The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/4051.
I found this Everyman to have some parsling which required careful thought – even a brief clue 22A RIGID does not play out as it might at first seem. Apart from that, there are the usual rhyming pair, the self reference, and the ‘primarily’ clue – but this time the only geographic references are in a couple of clues rather than an answer.
ACROSS | ||
1 | WHARFS |
Topless stunts engrossing husband in dockers’ milieu (6)
|
An envelope (‘engrossing’) of H (‘husband’) in [d]WARFS (‘stunts’, verb) minus the first letter (‘topless’; perhaps a pedant might say that ‘topless’ is more suitable in a down light). | ||
4 | SHOE TREE |
It must be approximately a foot in length (4,4)
|
Cryptic definition. A shoe tree goes inside a shoe to keep it in shape when not being worn. | ||
9 | RECONFIRM |
Again give credence to description of Navy Seals outfit? (9)
|
I pu in this answer from the definition, and because that’s the only word which fits the crossers; after the fact, I suppose that RECON (for reconnaissance) is part of a Seal’s function, plus FIRM (‘outfit’); or – perhaps more specifically and better – a RECON is a rifle designed for use by Seal marksmen.
Edited to incude ‘to’ in the definition. |
||
11 | TIGER |
Somewhat anti-German, this beast (5)
|
A hidden answer (‘somewhat’) in ‘anTI-GERman’. | ||
12 | RATTY |
Non-drinker wearing beam? No: irritable! (5)
|
An envelope (‘wearing’) of TT (Tee-Total, ‘non drinker’) in RAY (‘beam’). | ||
14 | COLLAPSES |
Having chewed escallops, comes to premature end (9)
|
An anagram (‘having chewed’) of ‘escallops’. Everyman likes his one-word anagrams. | ||
15 | BLUSHING BRIDE |
Standard wedding feature in Britain: bold drunkard, first to trip (8,5)
|
A charade of B (‘bold’) plus LUSH (‘drunkard’) plus ‘in’ plus GB (Great ‘Britain’) plus RIDE (‘trip’), with ‘first’ indicating the order of the particles). | ||
18 | ON THE SAFE SIDE |
Avoiding adventurousness, having eaten dishes of bananas (2,3,4,4)
|
An anagram (‘bananas’) of ‘eaten dishes of’. | ||
20 | PROMISING |
Looking up and swearing (9)
|
Double definition. | ||
22 | RIGID |
Stiff clothing Everyman had (5)
|
A charade of RIG (‘clothing’) plus I’D (‘Everyman had’). | ||
23 | ALOOF |
Primarily antisocial, leerily offish or frosty? (5)
|
First letters (‘primarily’) of Antisocial Leerily Offish Or Frosty’, with an &lit definition. | ||
24 | NODDED OFF |
Showed approval of France (wasn’t paying attention) (6,3)
|
A charade of NODDED (‘showed approval’) plus ‘of’ plus F (‘France’, IVR). | ||
26 | DISCREET |
Tactful and distinct in pronouncement (8)
|
Sounds like (‘in pronouncement’) DISCRETE (‘distinct’). | ||
27 | STONER |
Pot-head, one preparing apricots? (6)
|
Double definition. | ||
DOWN | ||
1 | WARDROBE |
Struggle, insanely bored: it’s what you have to wear (8)
|
A charade of WAR (‘struggle’) plus DROBE, an anagram (‘insanely’) of ‘bored’. | ||
2 | ARC |
Bow stored in cedar chest (3)
|
A hidden answer (‘stored in’) in ‘cedAR Chest’. | ||
3 | FANCY THAT |
Model wearing elaborate headgear: wow! (5,4)
|
An envelope (‘wearing’) of T (‘model’, old crock Ford car) in FANCY HAT (‘elaborate headgear’). | ||
5 | HUMBLE-BRAGGED |
He’d gab and grumble affectedly – tried to subtly impress (6-7)
|
An anagram (‘affectedly’) of ‘he’d gab’ plus ‘grumble’. | ||
6 | EXTRA |
More paintings etc by O’Keeffe finally put up (5)
|
A reversal (‘put up’ in a down light) of ART (‘paintings etc’) plus X (‘by’, a multiplication sign) plus E (‘O’KeefE finally’). | ||
7 | REGISTERING |
Sinking in Tigris, green, flailing (11)
|
An anagram (‘flailing’) of ‘Tigris green’. | ||
8 | EGRESS |
Go back, not initially finding exit (6)
|
A subtraction: [r]EGRESS (‘go back’) minus the first letter (‘not initially’). | ||
10 | INCONVENIENCE |
Before perhaps, ladies in trouble (13)
|
A charade of ‘in’ plus CONVENIENCE (‘perhaps ladies’), with ‘before’ indicating the order of the particles. | ||
