My turn again already, doesn’t time fly. OK let’s tackle the Everyman
Usual suspects, but there’s two four letter clues I’m less than convinced I’ve got right, over to you for insights
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | BEAR |
Polar animal‘s stomach? (4)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 3 | PRECOOKING |
Performing culinary operation on – foolishly – rock pigeon (10)
|
| A foolish [ROCK PIGEON]* | ||
| 9 | OURS |
In conversation, much time shared by you and me (4)
|
| Sounds like HOURS | ||
| 10 | OVAL OFFICE |
Eggs and lice covering rancid president’s workplace (4,6)
|
| Lovely image in the surface huh? I did spend a few seconds thinking for a rancid president. OVA – eggs & OFF- rancid inside LICE | ||
| 11 | DOWN THE HATCH |
Cheers that man, earlier sad, starting to brood (4,3,5)
|
| DOWN – sad & start of T(o) & HE – that man & HATCH – brood | ||
| 15 | INERTIA |
Sluggishness, batting: time to win it back? (7)
|
| IN – currently batting & IT reversed in ERA – time | ||
| 16 | SPANIEL |
Dog‘s cross: that is, a little labradoodle (7)
|
| SPAN – cross & IE – that is & start of L(abradoodle) | ||
| 17 | ENDLESS |
Unbroken, like a Manx cat? (7)
|
| Well manx cats don’t have tails so are endless | ||
| 19 | TIDIEST |
Colloquially, largest; most like the ocean? (7)
|
| Well oceans have tides so the most like could be TIDIEST. Groan. | ||
| 20 | DOUBLES MATCH |
Some sets of twins resemble each other (7,5)
|
| Think tennis. DOUBLES – twins & match – resemble. Rhyming with 11a | ||
| 23 | DESIDERATA |
Trade ideas, wild wishes (10)
|
| A wild [TRADE IDEAS]* | ||
| 24 | ABET |
Illegally assist a venture (4)
|
| A & BET – venture | ||
| 25 | STAIRCASES |
Flights that may lead to landings? (10)
|
| Cryptic def | ||
| 26 | PETS |
Step back, seeing Afghans, Abyssinians, etc? (4)
|
| STEP reversed, the examples being dogs and cats | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | BROADSIDES |
Dilapidated sideboards getting batterings (10)
|
| Everyman does love his one word anagrams. a dilapidated SIDEBOARDS* | ||
| 2 | ARROWHEADS |
So, hardware flying around? (10)
|
| Almost an &LIT / CAD clue [SO HARDWARE]* flying around | ||
| 4 | RIVIERA |
Region including villas in exclusive resort areas, primarily? (7)
|
| Everyman’s traditional primary letter clue | ||
| 5 | CELLARS |
Blearily recalls wine in large amounts (7)
|
| RECALLS* blearily | ||
| 6 | OFFICIALDOM |
Ministry of Defence to get ‘non-clerical’ if Foreign Office to retire bureaucrats (11)
|
| MOD – ministry of defence & LAIC – non clerical & IF & F(oreign) O(ffice) all reversed – retired | ||
| 7 | IRIS |
Everyman is to receive visitor, finally: one bearing large showy flowers (4)
|
| Quite pretty too. I – Everyman & IS with end of (visito)R inserted | ||
| 8 | GAEL |
Celt‘s outburst can be heard (4)
|
| Sounds like gale, one of 2 4 letter clues I’m not sure I’ve got right | ||
| 12 | TITLE HOLDER |
Champion with spine, usually? (5-6)
|
| A book’s spine usually shows the title | ||
| 13 | TIMES TABLE |
Note, twice: establishment for racehorses where multiplication is demanded (5,5)
|
| TI & ME – 2 notes & STABLE – where you keep horses | ||
| 14 | FLAT WHITES |
Hot drinks or dry Rieslings? (4,6)
|
| Milky style of coffee. FLAT – dry & WHITES – of which Riesling is an example | ||
| 18 | SIBERIA |
I will be found in Balkan state: bold to move to find unwelcoming place (7)
|
| I inside SERBIA with B(old) moving forward | ||
| 19 | TRESTLE |
Well-earnt rest, leisurely accepting support (7)
|
| Hidden inside well earnT REST LEisurely | ||
| 21 | ODES |
Poems praising systems of regulation not started (4)
|
| (c)ODES – regulations not starting | ||
| 22 | ASEA |
Accept only part of repurchase agreement, being in the Black? (4)
|
| Hidden in repurchASE Agreement, meaning being at sea I guess, again I’m less than convinced here |
GAEL
Gale as in gale of laughter? Outburst in a way.
