Everyman 3,973

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Everyman gets better and better. There are very few clues here that are odd, although perhaps the surfaces to 1ac, 19ac and 21dn are a bit thin. I’m afraid I need a bit of help with 13dn. We have the usual self-referential clue (just), the first letters clue, and the rhyming couplet (also something else that I can’t remember. No doubt it will be pointed out). Quite a restriction for Everyman to impose on himself.

You may have missed this, where Everyman is outed.

Definitions underlined in crimson. Indicators (homophone, hidden, anagram etc.) in italics. Link-words in green.

 

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1 RECOMMENDS
Suggests that Mr. Men’s code should be picked apart (10)
(Mr. Men’s code)*
6 SCAM
Rascal’s detailed deception (4)
scam[p] — scamp = rascal — one has to read it as de-tailed, not something that all strict Ximeneans are happy with, perhaps
9 PERCUSSION
Supersonic – but faulty – instruments (10)
(Supersonic)*
10 ANON
Author’s ‘name’ – one’s nameless, primarily? (4)
The usual first letters clue &lit.
11 STONEWALLING
Having drunk a whiskey, playing for time, obstructing discussion (12)
(one W) in stalling — one = a, W = whiskey (NATO alphabet (note the e)), stalling = playing for time
15 RUN FREE
Move without restriction with ladder on the house (3,4)
run free — run = ladder (as in tights or stockings) free = on the house
16 YOUNGER
Junior having yen for a bit of lazing in relaxing chair (7)
lounger with its l replaced by y — lounger = relaxing chair, y = yen (the Japanese currency), l = a bit of lazing, ie l[azing]
17 CABARET
Film‘s somewhat ‘artistic’: a bare torso (7)
Hidden in artistiC A BARE Torso
19 UNHINGE
With gnu and hen dancing around, I get demented (7)
(gnu hen)* round I — I think we have to ignore the comma, so ‘around, I’ = ’round I’; to unhinge someone is to get them demented
20 PAINTBALLING
Papa isn’t inwardly calm wearing flashy jewellery in team-building exercise? (12)
P ain’t b(al)ling — P = Papa (NATO alphabet again), ain’t = isn’t, al = inwardly calm, ie [c]al[m], bling = flashy jewellery, wearing is an indication that it’s inside, as one wears an overcoat — paintballing is, amongst other things, an activity encouraged by teams and groups with the intention of building camaraderie
23 COTE
Ecoterrorists protecting doves’ home (4)
Hidden in eCOTErrorists — as in a dovecote
24 BLACKGUARD
Terribly bad luck: a right good scoundrel (10)
*(bad luck a r g) — a = a, r = right, g = good
25 SODA
Small bother returning non-alcoholic fizz (4)
s (ado)rev. — s = small, ado = bother
26 IRIDESCENT
Indiscreet, untidy – flashy? (10)
(Indiscreet)*
DOWN
1 RIPE
Solemn announcement: Everyman’s beginning to be slightly malodorous (4)
R.I.P. E[veryman]
2 CORE
Central tactical unit’s announced (4)
“corps” — a corps is a tactical unit
3 MOUNT ARARAT
Ultimate destination for couples’ getaway? (5,6)
I’m not quite sure about this: it seems that couples like to go to Mount Ararat to get married: if so, then this has completely passed me by; also. if so, then the clue is hardly cryptic at all. So I’ve probably missed something. [yes I have: it refers to Noah’s Ark (where the animals went in two by two) coming to rest on Mount Ararat]
4 ESSENCE
Soul in German city church (7)
Essen CE — Essen is the German city, CE = Church of England
5 DOORWAY
Perhaps 1 Sept 1939, according to Spooner, is an entry point (7)
You could argue (hence the ‘Perhaps’) that 1 Sept 1939 is ‘war day’ (it was certainly the start of World War 2), Spooner’s version of ‘doorway’
7 CONTINGENT
Dependent group of soldiers? (10)
2 defs
8 MENAGERIES
I see German wandering around zoos (10)
(I see German)* — the anagram indicator is ‘wandering around’
12 LAUGHING GAS
Fancy lung? A haggis, that’ll put a smile on your face (8,3)
*(lung a haggis)
13 PRECIPICES
Copper in command covered by directions for perilous situations (10)
P recip(ic)e S — PS = copper (Police Sergeant, although the rank seems to be rather complicated: see this), recipe = directions, ic = i/c (in command) — however, this is probably not the correct parsing because it doesn’t account for how PS surrounds the rest of it — if P = copper, then it would simply be P recip(ic)es, but I can’t square P with copper — so I haven’t used any colour or italics here [as has been pointed out by several, P = penny = copper, so my second parsing works fine]
14 INEBRIATED
Twice I bantered, tipsy and tiddly (10)
(I I bantered)*
18 TRAILER
Unmotorised vehicle that boasts of a feature? (7)
2 defs — a trailer is an unmotorised vehicle and a trailer in say a cinema boasts of a feature film — ‘that’ a demonstrative pronoun
19 UNLACED
Not bound to be free of contamination (7)
2 defs, one of them referring to shoes that are not laced up (ie unbound), the other referring to drinks etc. that haven’t been laced with something unknown to the user
21 RAKE
Playboy‘s a tool (4)
2 defs
22 EDIT
Tide’s turning? Correct (4)
(tide)rev.

34 comments on “Everyman 3,973”

  1. The anagram for PERCUSSION was good as it was for INEBRIATED – which also had a lovely surface. And the cryptic definition for MOUNT ARAFAT – couple’s getaway indeed (the animals went in two by two, hurrah)! Can’t help with PRECIPICES, sorry. Thanks, Everyman and John.