13 | TAUTOLOGOUS |
Like forward planning a mass exodus (11)
|
Cryptic definition: ‘forward planning’ and ‘mass exodus’ are two examples of tautology. | ||
16 | IN EARNEST |
Seriously, I’m approaching Robin’s home (2,7)
|
A charade of I NEAR (‘I’m aproaching’ – NEAR as a verb) plus NEST (‘robin’s home’). | ||
17 | HEADS FOR |
Goes to join with senior teachers’ backing (5,3)
|
A charade of HEADS (‘senior teachers’) plus FOR (‘backing’). | ||
19 | UPLAND |
In the wrong order, finally arrive in hilly area (6)
|
Swapping sylables (‘in the wrong order’), UPLAND gives LAND UP (‘finally arrive’). | ||
21 | INFER |
Conclude fashionable arbiter must be sent up (5)
|
A charade of IN (‘fashionable’) plus FER, a reversal (‘must be sent up’ in a down light) of REF (referee, ‘arbiter’). | ||
25 | OWN |
Possess fancy item of clothing that’s no good (3)
|
A subtraction: [g]OWN (‘fancy item of clothing’) minus the G (‘that’s no good’). |
Thanks Everyman and PeterO!
Loved TAUTOLOGOUS a great deal. Also, liked BLUSHING BRIDE, FANCY THAT, INCONVENIENCE and UPLAND.
Beaten by TAUTOLOGOUS – the U and all those Os… I’m not sure ‘forward planning’ is a tautology – you can have contingency planning, past planning, current planning etc. And does an exodus have to be en masse? (Probably just sour grapes). Otherwise, I thought this good. Thanks, Everyman and PeterO.
RECONFIRM
I too thought like PeterO that the setter was alluding to the SEAL Recon rifles.
description of Navy Seals outfit?
An outfit of Navy SEALS (which use the SEAL Recon rifles) could be described (whimsically-hence the ?) as (a) RECON FIRM.
A minuscule point:
The ‘to’ after the ‘credence’ needs to be underlined as a part of the def, I think.
I found this really hard. Got there in the end but used a lot of aids and was quite surprised that it all stayed in place at check all. I’d totally forgotten about ‘convenience’ for toilets (never used in Australia), knew nothing about navy seals rifles and ‘bananas’ as an anagrind is new to me. Still, I learned a lot, and that’s the main point. On to the next!
Was held up seemingly forever by “Tautologous”, but got there in the end, otherwise all good.
Thank you to Everyman and PeterO
It’s more probably, TT @2, because all the Israelites exited Egypt, rather than because of its etymology (Greek “road out”, approx. Linguists’ corrections welcome 🙂 ).
PS who else immediately hears the theme music swelling …
I only parsed the FIRM bit of RECONFIRM, but what else could it be? A RECON ia rifle? Really? Is that GK? I am merely expressing suprise, not condemnation, perhaps I should have googled it.
I couldn’t quite remember what a tautology was and had to look it up, I knew it was something to do with grammar and had worked it out but needed to check, if that makes sense
Anyway, I enjoyed this, so thanks to both.
I’m with nicbach@7 re questioning the GK involved in the interpretation of recon as a Navy Seal rifle. I believe RECON is meant to be reconnaissance, which I imagine would come much more readily to mind than a rifle by the same name, named after the work they do. Has anyone here heard of the rifle before looking it up? Perhaps too, recon, as American military jargon, is not as familiar in other English-speaking countries as is “recce” for reconnaissance..
I found RECONFIRM rather unsatisfying, with almost no way to work it out from wordplay, or even with some assistance from wordplay.
And maybe I’m being ratty, but I didn’t care for BLUSHING BRIDE either. Standard wedding feature ?!
and with some slightly tricky parsing.
I liked TAUTOLOGOUS, although I needed the crossers before I got it. Tassie Tim@2. I do consider forward planning to be tautologous, because you can only plan forwards, which reminds me of that phrase that so many bosses, and MP’s use, “moving forwards”, which really means ”get on the bus or you’ll be left behind”.
