Everyman 3,916

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The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3916.

Apologies for the late arrival: I prepared the blog, and forgot to schedule it.

ACROSS
1 OVERFAMILIAR
Forward and back, witch’s cat (12)
A charade of OVER (‘back’?) plus FAMILIAR (‘witch’s cat’).
9 FIDELIO
Love, I managed, if in a roundabout way, to see an opera (7)
A reversal (‘in a roundabout way’) of O (‘love’) plus ‘I’ plus LED (‘managed’) plus ‘if’, for the final version of Beethoven’s opera.
10 TRIUMPH
Win a motorbike (7)
Double definition.
11 LOOFA
East End theologian’s kind of a sponge (5)
For once, the East Ender does not just drop an H, but mangles Luther. Then, of course, there is the definition: is a loofa (or loofah or luffa) well defined as a kind of sponge? This has been argued before in these hallowed grounds, and there is at least some justification – Chambers, for a start, gives “used as a rough, hard sponge”.
12 GRECIANS
Elderly relatives transfixed by Brussels body, one serving Europeans (8)
An envelope (‘transfixed by’) of EC (European Commission, ‘Brussels body’) plus I (‘one’) in GRANS (‘elderly relatives’). ‘Serving’ seems just to join wordplay to definition (Chambers does give a definition of Grecian as “an Irish labourer recently arrived in England”, but it would be a stretch for that to cover ‘serving’).
14 TIDAL RACES
What come and go, largely, in the main? (5,5)
Cryptic definition.
15 GAMY
After end of jog, before start of ablutions, Everyman’s smelling like old meat (4)
A charade of G (‘end of joG‘) plus A (‘start of Ablutions’) plus MY (‘Everyman’s’).
17 ROSE
Got up for wine (4)
Double definition, ignoring the acute accent for the wine.
19 MONTENEGRO
Grand won by tyrant after card game somewhere in Balkans (10)
An envelope (‘won by’) of G (‘grand’) in MONTE (‘card game’) plus NERO (Roman ‘tyrant’).
21 TEATIMES
When you eat meatiest stews (8)
An anagram (‘stews’) of ‘meatiest’.
23 ROOST
Pooh’s friend’s time for bed (5)
A charade of ROO’S (‘Pooh’s friend’s’) plus T (‘time’).
25 LORELEI
Lady on rock, evermore lethally emitting intoning, primarily? (7)
First letters (‘primarily’) of ‘Lady On Rock Evermore Lethally Emitting Intoning’. &lit, of course, but for my money one of the clumsier ‘primarily’ clues.
26 TREACLE
Ordering à la carte, rejecting starters of andouillettes and aïoli, English getting something sweet (7)
An anagram (‘ordering’) of ‘[a] l[a] carte’ plus E (‘English’) minus two As (‘starters of Andouillettes and Aioli’).
27 WITTGENSTEIN
Trembling, gutted after comic genius dismisses second philosopher (12)
A charade of WIT (‘comic’) plus TG (‘TremblinG gutted’) plus E[i]NSTEIN (‘genius’) minus the second letter (‘dismisses second’). Ludwig is the philosopher.
DOWN
2 VIDEOED
Six initially dubious etymologies dictionary recorded (7)
A charade of VI (Roman numeral, ‘six’) plus D E (‘initiallly Dubious Etymologies’) plus OED (Oxford English ‘Dictionary’).
3 RELIABLY
Without fail, staggering blearily (8)
An anagram (‘staggering’) of ‘blearily’.
4 AVON
River in Slavonic (4)
A hidden answer in ‘SaAVONic’.
5 INTERJECTS
Slips into conversation: ‘Cistern jet’s faulty’ (10)
An anagram (‘faulty’) of ‘cistern jet’.
6 ILIAC
A little fossil I acquired forming part of pelvis (5)
A hidden answer (‘a little’) in ‘fossIL I ACquired’.
7 RUM BABA
Dance with bachelor, a pudding full of booze (3,4)
A charade of RUMBA (‘dance’) plus BA (‘bachelor’ of Arts).
8 WHISKY BOTTLE
Move fast, with bravery at last, daring to find source of spirit (6,6)
A charade of WHISK (‘move fast’) plus Y (‘braverY at last’) plus BOTTLE (‘daring’).
9 FULL THROTTLE
‘Top speed. Satisfied …?’ met with silence (4,8)
A charade of FULL (‘satisfied’) plus (‘met with’) THROTTLE (‘silence’, verb).
13 CAROLE KING
Singer‘s festive song getting longer (6,4)
A charade of CAROL (‘festive song’) plus EKING (‘getting longer’).
16 ANGRIEST
Inert gas combusts, most hot (8)
An anagram (‘combusts’) of ‘inert gas’.
18 SPARROW
Bird in box leading to argument (7)
A charade of SPAR (‘box’) plus (‘leading to’) ROW (‘argument).
20 GNOCCHI
Coaching with amateur wanting to boil dumplings (7)
An anagram (‘to boil’) of ‘co[a]ching’ minus the A (‘with amateur wanting’).
22 ISLET
Key? Perhaps. Hole? So we’re told (5)
Sounds like (‘so we’re told’) EYELET (‘hole’).
24 STUN
Shock as potty is overturned (4)
A reversal (‘is overturned’) of NUTS (‘potty’).

