Everyman 3,968

by

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3968.

I thought this a touch harder than usual for Everyman, but it has the usual signatures, adding an extra W to the alliteration, and an ‘ultimately’ to match the ‘primarily’.

ACROSS
1 WEEPING WILLOWS
Tiny shrill sound perhaps … Young birds (not large) in trees (7,7)
A charade of WEE (‘tiny’) plus PING (‘shrill sound’) plus WILL (‘perhaps Young’ – Will Young, singer-songwriter-actor) plus OW[l]S (‘birds’) minus the L (‘not large’).
9 VINO
Everyman, note, tucked into very old booze (4)
An envelope (‘tucked into’) of I (‘Everyman’) plus N (‘note’) in V (‘very’) plus O (‘old’). I’ll raise my glass of Dow ’77 to that.
10 THE RAT PACK
Hollywood big shots actively kept a chart (3,3,4)
An anagram (‘actively’) of ‘kept a chart’. For the definition, see here.
11 PREFAB
Somewhat damp, ref abandons building (6)
A hidden answer (‘somewhat’) in ‘damP REF ABandons’.
12 IN THE END
At last, interest and care shown adopting Pole (2,3,3)
A charade of INT (‘interest’) plus HEEND, an envelope (‘shown adopting’) of N (‘pole’) in HEED (‘care’). It took me a while to un-see TEND in this.
13 ASSUREDLY
Surely sad? Sad, surely (9)
An anagram (‘sad’) of ‘sad surely’. Or vice versa.
15 ASPS
Primarily, Antony’s spouse’s pets, sadly! (4)
The ‘primarily’ clue, ‘Antony’s Spouse’s Pets Sadly’, with reference to Cleopatra.
16 KOHL
Ultimately stuck to bath oil that’s in make-up bag (4)
The flip side of the ‘primarily’ clue: last letters (‘ultimately’) of ‘stucK tO batH oiL‘. I do not think it would be found in every make-up bag, although mascara serves a similar purpose.
17 REPAIRING
Mending and sorting washed socks? (9)
RE-PAIRING (‘sorting washed socks’).
21 KOHLRABI
Word from above: disheartened Jewish scholar leaves (8)
A charade of KOHL (‘word from above’ – directly above, 16A) plus RA[b]BI (‘Jewish scholar’) minus the middle letter (‘disheartened’). Kohlrabi does have leaves (and you can eat them), but it is grown for its swollen stem.
22 MANNER
In nobleman’s house, outspoken style (6)
Sounds like (‘outspoken’) MANOR (‘nobleman’s house’).
24 THE THINKER
Tenth hiker represented in sculpture (3,7)
An anagram (‘re-presented’) of ‘tehth tenth hiker’, for Rodin’s famous work.
25 WELL
Ably and supply (4)
Double definition; the second could be with either pronunciation of ‘supply’.
26 WORLD-WEARINESS
In war, new soldiers displayed malaise (5-9)
An anagram (‘in … displayed’?) of ‘war new soldiers’
DOWN
2 ÉMIGRÉS
Dodgy régimes may produce these? (7)
An anagram (‘dodgy’) of ‘régimes’, with an extended definition.
3 PROOF
Strength of spirit in demonstration (5)
Double definition.
4 NOTABLE
Outstanding number at head of data collection (7)
A charade of NO (‘number’) plus (‘at head of’) TABLE (‘data collection’).
5 WEE WILLIE WINKIE
Who’ll shortly send you to sleep? (3,6,6)
Crypyic definition, with a play on ‘shortly’ for WEE. The character comes from an 1841 poem/nursery rhyme in Scots dialect written by one William Miller. And a follow-on from last Sunday’s 1A SLEEP TIGHT.
6 LEAN-TO
Nestled among azalea, N.T. officer’s shed? (4-2)
A hidden answer (‘nestled among’) in ‘azaLEA NT Officer’
7 OPPRESSOR
Bully proposers horribly (9)
An anagram (‘horribly’) of ‘proposers’.
8 SECONDS
Approves another helping (7)
Double definition.
14 UPHOLSTER
Cushion on horseback, cowboy’s accessory (9)
A charade of UP (‘on horseback’) plus HOLSTER (‘cowboy’s accessory’).
16 KNOW-HOW
Specialised skill? Get to work in the allotment immediately, says Spooner (4-3)
A Spoonerism of HOE NOW (‘get to work in the allotment immediately’).
18 ADMIRER
One loves seeing Star Wars villain, helmet removed, capturing space station (7)
An envelope (‘capturing’) of MIR (Russian ‘space station’) in [v]ADER (Darth of that ilk, ‘Star Wars villain’) minus the first letter (‘helmet removed’).
19 NEEDLES
Post-Christmas débris is irritating (7)
A humorous reference to a shedding Christmas tree (‘post-Christmas débris’).
20 VARIED
Wide-ranging, strove to secure a run (6)
An envelope (‘to secure’) of ‘a’ plus R (‘run’) in VIED (‘strove’).
23 NO-WIN
Absence of plonk nearly certain to end in failure (2-3)
NO WIN[e] (‘absence of plonk’) minus its last letter (‘nearly’).