ASEA
Your parsing seems all right. Asea=in the Black sea?
Thanks flashling for the neat blog!
I thought FLAT WHITES was a double definition since Riesling can be a sparkling and sweet wine or it can be dry and flat (non-sparkling).
Don’t get LAIC = non clerical
Liked: OVAL OFFICE, STAIRCASES, TITLE HOLDER, TIMES TABLE
Thanks Everyman and flashling
There’s an Asean group of countries, no Black Sea there though!
I parsed GAEL and ASEA like flashling and KVA. Doesn’t mean we’re right though.
I think Everyman is getting harder to finish, there are plenty of beginners’ clues in there, but I’m finding there are always one or two that take a lot of puzzling
Thanks both
nicbach@4
Agree we could be wrong. Let’s wait to hear from others.
Fiona@2
LAIC is (a) layman (as opposed to (a) cleric).
Or as an adjective ‘lay’ (non-clerical)
KVa, nicbach at al. After the stroke of midnight UK time, the reveal and check buttons are restored to the previous Sunday’s Everyman; therefore, it is possible thereafter to confirm whether tentative solutions are correct or not. Here both GAEL and ASEA are right, although I found in looking up last week’s puzzle that I had in fact left the latter as -S-A, so uncertain was I that it could be the answer. A further rummage in the usual places revealed, however, that ASEA is in fact a word meaning on the sea, in this case the Black one.
DESIDERATA my favourite. I remember it was a thing in the 60s and 70s. I like the surface. Also OVAL OFFICE, very funny.
I’m not keen on ASEA. I think this may be Everyman’s private joke, rather than a cryptic joke that we might all share. Granted, he has signposted it with a capital B for Black (as opposed to blue, lower case), and the question mark.
Happy enough with GAEL.
Oh, and I really liked DOUBLES MATCH. Made me think about where to put the break to come up with the definition some sets.. And BROADSIDES was a very clever surface for the trademark single word anagram. Worth repeating: Dilapidated sideboards getting batterings. One of his best I reckon.
I also came back to this to find I had left _S_A uncompleted: oh well, I thought, I suppose it must be ASEA – ugly word. And it was.
I parsed ASEA and GAEL as the blog.
The defn. for ASEA should really be “on the Black” I think, but that would spoil the surface. It’s not in Chambers but I did find it in Collins and the OED has it as hyphenated 1-3, dating from 1858. It’s an odd choice as ASIA might have kept things simpler.
Thanks both.
Thanks for the blog, BROADSIDES a neat clue and CELLARS just makes the list for Jay .
I thought GAEL was fine , put in ASEA bacause it was hidden, not in Chambers 93.
I see that Jay@10 has found it, but I agree it means towards the sea or at sea but not IN it.
I seem to be finding this puzzle more and more annoying.
Nice puzzle. I think I would describe my location as in The Black Sea even if was asea there. Thanks Everyman and flashling.
I parsed ASEA and GAEL as flashling and KVa did, but having changed phones in the week, I filled in this grid at speed yesterday, so I had it to refer to, with recent solving to speed me up, although I was happy with GAEL, I too only inserted ASEA because it was hidden, but on my phone screen GAEL had the red squiggly underline.
Thank you to flashling and Everyman.
It’s a bit tortuous, but “in the black” in the sense of being solvent, could also mean “afloat”, hence “asea”?
I really don’t think there’s a problem with ASEA. I appreciate when you’re aboard a boat you’re on the water not in it, but when you’re at a named geographic area you normally say you are in that location not on it (unless you’re at a mountain summit).
Collins has ‘asea’ as meaning ‘at sea’ or ‘on the sea’. So a reference to being in the Black Sea I think.
Makes more sense R.A.@14. And there is the question mark.
.
I could not parse 6d.
Favourite: DOUBLES MATCH, TIDIEST.
New for me: ASEA = being at or on the sea. The clue/answer works for me – being at sea / being in or on the Black Sea.
I’m also fine with gale/outburst of laughter for the GAEL clue.
Thanks, both.
