Everyman 4,097/27 April

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New owner, same crossword, same setter … a big day for The Observer, but what looks like for now the same Everyman crossword that has been in the paper for the last 80 years, compiled by a number of setters but always intended as a tractable Sunday cryptic. Who knows if things will change, but for now let’s see what this week’s puzzle had to offer.

A pleasing and accessible cryptic, in my opinion, with the Alan Connor trademarks all there: the rhyming clues in A KING AMONGST MEN and EVERY NOW AND THEN; the self-referential clue in 19dn; and the primary letters clue in GHANA. In addition, we have ALOHA TORTOISE in the first column as a welcome to the new owners, Tortoise Media; in last week’s puzzle blogged by John, there was the valedictory ALOHA GUARDIAN in the same column, and with an identical clue for 1dn. And ALOHA, like CIAO in Italian, has the sense of ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’, so that’s a nice touch to mark the end of an era, and the start of a new one.

The only change to the blog is that the insert of the completed grid has one clue highlighted in green. Just ignore that.

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 Bigwig: most important figure on the board?
A KING AMONGST MEN
A dd cum cd.  The reference is to chess, of course.

9 Drink too much? Coincidence!
OVERLAP
A dd cum cd.

10 Frenchman given tiny bit of work; in retrospect, increasingly naive
GREENER
A reversal of RENÉ, the setters’ fave French bloke, and ERG, the scientific unit of energy related to work done.

11 Territorial Army hiding rattle
ALARM
Hidden in TerritoriAL ARMy.

12 Leaves presents
SETS FORTH
A dd.

13 Philosopher twisting jar seal: peanut butter at last!
JEAN-PAUL SARTRE
(JAR SEAL PEANUT R)* with ‘twisting’ as the anagrind.

17 Fruity character you might pull in the pub
ONE-ARMED BANDIT
A cd. It’s also called a fruit machine, because the original ones usually had fruits which needed to match up before the pennies came tumbling into the tray.

20 Visibly edgy, getting tense before spelling
TWITCHING
A charade of T and WITCHING.

23 Before 1 in Paris, terribly intricate lunch’s starters
UNTIL
A charade of UN for ‘one’ in French and TIL for the initial letters of ‘terribly’, ‘intricate’ and ‘lunch’.

25 Passivity fashionable, it falls back in time
INERTIA
A charade of IN and IT reversed in ERA. The insertion indicator is ‘in’.

26 Bill’s story
ACCOUNT
A dd.

27 Very tanned, he won sports occasionally
EVERY NOW AND THEN
(VERY TANNED HE WON)* with ‘sports’ as the anagrind.

 

Down

1 A cow’s audible ‘Hello’
ALOHA
Aural wordplay (‘audible’) of A LOWER. The cattle are lowing, the baby awakes …  The same clue was in last week’s puzzle in the same position.

2 Learned but not liberal – say again?
ITERATE
[L]ITERATE

3 One seeking riches, gross, grasping: worn-out and explosive
GOLD MINER
An insertion of OLD and MINE in GR. The insertion indicator is ‘grasping’.

4 Small, English: Englishman in Oz, when rebuffed, sulks
MOPES
A reversal of S, E and POM.

5 Such as the Round Table, you say, or such as the Hippodrome?
NIGHTCLUB
Aural wordplay (‘you say’) of KNIGHT CLUB, which is loosely what King Arthur’s men were.

6 Quiet little fellow, singleton left here
SHELF
A charade of SH and ELF.

7 Megabucks are invested in tower
MINARET
An insertion of ARE in MINT. The insertion indicator is ‘invested’.

8 The sonar acting up in arm of Atlantic
NORTH SEA
(THE SONAR)* with ‘acting up’ as the anagrind.

14 Some creamer I can order for coffee
AMERICANO
Hidden in creAMER I CAN Order.

15 Professed nuance; don dubious
ANNOUNCED
(NUANCE DON)* with ‘dubious’ as the anagrind.

16 One shooting around outstripped hare, backing over – primarily, this one’s charged to protect
TORTOISE
I’m glad there’s not a takeover every week, because this took me ages to parse. The ‘backing’ is the tortoise’s shell ‘over’ its body; and the TORTOISE famously outstripped the hare in the fable. Then it’s an insertion (‘to protect’) of TO for the initial letters of ‘this’ and ‘one’ plus IS, clued by the apostrophe S, in TORE for ‘charged’. I think.

