Everyman 4,017/15 October

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Another sound, pleasing puzzle from Everyman. Not much more I can add, which is a compliment to the setter.

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 Angler hopes for this amount of information, we’re told
BITE
Aural wordplay (‘we’re told’) for BYTE.

3 Club alight: might ash be found there?
WOODLAND
A charade of WOOD and LAND.

9 Last bits of Christmas cake, privately, by the coast
SEASIDE
A charade of S and E for the final letters of ‘Christmas’ and ‘cake’ and ASIDE.

11 Run and shove, pocketing one pound on the way back
PUBLISH
An insertion of I LB reversed in PUSH. The insertion indicator is ‘pocketing’ and the reversal indicator is ‘on the way back’.

12 Sly cats at work, they cause things to change
CATALYSTS
(SLY CATS AT)* with ‘work’ as the anagrind.

13 Ruled, showing signs of age
LINED
A dd.

14 Book pricier option in hotel
A ROOM WITH A VIEW
A dd, with the second whimsical. The 1908 novel by E M Forster.

16 Pure, holy band is playing Gershwin piece
RHAPSODY IN BLUE
(PURE HOLY BAND IS)* with ‘playing’ as the anagrind. Gershwin finished the piece sixteen years after Forster’s novel was published. It’s recognisable immediately from the clarinet glissando that begins the piece.

20 Removed middle section of electrical flex from speaker
CORED
Aural wordplay (‘from speaker’) of CORD.

22 Soldiers given orders to go around duck
COMMANDOS
An insertion of O in COMMANDS. The insertion indicator is ‘to go around’.

23 Couple eating last of cracker that is plain
PRAIRIE
An insertion of R for the last letter of ‘cracker’ in PAIR, followed by IE for id est. The insertion indicator is ‘eating’.

24 Starters of rice in stock, oregano to taste, onion …?
RISOTTO
The initial letters of the last seven words of the clue, and a cad.

25 In large part, admitting two poor grades with unassuming manner
MODESTLY
An insertion of D and E for low exam ‘grades’ in MOSTLY. The insertion indicator is ‘admitting’.

26 Gradually move back, say, adder regularly sidestepped
EDGE
A charade of EG and aDdEr reversed.

Down

1 ‘ABCs’ is, put another way …?
BASICS
(ABCS IS)* with ‘put another way’ as the anagrind and an implied solution.

2 Display exuberant paintings etc, stuck up in eatery
TRATTORIA
A reversal of AIR, OTT for ‘over the top’ and ART. Since it’s a down clue, the reversal indicator is ‘stuck up’.

4 Part of layover’s awfully managed
OVERSAW
Hidden in layOVERS AWfully.

5 Put down dopiest oddball
DEPOSIT
(DOPIEST)* with ‘oddball’ as the anagrind.

6 Salad bar’s boss, awfully unabashed
AS BOLD AS BRASS
(SALAD BARS BOSS)* with ‘awfully’ as the anagrind.

7 Condescend to remove first of specs from blueprint
DEIGN
DE[S]IGN

8 Tail winds had owls shedding from both wings
SHADOW
[WIND]S HAD OW[LS]

10 Everyman will take into account editor’s ‘Badly thought out‘
ILL-CONSIDERED
A charade of I’LL for ‘Everyman will’, CONSIDER and ED.

15 One devout woman, old-fashioned, overwhelmed
INUNDATED
A charade of I, NUN and DATED.

16 Chef’s instructions: pieces of endive and chicory … filling … ready to eat
RECIPE
An insertion of EC for the initial letters of ‘endive’ and ‘chicory’ in RIPE. The insertion indicator is ‘filling’.

17 They detail stevedores
DOCKERS
A dd. You need to read ‘detail’ as ‘de-tail’, which refers to the rather cruel procedure of cutting the tails off dogs, which is mostly illegal in the UK.

18 Endless, timeless – and godless!
IMMORAL
IMMOR[T]AL

19 Residue and mineral deposit collected on the land
ASHORE
A charade of ASH and ORE.

21 Procure fresh weaponry and back Frenchman
REARM
A charade of REAR and M for Monsieur.

Many thanks to Everyman for this Sunday’s puzzle.

35 comments on “Everyman 4,017/15 October”

  1. Well, I got BYTE/BITE the wrong way round, as I often do with clues of this kind. Everyman does love a good anagram, doesn’t he.

  3. Gladys @1: I thought the position of the “we’re told” made this unambiguous – after taking second thoughts, that is. Love RHAPSODY IN BLUE – both the clue and the music, not to mention the rhyming pair. Excellent crossie, Everyman, and blog, Pierre.

  4. Thank you Pierre. I struggled with EDGE because of the potential indicators, move back back and sidestepped
    I parsed it as def: gradually move reversal: back (all of the rest) say> GE and regularly sidestepped: indicator to delete alternate letters of adder> ED

  6. I agree with paddymelon@4 on EDGE.
    I took the def as ‘gradually move’ and
    Back/reversal of (EG+DE).

    Top fave: The &lit BASICS.

    Thanks, Pierre for the blog!

  7. Thought this a bit easier than previous weeks

    Liked: PUBLISH, PRAIRIE, TRATTORIA (at first thought it might be cafeteria), INUNDATED

    Thanks Everyman and Pierre

  8. EDGE was LOI because I couldn’t get the cryptic part to work. Eventually parsed it the same way as KVa@6. Really liked BASICS and WOODLAND.

