Everyman 3,944

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The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3944.

The grid signals Everyman’s ploy of alliteration,across the top, across the bottom, and down the middle. The ‘primarily’ is ‘initially’ this time. I have more quibbles than usual for an Everyman.

ACROSS
1 SONG OF SOLOMON
Monsoon, so golf’s abandoned: here’s a good book! (4,2,7)
An anagram (‘abandoned’) of ‘monsoon so golf’.
8 CAST
Shy actors (4)
Double definition, verb and noun.
9 ENLIGHTENS
Edifies the vacuous English knight in need of reform (10)
An anagram (‘in need of reform’) of TE (‘ThE vacuous’) plus ‘English’ plus N (‘knight’, chess notation).
10 CURSOR
Largely superficial on-screen device (6)
A suntraction: CURSOR[y] (‘superficial’) minus its last letter (‘largely’).
11 TOM HANKS
Feline coils wool (he’s known for playing) (3,5)
A charade of TOM (cat, ‘feline’) plus HANKS (‘coils wool’; HANK is listed as a verb, but as far as I can tell not in this sense, so I must interpret this as a noun, as coils of wool), for the film star.
12 BADMINTON
Everyman’s retreated inside, mean Northern heavyweight wanting a game (9)
An envelope (‘inside’) of MI, a reversal (‘retreated’) of I’M (‘Everyman’s’ – ie. Everyman is) in BAD (‘mean’) plus N (‘Northern’) plus TON (‘heavyweight’). ‘Wanting a’ does not serve much purpose, unless ‘mean’ is BAAD.
14 FIND
Judge issued punishment verbally (4)
Sounds like (‘verbally’) FINED (‘issued punishment’).
15 SAGE
What’s found in some sausages? (4)
A hidden answer in ‘sauSAGEs.
16 BECALMING
Bringing off the boil, begin clam stews (9)
An anagram (‘stews’) of ‘begin clam’.
20 CORDIALS
Hearty piece of steak and drinks (8)
A charade of CORDIAL (‘hearty’) plus S (‘piece of Steak’). Not the happiest of clues.
21 TAHITI
Back-to-front Italian headgear worn by one in Gauguin’s subject (6)
A reversal (‘back-to-front’) of an envelope of I (‘one’) in IT (‘Italian’) plus HAT (‘headgear’).
23 CATS-CRADLE
Playing Castle (card game) (4-6)
An anagram (‘playing’) of ‘castle card’.
24 IRIS
Perhaps Murdoch‘s integral to Blairism? (4)
A hidden answer (‘integral to’) in ‘BlaIRISm’, for the novelist.
25 SQUARE SHOOTER
Honest type dated cameraman (6,7)
A charade of SQUARE (‘dated’) plus SHOOTER (‘cameraman’).
DOWN
1 SPATULA
Implement argument over university city in California (7)
A charade of SPAT (‘argument’) plus O (‘over’) plus U (‘university’) plus LA (Los Angeles, ‘city in California’).
2 NOTES
Jottings offering twisted attack (5)
A reversal (‘twisted’) of SET ON (‘attack’).
3 OVERRUN
Exceed a single in cricket after six balls (7)
A charade of OVER (‘six balls’) plus RUN (‘a single in cricket’).
4 SPLITS ONES SIDES
Cracks up and leaves a ship on 15th March? (6,4,5)
A charade of SPLITS (‘leaves’) plus ONE (‘a’) plus SS (‘ship’) plus IDES (’15th March’).
5 LEGUME
Fleshy tissue and starter of escargots with the French bean (6)
A charade of LE (‘the French’) plus (‘with’ is a weak indicator of the order of the particles) GUM (‘fleshy tissue’) plus E (‘starter of Escargots’).
6 MUTUALISM
Losing time, ultimatums resolved, needing interdependence (9)
An anagram (‘resolved’) of ‘ultima[t]ums’ minus one T (‘losing time’).
7 NON-SKID
Rector leaving, no drinks drunk, not slipping about (3-4)
An anagram (‘drunk’) of ‘no d[r]inks’ minus the R (‘rector leaving’ – another questionable abbreviation).
13 MOGADISHU
Converted Siam dough in Indian Ocean port (9)
An anagram (‘converted’) of ‘Siam dough’.
15 SLOGANS
Mottos without … without function (7)
An envelope (‘without’, the second one) of LOG (logarithm, ‘function’) in SANS (‘without’, the first one).
17 ART DECO
Initially, arty Roaring Twenties design embracing chrome ornamentation! (3,4)
First letters (‘initially’) of ‘Arty Roaring Twenties Design Embracing Chrome Ornamentation’, &lit.
18 NATTIER
Better-dressed nephew (not primarily shabbier) (7)
A charade of N (‘nephew’ – not a standard abbreviation) plus [t]ATTIER (‘shabbier’) minus the first letter (‘not primarily’).
19 FAIRER
More above board with fewer clouds seen (6)
Double definition.
22 HEIST
One lacking faith not at bank job (5)
A subtraction: [at]HEIST (‘one lacking faith’) minus AT (‘not at’).

