The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/4079.
Everyman seems to be branching out, with the ‘primarily’ clue at 2D and the self reference at 12A being the only trademarks remaining. I think the results are mixed, with a couple of answers that I find tenuously justified.
| ACROSS | ||
| 7 | SEMI-DRY |
Wild misery drinking drop of Dubonnet: it’s only partly sweet (4-3)
|
| An envelope (‘drinking’) of D (‘drop of Dubonnet’) in SEMIRY, an anagram (‘wild’) of ‘misery’. In the original clue, ‘partly’ is in italics, conflicting with my use, indicating the definition. | ||
| 8 | SAVOURY |
Appetizing cabbage stuffed with quark on a regular basis (7)
|
| An envelope (‘stuffed with’) of UR (‘qUaRk on a regular basis’) in SAVOY (‘cabbage’). | ||
| 10 | SUGAR PEA |
Cultivated pasturage but no time for mangetout (5,3)
|
| An anagram (‘cultivated’) of ‘pas[t]urage’ minus the T (‘but no time’) | ||
| 11 | EGGNOG |
Urge nephew to get round, grand festive booze (6)
|
| A charade of EGG (‘urge’, verb) plus N (‘nephew’) plus O (’round’) plus G (‘grand’). | ||
| 12 | MAI TAI |
In speech, would you let Everyman drink? (3,3)
|
| Sounds like (‘in speech’) MIGHT I (‘would you let Everyman’ – as spoken by him). | ||
| 13 | EAU DE VIE |
Adieu! Eve’s off: this calls for strong drink! (3,2,3)
|
| An anagram (‘off’) of ‘adieu eve’. | ||
| 14 | SPONGE PUDDING |
Behind boozer, fatso that’s often steaming (6,7)
|
| A charade of SPONGE (‘boozer’ – someone who drinks to excess) plus PUDDING (‘fatso’). | ||
| 17 | DOUGHNUT |
Greens, then fruitcake and fried pâtisserie item (8)
|
| A charade of DOUGH (‘greens’, money) plus NUT (‘fruitcake’, one whose sanity is questioned). | ||
| 20 | BREAST |
Somewhat sombre, a stockbroker’s bust (6)
|
| A hidden answer (‘somewhat’) in ‘somBRE A STockbroker’. | ||
| 22 | ATE OUT |
One particular ticket-seller vocally eschewed home cooking (3,3)
|
| Sounds like (‘vocally’) A TOUT (‘one particular ticket-seller’). | ||
| 23 | TANDOORI |
One opening function, first I reveal curry (8)
|
| A charade of TAN (tangent, ‘function’) plus DOOR (‘one opening’) plus ‘I’. ‘Curry’ is a very loose definition, with little connection beyond being styles of Indian cooking. | ||
| 24 | PILSNER |
Pupils nervously bottling beer (7)
|
| A hidden answer (‘bottling’) in ‘puPILS NERvously’. | ||
| 25 | JELLIES |
Judge with mounds of fat, heading off for desserts (7)
|
| A charade of J (‘judge’) plus [b]ELLIES (‘mounds of fat’) minus its first letter (‘heading off’). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | BELUGA |
Creepy-crawly, one in which you find the Spanish caviare (6)
|
| An envelope (‘in which you find’) of EL (‘the Spanish’) in BUG (‘creepy-crawly’) plus A (‘one’). | ||
| 2 | CILANTRO |
Coriander? Instead, linguistically American name that’s rife online, primarily! (8)
|
| First letters (‘primarily’) of ‘Consider Instead Linguistically American Name That’s Rife Online’, with an &lit definition. | ||
| 3 | DRIPPING |
It’s useful for Yorkshire puddings left out in the rain, perhaps (8)
|
| Double definition, the first being the juices rendered from a roast. | ||
| 4 | GATEAU |
Golden Gate – first, some cake! (6)
|
| A charade of ‘gate’ plus AU (chemical symbol, ‘gold’), with ‘first’ indicating the order of the particles. | ||
| 5 | TONGUE |
Meaty sandwich ingredient that might be Old Norse (6)
|
| Double definition. | ||
| 6 | DROOLING |
Evidently hungry, doctor taking first slice of cake, fresh out of the oven (8)
|
| A substitution: [c]OOLING (‘fresh out of the oven’) with the C (‘first slice of Cake’) replaced by (‘taking’) DR (‘doctor’). | ||
| 9 | BAKED POTATO |
Too bad! Kept a vulgar jacketed item (5,6)
|
| An anagram (‘vulgar’?) of ‘too bad kept a’. | ||
| 14 | SMOOTHIE |
Flings cut short, stopped by questionable charmer (8)
|
| An envelope (‘stopped by’) of MOOT (‘questionable’) in SHIE[s] (‘flings’) minus its last letter (‘cut short’). | ||
| 15 | DUBONNET |
An apéritif or 10? No, mate, on reflection (8)
|
| A reversal (‘on reflection’) of TEN (’10’) plus ‘no’ plus BUD (‘mate’). | ||
| 16 | ICE LOLLY |
Reserve cash for summer treat (3,5)
|
| A charade of ICE (‘reserve’, standoffishness) plus LOLLY (‘cash’). | ||
| 18 | GROUSE |
German to wake up and complain (6)
|
| A charade of G (‘German’) plus ROUSE (‘wake up’). | ||
| 19 | NUTMEG |
Woody spice – prized item – cask sent up (6)
|
| A reversal (‘sent up’ in a down light) of GEM (‘prized item’) plus TUN (‘cask’). | ||
| 21 | SORBET |
Prepare round ball that’ll cleanse your palate (6)
|
| An envelope (’round’) of ORB (‘ball’) in SET (‘prepare’). |
Nothing to scare the horses. I’m sure you could go into 95% of the curry houses in the uk and find tandoori on the menu? Given the tenuous nature of some of the definitions we’ve seen in the last week from Paul, Pangakapu et al this seems like a pretty minor quibble
Cheers P&E
Yes, the tandoori I’m used to is tandoori chicken … spicy but nothing like a curry. Hey ho, thanks PnE.
