A mostly straightforward Sunday stroll last week.
Along with many of the standard Everyman features (as well as the ‘primarily’ clue being complemented by an ‘ultimately’ clue for TONG), there were some nice anagrams – SHATTERING, ALGORITHMS and TORCHBEARER stood out for me.
I also liked CHOPPED LIVER for the wittily self-effacing New York vibe, LLOYD GEORGE for the surface misdirection that makes you think you’re looking for a US statesman, and, my LOI, TRIPLET, which took me a while to see and seemed such a different syle of clue that it might have wandered in from another crossword altogether. Many thanks as ever to Everyman.
Moh’s made-up cruciverbial hardness scale rating: Talc-ish
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | SHATTERING |
Straighten out – but it’s exhausting! (10)
|
| Anagram (out) of STRAIGHTEN | ||
| 6 | YETI |
Still, India’s supposed mountain-dweller (4)
|
| Charade of YET (still) + I (India) | ||
| 9 | ALGORITHMS |
Procedures for solving problems as clattering hailstorm overwhelms golf (10)
|
| Anagram (clattering) of HAILSTORM around (overwhelms) G. A cynic might argue that algorithms have in some spheres become procedures for creating, rather than solving, problems | ||
| 10 | GRIT |
Determination regularly exhibited by Geraint (4)
|
| Alternate letters (regularly exhibited by) of GeRaInT | ||
| 11 | CHOPPED LIVER |
Axed before 50, Everyman’s at end of career, an irrelevance (7,5)
|
| Charade of CHOPPED (axed) + L (50) + I’VE (Everyman has, shortened to Everyman’s) + R (end of careeR) | ||
| 15 | HOTHEAD |
Madman seen in Psycho (the adaptation) (7)
|
| Hidden (seen in) psycHO THE ADaptation | ||
| 16 | SPONSOR |
North, then south, track circling: back! (7)
|
| SPOOR (track) around (circling) N + S | ||
| 17 | THEOREM |
Some loathe – or embrace – idea (7)
|
| Hidden (some) in loaTHE OR EMbrace | ||
| 19 | TADPOLE |
I’m grateful to get support embracing prince who’ll become a frog (7)
|
| Charade of TA (thanks, I’m grateful) + DOLE (support) around (embracing) P | ||
| 20 | UNDERDELIVER |
Rashly endure drivel; fail to make good on promise (12)
|
| Anagram (rashly) of ENDURE DRIVEL | ||
| 23 | TONG |
Ultimately prudent to learn mingling; one would lose grip without partner at the barbecue (4)
|
| Last letters (ultimately) of prudenT tO learN minglinG | ||
| 24 | SKYLARKING |
Broadcaster backing poet (German) gallivanting (10)
|
| Charade of SKY (broadcaster) + LARKIN (Philip Larkin, librarian and poet) + G. Seems to me that ‘backing’ isn’t quite the right word here – ‘introducing’ might have been better? | ||
| 25 | REEL |
It may be a Fisherman’s Dance (4)
|
| Double def – a reel may belong to a fisherman, as well as being a dance | ||
| 26 | STATUETTES |
Laws covering alien little figures (10)
|
| Envelope (covering) of STATUTES around ET (the only alien ever known to have visited Planet Cryptic) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SEAR |
Heard prophet sizzle (4)
|
| Soundalike (heard) of ‘seer’ | ||
| 2 | ARGO |
Slowly, learner’s lost mighty ship (4)
|
| [L]ARGO (at a slow or stately tempo in musical notation) without the L (learner’s lost) | ||
| 3 | TORCHBEARER |
Race brother pathetically – he’s seen in the lead (11)
|
| Anagram (pathetically) of RACE BROTHER | ||
| 4 | RETAPED |
Made another recording of French father that’s stuck up (7)
|
| Reversal (stuck up) of DE (of in French) + PATER | ||
| 5 | NUMBERS |
Songs in book (7)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 7 | EUROVISION |
Air battle across the Continent? (10)
|
| Cryptic def, ‘air’ used in the sense of song | ||
| 8 | INTERBREED |
Cross Italian footballers given Belgium: maybe buck up (10)
|
| Charade of INTER (Inter Milan, Italian footballers) + B + reversal (up) of DEER (a deer may be a buck) | ||
| 12 | LLOYD GEORGE |
Statesman: Gee! Old Glory aflutter! (5,6)
|
| Anagram (aflutter) of GEE OLD GLORY | ||
| 13 | SHOT-PUTTER |
Sportsperson damaged golf-club (4-6)
|
| SHOT (damaged) + PUTTER (golf club) | ||
| 14 | ATTENDANCE |
Servants in the auditorium: but how many in the audience? (10)
|
| Soundalike (in the auditorium) of ‘attendants’ | ||
| 18 | MEERKAT |
At sea, ark teems with small flying kind of a mammal (7)
|
| Anagram (at sea) of ARK TEEM[s] without the S (small flying/fleeing) | ||
| 19 | TRIPLET |
Unusual issue characteristic of Pitt the Elder? (7)
|
| There are three consecutive Ts – a TRIPLE T – in PiTT The Elder, as long as you ignore the space. And also in Pitt the Younger, for that matter. ‘Issue’ here used in the sense of offspring | ||
| 21 | GIFT |
Present the northern fruit that’s offered up (4)
|
| Reversal (offered up) of T’ FIG (‘the’ in a Yorkshire accent + FIG) | ||
| 22 | EGOS |
Exhausting grandeur of showbusiness primarily displayed here? (4)
|
| First letters (primarily) of Exhausting Grandeur Of Showbusiness, with an extended definition |
TRIPLET was my LOI too. It was the likely answer but the parsing took forever!
Nice puzzle. Thanks, E and moh