  9. Thanks for the blog and the use of aural wordplay ( copyright Cellomaniac ) .
    A very good set of clues and I thought the standard was just right
    For EDGE I think the blog is right , it is just the underlining has edged across too far .
    BASICS very neat and the rhyming pair lovely clues and combination.

  10. Thanks, Roz – I think my parsing is correct, it’s just that I was careless with my underlining. I have amended that now. And indeed, aural wordplay is not my copyright (credit to Cellomaniac), but I nicked it because ‘homophone’ can result in tedious cluttering of the blog with comments along the lines of ‘well, I don’t say it that way’. Which may be true, but that’s not what a clue of this variety is suggesting.

  11. I got BITE and thought the clue was clear there (I usually get them the wrong way round)

    Thank you to Pierre and Everyman

  12. Reading this it seems clear that the answer is “Bite” not “Byte”. But I got it the wrong.

    Not sure if this is allowed, but can I ask a very vague question about Everyman No 4018?
    Is the crosser between 11a and 7d a result of Grauniad spelling or have I made a mistake? I’m very stuck on this point.

  14. KVa@6 and paddymelon@4 regarding EDGE – isn’t “sidestepped” redundant here? “regularly” would be enough to indicate alternate letters of “adder”. This was my LOI because I just couldn’t figure out what “sidestepped” was doing.

    Thank you Pierre for the parsing of TRATTORIA – I had seen that ART was “stuck-up” but I hadn’t spotted AIR and OTT until now! And thank you also for the de-tailing part of DOCKERS, I hadn’t quite figures that out either.

    Thanks also to Everyman for the puzzle, I though this was very enjoyable, and just at the right level for me.

  18. Good Everyman puzzle with a variation to the ‘primarily’ clue.

    I liked the anagrams for RHAPSODY IN BLUE and AS BOLD AS BRASS, the ‘run’ definition for PUBLISH, the nicely hidden SHADOW, and the wordplay for DEIGN. I tried MAIDENLY for 25 at first, which sort of works.

    Thanks Everyman and Pierre.

  19. I really enjoyed this crossword. I thought IMMORAL was a beautiful clue. I got DOCKERS from stevedores, but didn’t get the secondary indication until I read this blog. Thanks for the enlightenment.

  20. @12 we don’t comment on live prize puzzles, please wait for next week when I’ll hopefully have a blog for you. Phil

  21. Crispy@13.
    Thank you. If it weren’t the Guardian I wouldn’t have asked.
    It was my error but now I see what it was.
    My other problem is that I’m not as smart as most people here. Working on it.

  22. grantinfreo@2, snap.
    Roz @9 and Pierre@10, thanks for the shoutout; I would love for the term to be in the public domain, for the reason Pierre gives in his comment.

    And thanks, Everyman and Pierre for the typically fine Sunday fun. Favourites were 3a WOODLAND for the misdirection (as paddymelon notes), and 10d ILL CONSIDERED for the well thought out charade/surface.

  23. Thanks to the blog, I was inspired to have Alexa play RHAPSODY IN BLUE. Yup–still good. And then there was a little rabbit hole I went down, where I learned that at first the piece received decidedly mixed reviews from music critics! Audiences have always disagreed with that assessment, which proves yet again that music critics serve little useful purpose.

    I also love ROOM WITH A VIEW, but I’m afraid this blog did not inspire me to go reread it. Forster was at his finest (and funniest) there. I mean, I also like Howard’s End and A Passage to India, but they just don’t sing (or zing) like A Room With a VIEW.

    Oh, we’re talking about a crossword puzzle? Nothing to add about that, I’m afraid.

  24. Tipsy @19: actually, I thought IMMORAL was slightly dodgy, given that plenty of the godless are moral, and depressingly many of the godly aren’t.

  25. As a confirmed atheist, I was going to make a similar remark to TassieTim.

    I thought this was a very nice puzzle that filled the Everyman bill quite well.

  26. I think you may all appreciate this. With AI being a hot topic, I asked ChatGPT for some good crytic crossword clues. I thought I was going to hurt myself laughing at the examples it provided (selection below). I guess there are aspects of the English language that are hard to teach a machine. I do not think Everyman will be out of work any time soon.

    Clue: “Endless time in the morning (6)”
    Answer: SUNSET
    Explanation: “Endless time” suggests removing the last letter from “morning” (MORNING – G) to get “SUN,” and “SET” is the definition.

    Clue: “One crossing river in a small boat (4)”
    Answer: SKIN
    Explanation: “A small boat” is the definition. “One” is “I,” and it’s crossing “R” (river) to form “SKIN.”

    Clue: “Big cat spotted in African river (7)”
    Answer: LIONESS
    Explanation: “Big cat” is the definition. “Spotted” suggests an anagram of “in African,” which gives you “LION,” and “river” is “ESS” backwards.

  28. A very nice crossword indeed, even if I didn’t parse Shadow. Doh, yet another hidden word totally passed me by.

    And another tedious time brag from WhiteDevil.

  31. 18 down illustrates perfectly why I find religion to be offensive. Those of the religious persuasion persistently conflate religion with morality. “Immoral” and “Godless” are orthogonal concepts.

  33. I never remember the names of those who spout on about how few minutes it takes them to complete – What challenges these people!? Happily it takes me hours on a saturday looking at it and then getting on with other things then coming back to it. I’m happy to be a more average customer. Had to find this on line as the Herald arrived with only half of it – enjoyed it and favourite clue ; Inundated by far, followed by Deign.

  35. Easier than some we have slaved over in other weekends.
    We’d never thought of docking a dog. Here it’s lambs that are always docked – and it’s not considered a cruel practice.

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