Everyman 4,103

by

The PDF of the puzzle may be found at https://cdn.observer.co.uk/media/documents/obs.everyman.20250608.pdf as long as it is available.

All the usual Everyman devices: the rhyming pair (3D DREAM COME TRUE and 11D WHAT ELSE IS NEW), the self reference (27A CROSSWORDS – with answer related), two geographical references (1D BREMEN and 13A MYANMAR), the (occasional) one-word anagram (24A TANGERINE) and the ‘primarily’ clue (this time explicitly so, 5D CAROM), all highlighted in the grid (as long as that remains).

ACROSS
1 BREAD SAUCE
A crude base pounded for condiment (5,5)
An anagram (‘pounded’) of ‘a crude base’. Despite the word SAUCE, I would not describe this a a condiment.
6 FILM
Auteur’s work, French, in retrospective: ‘1051’ (4)
A charade of F (‘French’) plus ILM, a reversal (‘in retrospective’) of MLI (Roman numeral, ‘1051’).
9 EAGLE
Bird of prey left in earnest? Not quite (5)
An envelope (‘in’) of L (‘left’) in EAGE[r] (‘earnest’) minus its last letter (‘not quite’).
10 HARD WATER
Calcium-rich liquid hurtling earthward (4,5)
An anagram (‘hurtling’) of ‘earthward’.
12 ENTOMBS
Says goodbye forever to snob met in resort (7)
An anagram (‘in resort’) of ‘snob met’.
13 MYANMAR
When reversing, drive into no Shakespearean master somewhere in SE Asia (7)
A reversal (‘when reversing’) of RAM (‘drive into’ – but ram generally takes ‘into’) plus NAY (‘no Shakespearean’) plus M (‘master’).
14 CONVENIENCES
Perhaps ladies’ devices offering comfort (12)
Double definition.
18 BREWERS YEAST
Terry saw bees, bizarrely, as help in making beer (7,5)
An anagram (‘bizarrely’) of ‘terry saw bees’.
21 INTERNS
Detains trainees … (7)
Double definition …
23 INITIAL
… first sign (7)
… and another double definition.
24 TANGERINE
Argentine mixed fruit (9)
An angram (‘mixed’) of ‘Argentine’. Everyman is fond of one-word anagrams.
25 NADIR
Deliver a new flipping low (5)
A reversal (‘flipping’) of RID (‘deliver’) plus ‘a’ plus N (‘new’).
26 EWER
Lamb’s mum runs for source of water (4)
A charade of EWE (‘lamb’s mum’) plus R (‘runs’). A ‘source of water’ if you have put some water in it.
27 CROSSWORDS
Troubles, overwhelming perhaps, foil Everyman’s business (10)
An envelope (‘overwhelming’) of SWORD (‘perhaps foil’) in CROSS (‘troubles’? – why the plural?).
DOWN
1 BREMEN
Having each time bumped off 50%, sombre hitmen in German city (6)
‘somBRE hitMEN‘ with the first half of each word removed (‘having each time bumped off 50%’).
2 EIGHTS
Groups of rowers called out: ‘Little islands!’ (6)
Sounds like (‘called out’) EYOTS (or AITS – same pronunciation; ‘little islands’).
3 DREAM COME TRUE
Supply more cured meat: all I ever hoped for (5,4,4)
An anagram (‘supply’ – adverb from supple) of ‘more cured meat’.
4 ADHESIVES
Hides vase that’s damaged, wanting glue etc (9)
An anagram (‘that’s damaged’) of ‘hides vase’.
5 CAROM
Primarily: cannon – adroit rebound – or miscue? (5)
The ‘Primarily’ clue: first letters of ‘Cannon Adroit Rebound Or Miscue’.
7 INTIMACY
Affection gleaned from Tin Tim, a cyborg (8)
A hidden (‘gleaned from’) answer in ‘tIN TIM A CYbotg’.
8 MARY ROSE
Herb’s rearranged components to present Tudor ship (4,4)
ROSEMARY (‘herb’) with its halves swapped (‘rearranged components’). The Mary Rose sank in the Solent north of the Isle Of Wight in 1545, and a major salvaging of the remains was made starting in 1971, including the raising of as much of the hull as was left.
11 WHAT ELSE IS NEW
Question about York and Orleans that’s no surprise? (4,4,2,3)
Double definition, sort of.
15 NEEDINESS
Once called, enjoys fancy meal, initially suppressing desire for attention (9)
A charade of NÉE (‘once called’, generally applied to a married woman) plus DINES (‘enjoys fancy meal’) plus S (‘initially Suppressing’).
16 ABSINTHE
Strong drink and some kebabs – in theory (8)
A hidden answer (‘some’) in ‘kebABS IN THEory’.
17 SENTENCE
Punishment dispatched: receiver of stolen goods decapitated (8)
A charade of SENT (‘dispatched’) plus [f]ENCE (‘receiver of stolen goods’) minus the first letter (‘decapitated’). A stiff sentence.
19 KINDER
Relatively pleasant young Germans (6)
Double definition. Some may object to the use of the German for children.
20 FLARES
Trousers – loud and large – are last thing in grooviness (6)
A charade of F (forte, ‘loud’) plus L (‘large’) plus ‘are’ plus S (‘last thing in groovinesS‘), with an extended definition. 1960s perhaps?
22 SKIER
Heavens! Abrupt right for one doing slaloms? (5)
A charade of SKIE[s] (‘heavens’) minus its last letter (‘abrupt’) plus R (‘right’).

picture of the completed grid

22 comments on “Everyman 4,103”

  1. Thanks PeterO. I found this a little challenging in places. Failed on FILM. Took ages to get HARD WATER, missing both the def, and the anagram. Slow to see WHAT ELSE IS NEW.