picture of the completed grid

42 comments on “Everyman 3,944”

  1. A straight shooter, yes, but a square one… hmmm. At heist for bank job must have been used before, it’s too neat not to use. Like Peter, I wondered whether you can hank wool. Otoh, didn’t notice the unwanted ‘a’ for badminton, just bunged it in. Sans around log was tres neat. Ok puzzle for a Sundy, ta both.

  2. Liked ENLIGHTENS, SAGE, SLOGANS and NATTIER.
    I like TOM HANKS in general. Here…

    Thanks, Everyman and PeterO!

  3. I also wonder about SQUARE SHOOTER. I was fixated on the game in 23a being a form of BRIDGE for too long – well, it fits the crossers! Otherwide, a pleasant Sunday diversion. Thanks, Everyman and PeterO.

  4. Did most of this quite quickly last Sunday but struggled with the last few. Didn’t parse ENLIGHTENS or CORDIALS. Also not heard of SQUARE SHOOTER

    Loved SPLITS ONES SIDES

    Other favourites were: TOM HANKS, CURSOR, SPATULA, SLOGANS, FIND

    Thanks Everyman and PeterO

  5. I don’t have a problem with unwanted ”a” in BADMINTON as PeterO and gif@1 mention. I considered that as part of the definition, necessary for the surface, and respectfully, consider that should be underlined as part of the def.

    Also no probs with SQUARE SHOOTER. Liked the sibilants top and bottom and down the middle for the alliterative solutions.

  6. I really struggled with this one & only came back to finish it off this morning. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind, but this seemed way harder than any recent Everyman. Some good clues all the same. Cheers PeterO & Everyman.

  7. Thanks for the blog, another S for Jay’s list , maybe three or even four now?
    Thought this was pretty good overall apart from a frown for ENLIGHTENS.
    Never heard of SQUARE SHOOTER but PDM@5 has, so fair enough, Chambers says chiefly US.
    R=Rector is in Chambers, I was surprised to see. I think I have vague memories of my mother saying – help me to HANK the wool – I had to hold my hands out.
    BADMINTON I also thought I was removing an A at some stage ?? . Perhaps the definition is “wanting a game ” i.e. the clue wants us to come up with a game.

  8. @Roz, yes, this is the fourth ‘S’. The previous 1 across entries being SECRET SERVICE, SUMMER SOLSTICE and STEPHEN SONDHEIM. Not even sure why I started this list, but now that I have it would seem churlish to stop!

  9. Tough puzzle.

    Liked HEIST, SPLITS ONE’S SIDES.

    New: SQUARE SHOOTER; HANK = a coil or skein of wool (for 11ac).

    Thanks, both.

  10. Thank you for the blog. I found this Everyman a steady solve, without getting particularly caught by anything.

    Do you need the O in SPATULA? I read the over as positioning, nothing else.

    I blinked slightly at SONG OF SOLOMON being described as a good book. Years ago I met a group of rugby sevens on the tube as they were heading to a match dressed as various religious characters and wielding Bibles, which they were chatting about being boring, so I opened one at Song of Songs and told them to try there, cue an exclamation of “it’s pure porn!”

    I groaned when I got HANKS for wool, and I remember holding my hands out draped in a hank for my grandmother to wind it into balls. Tapestry wool and embroidery silks still come as hanks and are easily tangled – with wry mental grin at how much tidying up I did on my tapestry wools after I took them into Rainbows. Hank is a verb, meaning entangle, which is why they get rewound into balls.

