Everyman 4,070 by Everyman

67 comments on “Everyman 4,070 by Everyman”

1. DNF due to a few blanks in NW. I knew MANX CAT is the only solution, but couldn’t parse. Tickles me now, after seeing your explanation.

   nice, enjoyable puzzle. Thanks E and flashling

2. I managed to solve MANX CAT and then was able to parse it. I thought it was a great clue. My other favourites were GIVE A LEG UP and CHANGING MATS. I didn’t think of maps for 20a, just that darkness = no light = light relief. Many thanks Flashing and Everyman.

3. With 3 down, could anyone explain how it’s a cryptic clue to those of us who aren’t parents, please?
   For the record I wasn’t a fan of the manx cat clue, even with Everyman’s new increased difficulty that was too tough. And I reckon the setter knew that, but was too self-satisfied to resist putting it in! I think clues like this which rely on you knowing the answer before parsing should only have one possible answer – GRAM in this puzzle being a great example of that. Then you have the confidence to wheedle out an explanation, it feels inclusive. Even with all the checkers, manx cat was most likely but it could have been a mini cot, or a mend cut, or ten other things.

4. Matt @3: re CHANGING MATS, think “habits” in its much less common meaning of “clothing,” and you get there, I think. But I’m a childless middle-aged gay man, so you can’t trust me on the subject.

   MANX CAT was my last in, and it was a groaner, but I think it’s a bridge too far for what the Everyman is supposed to be.

   LIGHT RELIEF is simpler than the blog suggests: if you are experiencing relief from the light, you are (hopefully temporarily) in darkness.

5. Sorry, Pauline @2–I didn’t notice you already said what I did about LIGHT RELIEF. Reading comprehension is not my strong suit, I guess…

6. I loved MANX CAT, I thought it was very clever. I also loved GRAM and STRING BAND.
   I saw GIG ECONOMY as a double definition, referring firstly to the (current practice of) employment of Uber drivers and other workers without security, as per the blog, and secondly to the employment of an earlier group of drivers, of horse drawn carriages or gigs. Otherwise, I couldn’t see how ECONOMY related to the carriage GIGs. Maybe someone else can see this more clearly.
   Nice puzzle and lovely clear explanations. Thanks Everyman and flashling.

7. I think 20a is just implying that “relief” from something occurs when you take a break from it, and the only time you can get relief from light is when it’s dark.

   Don’t understand how “cheaper seats on plane” relates to 1A, I just assumed it was referring to a time when the economy depended on people/goods being transported by horse drawn carriages. A better clue might have been “…saving money with horse drawn carriages”.

8. @dylan W “cheaper seats on plane” is often called “economy class” (as opposed to first class or business class)

   I enjoyed this puzzle. Had not heard of SEABISCUIT and only got it after MANX CAT, which I did not think was a fair clue. As you say, no definition, and a pretty big leap required to get there; I don’t think you could get it without crossers. Not heard of GITE either

9. DylanN@7. Thanks, that’s a better explanation.

10. I found this on the tougher end of Everyman, I recall. While I figured out the MANX CAT, I agree it’s on the unfair side. And while both shepherds and SHEARERS work with sheep, they are hardly the same job. I had a bizarre parsing for GLOB (which I didn’t enter until I had both crossers). If you take FALL – opposite of ‘lift high’ – out of ‘golf ball’ and rearrange slightly, you get GLOB. I wasn’t very happy with it, but I couldn’t see an alternative. Thanks, Everyman and flashling.

11. Matt@3 and mrpenney@5. I took habits to be referring to bowel movements. I had a quick look and couldn’t find a dictionary reference but I remember it being quite a common expression, or rather not common …. a polite way of not using other expressions. e.g. And how are bub’s habits? It refers to bowel habits, but I’ve heard it used alone, as it is in one instance here, from a health website:

    Bowel habits can vary from person to person. This includes how often you have a bowel movement, your control over when you have a bowel movement, and the bowel movement’s consistency and color. Alterations in any aspect of these habits over the course of a day represent a change in bowel habits.

    Matt and mrpenney, You’re lucky you’ve been spared these observations and conversations. 🙂

12. MANX CAT felt like something that had been done before and I found Paul had clued it in a similar way in 28,009 using a shortening of Mo(g) though the clue is somewhat fairer in that it includes a definition …

    Island prowler, Mo? (4,3)

    I’m sure there’s also an older clue using some variation of Lio, Tig, Pum. Perhaps someone can recall this one.

