Another pleasing and tractable puzzle from our Sunday setter. There were some nice touches in this one, I thought, as well as the trademark rhyming pair and ‘initial’ clue.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Denied scorer runs; had second thoughts
RECONSIDERED
A nice Easy Annie to give us some helpful starting letters for the down clues. (DENIED SCORERS)* with ‘runs’ as the anagrind.
10 Reckons there’s no time for mutiny, son
REASONS
A charade of [T]REASON and S.
11 Country‘s ‘Bravo’ welcomed by Shearer, international ace
ALBANIA
An insertion of B for the phonetic alphabet ‘Bravo’ in ALAN followed by I and A. Referencing Alan Shearer, the now retired England centre-forward who is making his living from punditry these days.
12 We’re told trim’s wanting braces
PAIRS
A homophone of PAIRS PARES. ‘Wanting’ here is just a link word, discussion of which has previously appeared in these columns.
13 I sat first, dined on date, and filled up
SATIATED
A charade of SAT, I, ATE and D, with the instructions for the order of the particles precisely given.
15 Polish damage metal flyer
SAND MARTIN
Ooh, a bird. A gregarious species, and summer visitors to this country. Nest in large numbers in sandy banks, often along railway cuttings or gravel pits. Not to be confused with the house martin, which will more likely be found nesting under your eaves. A charade of SAND, MAR and TIN. Here is the obligatory Pierre bird link.
16 Modify part of expedition
EDIT
Hidden in expEDITion.
18 Bone found in Dublin Bay oddly ignored
ULNA
The even letters of DUbLiN BAy.
20 Little iron supply in pasta
TORTELLINI
(LITTLE IRON)* The anagrind is ‘supply’, which has to be read as an adverb meaning ‘in a supple way’. It’s an old trick, so worth trying to commit to memory if you’re new to the black arts.
22 Retreating in South Pole, five numb Englishmen initially wanting blankets
ENVELOPS
A reversal (‘retreating’) of S POLE, V and NE for the initial letters of ‘numb’ and ‘Englishmen’. Again, ‘wanting’ is used in the sense of ‘requiring’, or leading you to the answer.
24 Part of record that might be whispered
A-SIDE
On the basis that you should generally ignore all punctuation in cryptics, this is referring to the fact that an ASIDE in the theatre is usually whispered conspiratorially to the audience. Likely to be a ‘what’s one of those?’ moments for younger solvers.
26 Count up, then: ‘House!’ (a bloodthirsty call)
TALLY-HO
A charade of TALLY and HO as an abbreviation for ‘house’. Of course, it’s not bloodthirsty any more, since hunting with hounds for live foxes never happens these days. Tell that to the hunt sabs.
27 The French retorted: ‘It is time to be snobby‘
ELITIST
A charade of LE, one of the French words for ‘the’, reversed, IT, IS and T.
28 Marines trial exercises in transport hubs
AIR TERMINALS
(MARINES TRIAL)* with ‘exercises’ as the anagrind.
Down
2 Family member’s heading off: joy!
ELATION
[R]ELATION
3 Oops – silly amounts of marsupials
OPOSSUMS
A charade of (OOPS)* and SUMS. OPOSSUMS and POSSUMS are the same thing, in North America at least; the word comes from a native American word for the animal.
4 Help me, duck, OK?
SO-SO
A charade of SOS for the distress call, and O for ‘duck’ in cricket. The surface makes perfect sense if you live where I do, and ‘duck’ is a term of affection. ‘Ay oop, me duck’ is the standard greeting among acquaintances in these parts.
5 Wee drink at first satisfied (but only at first) theatrical types
DRAMATISTS
A charade of DRAM, AT, IST and S for the initial letter of ‘satisfied’.
6 Religious leader‘s cut short talk
RABBI
RABBI[T]
7 Gave ‘old-fashioned’ to describe Old Norse
DONATED
An insertion of ON in DATED.
8 A little Triple sec mixed with purée, zest — making …?
CRÊPES SUZETTE
(T SEC PUREE ZEST)* with ‘mixed with’ as the anagrind. A suggestive extended definition.
9 Fancifully, to date E.U. élite, you’ll need perfume
EAU DE TOILETTE
(TO DATE EU ELITE)* with ‘fancifully’ as the anagrind.
14 Inept Clanger lying down
ERROR-PRONE
A charade of ERROR and PRONE. You must have heard of The Clangers. No? Here you go. The Soup Dragon was my favourite.
17 Primarily, a loyal shepherd’s assistant: trustworthy intelligent animal named …?
ALSATIAN
The initial letters of the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth words of the clue, and a cad.
19 After a month, Fitzgerald’s written shortish book
NOVELLA
A charade of NOV and ELLA, referencing the American jazz singer.
21 Jerome K Jerome’s central character?
INITIAL
Referencing the fact that the author’s middle name is always quoted as an initial. It stood for Klapka, which is possibly why he used the initial. Best known for Three Men in a Boat.