A tandoor is a clay oven used to bake bread and cook meat on skewers.
The meat may be added to a curry but the curry is never made in the oven.
Thanks PeterO. I fell short of the intersecting SAVOURY (savoy didn’t occur to me) and TONGUE (meaty? Old Norse, or how many other tongues?).
I see now on the Everyman puzzle that there has been an amendment to 7 across SEMI-DRY with special instructions Due to a mix-up in the drinks cabinet, the tipple at seven across has been changed to Drambuie.. I had SEMI-DRY from the definition. I didn’t even think about Dubonnet, which I’ve now found is a sweet wine. I don’t know how Drambuie fixes the problem, or if it matters.
me@4 cont. Or is the change from Dubonnet to Drambuie in 7across because Everyman realised belatedly that Dubonnet was a solution at 15 down and not ideal setting ? I missed that at the time.
Paddymelon@5. I think the repetition of Dubonnet was the reason. I noticed it, not that it mattered to me.
I hadn’t parsed DROOLING – I missed ‘cooling’. Thanks PeterO.
I enjoyed this festive one. Favourite was my LOI, SMOOTHIE. I also liked BAKED POTATO, DUBONNET and the nicely hidden PILSNER.
Thanks P and E.
Not a big deal, but I think Special Instructions should be reserved for errors that affect the solve. In this case, the SI made me doubt my own solve. Today I had no way knowing what the original clue was, except for PeterO’s blog here.
I understand that Everyman would like his crossword to be recorded perfectly for posterity, but I don’t know that other setters have that opportunity or should have. Usually the SI are reserved for errors by the setters, the editor, or the type-up team.
Of course, in his dual roles, Everyman/Guardian crosswords editor Alan Connor is at liberty to do as he pleases. I just think it preferable that he let it go, or come here and make a comment, which could have spread the insight and love around, rather than a jokey comment about the drinks cabinet. That made me look up even more stuff!
The food and drink themed special has become something of an end of year tradition for Everyman. See last year’s 4,027 and before that 3,975.
Thanks to E and PeterO.
…in fact we can go back further to 3,871 which also includes a “drop of Drambuie” in the clue for RICE PUDDING.
Yes, I read it as Christmas food and drink special, and found it a slower Everyman solve with TONGUE one of my last in, probably because, although I have been fed tongue as a child, saw it being cooked too, I’d never eat it from choice, and definitely not in sandwiches. (Along with meat generally.)
Thank you to PeterO.
Tough puzzle, especially 5d, 6d, 14d.
I failed to solve 5d. I entered HOAGIE but could not parse it as ‘might be Old Norse’ unless connected to ‘a hero sandwich’ (American English)!
I also couldn’t parse 6d.
New for me: SPONGE = boozer.
I agree that 23ac is an error, confusing tandoori and curry. A bit like calling traditional Sunday roast beef a stew!
Neither the Dubonnet nor the Drambuie helped me to correct the fact that I had demi-sec for 7ac D’oh!
I’m clearly in need of something stronger.
I used to be very fond of tongue, I will agree that it never looked that appetising on the butcher’s slab, but pickled tongue and mustard sandwiches, yum. I just haven’t eaten it in a long time.
I think I thought this an easier Everyman, I can’t remember that well eight crosswords ago.
Thanks both.
I was on the Demi-sec path until I found it didn’t fit with anything.
Beaten by TONGUE as not having had it in a sandwich for about 45 years and seeing no connection with anything Scandinavian. Also failed on SMOOTHIE though I could see how it worked. And SAVOURY was also a step to far for me as, seeking a synonym for cabbage, I failed to find one. Otherwise good fun.
Huge credit to the compiler for managing to fill a grid entirely with food/drink/eating solutions. That is a very difficult task indeed. DRIPPING is a delightful clue. Not overly troubled by the tandoori/curry debate, I found this very enjoyable.