picture of the completed grid

43 comments on “Everyman 3,968”

  1. An enjoyable puzzle. I liked THE THINKER and other anagrams, particularly the nice symmetrical clue for ASSUREDLY.

  2. Thanks PeterO. Some bags may have both kohl and mascara.

    Didn’t know Will Young, and surprised to find that’s all there is to WEE WILLIE WINKIE.
    I would have thought that upholstering is doing a lot more than cushioning.
    Not keen on the ‘allotment’ in the Spoonerism. But maybe it’s more transparent in the UK.
    Liked the device in KOHLRABI. Favourite was ÉMIGRÉS for the surface and the ‘dodgy’ anagrind.

    Post-Christmas débris was more than irritating for me. “Real” (pine) Christmas trees are a risk here, if you leave them up too long and the NEEDLES dry out in the middle of a January heat wave. Tree caught on fire, and nearly burnt my house down. I’d just finished painting all the walls and ceilings in that heat, and then the insurer paid for someone to come in and paint it all over again.

  4. Willie Winkie, Humpty Dumpty, Dr Foster, et al were all in our Mother Goose (coverless and very dog-eared by childhoods’ end). Do young families still have them? I liked the rab[b]bi receiving word from above. Nice for a Sunday brekkie, thanks PnE.

  5. This was my favorite Everyman yet! The clue for KOHLRABI was brilliant and very satisfying to get as my last entry; REPAIRING and ADMIRER were also quite clever. Had to look up the meaning of plonk after I got that answer, and I never quite figured out the second half of the cryptic clue for WEEPING WILLOWS, so thanks PeterO for clearing that up. Several good double definitions here, too: WELL, PROOF, SECONDS and NEEDLES. Looking forward to solving the next one!

  6. Paddymelon@2. Allotments are garden spaces for growing vegetables. They are not home gardens, but rented from the local council, which will own a block of them. They are covered by bye-laws and must be used primarily for producing fruit and veg for home consumption.

  7. I looked in vain for the rhyming pair. The KOHL/KOHLRABI pair gave a very satisfying penny drop. No problem with the allotment for me, paddymelon @2 – from time living in the Old Dart. I’m not sure about ASSUREDLY – one the one hand, a lovely symmetrical clue, but on the other, the answer and part of the anagrist are too similar as words. Thanks, Everyman and PeterO.

  9. Thanks for the blog, I thought this was just right. A W for Jay’s list plus EMIGRES and OPPRESSOR for the long , complete anagrams.
    Peter has the follow on clue which I totally missed again.
    I liked REPAIRING , the worst job in the world, a lot easier now our sprogs have fledged.
    PDM@2 further to nicbach@6 , most allotments are used mainly for vegetables and the weeds love the nice soil we develop so you spend most of your time using a hoe.

  10. I always like seeing the triple long clue grid. This is the second time for W – thanks to Jay for the list

    After getting WORLD WEARINESS, and then the other two long clues made good progress until my last two, 21a and 20d, which I just couldn’t get

    I had thought that 21a would end in RI (disheartened Jewish scholar (Rabbi)) but couldn’t get “word from above” for the rest. Then noticed that the first two crosses had the same pattern as KOHL, the word above and got there – KOHLRABI – not seen that device before.

    Thanks to Everyman and PeterO

  11. paddymelon @ 2

    [In my allotment I also grow some flowers – mostly dahlias and one of my favourites is called Waltzing Matilda, which has dark leaves and lovely pink/peach flowers. And as Roz says a lot of time is spent weeding.]

  12. Fiona Anne@8, yes the second outing for W, but the first in this slightly modified grid in which rows 1 and 15 have 14 lights as opposed to the usual 13.

    Kohlrabi, in German from the Italian, literally means “cabbage-turnip”. So I think ‘leaves’ is fair. Perhaps one for the allotment. Enjoying the continuing trend of longish single word anagrams. Ta to E and P.

  13. I’ve eaten KOHLRABI leaves once, and wouldn’t recommend it, so was annoyed by the cluing of a root vegetable by the usually, for good reason, discarded portion. You can also eat radish and carrot leaves but I wouldn’t expect to see them clued as leaves, so why kohlrabi? Having eaten them, radish leaves are more edible than those from kohlrabi, beetroot leaves are really worth eating and the less said about carrot leaves the better.

    Other than that, a nice crossword at the level I’d expect for an Everyman. Thank you to PeterO and Everyman.

  14. Lots of fun with a few new twists. Especially liked the word from above accompanying the disheartened rabbi. i failed to parse WILLOWS even with the benefit of Will Young also being a cricketer over here.
    Thanks Everyman and PeterO.

  17. I didnt’t get anywhere close to getting KOHLRABI – I’ve never heard of it. But having seen the parsing, it’s very clever.
    Although i got WEE WILLIE WINKIE, i didn’t find the clue particularly cryptic.