Thanks for the blog, COLLAPSES was neat and a good one for Jay’s list .
Grant@6 theme music ??
Greyhound@4, I do the puzzles on the Guardian iPad app and there is no Check or Reveal for the Prize or Everyman puzzles. What are you using that has a Check All function?
The last few weeks seem to have settled at about the same standard for Everyman.
I remember shrugging at the parsing of RECONFIRM as unconvinced, and wondering why a BLUSHING BRIDE had to be traditional.
Thank you to PeterO and Everyman
[Ernest Gold’s Exodus Theme (1960)]
Tough puzzle. Not recommended for beginners.
Favourites: REGISTERING, BLUSHING BRIDE
I could not parse 17d SENDS FOR = GOES TO JOIN WITH apart from SEN = senior. Oh, I see I was on the wrong track.
New for me: HUMBLE-BRAGGED; navy seals = RECON unit (for 9ac). Never heard of a recon rifle.
Thanks, both.
This isn’t a moan, it’s a genuine question… has the setter changed? I ask because not only are these harder than they used to be (this one less so but still tricky for a novice), but they aren’t as much fun or as slightly whimsical as they were.
I have to disagree with Shanne. I praised the previous week’s tight and clear crossword. I finished but this past week my copy is full of ???s meaning why is this the answer: 1a, 3a, 5d, 13d and 19d. Thank you to PeterO for explaining 1a, 13d and 19d. As with others, I am still worried about 9a. If 5d is a common expression, I am not aware of it. However, 16a was a well hidden anagram and I should have got it earlier. I hope this week is not quite so frustrating.
This took me twice as long as usual but I enjoyed it immensely. I’ve watched enough action movies to be comfortable with RECON FIRM as just a whimsical definition of the Navy Seals
Cheers P&E
Another one here who has never heard of a RECON rifle and is quite happy to accept the Navy Seals as a reconnaissance firm. I came back to this this morning to find part of the SW corner unfinished: DISCREET, INFER and UPLAND went in quickly enough, but TAUTOLOGOUS defeated me.
KLrunner@10 The “check all” button mysteriously appears at the same time as the following Sunday’s puzzle.
I thought TAUTOLOGOUS was perplexingly difficult 🙂
[ Thanks Frankie@12 , I like old films but I draw the line at Biblical epics, they are like the more modern Bored of the Rings films. ]
I don’t think the Navy Seals are a reconnaissance outfit, I think they’re offensive special forces, albeit that may involve some reconnaissance as all units do. I’m not an army nerd/groupie I had a job that, when it didn’t involve helping sexual abuse victims, involved liaison with Special Forces.
Chambers only has the ‘reconnaissance’ definition for RECON. If in fact the clue refers to a rifle, it’s a very specialised term for a general-interest puzzle.
Tripped myself up by writing in TAUTONYMOUS, clearly wrong but I was blind to the error and thus bollixed the SW corner.
13d. – pronunciation alert!!
Bodycheetah@19 🙂
UPLANDS took forever for me – I think these “swap syllables” clues appear quite rarely, and so I never think of that structure.
I was defeated by TAUTOLOGOUS in the end – even with all the crossers in place I couldn’t see it, and I had to resort to a word-finder app. I’ve spent a good part of the week grumbling to myself that the examples given weren’t really tautologies, but that’s just sour grapes.
Anyone else bung in SHOE SIZE in the first pass through, and then spend ages wondering why the anagram for 7d wouldn’t yield?
[KLRunner@10, what Guardian app are you using that has any Check or Reveal button? The Puzzles app stopped back in May, and the regular Guardian app doesn’t have any Check or Reveal buttons on my Android phone.]
Thanks to Everyman and PeterO
Since the Quiptic has moved from Mon to Sun, the Everyman has become a lot more difficult it seems to me. Looked at RECONFIRM ( as it turned out to be) for an age but didn’t get it. Not overly surprising if you’re meant to know what sort of rifles the Navy Seals prefer. I’m not an arms nerd. Never heard of a recon rifle. Was also beaten by Tautologicous. Very clever. This was a crossword that took a lot of time.
The Monday cryptic has got a lot harder of late too.