13. Thanks flashing. So did your dog (Jenny?) enjoy the S&B?

    GIG ECONOMY continued. I think the question mark is doing some heavy lifting here after the word carriages. As per the blog, GIG is a horse-drawn carriage which is followed by ECONOMY, a word describing a carriage, or carriages. (I was thinking of trains.) Anyway, you end up with the plural carriages, several in succession, with the gig at the front, so horse-drawn carriages.

14. Thanks for the blog, Matt@3 to add to PDM@11 , for babies CHANGING MATS are used for changing nappies not for changing clothes. A small vinyl mat that is very easy to clean .

15. In 1a GIG ECONOMY the French looks all wrong. Shouldn’t “à la” be followed by something singular? …

16. … And Shouldn’t it change to “à l’” before a vowel? …

17. [I dnk what gender Uber(s) are, but if they’re masculine they should be preceded by “au” or “aux” [and, if they’re German, may need an umlaut over the Ü]

18. Roz@14. Yes, changing nappies. My post@11 was about bowel habits, with changing nappies understood.
    It was mrpenney@4 who suggested clothing.
    Gotta say the term habits for bowel movements predates changing mats, a fairly modern invention, as are the raised collapsible platforms where you don’t have to kneel down on the floor as was the norm here when I was a new mother.

19. MANX CAT
    Agree with the blog and others who have found the clue unfair.
    GIG ECONOMY (can we read it as…)
    Employment à la Ubers or Employment à la horse carriages?
    (considering à la as an English expression).

    Liked GOOD MORNING, PROTRACTOR and DRAUGHTIER.

    Thanks Everyman and flashling.

20. FrankieG@15, 16, 17. I think you’re uberthinking!

21. Seems to me that SueM48@6 and KVa@19 have GIG ECONOMY right: the “employment” is transitive, covering both Uber drivers and horse-drawn gig drivers. No need for (not mentioned – nor even hinted at) aeroplanes.

22. PDM @18 your post was very clear to me but I suspect some people may not know about the actual mats we use , they are sold as changing mats in the UK. I preferred it on the floor , much safer when they get very active.

23. paddymelon@20
    😜

24. I’d normally reckon to finish an Everyman but not this. Beaten by SEABISCUIT being unaware of the foodstuff and equally unaware of American racehorses of a century ago. The latter is fairly obscure GK. I had figured out that “in the main” referred to the sea, so wrote that bit in.
    MANX CAT was way too clever for me but I do think it’s satisfyingly neat. Perhaps a clue too far for Everyman.
    I also failed on GLOB and OUTPATIENT.
    Reading the blog I’m surprised I got the rest. Tricky.

25. Thanks Everyman and flashling
    Despite some valiant attempts, I still think 1a is flawed. There isn’t any wordplay that gives ECONOMY. I don’t know where aeroplanes came from!

26. Other than 12A, I could not do the top half of this crossword at all. Never heard of CHANGING MATS, SEABISCUITS, GITE, or GLOB. The clue for GIG ECONOMY was too hard for me and with no crossers, couldn’t figure it out. Thought the clue for MANX CAT must have been a mistake as couldn’t figure it out. All in all, a depressing start to last Sunday!

27. Admittedly, I only do the Everyman crossword but I have been doing it for thirty years. This is the first time it completely defeated me. There were too many difficult and dubious clues. I always looked forward to the challenge but this was no fun at all. Perhaps, it is time to give up!

28. I found this very entertaining and enjoyed the quirkiness. “To?” was my favourite perhaps because the penny dropped quickly (helped by a distant memory of Paul’s “Mo?”, as recalled by Jay@12), but I can see why some found it a bit much. To FrankieG@15-17, I’d take “à la” as a French phrase borrowed into common English which in that context doesn’t need declension, (c.f. “Chicken à la King”). To Matt@3, I also (as MrP@4) read “habits” as “habitual clothing”, i.e., nappies (which are indeed most unpleasant when encountered on a changing mat) to give the cryptic definition. Many thanks to Everyman and flashling.

29. I got 3d as clinginging mites. Wasn’t entirely convinced but it does kind of fit. So that made 9a v difficult for me. I now realise that the rhyming thing should have helped me.
    Gig economy I got straight off, but that’s because I’m a beginner and not thinking too hard.
    Thanks everyman and flashing.