Never did figure out GAEL. I’ve obviously heard of Gaelic but would never have thought of it in the shorter form. To create a homophone of gale=outburst … a bit too testing for me as someone who has been doing Everyman for a bit of lighter relief for the past couple of years. Likewise ASEA and TIDIEST went in uncertain. They do seem to be going in the wrong direction too often for my liking.
Fiona@2: LAIC as in ‘of the laity’, i.e. not of the clergy.
Didn’t get TIDIEST or TRESTLE, and didn’t think much of ASEA. I enjoyed OFFICIALDOM, TIMES TABLE, DOWN THE HATCH and SIBERIA.
HG@19: Think of Gael as a noun. A person who speaks Gaelic. Its quite common usage in Scotland when referring to the Gaelic community. For instance those in the Western Isles.
Thought TIDIEST was a bit dubious. OK with humourous oceanic allusion but although ‘a tidy sum’ is colloquial, I’ve never heard anyone say ‘I have the tidiest sum’.
Douglas@22 – thanks for taking the time to flesh it out. Living on the south coast of England, I always struggle with clues relating to Scottish isles and all things up nooorth!
ASEA I beg to differ. If I am in the Irish Sea I am swimming, if I am ASEA I am on the sea , the ferry to the IOM and certainly have no wish to be in the sea.
Roz@25
LOL
Very well put.
But if I’m cruising in the Mediterranean then I’m asea? Not to mention considerably warmer 🙂
Only in a submarine.
re ASEA – I thought of it as something like “I am sailing in the Black Sea” = being at sea or asea. Or, “I am on a ship in the Pacific Ocean.” In that last sentence, does one also say “I am on a ship on the Pacific Ocean”?
Anyway, I still think that clue is fine 🙂
Michelle@29
I had not thought of the difference between ‘in the sea’ and ‘on the sea’ until Jay pointed it out. The clue is still fine but could have been better.
A couple of ASEA clues from the archives:
Everyman 4007
Addled, somewhat erratic; adrift, primarily! (4) (a nice clue)
Filbert Indy 11245
Skin last seal in the Atlantic, perhaps (the def is quite similar to the one we are discussing).
TIDIEST was probably my favourite. I still love a terrible pun and this could be the terriblest ever.
I was surprised at how many eyebrows were raised at ASEA, until I thought about it a bit. We all know that Alan Connor is fond of American-style crosswords, where ASEA is so common that no one even has to think about it before entering it. (It is a short word with more vowels than consonants, so of course it turns up a lot.) I have been doing US crosswords since childhood, so I didn’t even realize it was an odd word. And I’d be willing to bet that that’s where Connor picked it up too.
[American crossword tennis is stuck in the 70s, with ILIE Nastase and Arthur ASHE being the only two players you need to know. Need an architect? It’s always gonna be EERO Saarinen or (I.M.) PEI. And so on. Short, vowel-rich words.]
[ The Azed today is about as friendly as it gets, often the case after a complicated special. If you can do daily cryptics it is worth having a go . ]
[Roz, I know you do the paper version, but Azed 2696 appears to be missing from the Guardian website. If they ever get round to putting it up I might have a go.]
[ Yes Gladys 2696 in the paper , have a go if it turns up, start with 12 D ]
[Gladys, there is a downloadable scan of today’s Azed available on Clue Clinic]
I had ASEA down as an acronym of some sort (as in ASEAN) but it’s in Collins for ‘at, or on the, sea’. Chambers turns its big Scottish nose up at it. I found the clue too wordy, and possibly incorrect as ‘in the Black (Sea)’ would mean actually in the water, as opposed to in a ship on the water. The preposition bit of words like this can mean ‘in’, but not here as far as I can tell.
First Everyman for me. I liked OVAL OFFICE, DOUBLES MATCH and ABET.
These crossword blogs have given me the impression that Chambers contains every word and derivation that has ever been uttered, no matter how silly or how obscure. It is nice to finally discover a word it does not contain – ASEA. Pity the clue does not quite work, and nor as far as I can see does GAEL.
Thanks everyman and flashing
I still consider myself a novice so I was very pleased when, the week before last, I filled in the Everyman almost right away. Unfortunately then this one came along and I stared at it on and off all week, barely getting any. Finally it came together and I completed it (with help from husband). I don’t know why, but I found this one so much harder than usual.
Roz@25 I agree with you from the perspective of your relationship to the water (above, below, in, under). That truth can coexist with a different perspective being your relationship to a named geographical area (in the location called The Black Sea. In my observation many debates over clues like this stem from only seeing things from a legitimate, but single fixed perspective. This seems contrary to the art of cryptics.
