienced I value the opportunity to fill in blanks at the end of the week!

26. I only do Everyman crosswords and I was able to get into a certain groove with the old setter. I find them more variable these days but actually I found 3895 easier than the previous ones! What’s wrong with me? I always enjoy the explanations for the answers and this time “eternal”. Thank you.

27. Christopher @26 (and David &25): addressing the latter’s comment in particular, there’s nothing wrong with you at all. It’s all a matter of personal taste and preference. If you enjoy these then good on you. And you have the advantage over those of us that are being critical in that you probably end up with a wider choice. I, very happily, did the Telegraph for years before discovering the Guardian suite of puzzles and then the Indy. Now I find far less challenge of pleasure in the former which is actually a matter of some sadness. So do carry on enjoying and commenting – and I’ll probably carry on doing anyway and will still come here. And maybe try and focus on the good; poor old Everyman has taken a bit of a bashing of late and I’m as guilty as anybody. Anyway, as they used to say on GQT, back to the weeding…

    PS: michelle @24: I’m delighted to hear 😀

28. After a little kerfuffle on this site a while back, I remembered my Mum’s advice: If you haven’t got anything good to say, don’t say anything. I now try to stick with that.

29. Thank you, David and Christopher, for raising the mood of this blog. Ir really was a relief to read your comments. Please keep coming back.

    And thank you Everyman and Sil.

30. Brilliant David and Christopher. I used to be exactly the same. Carry it around all week, would get so scruffy and never finished in time to send off. Had to wait TWO weeks for the answers, no blogs then.

31. Agree with Sil and many of the posts. Better not say too much meself of course. The OUTSTAY one though looks like an effort at cluing an anagram of STAY, so that the OUT can be used as the anagrind (an old trick that often works well). But somehow the rest of the fodder has been added. I don’t know what’s happening there.

32. Firstly, thanks to those who came up with the right explanation for ETERNAL (7dn), in particular Paul, Tutukaka @6, Blorenge @7 and Roz @8.
    I didn’t go to Chambers to see what ‘external’ because I think I know what it means.
    But yes, Roz, ‘that can be seen’ is in there, and, like eg Tramp often said, “if it’s in the dictionary, one shouldn’t argue about it”.
    However, I still cannot think of something adjectival (that’s where Chambers lists it) where one can replace the other.
    Furthermore, ultimately, ‘to move on’ as a deletion indicator is probably right, even though it is more often used to indicate that one of the letters of the solution changes its position.

    Secondly, it wasn’t my intention to start bashing Everyman, and therefore some comments, like Lohengrin‘s and PostMark‘s, are purely theirs.
    But I would like to emphasise that, in my opinion, it is mainly the inconsistency of Everyman’s oeuvre that often spoils it, in particular for those solvers who used to look forward to these Sunday puzzles, like michelle to name one.
    I am not talking about the technical issues of writing crosswords here (including the choice of indicators or the use of cryptic grammar), more about them being accessible and on the right level, preferably week after week, for the target audience (if there is one).
    For example, last week’s puzzle I found clearly disappointing, while today’s Everyman (which we shouldn’t discuss here!!) was on the whole really more agreeable. Unfortunately, one will never know how it will be the week after. As far as I know, The Observer doesn’t have a proper crossword editor and/or someone to keep an eye on the puzzles, other than the setters themselves. This may perhaps add to what increasingly seems to be ‘a problem’.

33. Thanks Sil but I think John @2 takes the credit. He came up with the x for removing times, I just did a check for external.
    When I was learning crosswords the Everyman was set by Custos from the Guardian who set a perfect crossword for beginners. I try not to criticise now because it is not aimed at me, I only do it because it is on the next page to the Azed. I do think though that it should be more predictable, formulaic and even boring.
    When you are learning it is nice to have repetition of all the basic clue types , it gives you confidence.