Thanks Everyman and PeterO
I agree, PostMark, that it was quite a feat. Two quibbles though – 4d “gate” appears in the clue and the answer, that’s always a bit irritating. And 12a is a sounds like “might I?”, but wouldn’t you actually say “may I?”
Enjoyable overall though.
I also failed on TONGUE and SMOOTHIE for similar reasons to gliddofglood @14. If I had paused to spot the theme it might have helped, but I only saw it when mentioned here!
Thanks Everyman and PeterO
TONGUE was tricky because U doesn’t spring to mind as 5th letter in – – – G – E. A neat crosser misdirection. As for the (very minor) setting errors, I always just wonder who edits an editor? Enjoyable crossword, thanks Everyman and PeterO.
Rhyming pair: SUGAR PEA/TANDOORI?
I found this quite difficult, but very enjoyable. I nearly failed on MAI TAI, never knowingly having heard of it. I thought the TONGUE was excellent, and the whole puzzle cut the mustard.
i put HOAGIE instead of TONGUE, and i didn’t get SMOOTHIE
i thought DUBONNET appearing in a clue and answer was lazy, but i guess it was just a mistake.. as it got changed to dambruie, which is a nice amendment
i liked the clues for SAVOURY and ATE OUT
Cleverness of the theme outweighed quibbles for me, though I found this a little harder than usual. Came here for parsing of SMOOTHIE then kicked myself.
Currently wondering if 3pm is too early for a Tandoori, suggestible as I am.
Tassie Tim
Eau de Vie/ Sugar Pea as a rhyming pair?
Semi-dry/Mai Tai
Tamarix @16
Might/may: I think it depends on context – at least, as I would use them, ‘might’ is more assetive (Might I remind you that the sign says “No Smoking”?).
Newish solver and have a general q about clue placement in charades. In TANDOORI TAN (function) comes before DOOR (one opening) but they come in the opposite order within the clue. Is there an indicator of order I’m missing, or is order not important here? Thanks for any insight! Happy new year 🙂
Bingo @25
in 23A TANDOORI you need to read ‘function first’ as indicating that TAN is at the start.
Brilliant, thanks very much PeterO!
Can “greens” mean “money”? In my experience, “green” certainly can, but I can’t envision it being used in the plural.
For what it’s worth, I’ll belatedly agree that calling a tandoori a curry is an error.
A DNF for me, as I was defeated by SMOOTHIE (although it’s a perfectly sensible and fair clue).
Enjoyed this one after we realised the food/drink connection for each clue – this really helped us almost complete it but SMOOTHIE defeated us, dammit!
Favourites this week: EAU DE VIE; TONGUE; DROOLING.
Thanks Everyman & PeterO!
Most enjoyable and nicely solvable.
Our version in NZ had Drambuie so no issues with the repetition, which I agree would have been irritatingly sloppy.
No quibbles with Tandoori = curry. I reckon Tandoori Chicken is a sort of curry sans sauce.
Slightly more bothered with semi-dry, not a descriptor that springs to mind.
I feel a takeaway coming on…
Many connections were so tenuous as to be almost non-existent. (E.g. meaty sandwich ingredient == tongue. Huh? Dough == greens. Double huh?)
Would never have got this puzzle out without heavy use of wildcard dictionaries.
Lots of answers that I could not even come close to parsing. Thanks to Peter O. for the explanations.
24 across however was one of the best “hidden” c;lues I’ve ever seen.
Took me a *long* time to get “drooling” but I liked it once I did get it.
A few clues that were a bit of a stretch. ATE OUT was obvious but I’m one of those people who says et. It was a big help when I realized this was four weeks ago in the UK. Fried patisserie had to be doughnut, even though the clue was nonsense. I’m not fond of clues where you start with a similar word and swap letters, although the lady in the listener does them too. reserve = ice doesn’t work fo me but once you have i-e it’s OK.
I don’t drink cocktails so had to use electronic help for Mai Tai.
PS. If the clue for 12A had been “In speech would you let Everyman drink IF HE ASKED ?” It would have only been difficult, instead of almost impossible!
I just looked at last week’s comments as I thought that if I was the very last then why was I bothering. Hi Rod, up the road in Howick. These crosswords were published in the Observer and on line about 4 weeks ago so some folk uplift them earlier. They’re not on this site until the solution has been in the paper
I thought this one was a stinker! Hi Singleton in Pakers, I firmly believe Mr Everyman is a Jeckyl and Hyde, and I’m not sure who compiled this one, but I definitely prefer the other!
Thanks Peter O, for deciphering.
Despite the akl heat did relatively ok
V clever the clean sweep food bev theme
But smoothie ? Never heard a person called a smoothie. Smooth definitely
And the make up of the clue a nonsense
Liked nutmeg, jellies and too many others
Just smoothie was a non starter for me!
Horrid
Agree with Alan and Cath