Essentially, the Quick Cryptic is now the beginner crossword, the Quiptic is for those, like me, who aren’t beginners but aren’t that good, and the Everyman and Monday Cryptic have moved up a notch for more seasoned solvers. Pity, as far as I’m concerned but maybe some of those crosswords had become a bit simple if I’m being honest.
@TanTrumpet : you don’t need an app for the Guardian crosswords. They were always better on bog standard Safari on an iPhone anyway. Haven’t tried Chrome. The buttons magically appear for an Everyman crossword one week after it appears- the following Sunday – if you reload the page. Then you can finally give in!
DaveF@14. The current Everyman, Alan Connor, ”came out” in Nov 22 with his 200th. Don’t know where he’s up to now.
https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/crossword-blog/2022/nov/26/meet-the-setter-the-observers-everyman
He has had a column on the Guardian for years about all things cryptocruciverbal, has written books, and is eminently knowledgeable.
In the meantime, he’s become the Guardian crosswords editor, and has recently introduced some changes to encourage new solvers, including the Quick Cryptic. As the Everyman setter for the Observer, he doesn’t have an editor. Now that he has other things in place for ”entry level” solvers, he seems to have unleashed his own desires to be a crossword setter in his own right, with his own voice, which is becoming increasingly apparent.
TanTrumPet@25. Another one here for SHOE size, instead of SHOE TREE.
KLrunner @10 – those buttons appear on Sunday once the next one is published. There’s just a check all and reveal all. I do mine on a MacBook.
Greyhound@30. Love your reveal of the ‘heck all’. I don’t often do it, but when I reveal, it’s that feeling of ‘what the heck’.
I thought this was just hard enough for an Everyman, but it sounds like it’s going to be a free for all in future! The Quick one is too trivial. But getting back to this one: I refused to write in ‘wharfs’ as the plural of ‘wharf’! 🙂
I’ve noticed a good few solvers, more accomplished than myself, on The Guardian’s own chat board who have commented over the last few weeks on how much harder this puzzle has been. Personally, I found it quite consistent to the norm…up until this and the prior week. Haven’t even started today’s yet, nor viewed the comments section, si ’tis time to go see.
I’ve noticed a good few solvers, several more accomplished than myself, on The Guardian’s own chat board who have commented over the last few weeks on how much harder this puzzle has been. Personally, I found it quite consistent to the norm…up until this and the prior week. Haven’t even started today’s yet, nor viewed the comments section, so ’tis time to go see.
Why did the above double up and include my last handle when I only sent it once under the new one?
Paddymelon @31 – I’ve since edited it, but yes it did inadvertently reveal the attendant exasperation.
Reconfirm – only got it by crossers; but maybe it’s Credence = Reco(mmendation), N(avy), Firm(outfit)
Greyhound@36, we must have crossed. Thank you for coming back. I was bemused.
A. Kumar@37. Nice. But the clue says again give credence. The re needs to be there for again.
Today’s earworm. CREEDENCE (sic).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCCfc2vAuDU
paddymelon@31 and Greyhound@36
😀
Again, some fine clues this time. Liked RIGID, WARDROBE and ON THE SAFE SIDE. TAUTOLOGOUS was very clever (and somewhat similar to SPOONERISM a couple of weeks ago). Parsed UPLAND a bit differently, with UP = in the wrong order in a down clue + LAND for arrive. Like many a poster, never heard of a recon rifle, so took Seals for RECONnaissance FIRM. Still don’t get FOR after HEADS, thought the definition was goes to (= HEADS FOR), backing stood for the reverse order and join somehow meant “for”…
Thank you, Everyman and PeterO
jayuu@40
HEADS FOR
When someone HEADS FOR a place or thing, one goes to/towards that place/thing.
If we say KVa HEADS FOR her friends, KVa ‘goes to join’ her friends. Hope my interpretation of the phrase is
correct.
backing=FOR seems fine to me. When I am FOR something, I am backing it.
Does this all make sense?
Oh, I now solve the Everyman in about the same time as I solve the Cryptics during the week, I think it’s at usual Cryptic level, now. Nor was this most recent Monday a gentle puzzle, although Vulcan sets an easier puzzle on alternate Mondays.
Alan Connor has said in blogs on the Guardian site that he thinks that the Everyman should be accessible (from the Guardian Crossword blog of 6 April):
“Sundays also offer the Observer’s Everyman, introduced in 1945 because the paper’s other puzzle is deliberately and astonishingly challenging. The Everyman has had only six setters; I am the sixth and I like to keep things gentle and solvers satisfied.”
and that the Monday crossword should be a gentle start to the week (from the same blog).