30. Sorry, flashling

31. Jay@12 Regarding Manx Cat. I recall many years ago in the early days of The Independent crossword, this same answer arising from the clue Ca?
    Such left field clues can be fun!

32. I thought it was probably MANX CAT but couldn’t parse it. Also didn’t get SEABISCUIT isn’t the main contraction of mainland and therefore not the sea. Had not heard of the horse of that name. Otherwise enjoyed this Everyman.

33. Tony – “main” is also a synonym for the sea.

34. Don’t give up Christopher@27 some weeks it is better . I know a few people like you , this is their only crossword for many years, this past week they have been very disgruntled but maybe we are due for a good run.

35. Thank you Everyman. Enjoyed having my mind stretched by that. Did not get Manx Cat but thought it a very clever clue.! Never heard of Seabiscuit.
    Thanks for the blog Flashling.

36. Tough puzzle. I would not recommend this for beginners.

    I solved but could not parse 16ac MANX CAT apart from thinking it was a clue with no tail.

    Matt@3 – I agree with you that the clue for CHANGING MATS is not very cryptic. I think I guessed the answer and then checked in the dictionary that CHANGING MATS actually exist.

    Thanks, both.

37. Put in ‘Manx cat’ but couldn’t parse it, for a day or so I kept coming back then it finally dawned, a doh! moment, incidentally I see as the ? is a missing letter like putting a wild card into a spell checker, hence Tom with no last letter (tail).

38. This was quite a struggle… MANX CAT took an eternity (and still felt too clever after parsing), and CHANGING MATS went as LOI on a guess and hoping for rhyming with FLATS (neither Collins nor Cambridge have them listed). All in all, it wasn’t much fun, even if finished.

    Thank you, Everyman and flashling

39. Got gig economy, but agree with others in that the parsing is sketchy at best.

40. For those who didn’t know Seabiscuit, the movie from a few years back is pretty good. Tobey Maguire memorably plays the jockey. Here’s the trailer, which gives you a pretty good idea of the story.

41. I’m sorry if an earlier contributor has made this point re. 1a and I have just missed it, but in the US, ‘ECONOMY’ class on flights is alternatively referred to as ‘Coach’. Therefore GIG and ‘coach’ (=ECONOMY) as in stage coach are horse-drawn carriages (plural)..

42. First Everyman DNF in forever. 18d, not a chance for an American. Surpringly, both 19a and 19d eluded me as well. Thanks to Everymanand flashling.

43. Balfour @41
    Ingenious, but it’s a bit of a stretch. First you have to get “coach” from “carriage”, then use a US meaning that is unknown over here.

44. LOI was MANX CAT which it turns out I’d correctly parsed even though I did so hesitantly and needed to come here to be certain. Even the answer itself I wasn’t entirely sure of but put it in only after going through the entire alphabet in my head for the non-crossing possibilities.

45. Ah well, muffin @43, it seems like all other parsings are a bit of stretch, so I guess I’ll have to back my stretch against the other various elasticities proposed by others who arrived earlier today than I did.

46. Were gigs used as taxis unofficially before the Hackney cabs ? Could only be for one person . If so we would have an early gig economy .

47. @paddymelon yes Jenny had a grand time eating my breakfast sausages and going for a walk in the grounds of the astonishing Nostell Priory. Today she’s had to slum it swimming in the sea.

48. This was fun, but with some trickier parts. I interpreted GIG ECONOMY as per KVa@19, though as others have said, it’s possible to use the fact that carriages is plural to get an alternative parsing. CHANGING MATS was sufficiently cryptic for me, with habits meaning both bowel habits and garb.

    I came up with G and LOB right from the start and yet GLOB was my LOI; for me, glob is definitely not drop, and so I dismissed it at the start (which is dangerous because I very rarely rethink ideas that I’ve dismissed!).

    I didn’t parse MANX CAT; the idea is lovely (if hard for an Everyman), and there gave been lots of other famous similar ideas such as the “(6, 3, 1, 4)” beauty. But this version of the cat clue didn’t do it for me. The variants mentioned by others are all better, IMO. If it’s going to be restricted to a single ‘word’, I think “Ca? (4, 3)” is the only fair one. The one from Paul that Jay@12 dug up is nicer overall, I feel. Clever, funny and unexpected clues such as these ought to make you want to share them with others; I’m afraid that “To?” just doesn’t, for me… it’s not obvious enough to be self-justifying.