picture of the completed grid

45 comments on “Everyman 3,916”

  1. I put TIDAL WAVES for 14ac, and I see from the Guardian website that this is the (officially) correct solution. I think ‘largely’ is the key word in the clue.

  3. From Beethoven via Wittgenstein to Carole King, quite the cultural tapestry. And yep, definitely tidal waves for 14ac. Think I’ll do today’s now [while keeping one eye on our WBBL, the worldwide best women’s cricket comp; I love them]. Thanks P and E.

  4. Nice puzzle. Took me a while to parse a few of my answers post-solving.

    Favourite: WITTGENSTEIN.

    New: MONTE = card game (19ac).

    I did not parse: 9d (the THROTTLE bit).

    Thanks, both.

    I am fine with the clue for 11ac referring to something that is used as a bath sponge.

    I am another who put in TIDAL WAVES for 14ac.

  5. Ah, well – a DNF. I had considered WHISKY BOTTLE (already having the bottle) but it didn’t fit with GAME at 15a. Never came back as I forgot I still had one outstanding. Dim or what? At least I had TIDAL WAVES. From memory, I found this one good, otherwise. Thanks, Everyman and PeterO.

  6. Like TassieTim @5 I could not get 8d last week. But I went back to it yesterday and realised that 15a was GAMY not game and that gave me WHISKEY BOTTLE, my LOI and one of my favourites.

    I also had TIDAL WAVES.

    The MONTE bit of 19a was new to me. I knew the game but not what is was called.

    Favourites included: LOOFA, WITTGENSTEIN, VIDEOED, ISLET, CAROLE KING

    Thanks Everyman and PeterO

  8. Thanks Everyman and PeterO,

    I don’t really see the equivalence of back and over in 1A either. I agree with John E@1 about largely, tidal waves was rather a nice cd I thought.

    Lovely to see Wittgenstein clued again, so I’m afraid I’m going to bore you all with a third quote this time from the posthumously published investigations, in which he rejects much of his previous work.

    “Philosophy is a battle against the bewitchment of our intelligence by means of our language.”

    Rather like solving a cryptic again I’d say, so consider yourselves philosophers 😉

  9. Thanks for the blog, agree with John @1 about the largely for TIDAL WAVES.
    LORELEI was a nice primarily , used to be very common in crosswords to fill a tricky part of the grid.
    I also liked MONTENEGRO and FIDELIO who was a fearsome Guardian setter quite a while ago.
    Blah@8 after much searching , my Chambers 93 does give OVER= into a reversed position.

