Apologies for the lateness and brevity.
| Across |
Entry |
Wordplay |
| 1 Crazy long tale about saloon, perhaps, somewhere in Indian Ocean … (10) | MADAGASCAR | MAD (crazy)+SAGA (long tale; rev: about)+CAR (saloon) |
| 6 … eastern image in long tale (4) | EPIC | Eastern+PIC (image) |
| 9 Sterilise (milk perhaps) that’s in and out of sight, they say (10) | PASTEURISE | Sounds like “past your eyes” (He said, “do you want pasteurised cos pasteurised is best?” She said, “Ernie, I’d be ‘appy if it came up to me chest!”) |
| 10 File’s one showing fellows by university (4) | MENU | MEN (fellows)+University |
| 12 Freak’s metal bananas in second-hand stalls (4,7) | FLEA MARKETS | FREAKS METAL (anag: bananas) |
| 15 Primarily Spanish in etymology: ranges, rising apexes serrated? (7) | SIERRAS | I figured this out at the time but I can’t quite work it out now.
Thanks to Roz at comment #2 |
| 16 Cold – wearing summer footwear – disgrace! (7) | SCANDAL | SANDAL (footwear) around Cold |
| 17 Dope and rye – wasted – this’ll help you see straight (3-4) | EYE-DROP | DOPE RYE (anag: wasted)
Thanks to Sallie149 – comment #7 |
| 19 Some confront a rioter in Canadian province (7) | ONTARIO | confrONT A RIOter (hidden: in) |
| 20 Bug … bear … cricket, perhaps (5,6) | STICK INSECT | STICK (bear)+INSECT (cricket, perhaps) |
| 23 Flipping prison sentence to throw out (4) | EMIT | TIME (prison sentence; rev: flipping) |
| 24 Everyman is unable to express ‘dunno’ (1,6,3) | I CANNOT SAY | kind of cryptic double def (i think) |
| 25 Care for a round number? 500? (4) | TEND | TEN (round number)+D (500) |
| 26 Concerning school to escape being reviewed: make a new plan (10) | RESCHEDULE | RE (concerning)+SCHool+ELUDE (escape; rev: being reviewed) |
| Down | ||
| 1 Before start of evening, clean the floor that’s pine (4) | MOPE | MOP (clean the floor)+E[vening] (start of) |
| 2 Soupçon of fly (4) | DASH | (double def) |
| 3 Attacks poor and gambles the lot (4,3,5) | GOES FOR BROKE | GOES FOR (attacks)+BROKE (poor) |
| 4 Presents – or hides from view? (7) | SCREENS | (double def) |
| 5 Believes in counterfeits (7) | ASSUMES | I think this is double def but I feel I’m missing something |
| 7 President concealing ‘legal’ cash for those seeking power (10) | PRETENDERS | PRESident around TENDER (as in “legal tender”) |
| 8 In conversation, parish representative’s advisor (10) | COUNSELLOR | Sounds like COUNCILLOR |
| 11 Robert skates erratically: it’s a way of crossing the water (12) | BREASTSTROKE | ROBERT SKATES (anag: erratically) |
| 13 Fools’ son intended to lose heart in test (10) | ASSESSMENT | ASSES (fools)+Son+ME[a]NT (to lose heart) |
| 14 Echoing intemperate petitioner (10) | REPETITION | PETITIONER (anag: intemerate) |
| 18 Criticise a revolutionary style (7) | PANACHE | PAN (crticise)+A+CHE (Guavara; revolutionary) |
| 19 Incredibly wide, rustling up cocaine (7) | OCEANIC | COCAINE (anag: rustling up) |
| 21 Old Testament figure seen in chocolate sauce (4) | ESAU | chocolatE SAUce (hidden: seen in) |
| 22 Use a keyboard, and strain (4) | TYPE | (double def) |
i thought this was a very fair crossword. My only query was 13 down where I could not account for an ‘s’. My newspaper had: “Fools intended…” not “Fool’s son intended…”
Thanks for stepping in with the blog, if you are not teasing us with SIERRAS it is simply first letters .
MADAGASCAR and REPITITION and OCEANIC for the lists of Jay.
ASSESSMENT had no son in the clue in the paper so an S was missing from the wordplay .
@2 D’oh!
I knew it would be simple. I’ll fix it.
MENU
Looks like the def is ‘File’s one’ (giving a ‘File’ as an example of a ‘MENU’-Computerspeak!)
I CANNOT SAY
Meant to be a DD, I feel (not much difference between the two defs).
ASSESSMENT
The online version has the word ‘son’ in the clue.
Thanks Everyman and kenmac!
Same issue as Christopher @1: missing the “son” in Clue 13D for some reason. I tend to print off the PDF version from the site, and solve it in ink, but not in the newspaper itself, so I don’t know if versions differed.
All fine and up to Everyman’s usual enjoyable standard otherwise. Thanks to Everyman and kenmac.
For anyone too young to get the reference at 9a to Ernie
Thanks Everyman and kenmac
Thanks!
Soupçon was a new lovely word for me.
I think for 17 you mean dope rye (anag) by way of explanation.