The Black is an example (?) of A SEA, which exists in (being in ) repurchase agreement. The trick being that Everyman is giving us two inclusion indicators. I don’t really believe this, but I enjoy trying to justify/rationalize contentious clues. (Actually Paul at 40 makes a good case for the clue.)
Like nicbach@31, I love a bad pun, the worse the better, so 19a TIDIEST gets my COTD. I also liked the excellent reverse charade at 6d OFFICIALDOM, and the gutsy Polar BEAR at 1a.
Thanks Everyman and flashling for the simply satisfying Sunday starter.
Katie@39, my feelings exactly. Didn’t get either of 19s, which is a shame, at least about TRESTLE. Like RobAdelaide@14, thought in the black = afloat = at sea = asea. GAEL was rather straightforward with crossers in.
Liked BROADSIDES, ARROWHEADS (very nice!) and SPANIEL (after having parsed its clue) most.
Thank you, Everyman and flashling
Paul@42 you can be ASEA in the Black (sea region ) but being in the Black does not mean ASEA . The definition must give the answer not the other way round ( apart from clever reverse clues ) . I am all in favour of ambiguities in a clue but if you crack the mystery then everything should be crystal clear , the answer fitting the clue like a glove.
I will now go to swim in the Irish (sea) and maybe see a ferry ASEA .
Katie@39 I agree that the standard is very variable, I would not have enjoyed this when I was learning to do cryptics.
We may be getting carried away by ASEA. I think that RobAdelaide@14 might be on the money. That was my first thought as well. The surface led us to think about being in the black, ie solvent. ASEA , synonym for ”afloat”? And there is that QM.
PDM I took the ? to indicate Black as an example of a sea.
I do not want crosswords to go down the route of A=B=C , hence A=C .
Would you accept RAPID as a defintion of NAIL-BED ?
I have now said more than enough on this topic.
Agree, Roz@46. I did think that line of thinking might be one of those “A=B=C , hence A=C” thingummies.
I get the feeling that Everyman is starting to fall into setting clues that amuse him, and bemuse us.
We’ve probably all said enough this week. There’s 18a next week, and a whole lot more besides!
Roz@43 I’ve just been asea on my paddleboard in Tutukaka Harbour. Being in a location that is a sea = asea seams crystal clear to me (and the question mark does offer a bit of leeway). Tomorrow I’ll be on my garden. I would normally be in it, but I don’t want to dig another hole for myself.
Really liked: 10a (Oval Office). Brilliant surface.
Couldn’t parse ‘the’ in down the hatch.
Got stuck on 25a Staircases for a while, couldn’t get stairways out of my head.
Another pair?
BEAR and OURS.
Si vous voulez.
Liked 11ac and 20ac. Didn’t like 8donwn
Otherwise all OK here in a little more cooler in Epsom Auckland
Rob.
Bloody cold this morning Rob, I agree.
Failed on the ocean clue, I don’t equate Tidiest with Largest. Shame, the pun might have been a nice pdm. For that reason I liked Doubles match. As it was I put Baddest and Breathe suspecting both to be wrong.
Agree with comments on the two short clues.
Thanks, White Devil.
22D was my last. Concluded that it should have been 1,3 and referred to The Black Sea. Mind you I’ve never seen a typo in Everyman before.
Gael was second to last. Several amusing answers. Spent a while on 13D before deciding that farms and studs were not there!
Tough one this time. Liked ARROWHEADS & DOWN THE HATCH. Not going to comment re ASEA as it made sense to us! Thanks all.
Zihuatanejo@ 49, I also wondered about the T in The. I think it is the ‘Starting to’ with ‘he’ being ‘that man’ but it is in the wrong order so makes a confusion. I also missed both 19s, I don’t think Tidiest means largest at all, and tidy sum is fine but it cannot be played with and keep the meaning surely. Loved Staircases, Endless, Officialdom, Title Holder and Doubles Match. Lovely to do this in the perfect sunshine for an autumn day
Short clues, short comments. !!!
The Queen’s University football team (Canadian football; a slight perturbation of American football) is called the “Golden Gaels”. I did a Masters at Queens, back before most of you were born, so the word Gael (8 down) was familiar to me.
Needed a wildcard dictionary to get “asea”. But couldn’t really parse it.