  10. Coming from a part of the world where th-fronting is common, I wouldn’t describe it as ‘mangling’. If it is, then some of my best friends are manglers. LOOFA is exactly how they would say ‘Luther’, so I thought the clue was fine (and it makes a nice change from the well-worn ‘East End’ = ‘drop an ‘h’).

    Re back = OVER, I thought of folding something back (e.g. a blanket) as the same as folding it over.

    I’m also quite happy with ‘serving’ as a connecting word between wordplay and definition. Ted Hughes’ The Thought Fox comes to mind: ‘two eyes serve a movement’, i.e. two eyes move, so you know the whole fox has moved.

    My favourite was RUM BABA for the vision of the corpulent and well-oiled dance partner, but I enjoyed the whole thing; thanks Everyman and PeterO.

  11. My rationalisation for ‘over’ was a piece of paper, on the front of which was written ‘see over’ – which would make me look at the back. But it never seems right when a bunch of solvers are subsequently searching to find a justification that works. Almost the opposite of penny drop.

    Thanks E and PeterO

  12. Another one with TIDAL WAVES for 14a.
    I had INLET for 22d which I can see is wrong.

    I thought some of the answers were a bit hard for an Everyman: FIDELIO; CAROLE KING; WITTGENSTEIN. Perhaps just me that needs to brush up on my general knowledge?

    Thanks to Everyman and PeterO.

  14. Thanks Everyman and PeterO. All plain sailing for me except LOOFA – just didn’t twig the theologian was LUTHER, now kicking myself.

    PM @11 – I don’t remember giving it any thought at the time of solving, it seemed fine to me, but now I can’t remember why… I think I would justify it the same way as you though, on the basis that the verso is literally the back side of a page.

  15. Like widdersbel @14 I just had BACK=OVER without a thought , I only checked this morning because of Blah and I was waiting for the light to improve. I know see very good justifications from EB, PM and Laura.

  16. Got this one done more quickly than usual, and enjoyed many of the clues, especially the witch’s cat and the philosopher.
    But, like Jaz @12, I had TIDAL WAVES, which is arguably correct, and INLET, which isn’t.

  17. The tidal waves/races/water matter is one of the reasons why I so dislike cryptic definitions: there’s just no way of knowing which one is correct. I suppose the very least one can ask for in a CD, if we must have them, is that they give an answer unequivocally, as not here. But in my opinion, although I had waves, races is a better answer because they do come and go rather more than the others.

    And nobody so far, apparently, has mentioned the use of over = back in crosswords: they both signify reversal, the first mainly for an across clue. But there are plenty of equivalent places, like the front and back of a piece of paper mentioned here.

  18. ginf@3 I like the tapestry reference. I was going to make a similar comment but It’s Too Late. We used to have a cat called LUTHER (black with a white collar) and I have fond memories of my granddaughter, calling out Loofa in a vain attempt to get it to come to her.

  19. Contrary to Wil @17 I thought the clue at 14a did point fairly definitely to TIDAL WAVES (which is the correct answer as John E @1 points out). I don’t think WATER would work because the answer has to be plural (“What come”). And “largely” and “in the main” seem to me to suggest TIDAL WAVES much more than TIDAL RACES.

    So far we’ve avoided the usual huge argument whenever a LOOFA is referred to as a sponge. I think the clue works quite well if you take “kind of” as meaning not strictly “type of”, but more colloquially “a bit like”.

    Many thanks Everyman and PeterO.

  20. Although my Chambers Crossword Dictionary lists ‘over’ as a Down reverser, the Cryptipedia site lists it as usable in both Across and Down clues. A pleasing surface anyway for 1A.

    I thought the Luffer pronunciation was more drunken than East End, but I defer to essexboy if he says that that is how cockneys would pronounce it. I didn’t know MONTE as a card game. I agree that TIDAL WAVES seems to fit the clue better than other options.

    Enjoyable Everyman, thanks also to PeterO.