“Since there’s an unofficial tradition here that the Monday puzzle is not going to take up too much of the start of your week, or leave you with a frustratingly unfinished grid, it’s a matter, perhaps, of working your way further and further through the crosswording week.”
On the Guardian Crossword blog of 27 May 2024, which discusses the perception that the Everyman is harder than it used to be there was a challenge set:
“Can anyone find an Everyman puzzle – one of those fine examples from before the 2020s – that is easier than today’s Everyman? The first in the archives is 2,965, from an issue dominated by the invasion of Iraq.”
The one he linked to there was much easier than the Everyman of the weekend before.
I think it is simply the case that our setter/editor has very poor judgement when it comes to the level of difficulty . The Everyman now is nothing like the level it was for many years.
The Guardian seems to be converging on a single level of difficulty for every puzzle. We get few easier puzzles, one a fortnight maybe , and we never, ever get a properly hard puzzle.
Pdm@38 Thanks for the Creedence (sic) ear worm.
I also parsed RECONFIRM as reconnaissance firm. Why get any more esoteric when that fits? And isn’t that what they do?
I liked this puzzle but agree some of the parsing was tricky, with Reconfirm an example. My favourites were the difficult but clever TAUTOLOGOUS (last in, with all the crossers in place) and HUMBLE-BRAGGED (clever anagram).
Thanks Everyman and PeterO.
“Can anyone find an Everyman puzzle – one of those fine examples from before the 2020s – that is easier than today’s Everyman?”
This is of course an impossible challenge, since difficulty is so subjective.
Lloyd@32: Both dwarf and wharf have a choice of plurals, though I think you’re more likely to find DWARFS than WHARFS (which made me wince a bit too). JRR Tolkien apparently wrote “dwarves” throughout LOTR and had it “corrected” to “dwarfs” by some officious proofreader, whereas Terry Pratchett preferred “dwarfs”.
Gladys@45 I agree it is subjective between different solvers but you can be objective comparing to yourself. I suspect that most people doing an Everyman now from 10 years ago would find it a lot easier.
I note that most of the newer solvers on here are complaining. I help some people at work who are long time Everyman solvers , their only puzzle, they are complaining every week now.
Snow White had 7 DWARFS and Particle Physics has 7 dwarfons .
KVa@41: Thank you, this absolutely makes sense! I still think that Goes to would be sufficient as a definition on its own, though 🙂
TanTrumPet@25 and pdm@29, I was another SHOE SIZE at 4a, and didn’t see the right answer until I overcame the rogue I to start 7d REGISTRATION (a very good clue with a great surface).
Roz et al, fwiw here’s my take on degree of difficulty – subjective of course – as an experienced solver of only middling ability. The Everyman and Monday cryptics have become slightly more difficult recently, and so there are now 3(1/2) levels of difficulty. The Quick Cryptic and the Quiptic are at the beginner level, the Everyman and Monday Cryptic (including the Monday FT) are slightly more challenging (and a good place for beginners to begin stretching themselves), and the Tuesday to Saturday Cryptics are of medium difficulty (with the occasional toughie, hence the 1/2 level above). The real toughies, like Inquisitor, alphabeticals etc. are available elsewhere, and so can be avoided by less skilled solvers like me.
So there is still a gradation, and something for everyone (except Roz, maybe 🤔).
On balance, I think Alan is doing a fine job both as Everyman and as the Guardian editor.
Cellomaniac@48 I generally agree with your analysis here but not your conclusions.
QC – a great initiative , I fully support this and the puzzles are very suitable.
Quiptic – A lot of people do not even know this exists , it is not in the paper. Some people will never do a crossword online or use a site like this , we get a false impression here. I have looked at a few blogs and most comments are from regular Guardian solvers.
Everyman – I know a number of people who have this as their only puzzle and have done for many years, they are not happy. I am not saying it is too hard but they are. The Everyman has been an entry level puzzle for over 50 years, a long tradition. On The Art of the Crossword by Ximenes has 2 chapters by Alec Robins on how to set an Everyman , our setter should read these.
Guardian – Of all papers the Guardian should aim for diversity in the standard of puzzles, we now get the same standard day after day, good puzzles , well set but so monotonous . Too hard for newer solvers and not challenging for seasoned solvers.