    Thanks Everyman and flashling.

49. Maybe I’m under-thinking it (if that’s a thing) but I was taking 1ac as a jokey double-definition: a business model for employing horse-drawn carriage drivers in the 18th century might have been described as a GIG ECONOMY, and likewise the 21st C Uber model of running a taxi service. I’m not sure we need separate wordplay for ‘economy’.

50. I haven’t posted before, but joined just to write that I think SEABISCUIT must deserve a prize for the worst clue of the year. The other clues were all right.

51. … well, nearly all ok, except CHANGING MATS, because “habits” is the wrong word in the context.

52. @50 Sebastian, horses for courses I guess 🙂

53. [Re definition-less clues, such as that for MANX CAT. Araucaria did a couple, which I must have enjoyed as they’re the only two I can remember. They are:

    o (8,6)
    HIJKLMNO (5)

    ]

54. Crispy there is also the famous – Cox at me (6,3,6)

    Also perhaps not really a definition – Cor! ( 6,4)

55. Not sure if this has been said but I convinced myself 1a was CAB DRIVERS (which I still think works!!)

56. Can someone put me our of my misery and tell me what these “famous” other definitionless clues are? (In 48, the first in 53, and in 54.) Thanks…

57. Albert@56 I do not see an actual clue in 48?? Unless it is just (6,3,1,4) which could be – HAVEN’T GOT A CLUE .
    53 – CIRCULAR LETTER
    54 – INCOME TAX RETURN and FRENCH HORN

58. Thanks flashling! Is it too direct to note that an ounce is 28.35 grams, hence 1/28 of an ounce is a gram, give or take?

59. I’m pleased that it’s been pointed out that the Everyman puzzle has got harder of late. I’ve been completing it for many years until recently. I was beginning to think my dotage had arrived now I’m in my eighties!

60. Not surprisingly, I thought Manx Cat was a brilliant clue. I don’t mind Everyman being on the tough side as there is already the very easy Quick Cryptic and the less easy Quiptic, and maybe Everyman will ease me gently into the actual cryptics.

61. I agree with others that one or two clues were decidely tough. I guessed at MANX CAT from the crossers, but it took a while for the penny to drop. The ? seems to be doing double duty, as a missing letter, and a definition by example – if you consider TOM as an example of a cat!
    I’d never heard of SEABISCUIT as a horse or a film, and my usual crossword solver had never heard of it as a word.
    I’d never known GRANNY to be spelt GRANNIE, but the anagram made it clear.
    At what point does a challenge cross the line into ‘not fair’?

62. Impossibly difficult. DNF, even after making heavy use of wildcard dictionaries.

63. Rolf, I agree. Some I should have got, but had to look up about half, still dnf. From a country that used to have, maybe still does, more sheep than people, a shearer is to a shepherd as a mechanic is to a chauffeur.

64. DNF for the first time in ages- SEABISCUIT & MANX CAT defeated us.
    Much harder than usual but after a break waterblasting & gardening we got all but those 2. A bit of a hmmm crossword today. But thanks Everyman for pushing us! & Flashling for the blog.

65. This was definitely not a beginners crossie. I don’t understand in 1a why the Fr ref was even there at all, never mind the a la, aux or au, there is no relevance to have French in the clue or have I missed something?
    No idea how anyone would get Manx Cat, there is no double meaning? .Shouldnt the word To, have some meaning with the answer,’ Tom’ I understand, but the word To is unrelated to the answer. That was an unfair clue. Did like Outpatient, GIve a Leg up and few others were well received, but overall, really tough

66. Have been enjoying the Everyman for years, and following this blog for at least 5 years – thanks so much for the work put in to it and the community that has built around it. I like being challenged so worked away at this one. I got to Manx Cat a different way. T = Tails, and treating o as zero gave me something tailess. The To(m) way of solving is better as it clues you to the cat.

    Gary
    Another Auckland -based solver, not enjoying the cricket…

67. I’m a few weeks behind. Got everything in this one except GLOB which I now understand thank you, and CAVA which I never would have got because it is not something I have ever heard of. Had to google it. Don’t think I have ever had any Spanish wine. I’m not much of a wine drinker anyway but when I do, I drink the local (Australian) stuff.

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