18 Not a good look!
EVIL EYE
A cd.

19 Everyman to ultimate degree – routine, overwhelmed, to be honest
IN TRUTH
A charade of I for ‘Everyman’ and RUT inserted into NTH. The reference is to ‘the nth degree’ and the insertion indicator is ‘overwhelmed’.

21 Spiteful, like an Abyssinian
CATTY
A cd. An Abyssinian is a type of cat. My fellow blogger Kitty would have given you a pic, but I only do birds.

22 ‘Gold’ here, also named ‘Ashanti’, originally?
GHANA
The initial letters of the first five words of the clue and a cad.

24 Divulge student passed back note
LET ON
A charade of L for learner or ‘student’ and NOTE reversed.

Bravo to Everyman and bon courage to him if he is to continue as the setter under the new regime. I’m sure he’s given the new owners the advice that is always apposite when there are changes of proprietor: don’t mess with the crosswords. We are a touchy and vocal lot.

64 comments on “Everyman 4,097/27 April”

  1. Thank you for the blog, Pierre. I found it quite a tricky puzzle but got there in the end. I had a slightly different parse of 16d. It was clunky, but forgiveable, given the clue’s workload over 2 puzzles!

    One shooting around outstripped hare = straight definition – (Aesop)
    backing (reverse) over primarily, [t]his = TO
    ones = IS
    charged = TOR____E)
    to protect (instruction to go around the other bits ‘n’ pieces)

  4. Trovatore@3 I have the same question. I tried the links that worked last week, and when that didn’t work, I registered for free and went in again, but all I get is my completed crossword from last week.

    I understand there’s a bank holiday in the UK this weekend. Maybe that’s affected the time the crossword becomes available? Or have they put it behind a paywall?

  5. Bodge@2 – Exactly the same here. For some reason I thought there was such a thing as “Petty Abyssinia”

  6. Thanks Pierre for the Day of the Tortoise. While I twigged to Aloha Tortoise, I still don’t get the parsing for TORTOISE either yours or a5kpete’s@1. Maybe I need to get out another sheet of paper and have another go. I’m just a bit slow. 🙂

    EVIL EYE, ONE ARMED BANDIT, and EVERY NOW AND THEN amused me.

  7. TORTOISE
    Parsed it as a5Kpete@1. I feel the blogger’s parsing works as well.
    paddymelon@6
    TORE is common in both parsings.
    One option is:
    backing (O (over) +T (this primarily) =reversal of OT =TO
    and one’s=IS.
    The second option is:
    T O(This one primarily)
    and ‘s=IS

    TORE to protect TO IS

    Thanks Everyman and Pierre.

  9. My interface with the Observer’s online incarnation of Everyman last Sunday was so beset with difficulties and frustrations that I was not going to go in search of this week’s in any case. I have not much enjoyed E’s recent output, and this was a clear opportunity to break the habit. Aloha (as in ALOHA GUARDIAN the previous week).

  10. I parsed TORTOISE as Pierre did, though I wasn’t convinced by “backing over”.
    However, given it’s the identical clue for GUARDIAN last week I think it can be forgiven as that’s pretty ingenious.

  11. Thanks Everyman & Pierre. This was a grind for me, despite having twigged last week that we were likely to get either ‘Aloha Tortoise’ or ‘Aloha Observer’ down the left this week, and as 27 fell early it was obvious which. Both 1 and 17 took ages for me to get on E’s wavelength which didn’t help. Favourite was the misdirection in 20.

  13. I am searching for today’s [4th May] Everyman crossword which should be no 4098 and can’t find it. Last weeks just keeps popping up. Oh dear .Help!

  14. Thanks for the blog , very nice anagram for EVERY NOW AND THEN but not keen on most of the rest . I was hoping for a new setter , fortunately the Observer paper made an excellent start under new owners , I will be watching closely .
    Aloha Balfour@9 , I will let you know via other blogs if I think the standard has improved over time .
    Will get my paper after my swim and will let people know if there actually is a 4098 .

  15. Re Roz (14) & others interested. Yes, it is in the dead tree version. Worrying for those of us who usually access the e-version.

  16. Finding a crossword should not be harder than solving it. Any suggestions for an alternative Sunday online fix.

  18. Balfour@9. Had similar thoughts about giving Everyman away.
    Roz@14 Glad to hear the Observer started off well.

    Aloha or aloha. Did someone mention a Beatles’ song last week? I didn’t know until then it could mean both, hello or goodbye, but is more like a wish for love or peace.
    .

  19. For those seeking a Sunday alternative, whilst it’s not as gentle as a typical Everyman, today’s Filbert in the Independent is first class.