  3. In PRECIPICES I thought copper was just P, as in a penny; then ic in recipes as you say.

    I remember liking the cd for MOUNT ARARAT, probably still my favourite now.

    Thanks to setter and blogger.

  5. Paintballing loi needing all crossers, totally out of my orbit, though vaguely remember a movie or series involving it …

  6. Yes, P plus I/C contained by RECIPES, but I can see how it was tricky to parse. Directions = recipes? I think we could have done with a bit more for that.

  7. I loved MOUNT ARARAT, once I’d looked up the connection with the couples’ getaway.
    Another who missed the P, for copper, (that copper!), and then had a lot of trouble parsing PRECIPICES.
    PAINTBALLING, familiar as a ‘team-building exercise’. Down here it used to be something that sporting teams or a buck’s party did. Not my idea of fun. I’d run for the hills.
    A quibble with STONEWALLING. Playing for time, stalling, and stonewalling, (def: obstructing discussion) are a bit too similar I feel.
    Liked BLACKGUARD for the surface.

  8. Tougher one than usual for me, but I actually finished without a mistake—imagine that. A couple of the clues baffled me, especially PRECIPICES, my last in. Didn’t IRIDESCENT appear in that exact slot in the grid a week ago?

    Sorry about the World Cup result.

  9. Never heard of MOUNT ARARAT (LOI) and also could not parse PRECIPICES.

    Liked: TRAILER, STONEWALLING, BLACKGUARD, CORE, TRAILER, UNLACED

    Thanks Everyman and John

  10. Thanks for the blog, another very good set of clues. I will agree with the list from Fiona Anne above, for UNLACED I did think of corsets not shoes.
    Well done Nick@8 and you are correct about IRIDESCENT , definitely a follow-on answer, also a very long complete anagram for Jay along with PERCUSSION.
    I only wish I could speak French to the student boys tomorrow, bonjour will have to do.

  11. I found this took me slightly longer than the Everyman can, but not outstandingly so. I agree with others a penny (p) is a copper and Noah’s Ark ended up on MOUNT ARARAT – another place on our world tour.

    Not only is IRIDESCENT in the same place as the week before but it’s another single word anagram (indiscreet).

    Thank you John and Everyman.

  12. PM @7. I’m with you on the similarities of stonewalling / stalling / playing for time. I was looking for a third definition meaning having drunk a whiskey – I failed!
    Lady G @6. Recipe for directions is a common crossword device. Recipes less so, but still okay, I think.

  13. [Nick @8, like Roz @10, I’m not sorry about the football. Unlike her I can speak some French, but I don’t see the teenagers who will be upset until Tuesday.]

  14. I could not parse 13d which I guessed to be PRECIPICES.

    Liked RIPE.

    Thanks, both.

    Why are RIPE and ANON highlighted in the commentary above?

  18. Not only was iridescent in last week’s grid but soda was in the week before that. I started to wonder whether every clue could be found, at the rate of one a week, if we continued to check back. But I never got round to it!

  21. I appreciated MOUNT ARARAT when the penny dropped. It’s an amazing sight from the bottom. A great distraction when you are held up at the Turkish/Iranian border.

  22. I’ve got used to the ‘primarily’ clues now, although it’s good to sometimes see an alternative.

    I liked CABARET as a well-hidden answer, the Papa wearing flashy jewellery, MOUNT ARARAT for the unlikely definition, and TRAILER for the alternative meaning of feature.

    Thanks Everyman and John.

  23. Widdersbel@20
    “Autocorrupt” is a great way of putting it!

    Everyman on good form last week, unlike the England boys last night sadly.

    Thanks E&J.

  24. Tougher than the average Everyman for me, I seem to recall, and yet looking at it a week later I can’t really see what I found so tricky.

    MOUNT ARARAT was LOI and a very vague tinkle of a biblical bell eventually led to me making the ark connection, which made it a very clever clue. Thought DOORWAY was slightly groanworthy but many great Spoonerisms are, so that’s not a criticism!

    Cheers both.

  25. Enjoyable as ever from Everyman, although we couldn’t parse PRECIPICES – and the repitition of INDISCREET didn’t register with us.
    Thanks, Everyman and John.

  26. Twmbarlwm @3 has explained PRECIPICES the way I parsed it too, copied here for ease of reference:

    “In PRECIPICES I thought copper was just P, as in a penny; then ic in recipes”

  27. quibbled a bit with “war day” as I always thought the 3rd was the day the war started. Wikipedia and many others agree that the invasion of Poland was the start not the actual declaration.

    Couldnt parse PRECIPICES but it makes sense that copper is P and “in command” IC.

    MOUNT ARARAT was too clever for me, but got it by a process of elimination, and laughed when the penny finally dropped. It was my LOI and my favourite clue of the day.

    Is it me or has the everyman got harder recently?

  28. Enjoyed last week’s so much, I came back. I had a lot of trouble justifying PRECIPICES at first, going up the same police blind alleys as our blogger for some time until, finally, the … er … penny dropped.

  29. Another good puzzle from Everyman!
    My LOIs were 15A (failed to parse ‘on the house’ as FREE), and 3D (had to look up the exact biblical significance of MOUNT ARARAT).

  31. I liked BLACKGUARD, but it took me an unbelievably long time to get RAKE – loi for me, even after I’d finally figured out how RUN FREE and PRECIPICES worked!
    (Obviously, this means I need to watch Bridgerton again.)

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