Another pleasing and sound cryptic from Everyman.
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 When the world’s not ready for enemies to be trounced
BEFORE ONE’S TIME
(FOR ENEMIES TO BE)* with ‘trounced’ as the anagrind.
8 Old songs and flags
STANDARDS
A dd.
9 Élite group had some food before noon
A-TEAM
A charade of ATE and AM.
11 Woods may hold such sporting prize
ASHES
A dd. The second definition refers to the small urn which England and Australia compete for at cricket.
12 Property of theses
PREMISES
Another dd.
14 44 runs to the west twice: fancy!
FROU-FROU
When in doubt, follow the instructions: take FOUR, FOUR, and move R westwards twice. A quaint term, which I’d not heard for ages.
15 Glimpse, with psychic powers, yeti’s head
ESPY
A charade of ESP for Extra Sensory Perception and Y for the initial letter of ‘yeti’.
18 Twee ‘antique’, golden, uncased
OLDE
[G]OLDE[N] gives you the ersatz word for ‘old’, mainly attached to such linguistic bollocks as Ye Olde Tea Shoppe.
19 Primarily orotund, pronouncedly emotively rococo; alternatively, that involves Carmen?
OPERATIC
The initial letters of the last eight words of the clue and a cad.
22 Most like Friar Tuck, squiffier than the rest
MERRIEST
A dd. Friar Tuck was of course one of Robin of Loxley’s Merry Men.
23 Democrat you may know as Republican: capital!
DAKAR
A charade of D, AKA for also known as, and R.
25 Strips off, laying back … for slumber
SLEEP
A reversdal of PEELS.
26 Puts at risk the final, causes fury
ENDANGERS
A charade of END and ANGERS.
27 Doors increasingly left open in winter?
ADVENT CALENDAR
A cd. Only 121 sleeps till Christmas.
Down
1 Bay that’s included principally in Shipping Forecasts – in the middle?
BISCAY
Wight, Portland, Plymouth, Biscay … An insertion of I and S for the first letters of ‘in’ and ‘Shipping’, and C for the central letter of ‘Forecasts’ in BAY. You need to read ‘that’s’ as ‘that has’ and then ‘has included’ is the insertion indicator. It’s also a cad, because BISCAY is pretty much in the middle of the list of sea areas included in the hypnotic and much-loved radio transmission.
2 Loudly punished faceless aficionado, suppressing resistance and getting bird
FEATHERED FRIEND
A charade of F for the musical ‘loudly’, [L]EATHERED and an insertion of R in FIEND. The insertion indicator is ‘suppressing’.
3 Survives; leaves on horseback
RIDES OUT
Another dd.
4 Monster, therefore recoiling!
OGRE
A reversal of ERGO.
5 Hid rabid deerhounds
ENSHROUDED
(DEERHOUNDS)* with ‘rabid’ as the anagrind.
6 Some extra umami gives you shock
TRAUMA
Hidden in exTRA UMAmi.
7 Makes destiny etc go awry, and bites the dust
MEETS A STICKY END
(MAKES DESTINY ETC)* with ‘go awry’ as the anagrind.
10 Leisurely walks? Brief moments – engrossing, on reflection, I’d be glad to!
MOSEYS
An insertion of YES reversed in MOS. The insertion indicator is ‘engrossing’ and the reversal indicator is ‘on reflection’.
13 It comes out at night offering support to a hunter
ORION’S BELT
A cd. It’s referring to the constellation of Orion, where the three equally spaced star systems – Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka – are interpreted as the ‘belt’ of the hunter Orion. One of the most easily discernible features of the winter night sky.
16 Detective’s addresses in the auditorium
HOLMES
Aural wordplay (‘in the auditorium’) of HOMES
17 Protégée given to aunts announced preparation for hostilities
WAR DANCE
A charade of WARD and ANCE, aural wordplay (‘announced’) of AUNTS.
20 Spot sharp implement taking some measure
PIMPLE
Hidden in sharP IMPLEment.
21 Historical periods ultimately come together (I’ll correct writer’s mistakes)
ERASER
A charade of ERAS and ER for the final letters of ‘come’ and ‘together’.
24 Everyman had, at heart, dreary product of thought
IDEA
A charade of I’D for ‘Everyman had’ and EA for the central letters of drEAry.
Many thanks to Everyman for this week’s puzzle.
Beaten by ORION’S BELT. I looked at it for a few days but gave up. CDs are tricky if you can’t see them. There’s not much else to go on.