  20. Pretty new to these, I made a rookie mistake by filling in “Aloha Guardian” as the first answers because I’d just completed the prior week’s Everyman, and then could never convince myself that I needed to delete it. That ruined the bottom left corner for me, which also made it harder to get crossers into the top section. Ah well.

    Where does ‘RUT’ come from for 19d? I can’t find that abbreviation for routine anywhere.

    KVa@17 – are the FT puzzles free to access? I’m surprised I can see them for free when I look right now but not sure if that’s standard.

  21. Unfortunately I rely on the electronic version of the Everyman. I’ve been doing this every week since just before the covid lockdowns and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was the one crossword I would dedicate myself to solving over the week, so I’m a little disappointed about this and have cancelled my subscription to the guardian (for now, until i probably get annoyed by the adverts).

    Having said that, I was finding them on the easier side now. So perhaps it is time to push myself and try a different, slightly more challenging one.

    Any suggestions? I see the filbert in the independent mentioned above!

  24. Everyman is now on observer.co.uk rather than guardian.com.

    ‘RUT’ is routine as in ‘stuck in a rut’.

  27. Ger Sweeney@20
    The FT puzzles are free to access online.
    And the Indy puzzle suggested by PostMark is also free to access.

  29. Humph@15 , thanks , it is there and I am glad the Review section has not changed at all so far . PDM@18 I might even say it has improved slightly , early days and I am watching carefully , I am very picky about my newspapers .

    Jaz@21 , yes time to move on , I started off doing Everyman all week a long time ago .
    The Guardian and FT have good puzzles and I am pretty sure they are free and easy to find .
    Monday is usually quite friendly but it does vary , often a puzzle later in the week can be the easiest , alas no way to know until you try it or learn the setters . It will be Vulcan in the Guardian tomorrow , typically aimed at newer solvers , try it and the blog will be on here on the same day .

  30. Anyone know how to find today’s Everyman? I can only get to last week’s, ie the one discussed here.

  31. The problem with online access to today’s Everyman (and to Azed as well) has been flagged up with The Observer and I am sure that efforts are being made to resolve the issue quickly.

    I attended the Azed lunch in Oxford yesterday and had the chance to chat to Alan Connor. He continues to be the Everyman setter (as well as continuing to be The Guardian’s crossword editor). Speculation about a change is therefore misplaced. Alan does sometimes experiment with style and tone but his usual trademarks (rhyming answers etc) remain.

    I also spoke to our contact at The Observer who made some points in response to comments on the Azed/Everyman thread last week. There were some comments about the lack of an “Anagram Helper” in the new website. This of course was never available for Everyman on the Guardian website, but it might be possible to add it to The Observer website if there was sufficient demand.

    Generally speaking, although the setter and the team responsible for the printed version of the paper remain much the same, the web team is entirely new and is working hard under significant pressure to understand some complex systems. I’m sure things will settle down shortly and that we will see some real improvements.

  32. (This was typed same time as @31 bridgesong) I am obviously more cynical than most as I read the 16d clue as a shot across the bows of the new owners: “charged to protect” meaning don’t mess about with the Observer! Maybe they didn’t like this hence the puzzle not appearing online today but I see neither has Andy Zaltzman’s new column so maybe something has simply gone wrong…

  33. I found this a tricky one for an Everyman but, more seriously, I can’t find this week’s at all! The new fancy Observer layout is still showing last week’s (4097) – or have I missed something?

  34. Suzie@24. Not just Everyman but when I tried observer.co.uk it seemed that it is last week’s newspaper in other sections too.
    I think DavidMW@28 has summarised it well.
    Fingers crossed its a Bank Holiday phenomenon…. at least the Grauniad was famous for relatively small typos, not for reproducing the previous week’s edition.

  38. I liked the spelling in TWITCHING, the good anagram for EVERY NOW AND THEN, and the NTH degree in IN TRUTH.

    Thanks Everyman and Pierre.

  41. Today’s puzzle 4098 is now accessible, though it comes with an unwelcome sting in the tail , such that when you enter your LOI, an annoying popup box congratulates you, gives you a ‘score’ and invites you to share your result with friends. The one thing you can’t do is close down the popup box and review your entries at leisure. FFS, who thought this was a good idea?!

  42. OK, maybe the ‘close’ X on the popup box was temporarily out of action, I can now get rid of it. Still, the functionality is pretty poor compared with when it was housed on The Guardian…

  44. The Everyman now tells you when you are correct. I assume that this means that it is no longer a prize crossword. Does this mean that 15×15 can blog it earlier?

