The usual pleasing cryptic from Everyman. Nothing to frighten the horses, which is as it should be.
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 Small timepiece’s piece of cloth
SWATCH
A charade of S and WATCH.
5 Reluctant announcement of just one summary
AVERSE
I’m not sure about this. ‘Announcement’ suggests aural wordplay of A VERSE, but I don’t get VERSE as ‘summary’.
8 Elbow rather jittery: make things easier
LOWER THE BAR
(ELBOW RATHER)* with ‘jittery’ as the anagrind.
11 Some of bosun’s crew edgy, ready to take off
UNSCREWED
Hidden in bosUNS CREW EDgy.
12 Disgust: social outcast returns
REPEL
A reversal of LEPER.
13 Precious-ish, emeraldesque rock in demand; olivine trinket, primarily!
PERIDOT
The initial letters of the first seven words of the clue and a cad.
14 Launch campaign?
PROJECT
A dd.
15 Overnight train: what it will cross
SLEEPER
Another dd.
17 Snubs enthusiasts for Bible study
REBUFFS
RE BUFFS would presumably be keen on Bible study …
20 We hear 40 in Rome go far
EXCEL
Aural wordplay (‘we hear’) for XL, Roman numerals for the number 40.
21 Frequently depressed characters?
KEYBOARDS
A cd.
22 Composed acid satire initially attacking Balkans’ neighbour
ADRIATIC SEA
A charade of (ACID SATIRE)* and A for the initial letter of ‘attacking’. The anagrind is ‘composed’.
23 Classic car’s finish: Switzerland, then major Italian city
CHROME
A charade of CH and ROME.
24 Mostly clear: thyme’s not refined
EARTHY
Hidden in clEAR THYme. ‘Mostly’ is indicating that the majority of the letters of the two words are needed.
Down
2 Encircles tree with garbage including carbon, depression begins now
WALL STREET CRASH
An insertion of C in WALLS, TREE and TRASH. The insertion indicator is ‘including’.
3 Time we rode off, Rose
TOWERED
A charade of T and (WE RODE)* with ‘off’ as the anagrind.
4 Mineral-rich fluid tumbling earthward
HARD WATER
(EARTHWARD)* with ‘tumbling’ as the anagrind.
5 A doctorate describing Citizen’s second cause of Rosebud’s loss
APHID
An insertion of I for the second letter of ‘citizen’ in A PHD. The insertion indicator is ‘describing’.
6 Trade barrier: flickering amber, then green light
EMBARGO
A charade of (AMBER)* and GO. The anagrind is ‘flickering’.
7 Drops chaps after reshuffle: poor!
STRAPPED FOR CASH
(DRIOS CHAPS AFTER)* with ‘reshuffle’ as the anagrind.
9 Shoe quiz
PUMP
A dd.
10 Australian drunk disembarked
ALIT
A charade of A and LIT.
14 Say conga is agreed policy
PARTY LINE
If you dance the conga at a party, you need to form a line …
15 Upset, Everyman cut 50% of fats, being staunch
STEM
A charade of ME and [FA]TS reversed.
16 Lighter, twinkling, somewhere in Sicily
PALERMO
A charade of PALER and MO. MO is short for ‘moment’, of which ‘twinkling’ is a synonym.
18 Dumb row’s erupting, cancelling some characters – 23?
BROWSER
Hidden in DumB ROWS ERupting and referring to the solution to 23ac, CHROME.
19 Pest – and missing – neither good nor bad
SO-SO
SO [AND] SO.
21 Two knights on the street; one’s a rascal
KNAVE
A charade of K, N (both abbreviations for ‘knight’) and AVE for avenue or ‘street’.
Many thanks to Everyman for this week’s puzzle.
Thanks Pierre. I also didn’t get verse>summary in AVERSE, so I put those two words in a search and AI tells me it’s biblical. A verse summary condenses a specific passage of scripture, highlighting its main points, key themes, and significant verses to capture the essence of its meaning.
As usual, I wasn’t looking for the rhyming pair, so the two long’uns SFC and WSC took longer than perhaps they should have. Don’t know why CHROME is necessarily a feature only of classic cars.
I particularly liked the surfaces in the clues today. Too many to mention, but was especially tickled by the references to Citizen Kane and Rosebud in such a pesky little word like APHID.
ALIT: I’ve seen drunk Australians disembark on a voyage from Sydney to Southampton decades ago, when sea travel was cheaper than airfares. They thought they could swim back to the ship after carousing in Acapulco, (we went via Panama when Suez was closed) but the ship was at anchor a mile out, and they had to be rescued. The purser stamped their passports and they would have had lots of trouble anywhere else they wanted to go.
Thanks, paddymelon, for the VERSE/summary explanation. I did try to find a correspondence, but failed. I’m sure your biblical connection is what’s intended.
paddymelon@1
AVERSE
Thanks for your explanation. You must be right.
However, I don’t see the soundalike angle.
Liked WALL STREET CRASH and SO-SO.
Thanks Everyman and Pierre.
As in chapter-and-verse?