34. The predecessors to Colin Gumbrell were Derrick Macnut (Ximenes), Dorothy Taylor, Alec Robbins. and Allan Scott. There was a distinct Everyman style of clue (with Ximenean soundness combined with simplicity) and strict rules about the grid. After Colin gave it up it was immediately evident that the true Everyman tradition had been cast to the winds. The new setter(s) is/are anonymous and even Azed’s enquiries about the setter(s) (plus his critical analysis) have gone unanswered, In sorrow, I boycott the puzzle completely. We simply don’t know what is going on.

35. Roz @33, I didn’t mention John @2 because I already mentioned the deletion of X (which I indeed saw as ‘times’) from ‘eXternal’ (BTW, good name for a setter … 🙂 ). I totally agree with what you say about Everyman crosswords – spot on.
    The last part of his comment (“Maths! remember maths you word person?”) was quite amusing as I was about half of my life teaching maths to A level students.
    But yes, while not being good at languages in my schooldays, I’ve also became some sort of a ‘word person’.
    Bodycheetah @14, my alter ego, wrote a clue featuring S Club 7, although it wasn’t its solution but the clue itself.
    [Independent 10003, 3 Nov 2018, 17dn]
    If Tees reads this (and he probably does), he might perhaps come up with something in the near future (although it expects the editor to condone 7 in a light).

36. While blog, and comments, on puzzle are of interest, as ever, not sure if there is any obligation on the newspaper to give information about who the setter is. I’ve no knowledge about it, but, without checking back, I think the new Everyman setter (or one of them if there are more than one) commented on this blog at some point.

37. Wow – very interesting that Azed has enquired about the Everyman as Don @34 mentions.

    Funnily enough, and this is anything about technique, obviously, but I thought many of the surfaces of the most recent Azed are reminiscent of the current Everyman/men/women. Perhaps this means the Everyman has learnt from Azed about surfaces, but forgotten that Azed is doing harder-to-clue words and so thinks them acceptable for a standard grid? Who knows about that or whether the Everyman or any of their solvers care about it …

    Anyhoo, there is an easy solution to all this for the disgruntled. Just do the Independent on Sunday instead. It is, for the most part, easier-end fare; has an editor who knows what is what; is free; and is – in this opinion of this completely unbiased reporter – miles better.

    What’s not to like. 🙂

38. *not anything

39. nmsindy @36, I wanted to mention that (but I was too lazy to dive into the archives of Fifteensquared).
    As a consequence, in an honest world, today’s Everyman would (or should) be a real person.
    Which I assumed ever since to be the case.
    Otherwise someone at The Observer is doing something what Donald Trump would have liked.

40. I like Don’s comments, as well as those of some others, and I share his perplexity. Who or what are we dealing with here, and why?

    Let the Quiptic (which, like the daily, is in my view sometimes very low on quality) introduce solvers to the nightmarish world of Grauniad solecisms, if it must, but please at least allow the Everyman to show solvers how the basics of crossword cluing can be understood, and hopefully appreciated, without such distractions.

41. I have an issue with a common thread of critisism of the current Everyman setter/s. Its proported aim is to preserve Everyman as an “entry level” beginners’ puzzle, yet few if any such writers appear to fit into that category. Perhaps I’m a perpetual beginner (I’ve been enjoying Everyman exclusively for about 30 years), but I find such comments patronising. If Everyman has indeed been assigned the enduring domain of beginners, then let’s defer to them to judge its current suitability.

42. Hoskins @37, I am told you set a very fine puzzle by people whose crossword judgement I trust.
    What’s not to like ? Lord Ledebev of Perugia

43. I’m commenting the next day so probably no-one will read this. But people keep referring to “the new setter(s)”. The current Everyman has commented several times on this site and has made it quite clear that he/she is an individual. The first such comment was on 3,785 @1, a fairly lengthy introduction which set out his/her thoughts on what the Everyman crossword should aim for. There was also the exchange between Everyman and myself on 3,832 (comments 9, 12, 13) in which it is confirmed (@13) that there is a single setter.

44. Thanks Lord Jim I never knew this, and thanks for the references . I will try and track these down when I have the time, just about within my IT ability I think.