  11. TassieTim @3, exactly the same fixation on BRIDGE here, and with two blank squares at the end I persuaded myself that a PASS BRIDGE is a thing, despite it being ungooglable…

    First time I’ve tried an Everyman, pleasantly surprised to nearly finish it!

  12. Pleasant enough Sunday solve.

    I’m not sure why there should be an objection to R=rector; as Roz @7
    points out it’s in Chambers, so fair game I think. However, SQUARE SHOOTER in Chambers and Collins is given as chiefly N. American, so I think it should have been indicated. I don’t think that the extra A in the clue for BADMINTON would have caused much comment if the ‘wanting’ had been substituted by making/getting etc.

    Thanks Everyman and PeterO.

  13. Jay@8 keep the list going, it could be an extremely long anagram, although there is a shortage of vowels.

    Rob T @11 a lot of people learn to do cryptics using Everyman, I certainly did. It is generally fair , accessible and instructive.

  14. I’m with the blogger on this one.

    11 Across the verb sense is nautical only, as far as I can see, which is usually only as far as Collins I’ll admit, just in case. At 15 Across I think either found or some is redundant. 16 definition just about I suppose, but I’ve never used it outside of a nautical context, even where that context is metaphorical. 25 I can’t quite equate square with dated, as ‘dated’ doesn’t quite get to the idea of a person being old-fashioned, in taste etc, in my view. Downs were all right with the possible exception of the fodder at 13, which was both awful and obvious.

    I liked 8 and 24 Across, and found that for me 5 Down is okay, despite the somewhat back-to-front indication. You get that sort of thing quite often.

  15. Shanne @10 – Song of Solomon is also a novel by Toni Morrison. Indeed, it was that I had primarily in mind when entering the solution. However, the biblical one is, I dare say, lodged in more people’s GK, but it has required extensive allegorical interpretation by Christian theologians over the centuries to reclaim it from its overtly erotic content.

  16. I found this difficult, I have to say. Regarding the idiosyncrasies, i.e. the alliteration and the first letters thing, it does seem to be all a bit fur coat, while perhaps only some of the clues have knickers.

    I’ll post this, if only as a record of what a red-wine hangover can do to you.

  17. Last P @14 — I got SQUARE as a synonym of dated pretty quickly, but later realised that it’s a word that is of its time (60s/70s?) and is therefore, ironically, itself somewhat dated… 🙂

  18. Roz @13 — aha, thanks! I’ve not been doing cryptics very long and have been avoiding Everyman so far as for some reason I assumed they’d be harder than the weekday ones…

    Just did the latest one now and finished it, so I think it is about the right level for me.

  19. Jay @ 8

    Thanks

    If you have time I would love to know how many letters have been used in this construction and how many times each one has been used.

    Since you pointed out some months ago I always look out for them and look forward to solving the three long clues.

  20. Rob T@18 Try the Quiptic on Monday, that’s a “Quick Cryptic.” Also, the Monday Cryptic is usually easier then it is the rest of the week.

  21. I remember sitting patiently for hours with a HANK (noun) of wool between my outstretched hands while my mother wound it into a more manageable ball. Perhaps the verb/noun usage is a Midlands thing…?

    Nice Sunday morning diversion, thanks to Everyman and PeterO.

  22. Fiona Anne@19
    The first instance of this grid and pattern of alliteration I have noted dates from Sep 2020 and the 1a entry on that occasion was RABBLE ROUSING. I can’t say with certainty if there are any before this, though I recall looking for earlier ones at the time.
    The sequence of letters since then and the associated 1a answers (if you want to search for the puzzles this is the easiest way) has been as follows…

    R B C M S G C P L F S R W P S S
    rabble rousing, bunsen burners, cruise control, murder mystery, secret service, get the giggles, county council, pyjama parties, liquid lunches, fellow feeling, summer solstice (14), rules are rules, welter weights, potato peelers, Stephen Sondheim (15), Song of Solomon

  24. Paul @6 Your comment fits my experience entirely although I didn’t print off the crossword till Wednesday. I had five left this morning and three of those came to mind immediately. The fourth answer came shortly afterwards leaving just 15d which I cheated on. The answer seemed so obvious but when you’ve got a foggy brain, nothing is obvious. Enjoyed the puzzle anyway so many thanks to Peter and E.

  25. Valentine @20 — thanks, yes I do both the cryptic and the quiptic on a Monday and in fact last week I found the cryptic to be the easier of the two…!