Judging by the time I took to complete it, this Everyman was easier for me than usual.
Favourite: REBUFFS.
New for me: the fact that hard water is mineral-rich (4d).
Thank yo, Everyman and Pierre. Having quite a lot of contact with the Bible, ‘averse’ seemed okay to me.
I thought this was a good crossword which I finished. However, thank you Pierre for explaining the “so-and-so” element of “so-so” which had passed me by. While it had to be “alit”, it does not seem a term much used today but that may be me.
Google chrome is an internet browser
Google chrome is an internet browser
I did refer to that in the blog, Jonathan.
This is the nearest to a reference template for an Everyman puzzle that I can recall, I think.
I put in AVERSE with a shrug, and guessed that there was probably a biblical connection.
Thanks all.
I thought this was a great Everyman. Doable with some super clues. I thought EXCEL was great.
I feel so vindicated that you guys couldn’t parse AVERSE, because I couldn’t either.
Thanks for a great puzzle and explanation.
I still don’t see how a verse summary can be a verse. This doesn’t match any of the alternatives in Chambers.
My paper copy of the Observer gives AGEIST for 5 across. Which fits the soundalike better than AVERSE, but not really the definition.
I’ve just been told by the online version that averse was incorrect and the answer was ageist. I can’t see how ageist is reluctant?
Amanda 14
OoooOOOOOooooh!
Interesting! It certainly works better for the wordplay, but as you say, the definition seems wanting.
An online dictionary gives one meaning of reluctant as “backward” which would, I suppose, include AGEIST, but I think that the clue remains unfortunate.
I had AGEIST for 5a. I remember thinking that it certainly fitted the ‘announcement’ indicator, but nevertheless entering it reluctantly as my LOI. Thanks, Everyman and Pierre.
I had SUET for 15D. Everyman’s four letter clues often bring out the four letter responses from me.
In the space of one week we went from IMO the toughest Everyman I remember of recent times, and my first DNF in I don’t know how many months since WREN TIT (a bird I’d never heard of) failed me, to this last week’s quickest I’ve waltzed through it in eons. Oh the oscillation, though I prefer those twixt and tween them both.
Thanks to Pierre and Everyman.
I did ok on this one, although I messed up,on 14across. My defence is I was in a hurry to get out of the coffee shop. I’m also another with ‘averse’.
I’m confused as to why buffs should be particularly seen to study bibles. Trainspotting one day on Crewe station, someone referred to me as a ‘train buff’. Fortunately, history does not record my teenaged reply! Surely, you could be a ‘buff’ at anything?
A
Alice @ 21
As per the blog, enthusiasts of bible study would be R(eligious) E(ducation) buffs as opposed to, say, train buffs.
As others have noted, the online version gives AGEIST as the solution for 5a. I’m not convinced that either it or AVERSE works, which is a pity as I enjoyed the crossword otherwise.
I agree with pdm @2 that some of the surfaces were lovely, and I also thought that APHID was a delightful clue for such a small word.
Thanks Everyman and Pierre (a pity that there was excuse for a bird link this week).
Thanks Mr Aphid @ 5 for Chapter and verse. I’ve never thought about the origin of that phrase.
And you got a name check today with what I think is the best clue!
SimonS @22
Doh! Thank you. I didn’t take it in the first time.
A
In 15a, how is “what it will cross” a second definition for sleeper?
In 14d, why “say” – it does not seem like a “sounds like”
C.Henry@26
Train tracks run on sleepers
14d ‘say’ does seem to be redundant here
Mr Womble – thank you. I’m from Canada, I don’t think we use that term.
C. Henry @26
I think ‘say’ is there in the clue for 14D PARTY LINE for the indication by example – there are reasons for forming a line at a party other than to dance a conga.
I too had entered AVERSE for 5ac but without conviction because it failed the soundalike test.
AGEIST (a gist) is a summary but why is it “reluctant”?
Favourites: EXCEL, REBUFFS and BROWSER.
And the rhyming pair 2d and 7d
Wouldn’t Occam’s Razor suggest that AVERSE/AGEIST is just a mistake?
It would, bodycheetah.
Bodycheetah and Pierre, … in which case they are both wrong answers, and as we all know, two wrongs do sometimes make a right. So anyone who entered either AGEIST or AVERSE can claim success.
A typically good one from Everyman this week. Apart from 5a AVERSE/AGEIST, I only failed to parse 15a SLEEPER (= railway tie), as, like C.Henry@28, I’m from Canada.
Agree, easier than usual though as usual not unflawed and needed editing or checking
Liked Browser and Refuffs
Seems to be a typo in 7D blog fodder
A much kinder setter this week, a real Christmas cracker!
I’d call it reasonable rather than easy. To me ALIT isn’t a real word. I might say alighted but GOT OFF is more likely. Without much confidence I put BLOT as in blotto. I liked LOWER THE BAR and ADRIATIC SEA.
ALIT is not in the online Oxford or My ancient shorter Chambers.
Is this one of Mr Webster’s creations?
The online Webster’s has it as a variant of alighted and says it’s pronounced alight.