  21. Thanks for checking Roz, though it’s actually partially your fault that I’m getting so pernickety. You got me started on Azed and I find myself tutting over more clues than ever before. 🙂

  22. TIDAL RACES seemed a good enough solution, so I didn’t look for any alternative. I have seen far looser cryptic definitions, so I maintain that my solution is valid.

  23. The largest thing the ocean can throw at you is a tsunami (tidal wave). The word ‘largely’ validates the clue as a tight cryptic definition of this.

  24. I seem to recall reading that most tsunami aren’t tidal at all they’re much more frequently caused by seismic activity.

    Although I think that tidal waves is a better answer, as much for ‘in the main’ than largely, with a cd there’s no reason that tidal races isn’t equally valid. In this case there’s no way to distinguish between them from crossers or wordplay.

  25. [ Blah@21 special treat from Azed today, a while since we not had a Plain. There is one slight correction needed]
    Agree with MrEssexboy that LOOFA was a nice twist on the usual missing H and glad for the confirmation of how it is said. I dread to think what they say in Birmingham .

  26. Just saw your post on the Azed blog Roz thanks for the steer! I spent the guts of an hour this morning to only get 8 answers with only 6 into the grid and am planning to waste all day tomorrow on it instead.

  27. Oh and that’s only after when I get the last two from yesterday’s Picaroon. I say when I should perhaps say if …

  28. [ With Azed it is best to have a break , if I do not finish in an hour I always stop and go back to it later. ]

  29. The first definition of “tidal wave” in my Collins English Dictionary is “a non-technical name for tsunami”.

  30. I think the Everyman puzzles much improved of late. This one was very enjoyable & quite chewy in places. Much easier this week though.
    Thanks all.

  31. Blah @24 – tidal waves/tsunamis are never caused (solely) by the tides. They are almost always triggered by earthquakes, though the collapse of an unstable sediment pile on an underwater slope, triggered by something other than an earthquake (unusually big tide, possibly?), will also create them.

  33. One final thought on the clue for 14ac, leaving aside ‘largely’ and looking instead at ‘come and go’. Tidal waves notoriously come inland, sweeping all before them, and then go back out to sea, causing further damage as they do so. In other words, they come and go. Tidal races, on the other hand, are fast-flowing currents that are permanent features of certain sea areas.

  34. Surely Everyperson is not making life as easy as it might be for themselves by having entries such as ‘videoed’ or ‘angriest’, alt spellings like ‘loofa(h)’, and three S plurals in their grid. And ‘Grecian’ is far more frequently used in its adjectival form to mean ‘classically simple’, or something like that (ironically enough), although Collins does give it at the end of one of its quoted lists.

    As to ‘over’ as used here, Collins seems to veer towards the upside-downness of it rather than its potential backwardness, but as Wil says we do see the reversal indicator used both down and across in Gridsville. And, as witches’ cats are about as good as it gets, this will not be censured here.

  37. TIDAL RACES – nho, but on looking it up, I can see I didn’t have the UKGK. I also went for tidal waves.
    Chuffed to get LOOFAH for Luther, and agree with essexboy @ 10.

  38. TIDAL WAVES here, too. I’ve heard of a mill-race, but not a race in any other watercourse. Needed a bit of help with CAROLE KING, but at least I had heard of her.

  39. The relevant Collins dictionary definition of “race”: “a rapid current of water, esp. one through a narrow channel that has a tidal range greater at one end than the other”.

  42. Got this one done in half an hour, record for us!! Loofa my favourite, along with Carole King and Wittgenstein. We also got Tidal Waves. Very enjoyable on a muggy summer morning here in Whangaparaoa.

  44. Liked overfamiliar. Had inlet for no reason other than it fitted and didn’t affect anything else. Whisky bottle took a while because I had game instead of gamy (which I would have spelt gamey). Had to google philosophers before I could answer 27a. Good fun. Thanks all.

  45. Great crossword.
    Being an avid reader of philosophy and a fan of Wittgenstein, especially liked 27ac

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