  45. I noticed that too, Shirl, when I was doing today’s puzzle. But it is still showing as a prize puzzle to submit, so I don’t know what’s going on. No plans at the minute to blog it on the day it comes out, as far as I know. And as we all know, a cryptic is not a ‘game’, so we don’t want to ‘play’. Breathe deeply, everyone, and count to ten.

  46. The new “scoring system” involves a target solve time of 15 minutes which is clearly ridiculous. Oh, and the same target applies to Azed… good luck with that!

  47. Did the Everyman on the Observer site last week (the one blogged here). Have gone on today to check my answers and all I’m seeing is the new grid for today?. What a waste of time if I can’t check my answers.

  48. Normal entry in the paper , postmarked no later than next Saturday so still a prize .
    The IT stuff does not affect me but it must be difficult changing the whole IT operation so bound to be teething problems and really the most important thing is the paper and they have got that right so far .

  50. For those struggling to find Everyman in its new home on Observer.co.uk. It is rather odd in the Join option in the drop down menu containing Read , Listen Join and About us. For those struggling with the interface, these can be altered in the settings option. This also leads to azed, Speedy and the Sudoku

  51. I like to check words sometimes but the check facility doesn’t seem to work now. They say “control-C” but I have a Mac and when I do that nothing happens. Anyone have a Mac and found the solution?

  52. RabTheCat, the Everyman online won’t let you check the solutions because it’s a prize puzzle. When it was hosted by the Guardian, the check facility became available a week after the puzzle was published when the prize winners for that week had been announced.

  53. @Pierre, I know that the Everyman became checkable a week after its appearance and I had hoped the same would apply to the new version, but maybe not. Why does it say there is a check facility if there isn’t, I wonder.

  54. This is very tiring. I was hoping a few of the problems from last week might have been fixed but no. Still no shortcut access on a Mac and to add to that there’s no archive or access to old crosswords so I couldnt even check my results which is a total no-brainer. Can’t see my trying this for long 🙁

  55. RabTheCat @ 51. I’ve done it on a Mac and found the Ctrl C check facility works on incorrect solutions crossing out the errant letters. There’s a helpful message on completion either indicating some errors or congratulation for getting it right. Seems a bit daft for a Prize crossword but that idea is so anachronistic now there’s so many cheat sites available online anyway

  56. Having solved the Everyman last week this week albeit with the last one in being unparsed but somehow correct I was rewarded with an utter beating this week. Don’t think I even managed to get a third done and I lost interest pretty quickly if I am honest. Just found it way above my ability.
    Can only hope that it is easier this week.

  57. Again I can’t find the thing despite searching and searching. Life’s too short, and like some people above I am giving up on it. Any suggestions for something about the same level? I do the Quiptics and the odd Cryptic.

  58. Goodbye current/Tortoise Everyman. I couldn’t find the puzzle early Sunday morning and have now decided I will just give up on Tortoise Everyman from now on.
    Lately I have been doing old Everyman puzzles from 2014 online in the archive and I find them very enjoyable 🙂

  59. I don’t remember how I did it, but I had no difficulty finding Everyman 4,098 in PDF format to print off.

    I don’t see why so many of us are so quick to abandon Everyman now that it is in the “new” Observer. He may not be to everyone’s taste, but the puzzles are still enjoyable and fill a useful spot on the weekend.

    FOR 4,097, I had no hope of parsing 16d TORTOISE, but given that the same clue yielded GUARDIAN and TORTOISE to accompany ALOHA last week and this, I the absolute brilliance of the construction of this clue. Bravo Alan, and I look forward to my continued fix of rhyming pairs, primarilies, etc.

    And thanks also to Pierre for parsing 16d and for the good but pictureless blog. I thought you might stretch your rule and insert a photo of some 20a twitchers.

  60. Really enjoyed this one – apart from 16dn, totally stumped us. My favourite is SHELF, also EVIL EYE and A KING AMONGST MEN.
    Hopefully things continue smoothly under the new (in May) ownership of The Observer.

  61. Soon as I saw 1D I thought the Herald had cocked up and repeated last week’s crossword. Not so, happily. I found this on the easier side but didn’t bother parsing some of the more obscure ones. Not sure why an overlap is a coincidence, and sports as an anagrind leaves me rather cold.

  63. Had to use wild card dictionaries, but with their help got it all out,

    Would never have parsed 16 down in a million years, but the phrase “outstripped hare” and cross letters got me the answer.

    Lots to like.

  64. I dont get 16d at all
    What in earth does it mean !
    On the pos side, liked: Account, aloha, one armed b and gold miner

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