  18. Paul @15: 🙂 (I think that might be lost on most non-antipodeans!)

    Glad to see PeterO’s somniferous connection with the last puzzle. WEE WILLIE WINKIE might also send you into one of last week’s DREAM WORLDS, which could be preferable to the real one if you’re suffering from this week’s WORLD-WEARINESS.

    I also liked NEEDLES, although sorry to hear it re-awakened past traumas for pdm @2; ADMIRER for the picture of Vader, sans helmet, capturing the space station; and the half-homophonous PAIRING of KNOW-HOW and NO-WIN. Thanks E & P.

  19. I’m with Jaz @17: I too got WEE WILLIE WINKIE but the clue seems lacking to me. “Shortly” for WEE, but what leads to WILLIE WINKIE other than the implicit W alliteration hints?

  20. I couldn’t un-see “tend” in 12a so thank you for the clarification, PeterO.
    Isn’t kohl more analogous to eye-liner than mascara? Certainly the stuff I used, more years ago then I care to calculate, served that purpose. (I think I’m in agreement with paddymelon @2 here.)

  22. Well, I spent almost as long looking for a ‘word from above’ as I did to solve the puzzle – it was a good PDM when I eventually saw it.

    I liked the ‘Bully proposers horribly’ and the Spoonerism.

    Thanks Everyman and PeterO.

  23. cosmic @19; as PeterO says it’s a cryptic description. Who’ll send you to sleep? It could be WEE WILLIE WINKIE but ‘who’ll shortly’ suggests that the person is short. Anyway, that’s how I saw it.

  24. Robi and others – I’ve just seen this, and not sure it’s intentional, but the ‘LL in ‘who’ll’ could be read as WILL (shortly).

  26. I forgot to praise KHOLRABI earlier, I agree the word from above is innovative and very neat with the rabbi.
    Paul@15 we have had the “roots” issue before, along with wombats and pandas and “Eats, Shoots and Leaves ” .

  27. Robi@29 and others re WEE WILLIE WINKIE: Actually on reflection there may be more than simply W alliteration at work as WEEping WILLows is a fair pointer
    The KOHL “above” was a clever one that had puzzled me for a week so thanks PeterO for this

  29. Not too bad, I suppose, but Young is dbe in 1ac, leaves is wrong as blogged at 21ac, 5dn is a little bit of a cop-out for me, with that very minimal cd, and the first letter of a word is not a helmet, even in that context, even in a down clue. Further, I’m not sure that having KOHL and KOHLRABI in the same grid is a good idea, though the compiler has tried to excuse it by making direct reference to it.

    Among the anagram indicators used, I didn’t really buy actively, sad, or displayed.

    17ac OTOH is a nice thought.

  30. tlp @29: isn’t the definition by example in 1ac indicated by “perhaps… Young”, as per PeterO’s parsing?

    I’m glad you liked the socks; so did I.

  31. When tlp@29 says “not too bad, I suppose”, and follows that with some mild criticisms, I would say he is praising with faint damns.

  32. He has been less critical of E-man in recent weeks. Perhaps the elixir is wearing off 😀

    TBF in the WILLOWS clue I couldn’t work out which bit the ‘perhaps’ was referring too. Not that it matters to me all that much. Pings are associated with Red October (‘give me a ping, Vasily, one ping only’) in my world.

  34. My confession of slow-wittedness for the day: I couldn’t figure out the parsing for Kohlrabi. Even after noticing that the unparsed part was the same as the word right above it, I thought, “What does ‘word from above’ mean in this clue?”

    I’m another who isn’t terribly happy with defining it as “leaves” either.

    But other than that, I thought this was an excellent puzzle. I particularly like the elegant symmetry in the clue for 13ac.

  37. Nice puzzle although dnf never having heard of Kohlrabi (or Kohl for that matter although I biffed that in).

    A few others were biffed in unparsed.

    Happy Christmas Kiwis.

  38. I’m with Nick@5, best Everyman ever. Kohlrabi is one of the more obscure ingredients seen on restaurant menus, so easy enough to get without knowing whether it is a root, bulb, stem, leaf, flower, essence, jus or foam.

  39. I loved this puzzle, fun and fairly easy for a busy Christmas Eve! Long ago my grandpa would give me strawberries from his allotment in Colchester where he used to sit smoking his pipe and watching his plants

  40. With Barrie on this, although I did finish it with a little help from my (electronic) friends.
    Happy Xmas and a prosperous New Year to all.

  41. Kohlrabi – not much of a Xmas present and I bet the leaves taste bitter.

    Otherwise a nice puzzle.

    Merry Xmas to all.

  42. With beginner’s luck was able to solve 12 before looking for inspiration from here ?. This crossword was published in an Indian newspaper on Jan 15, 2023 so I’ll always be late posting feedback here.

  43. Always Late ? @42
    If others are not likely to see late comments, I should get an email copy, and, as here, will follow it up; so by all means continue to comment or ask any questions you may have.

Comments are closed.