  27. Rob T @25 , good advice from Vaientine but try the harder setters as well. Does not matter if you are well beaten, we have all been through this, check the answers the day after and you will learn more harder clues.

  28. Shanne @10
    I must have been on autopilot when I introduced an O into 1D SPATULA. Perhaps what I meant was “… SPAT (‘argument’) plus (‘over’) U (‘university’)…”.

    Roz @7
    For 11A TOM HANKS: a couple of other commenters also refer to the winding of a hank of wool into a ball. I would be surprised if the verb HANK would be an acceptable use to describe that: I would expect such a verbal formation to reflect the final state, not the initial. Consequently, I would be happier with the use of the verb to describe an earlier step in the knitting process, namely the formation of newly spun and dyed wool yarn into a skein or hank (to be sold to the knitter, who makes a ball of it) – and indeed the OED does give that meaning , very briefly, backed up by one 1818 quote (which seems to be from a dictionary, and gives that verbal usage as North of England – DeepThought @21).

    paddymelon @5
    For 12A, how do you see ‘wanting a game’ as a definition of BADMINTON?

  29. Roz @27 — I discovered through this blog that my apprenticeship in Guardian cryptics has included the longest run of different setters, so I am already forming views on who are the hard nuts! (Paul and Anto stood out in this respect)

  30. PeterO@28. BADMINTON, no, only suggesting that ‘a game’ is the definition.

    We’ve had ‘wanting’ before as the link word/pointer to the clue. As you said in your blog ‘wanting (+/- ‘a’) does not serve much purpose’. And see Robi@12.

    I personally don’t like ‘wanting’ as the pointer. I can only interpret it as wanting the answer. But I seem to remember it in an Everyman not so long ago.

  31. Re 11 – you ‘must’ interpret hanks as a noun? Why should you not? As a 65 year old Brit this is certainly a noun in my vocabulary, if not often used. I believe your general irritation with this puzzle maybe got the better of you there….

    I completed all but four clues last Monday and came back fresh and happily finished it today. I enjoyed the difficulty level, maybe slightly higher than many Everymans (ooh, horrible looking word alert).

    Thanks for the deconstruction, as always.

  32. Like many others, didn’t know SQUARE SHOOTER, or HANK as a verb, and thought the game was something-bridge. You can also find ESAU and MESA in some sausages, but SAGE was the best fit.

  33. JohnB @31
    I see that I did not express my point clearly; how about “… so I must interpret ‘coils wool’ as a noun, as coils of wool …”. However, as I said @28, since writing the blog over a week ago, I have dug out in the OED a suitable definition of HANKS as a verb to match the apparently verbal ‘coils wool’ – just not the action that Roz@7 etc. considered.

  34. Like many others, I’ve only heard of a straight SHOOTER, not a SQUARE. My favourite was SPLITS ONES SIDES.

  35. Overall a good puzzle. Thanks, Everyman.
    I seemed to vaguely recall having heard the phrase “square shooter” (25 across) and so wasn’t bothered by it, once I saw the answer.
    Needed a wildcard dictionary to get 15 down (“slogans”) and even then could not parse it. Thanks to PeterO for the explanation.

  37. Deep Thought @21, I used to do the same for my sisters and mother , but it was called a ‘skein’ of wool. I have never heard it called a hank.

  38. We finished it with no idea about Hank (called a skein here on NZ), but got it all so thanks for a great crossword – apart from 20ac – dislike Cordial being used for Hearty.
    Splits Ones Sides – great clue.

  39. Nice misdirection in 24a. Having lived in the UK for most of the nineties this brought back vivid memories of Rupert’s malevolent influence on politicians of all stripes. I think it was easier to spot as Everyman did something similar in 3,911 about 9 months ago – “4d Baron (who’s Australian); Dame (who wrote) (7)”, on which Sil commented “Pure GK and not really cryptic (at all)”.

  40. Bit uneven.

    I do dislike clues with three pointless dots in them like 15D.

    I go along with Hanks as a noun, never heard of it as a verb, nor have I come across square shooter – unlike straight shooter the phrase makes no sense.

    8A was nice.

  41. Re the square shooter discussion, I remember years ago, Alf Roberts in Coronation Street (I know, groan groan!) was a member of an organization called ” Square Dealers” and as he was the mayor of Weatherfield, I presume it was an upright organization!

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