Tough puzzles – I do have Azed plus IO once a month in the FT . The rest are either online or in papers owned by criminals so I avoid them.
Since taking up cryptic crosswords in 2017 I’ve downloaded and solved around 700 Everyman puzzles dating back to 2007. I can honestly say that if the early puzzles had been as hard as some of the current ones, I’d have given up long ago! I can quite understand the temptation to allow the difficult level to creep upwards over time, and maybe the lack of an independent editor means there’s no one to gently apply the brakes.
Just what I am hearing David@50 and you have a very impressive sample there . I learnt to do cryptics using Everyman and I think I was lucky with the puzzles at the time.
I used to love the everyman puzzles – they were the first ones I managed to solve without aids. Not the same anymore sadly.
Cellomaniac @48 emphatically Roz is not alone, with all due respect I’d say your views are far less representative than hers. Some Monday cryptics are easily as difficult as those later in the week now so there can only be one entry level crossword a week (I don’t count the Quick Cryptic as that is for total beginners). I can struggle along with most crosswords and don’t especially need an easier Sunday and Monday, but I used to enjoy them. I also think there has been a bit of a decline overall and especially with Everyman in terms of being enjoyable regardless of difficulty level. They’re meant to be fun whether they’re easy or hard.
I don’t find these to be harder than when I first started on them fairly regularly many years ago. Perhaps I haven’t noticed a slight increase in difficulty on account of my improving skills (because of familiarity and practice); but since it’s the only cryptic I do [I only really to it because I’m tempted to try while doing the killer sudoku on the opposite page each week] I don’t think I’m a particularly experienced cryptic-er. So I don’t agree that it’s that much harder than a decade or more back.
I did notice, when the current setter took over, that the style became a bit less tightly logical, and some of the clues seemed more like … well, clues. I preferred the earlier “tighter” ones; in some ways the change has perhaps made them a little bit harder, but no more so now (in my view) than when the current setter first took over. My “level” is that I rarely get the whole thing finished on a Sunday – and on the rare occasions I do, there will be one or two where the answer was obvious but I don’t consider them “done” because I haven’t figured out the parsing. (For me, the fun is as much the latter as getting the actual answer written in.)
By the way – I’m always surprised how many people commenting here seem to be working on the crossword on a screen, not on paper. Is that why they they find it hard?! I wouldn’t even know how to start dealing with a crossword if I couldn’t scribble all over the place – especially when trying out possible anagrams! (On the latter subject, there seem to be some fine long anagrams in today’s Everyman.)
Albert@55: Solving online is often the most convenient, if not the only, possibility for those outside the UK, like myself. (Of course, you could still print the crossword site out and work on paper.) The online version isn’t that bad, with an option to clear your “input” as many times as you need and even an “anagram helper” (which randomly shuffles letters you enter around your “standing” crossers or guesses. It isn’t always very helpful, especially with long anagrams and few “sure” entries, but it definitely lets you check if your suggested answer matches what you consider an anagram from the clue.) Many other crosswords, including QC and daily Cryptics, also have an option to check your answer on the spot. Everyman doesn’t, which makes it more challenging and fun, for me at least.
I’m probably just being stupid, but I don’t understand 12ac (RATTY). What is “No:” doing in the clue?
Ted@57 – because ‘wearing a beam’ would imply a happy mood (smilimg) – which ‘ratty’ is not.
Hmm. I see that that’s its meaning in the surface reading, but does it have a function in the cryptic reading?
An example I think of the whole Guardian/ Everyman/ Quiptic/ Quick Cryptic assemblage falling into the abyss. What’s required is an editor of some repute to step in an sort it all out, as one feels there’s no real leadership here. I’m afraid I found this puzzle awkward and bitty, lacking an identity, really, more than anything else.
I appear to be a minority of one in my appreciation of Everyman, the Guardian editor, and the Guardian and FT cryptic crosswords in general. I will therefore shut up and simply resume enjoying the puzzles for what they are – great fun.
jayuu@56, I too am outside the UK, but I always print the puzzles and solve them on paper, (a) for the reason noted by Albert@55 and (b) because I enjoy the tactile experience of pen or pencil and paper.
Cellomaniac@61 , it is all a matter of opinion , I like reading your views even when you are wrong ( yellow smiley face thing ) .