Can you only see Orion in winter, Pierre? I needed the crossers for the BELT to occur to me. And, of course, the ADVENT CALENDAR is a summer thing. ‘Aunts’ pronounced as ‘ants’? Still, another pleasant outing from Everyman, to whom thanks, as well as to Pierre.
Everyman’s hidden solutions increasingly resemble those Magic Eye pictures, where you have to look beyond the surface to find the hidden image. I knew PIMPLE was the answer, but could I see it in the clue?
We seem to be getting two pairs of solutions these days: this week it was the rhyming FEATHERED FRIEND/MEETS A STICKY END, as well as the thematically-connected BEFORE ONE’S TIME/ADVENT CALENDAR on opposite sides of the grid.
Thanks Pierre, especially for BISCAY. Really?! With or without the requisite GK, the clue is tortuous and torturous.
With FROU-FROU I think Everyman is breaking the fairness criterion of cryptic setting, ie gettable def or wordplay, or vice versa.
Why is the def for ERASER I’ll correct …. rather than It’ll ?
I did like Everyman’s trademark self-deprecatory humour in the surface for IDEA, and the hidden TRAUMA.
Tassie Tim@2. LOL. I have memories of ADVENT CALENDARS covered in sparkly snow and wintry scenes, while having the Aussie seafood barbecue for Christmas ”dinner”. Interesting to read that we can see Orion from both the UK and Australia at the same time, although more predominantly in the opposite seasons.
Actually, pdm@4, I thought of BISCAY straight away, but hesitated because starting the clue with ‘Bay’ seemed too much of a giveaway, so waited for more crossers. And I quite liked FROU-FROU when I saw how it worked. Nor did I mind the ERASER talking to us. Different strokes…
I thought this was quite a chewy puzzle, but lots to like.
Thank you Pierre for [L]EATHERED, which I didn’t understand until now. I got the rest, so it had to be FEATHERED FRIEND.
One correction: MEETS A STICKY END is an anagram of ‘Make destiny etc’ with ‘go awry’ as the anagrind, I guess.
Eventual favourites, the CDs ADVENT CALENDAR and ORIONS BELT took me until Monday to solve, both very good and worth the second look.
I also liked the surface of MEETS A STICKY END and the construction of MOSEYS.
Thanks Everyman and Pierre
I found this chewy for an Everyman, with ADVENT CALENDAR and ORION’S BELT taking ages to see. I only got Orion from the belt too.
I thought BISCAY early as well, but needed crossers to be convinced.
(Pierre, the ETC is part of the fodder in MEETS A STICKY END)
Thank you to Pierre and Everyman
Whipped by Orion’s Belt.
I’d never heard of frou frou, but I liked the answer now I’ve seen it. Also didn’t get Orion’s Belt.
Found this trickier than usual. I couldn’t parse biscay or feathered friend.
Thanks as always!
Thanks for the correction to 7d. Blog amended.
I found this quite tough, especially the SW corner.
Thanks, both.
ORIONS BELT held out till the bitter end.
Top ticks for FROU FROU, BISCAY & FEATHERED FRIEND
Assumed 22a was a DD – but was never convinced
Cheers P&E
Liked this for the most part, including the macabre rhyme and both ORIONS BELT and ADVENT CALENDAR. Thought BISCAY was rather bizarrely clued, and ANCE for “aunts” was the exact reversal of equally doubtful ASCENTS for “a sense” 2 weeks prior.
Thank you, Everyman and Pierre
I was reasonably confident at the beginning that 11 was Tiger, but disabused by the crossers.
I liked ADVENT CALENDAR and MEETS A STICKY END (I wonder how Paul might clue that?).
Thanks Everyman and Pierre.
TassieTim @2 – where I live (England – ‘up north’) we pronounce aunt as ant. I was slightly upset by the elision of the T sound, but the vowel was fine.
And yes, Orion is a winter constellation here.
HOLMES was my loi, because I just couldn’t get from ‘addresses’ to ‘homes’. FROU-FROU and A-TEAM both raised a smile for their constructions (and I loved the TV series for the latter when I was younger). I could see ORION for the hunter early on, but it took the crossers to get BELT.
Overall, this was on the harder side for Everyman (I needed a re-visit on Monday to complete it), but very enjoyable.
Thanks to Everyman and Pierre.
I thought this was easier than the Everymen(?) of a few months ago. A bit harder than the Quiptic, but not by too much. The explanation the parsing of BISCAY amused me as it was so much longer than the, rather concise, clue. I also appreciated the comment accompanying the explanation of OLDE.
Thanks both.