Found this a more straightforward than recent puzzles thought still took me a bit longer than it used to.
Liked: MADAGASCAR, MOPE, PRETENDERS, PANACHE,
Thanks Everyman and kenmac
Thanks for stepping in at short notice.
Is a bug a stick insect, then? Or vice versa?
I CANNOT SAY
WP: Everyman is unable to express
Def: dunno
Not a DD. Apologies.
Counterfeit=ASSUME in the sense of ‘to feign’. Close enough?
Excellent puzzle. This is exactly the sort of puzzle that I expect in the Everyman slot.
Thanks, both.
Anna@9 I took it as bug being a huge variety of things , one type being a STICK INSECT , no need for an example indicator this way. Cricket being an example of an insect needs the perhaps.
[ For fans of Spoonerisms , a small but select group, Azed has a special puzzle today devoted to Spoonerisms. ]
I agree with michelle @12, this was perfect for the Everyman slot. I managed to finish it on the day, first time for a number of weeks.
I parsed MENU as per KVa @4, definition is ‘File’s one’, ie File is an example of a MENU on my computer screen. This was definitely one where the answer went in first and the parsing came later.
ESAU was new to me, had to Google to confirm.
I liked PANACHE, PASTEURISE and ASSESSMENT.
Thanks Everyman and kenmac.
Yes agree a perfect Everyman!
Thanks Everyman and kenmac
I disagree with the parsings for MENU given above: the directory and folders constitute the menu, in that sense a file is a menu item.
Yes Simon S, maybe File’s in one? would have been better.
MENU
(Simon S and grantinfreo)
Or should we read it as ‘File has one’? Again someone may say it’s a MENU toolbar-not a MENU.
Without getting more technical, ‘File’s one’ seems to be the intended def.
‘File’s in one’ seems to be a good alternative, I agree.
This was quite accessible imo, with several nice – and deceiving – clues: “File’s one”. (Also parsed this as an example, another one being, say, “Edit”. Both toolbar items do have submenus of their own.)
Thank you, Everyman and kenmac
Late to comment as today has been our town show and I’ve spent the day there on a stall. (I did nearly volunteer to blog this first thing this morning as I completed it fairly fast last week, when I realised it hadn’t been saved during the week, but didn’t have time today)
There was a rhyming pair last week, GOING FOR BROKE and BREASTSTROKE.
Thank you to kenmac and Everyman.
The missing ‘son’ in printed version for 13D was an issue (see what I did there?!). This is becoming a habit – the misprinted clue for Leo a few weeks ago. Not v helpful if you just use newspaper version.
Apparently there’s no rhyming or alliterative pair this time, or a self-referential clue. Did I miss something?
Thanks to kenmac for jumping in, and to Everyman for being Everyman.
GOES FOR BROKE and BREASTSTROKE are the rhyming pair
I don’t know if I CANNOT SAY counts as the self-referential clue.
I agree with Dom@22, perhaps we need an editor. I only knew about the LEO correction from Crispy on the blog the previous week. Correcting online is no excuse, we are not all nerds.
RESCHEDULE: Although I find them easier, I don’t think these types of clues are particularly elegant, surface reading wise. The wordplay and the definition are fairly obviously separated by a semi colon. Perhaps I shouldn’t complain too loudly, Everyman might make the clues harder. No Everyman they are hard enough as it is.
ASSUMES, SCREENS: these double definitions can be tricky, at least one of the definitions is always obscure or esoteric or out of left field. To me. Still don’t get “screens” = “presents”.
DASH: I get that this is a double definition (with the help of crossers), I don’t get the “of”.
PASTEURISE: Ha, the old joke. What’s the fastest drink?
PANACHE: stared at this for ages. DD? Pan? Ache? Ah! (tea tray time) Che! Liked that. (“power to the people” TPF).
Correction:
DASH: I get that this is a double definition (with the help of crossers), I didn’t get the “of” until I came here.
Next week the local cinema screens/presents a series of classic films.
Ah! thanks Roz @28! D’oh!
Excellent Kenmac – but still wondering whether a stick insect is a bug.
Rob from Epsom Auckland NZ where Spring is just round the corner.
Easier but some rather feeble clues, 5D 8D 20A and the acrostics are getting tedious. Somehow it felt like he’d compiled this in a bit of a rush.
OTOH Panache was a decent clue.
One of the easiest for while. I liked FLEA MARKETS & I CANNOT SAY.
Not around this corner Rob.
Tony in Howick.
When I first looked, the clues seemed incomprehensible, but I flew through it, so it can’t have been too difficult!
Thanks to all concerned, an enjoyable puzzle.
Great crossword this week, no complaints from us on a very wet & windy day in Whangaparaoa.
Wouldn’t call it easy but definitely easier than past few weeks.
My favourite often is a small word, today no exception my favourite, Tend.
Go the ABs!
Record time over G&Ts waiting for the ABs. Liked it a lot and was the easiest for a while.
Yes, somewhat more straightforward than recent weeks. Made we wonder if the setter had changed back temporarily at least. Enjoyed it though, particularly Pasteurise and Panache.