I just know what I am being told by long term solvers of the Everyman .
I think we agree that the Guardian puzzle has become very samey , middle of the road, like an orchestra playing the same note each day. I do not think it is fair for newer solvers or for me .
I never thought I would prefer the FT most weeks , more variety , more interesting.
I’m trying to feel my way into cryptic crosswords. Moved from the quick to the quick cryptic to the Quiptic with relative confidence and enjoyment but this was brutal for me and very few solved despite returning to it regularly during the week
Is there an easier cryptic somewhere to try as I’m not convinced the Monday Cryptic is, in fact, easier than the rest of the week?
Morpethman@63: Mondays are a bit of a lucky dip these days: if it’s by Vulcan (today’s is) then it’s usually quite easy, but if it’s someone else it might be anywhere from simple to fiendish.
@cellomaniac I agree with you! I am a relative beginner (just over a year). I find I can reliably do the quiptic, most of the Everyman and the Prize consistently, now I have some experience (not at the start). Having persevered and learned some
tricks I enjoy them all very much, look forward to them and sometimes they are all I manage to find time for with my job. Without these (and this blog) I would have given up all cryptics, and I guess I’m part of a newer wave of users (solving online on my phone).
The week’s cryptics are all very variable in difficulty. I quite often don’t finish. Especially Paul!
Roz @49, did you ever try any of Fidelio’s puzzles? 😉
https://www.theguardian.com/profile/fidelio
I used to love Fidelio , very sparse , minimalist clues. When you got the answer it always fitted the clue perfectly. Fidelio, Gemini and Bunthorne – those were the days. The Guardian also had great setters for newer solvers – Janus , Custos , Quantum ……
PROMISING – I knew it was a different def of “looking up” but could get sense of physically looking up with one’s eyes out of my head. Good misdirection. Or perhaps I am easily misdirected.
TAUTOLOGOUS – was pleased with myself after getting this one, after some crossers.
BLUSHING BRIDE – didn’t know what “first” was doing, sort of see it now.
Liked: STONER
New to me: HUMBLE BRAGGED
IN EARNEST – reminds me of Robin’s Nest starring Richard O’Sullivan which I vaguely (mis)remember. The old one armed Irishman was funny I think.
Needed some Reveals this week (e.g. RECONFIRM)
I’ve never seen a BLUSHING bride; fancy that!
5d TRICKY!
And 13d – liked it BUT not always forward!!
Rob from Epsom Auckland: still cold at night!
Not very satisfying. Unfortunately in New Zealand it’s about the only real crossword we get in hard copy.
Never heard of ‘humble-bragged’ and the dictionaries I’ve consulted say it is all one word.
Shoe Tree was just silly, and more to the point, where is the actual definition?
The two ‘examples’ of tautology are marginally similar at best.
Echo the general bewilderment of ‘reconfirm’. I’m leaning to the reconnaissance theory rather than some American gun few seems to have heard of, but it would be nice if the setter came on and told us what he had in mind.
Yet again, lack of a decent checker or two lets these crosswords down.
edit seem, not seems.
This was definitely trickier than some other previous Everyman puzzles have been, but on the whole a great challenge. We had to look up how TAUTOLOGOUS fitted, didn’t like UPLAND but plenty of other goodies in there. BLUSHING BRIDE; HUMBLE BRAGGED; STONER all goodies. Thanks from a happy couple of Kiwis here in Whangaparaoa on a gorgeous blue-sky winter’s day.
I had to come back this morning to complete Upland and Discreet in the bottom left corner, having resolved the parsing of Promising in my sleep. It was a little more difficult than usual, but not unfair. I was briefly one of the shoe sizers, but think the clue is quite amusing. Barrie, what do you think of the Styx puzzle? Although it’s not as consistent as the Everyman, it’s usually worth the effort.
I have the same comments as you, Duane@73, except I used a word finder for TAUTOLOGOUS. I have come to enjoy Styx. I started a few months ago, getting one or two clues day, often finishing on Friday. I have the rhythm of it now, and can sometimes complete it in one sitting.
The Everyman varies a lot in difficulty. I find DDs the hardest as there is no real parsing. I mostly complete Everyman by the end of the weekend – like today, but get DNFs about two in ten times.
Looked at the anagram and worked out HUMBLE BRAGGED but I don’t think it makes sense. I liked BLUSHING BRIDE and TAUTOLOGOUS