23 Actor, not quietly, portraying chicken?
LAYER
[P]LAYER
25 Tippling eggnog to begin with, Everyman returned to chuck it down
TEEM
A charade of T and E for the initial letters of ‘tippling’ and ‘eggnog’ and ME for ‘Everyman’ reversed.
Many thanks as always to Everyman for the Sunday puzzling.
This was the easiest Everyman I have seen — mostly solved at write-in speed, with 8D the last in from the rhyme and the crossers.l
Got all but one, annoyingly, – PAIRS and still don’t get it
Some lovely clues: INITIAL, REASONS, SAND MARTIN, DRAMATISTS, DONATED
Thanks Everyman and Pierre
An alternative parsing for 20A is that ‘little’ and ‘iron’ supply, as in provide, the letters for TORTELLINI. That worked for me anyway.
And I think you meant to put “A homophone of PARES” in 12A
Enjoyed the puzzle and blog.
@pierre, BTW, the puzzle number is “3,938” not “3,937”
Interesting that 2d the week before (TREASON) had a very similar clue to 10a here. Fiona Anne @2 – I agree that PAIRS (my LOI) is very weak. I only got it after a complete alphabet trawl – it seemed the only vaguely plausible answer – so I entered it with a big shrug. Still, plenty of the rest of them were fine. Thanks, Everyman and Pierre.
I was far from SATIATED, doing this crossword, now at 9am in Oz. Brekky time!
Hungry for CRÊPES SUZETTE, and eggnog. I did find the triple sec recipe though for later, and TORTELLINI for dinner.
Didn’t know Alan Shearer, in ALBANIA, but now pierre has enlightened me, is ‘international’ doing double duty?
The ‘chuck it down’ expression for TEEM was new for me, but gettable and googlable for confirmation.
Liked the surface in ENVELOPS. The Shackleton story is a favourite of mine.
JKJ brought a smile. No need to look up his works (but fell for it anyway, my LOI with crossers). Nice way to end an enjoyable crossie,
And with PARES/PAIRS ignore punctuation.
John E @1, perhaps started off too easy for me. On a roll ,I saw iron at 20 and threw in the wrong pasta, then ENVELOPE next without checking the parsing or the tense. PM@7 I did need to look up his works & found the central character in 3 Men in a Boat was an initial, so it worked for me. Great crossword. My favourite was SO-SO. Even though I’m not from those parts I can imagine it being said. Thanks Pierre & Everyman.
Oh, thank you for that Paul, Tutukaka@9. That makes the JKJ clue not just funny, but very, very clever.
Thanks for the blog , agree that this was very good on the whole. The rhyming pair was very neatly done.
As Paul@9 says, Jerome K Jerome always refers to himself as J in the books along with George and Harris, so the clue works in two ways.
I wondered if Everyman got the idea of rhyming CRÊPES SUZETTE with EAU DE TOILETTE from Kenneth Williams?
I also wondered about the surface reading of 13ac. Could it be that Everyman –
(a) ‘dined on date’, in the sense that the Owl and the Pussy-cat ‘dined on mince, and slices of quince’?
(b) ‘dined on date’, i.e. consumed food in the course of a romantic encounter?
(c) ‘dined on date’, i.e. consumed food while seated upon his romantic companion?
Whichever scenario is correct, it appears to have been followed immediately by a trip to the petrol station.
Thanks Everyman for an enjoyable date, and Pierre for the blog, the bird, and the Clanger.
essexboy @12 – there is also a cannibalistic meaning of “dined on date”!
I spotted immediately that 12A would be one of the two homophones PAIRS or PARES.
But I couldn’t figure out which until I had 2D, which was almost my LOI.
This was like I remember Everyman years ago when I started – a delightful clever and doable puzzle. For anyone who felt it too easy, there are plenty of more demanding cryptics around, while for those like me who are cryptically challenged this was a delightful return to a genuine puzzle for “Every”man.
Thanks Everyman and Pierre
MrEssexboy@12 there is a further interpretation that I cannot possibly mention.
An Azed clue for you today. 1Ac , the best of all, gets you right in to the puzzle.
For anyone tempted by Azed it is rather friendly today .
This was fun – thanks to Everyman and Pierre.
And Pierre, I just wanted to add how very much I enjoy your blogs. The bird link is always delightful (I guessed Sand Martin, having never heard of them before) and your additional comments never fail to entertain.
[I realise now that a particular childhood memory must have happened in your neck of the woods: I was very small and my mum had taken me to a tea-shop where a kindly lady asked me if I’d like “tea with or without sugar ducks?” I wanted to say, but didn’t dare, that I’d like the sugar duck to be on the saucer rather than in the cup.
And thanks too for the Soup Dragon. Oliver Postgate was my landlord at university – we lived in a cottage next door to his house: for a while when he was decorating we had a couple of the original Pogles and a Clanger or two on our kitchen windowsill…]
A bit tough but enjoyable enjoyable for the most part.