45. Thanks Lord Jim @43 – found it

    On 225 it is the blog on 5 May 2019

46. Roz@42 – Jeez, remind me never to get advice from your crossword friends! As for LLoP … oh, how I long for the time when my non-tax-paying-due-to-low-income and housing-and-council-tax-benefit-claiming arse will be sufficiently enough above the poverty line to have principles. 🙂

47. Better tell Roz that there’s a really fine crossword in The Independent tomorrow that will delight her?
    [that is, if you liked ….. (I did)]

48. Lord Jim @ 43 and Fiona Anne @ 45. Thank you, I did manage to find it, very interesting indeed. So we have one setter and several testers.

49. Hoskins @46 I would imagine that setters are not well paid and have limited outlets for their work. Good luck to you wherever you choose to set.
    Sil @47, I may be wrong but I thought the Independent and IoS no longer had paper versions ???? Please correct me . I can only concentrate on a crossword when I am holding the paper and a pen.

50. Hurrah! Pen & paper solvers still exist (I’m one too – never liked online solving)!
    Roz, if you would like to have a printout of the Indy, do this:
    Click on the “Links” tab in Fifteensquared (on a pc it’s at the top of your screen)
    Choose Papers, and there: Independent Cryptic Crosswords
    This will take you to: here.
    [you could, of course, click on this link straightaway]
    Choose a puzzle to solve and/or click: PLAY.
    There will be an Ad first but then you’re in it [you’ll probably have to click a few more times ‘Play‘].
    Click on PRINT (next to MENU in the top line): choose Blank Puzzle.
    Et voila.
    ps, I never understood why the Indy printout can’t have two columns (like in The Guardian or The Times). But if you’d ever seen how a printout looked like some years ago, you won’t complain.

51. Hm, I see that the link is not there after the fifth line:
    I’ll try again:

52. Hm, wrong again.
    I’m afraid I’ll have to bother Gaufrid with it.
    [I always ignored links on Fifteensquared but it wouldn’t surprise me if he has explained this issue n times before ….. sorry]

53. Sil
    I have edited your comment #50 so that the link now works.

54. PS – please see the FAQ page for details of how to add links.

55. Thank you Sil and Gaufrid, I do appreciate the effort but my blissful ignorance of all matters IT is entirely deliberate.
    When people at work try to explain things I have a special stare for them and a special sigh and they soon shut up.
    I just like to do crosswords using the newspaper. The only exception is Torquemada, a friend kindly printed some off for me and I use them for long invigilations.
    Once again I do appreciate the effort to help and imagine one of those smiley yellow faces which I cannot do.

56. I suspect that Everyman puzzles are done by a loose committee so the blame can be shared

57. I have been doing these for years with my late parents. My younger sister has now joined me electronically and although she is a newbee she usually finishes first. Good to have some challenges or it would become too easy. Some of you need to learn to think outside the square. (We had eternal early on but couldn’t figure it. I have a maths background but missed the x times clue.)

58. Frustrating crossword for sure today. Took us three attempts. No real quibbles apart from Cold Feet, never heard of poetry = feet.

59. I found this puzzle a struggle, as I often do with Everyman. However I think that the complaints should be given a rest.
    One comment — in respect of “Rickshaw”, I saw the “haw” part immediately. “Gee” and “Haw” are well-known commands for guiding/directing work-horses. Often seen in stories that feature work-horses (though I’m afraid I can’t give you examples). However I could not get “ricks” and put the answer in on the assumption that “rick” means “strain” (at least to some people). I had never heard the word used in this sense.

60. Meh.

61. I’ve just read through all the comments —took me a while to sift thru all of them and to my relief at least one other – Rolf @59 has queried meaning of ‘ricks’. I can find nothing to relate to ‘strain’ does anyone else know? I can find ‘ stack ‘or ‘to stack’– what am I missing, Never knew haw either
    My biggest comment on this setter is that I find myself solving it in reverse – if I am lucky enough to get part way through to an answer via one half of the clue – I then find myself searching for the justification form the second part of the clue and scratching my head sometimes. For example I did manage No Such Luck but I had no idea how the rest of the clue related. Not a criticism but it does rub off a bit of the enjoyment but there we go

62. Great puzzle.
    We really enjoyed it and are externally grateful.

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