The aunts / ANCE homophone is, for once, one that works better in American English. See this recent insurance ad for a relevant amusement.
Thanks to Pierre for the explanation of FEATHERED FRIEND, where I didn’t understand the “feathered” half, and the detail on BISCAY.
Well I must be pretty dim, because although various people are saying that this was not too hard I found it impossibly so, to the extent that I used aids freely by the end and never got ORION’S BELT. Much harder than any other Everyman I’ve done; ‘entry level’ very much a thing of the past. The tortuous wordplay for BISCAY was hardly straightforward.
FROU-FROU only entered because it fitted. Wasn’t comfortable with the wordplay and Collins and Chambers don’t really support ‘fancy’, so far as I can see. And Collins calls it froufrou.
mrpenney@19 Not all American English. I regularly speak to one American who pronounces it like “aren’t”. Sorry, I don’t know which part of America she was born & raised in.
Lin @21: the US does have nearly as much regional and cultural variation in dialect as Britain, for sure. But I wonder how many Americans both pronounce “aunt” the British way and also drop the R in “aren’t”. They probably all live in Maine and New Hampshire.
New to me: FROU-FROU
Stumped by: FEATHERED FRIEND, PIMPLE, ADVENT CALENDAR.
Guessed BISCAY couldn’t parse it.
Liked: ORIONS BELT
Tough.
Oh dear. Sorry Everyman/Alan Connor for not appreciating the clue for BISCAY. I’d forgotten you wrote the Shipping Forecast Puzzle Book. . Reminded of it just now when looking up Meet the Setter for another setter.
Found this trickier than most Everymen (Everymans? Everys Man in the style of Grands Prix?)
Amused at the blog more than I was at the grid! “linguistic bollocks” and what I interpreted as a VERY ironic “sleeps” as a plural noun were a particular highlight 🙂
A very late (and perhaps pedantic) comment….. 25ac – “laying back”? I know it’s common to confuse lay and lie these days, but laying is part of the verb to lay, which is transitive (ie one lays an object). Grammatically, the clue should read “Strips off, lying back….”.
MunroMaiden@26 – Came back very very (a week) late just to complain about 25a’s “laying back”.
Always hate it when lie lay lain is confused with lay laid laid. Have to sing the Dylan song as Lie Lady Lie.
“Lay low” always jars, unless it’s “Will this wind be so mighty as to lay low the mountains of the earth?” – Rowan A, 1979…
…or Dudley M, 1960. Wish I could be more laid-back about it, but I can’t.
Loved frou-frou. Hadn’t heard it since my childhood, where it was the name of Madame’s horse in the Aristocats. Very cute!
Found this one tough but got there in the end, with a lot of guessing and checks. Interestingly BISCAY was foi for me due to general knowledge and the parsing only understood after reading here. FEATHERED FRIEND I guessed from crossers and again wordplay only understood after reading the blog. Amusing cryptic definitions in this one. Thanks Everyman and Pierre.
Great crossword this week. FROU-FROU; ORIONS BELT and ADVENT CALENDAR our favourites. No complaints at all, just thanks!
I found this a bit more chewy than last week’s, but that could just be down to an average night’s sleep. Some very good clues, but a couple of surfaces that make little sense e.g. 2d &10d.
For the pedants, in 25 across, “peels” is the understood object of the verb “lay”, represented by the dots. Therefore, “laying back…for slumber” translates as “putting down peels backwards for sleep”.
Failed on Orions Belt and Advent Calendar. A few others I got unparsed, including pimple where the HW indicator is marginal at best imho.
Agree with Wil Ransome@20. Way too hard. Had to resort to a lot of use of wild card dictionaries to get it out. 1 down (“Biscay”) was impossible to parse — even after seeing Pierre’s explanation. The phrase “frou frou” was unknown to me.
Took me two sessions. My wife used to say, if we got stuck, go away and come back to it. OF COURSE she was right. I came back and FEATHERED FRIEND jumped out, then FROU FROU and ADVENT CALENDAR and then WAR DANCE and DAKAR. it was quite amazing. Mind you I started with BENGAL at 1D!
A hard one.
Got there and enjoyed the moments when the clues finally revealed themselves.
I’m finding the lack of consistency in level of these ‘Everyman’ puzzles very off-putting.
Really hard, SW corner the problem for me. Couldn’t understand Biscay at all, I know what the shipping forecasts are but you obviously have to have much better knowledge. Frou Frou also far too weird in the cluing. Liked Dakar, Standards, Premises
one of the tougher ones….