New: English football pundit Alan Shearer for 11ac.
Liked DONATED.
Thanks, both.
Satisfying & not too challenging. Enjoyed the blog – thanks Pierre. The only caveat is the surface of 12A. Can anyone explain it? When would a trim need braces?
[Shirl @13/Roz @16 – “there is a further interpretation” – but wouldn’t the fruit of a date palm be too small to sit on? 😉 I suppose a giant squishy one could make a reasonable bean bag. Although if one landed too heavily the kernel might deliver a sharp jab to the coccyx.
Thanks for the Azed hint, will take a look.]
Mr Womble @19 (nice to see your moniker following the Clangers and Pogles – all we need now is the Magic Roundabout) – there’s a typo in the blog, I think Pierre meant to say ‘homophone of PARES’.
[Just noticed Willbar @4 got there before me]
Mr W – just thought – you might have been confused by the braces? Think ‘a brace of pheasant’ = two of them. Also – the surface is a bit weird, isn’t it? Although not half as weird as some of the alternative readings of 13ac.
Cosmic@12 was delightful for me too. Thanks for the blog Pierre – my dad and aunts used to ‘Ay oop me duck’. And the thinking behind ‘wants’ which as a newbie I’ve struggled with.
TORTELLINI pleasurably diverted me for a while thinking of different types of pasta, not recognising ‘supply’ as an anagrind. Very much liked the surface of ELITIST. Thanks Everyman.
Yes, some really nice clues here. I liked the fact that in NOVELLA the surface makes us think of F Scott Fitzgerald while the answer needs ELLA of that ilk.
paddymelon @7: I don’t think there’s any double duty in 11a. “Shearer” is sufficient to give us ALAN, and then we have I for international and A for ace. But it does all make for a good surface.
Like others I was a bit puzzled by the surface meaning of 12a. Could it be suggesting that the trim on a car, for example, needs to be held in place with braces? And Pierre, as Willbar says @4, it’s a homophone of “pares” (= “trims” or cuts) rather than of PAIRS.
Many thanks Everyman and Pierre (great illustrations).
Actually this is Everyman 3938 – 3937 is different and already discussed… If you just fix delete this comment
Thanks for the heads-up, numbering now corrected.
TEEM means “chuck it down”?
Thanks, Everyman and Pierre (glad you got your bird, it looks like a very nice one).
Valentine @27, yes, in the context of rain.
I suggest this one was easier (I found it so) as it was quite well-written, for a change in my view. The clumsiness we can see in Everyman puzzles very severely impedes the solver as he or she unravels the twists and turns of the abstruse clues. Not today.
PAIRS/PARES error now fixed. Thanks to Gaufrid for fixing the enumeration, and to all for the comments – this one seems to have gone down particularly well, so Bravo Everyman.
Oh, and thank you to Wellbeck @17 for the nice compliment.
Valentine@27 there’s the expression ‘teeming with rain’ – when I’ve use it always been prefaced with an ‘absolutely’ for extra emphasis!
“Tell that to the hunt sabs.” – I don’t really think that comment is appropriate here. The hunt saboteurs have plenty of evidence that illegal fox hunting is still taking place, and I’m sure I am not the only one here who is firmly opposed to it. Politics should maybe be kept out of this blog?
Irony never comes across well in a blog, does it Joachim? If you try re-reading my comment you might want to interpret it another way.
Pierre: I think you were fairly clear about what you were saying in the blog. Unfortunately Joachim seems to have got hold of the wrong end of the stick.
And well said @30 (“Bravo Everyman”). Most of us who follow this site and comment do so because, in general, we actually like doing these puzzles. Why some people (@29) choose to come on here with depressing predictability just to make unpleasant comments, utterly beats me.
Nice and straightforward, nothing to see here.
I agree with cosmic@15 that this was ” a delightful clever and doable puzzle”. Had no problem with “pairs” (12 across) — once I finally saw it!!!
Thanks to Everyman and to Pierre.
Another solid and very enjoyable crossword. I had ‘A Bite’ for 24a thinking ‘whispered’ was a homophone indicator for ‘A Byte’ being part of a electronic record and ‘A Bite’ of something is a ‘part of’. I can see that ‘A Side’ is better, but think my solution is plausible.
Despite the pair of us being struck down with Covid this weekend we managed to complete this in one sitting! Could be the total absence of alcohol on a Friday night … a good solid crossword, thanks all
If only the weekly puzzle was as easy as this one!
Robbie
Mostly good let down only by some rather random surfaces and an almost duplicate clue from last week (10A). But these crosswords have been consistently good of late.
Excellent random crossword. Started it late with alcohol and finished it in the morning clear headed.
Is there something in that?
Could anyone explain to me the IST in 5d dramatists -I just cannot see it
Liked satiated -tally ho and Albania
Quite a few more anagrams than normal tho I’m not complaining they help with a good start
Van First is 1st thus Ist thus IST.