    I also don’t understand why troubles in CROSSWORDS. I looked for an elision as well as an embedment, but that would make overwhelming doing double duty in two entirely different senses.

    CAROM new to me. I don’t know much about billiards. Great word. I thought it must have been onomatopoeic, as the (red) balls ricocheted off each other, but etymologically it appears to come from the word ”red” in French or Spanish, and perhaps (red) plants before that.

    SENTENCE I thought was clever. (LOL PeterO.)

  2. BREWER’S YEAST is a residue after brewing, baker’s yeast is what brewers add to start the fermentation. Just saying.
    Thanks both.

  3. Liked EIGHTS and SENTENCE.
    CROSSWORDS
    Troubles: a compromise to fit in foil as opposed to foils?
    Can’t explain it.
    MYANMAR (‘drive into’ looks fine to clue RAM)
    Collins:
    ram
    If a vehicle rams something such as another vehicle, it crashes into it with a lot of force, usually deliberately.
    The thieves fled, ramming the police officer’s car.

    Thanks Everyman and PeterO.

  4. Chambers has CROSS: “Adversity or affliction in general, or a burden or cause of suffering, as in bear one’s cross”.
    …bear one’s cross, bear one’s troubles.

  6. Hmm, one for the diligent (not me) etymologist, pdm @1. In cricket there is a carrom ball, which is flicked by the fingers, deriving from Carrom, an Indian board game in which pieces are flicked around. But they also rebound, and so could derive colonially from carombole = strike and rebound, also a feature of cue games, some of whose balls are red. Quem sabe …?

  7. … my cross, my burden/affliction, my troubles … can’t think of a working substitution offhand ..

  8. Life is complicated, and many things contribute to one’s cross/troubles …
    but Jay @4’s “bear one’s cross/troubles” already nailed it

  9. Thanks for the blog , for CROSSWORDS I agree with Jay@4 , a CROSS to bear can mean troubles in plural .
    PDM@1 , Chambers 93 agrees with you for CAROM – French carombole from Spanish carombola the red ball in billiards .
    ABSINTHE always makes me feel more affectionate .

  10. I would like to wait for the next week’s blog to check my solutions. But the announcement of all correct is automatic and I can’t find a toggle button to turn it off. This also means that, if it does not appear, then I have a wrong entry somewhere. I would rather not have the suspense broken. If anyone from the Observer is reading this, please consider building an option.

    Thanks for the blog. I too entered CROSSWORDS with a lingering doubt but the all correct pop-up took away the suspense, though the parsing remained unexplained.

  11. WordSDrove@10. I don’t like the confirmation of correct entries either, and in the case of Everyman, with a prize and a delayed result, it’s clearly a bug. Word has it that Everyman doesn’t visit here any more. The Observer techos have had a lot to do with setting up the new online arrangements. You could contact the Observer, or submit your entry each week with some confidence of being in the draw for the prize. BTW is the result published anywhere?j

  15. [Etu @14. On May 10th 1972 at noon, I finished my last finals exam, and everyone else in my graduating class had at least one paper still to sit. Slightly dazed after the intensity of the process (ten papers in eight days, and coursework counted for nothing), I wandered down town and bought a pair of mauve loons Just a weird thing for me to do, but I suppose it represented somehow a breaking free of the shackles of my life up to that point.]

  16. [ Fortunately all my 60s clothes have been passed on by my mother who has exquisite taste and really looks after clothes . No flares or loons , lots of Mary Quant and Biba , many with their original boxes from the shop . The students call it vintage , I call it hand-me-downs . ]

  17. WordSDrove @ 10. A simple way of inhibiting the automatic confirmation would be to deliberately misspell one solution that you are sure of

  18. For 9 across, I ended up with EYRIE, which obviously caused me problems later!

    I thought “left in earnest” was a play on “left in ‘er nest” (signalled by “not quite”). And an eagle’s (bird of prey) nest is an eyrie. I REALLY overthought it!

    Eagle was the obvious first thing that came to mind, but I thought it was TOO obvious, and I couldn’t figure out the parsing to make it work.

    And because still EYRIE left me with the E at each end, it still worked for 1 and 3 down.

    I was so proud of myself, too!

  19. Easier offering this week, felt rather anagrammy initially. Didn’t parse them all, the two DD clues felt rather flimsy. Quite liked the New York New Orleans clue.

  20. Got it all out, but couldn’t parse several anwsers including 11 down. Kicked myself *very* hard when I saw the explanation. Thanks PeterO. And thanks Everyman,

  22. QUITE a nice one. As a kid used to watch the OxCam boat race go past Chiswick eyot so learned about aits and eights. As a chemist I was ashamed that I didn’t get HARD WATER sooner. My late wife called an answer like16d a run-on. It’s OK when the indicator is clear but you can spend hours on them .

Comments are closed.