An enjoyable outing from Everyman
Nothing too tricky here, which is as it should be. Most, if not all, of the standard Everyman clue types are present and correct (and highlighted in the grid). My personal likes: 9ac and 26ac for the surfaces, plus the cockney oarsman in 18dn and the sweet hair product in 19dn. Thanks, as ever, to Everyman.
Moh’s cruciverbial hardness scale rating: Talc
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | FIRESTORMS |
Reformists resolved blazing issues (10)
|
| Anagram (resolved) of REFORMISTS | ||
| 6 | IBIS |
One wading regularly in bliss (4)
|
| Alternate letters (regularly) of In BlIsS | ||
| 9 | REMEMBER ME |
Humble representative, cycling: do I ring a bell? (8,2)
|
| MERE MEMBER (humble representative) with the first ME moving/cycling to the end | ||
| 10 | BAKU |
What’s originally displaying big Azerbaijani khanate urbanity? (4)
|
| A variation on the ‘primarily’ clue – first letters (what’s originally displaying) of Big Azerbaijani Khanate Urbanity – BAKU being the capital of Azerbaijan | ||
| 11 | PLAYS IT BY EAR |
Tries to win at tag: mostly stands around yard and thinks on one’s feet (5,2,2,3)
|
| PLAYS IT (It being another name for the playground game tag) + BEAR[s] (mostly stands) around Y (yard) | ||
| 15 | LEOTARD |
Sign sailor’s Dutch: tight- fitting clothing (7)
|
| LEO (sign of the Zodiac) + TAR (sailor) + D (Dutch) | ||
| 16 | SARCASM |
Scorn South African racism, wanting independence – and reform (7)
|
| SA (South African) + anagram (reform) of RAC[i]SM (racism wanting independence, ie without the i) | ||
| 17 | CENTAUR |
He’s a bit of a nag (7)
|
| Cryptic def, a centaur being part human, part horse/nag. At first I thought I was looking for a part of a horse’s anatomy that was also a man’s given name, but the crossers soon put me right | ||
| 19 | ALI BABA |
The Greatest Pudding, one from Arabia that’s a bit of a legend (3,4)
|
| ALI (the boxer Muhammad Ali, known as The Greatest) + BABA (the rum-soaked pastry eaten as a dessert) | ||
| 20 | SWITCHES GEAR |
Changes approach and whips Kit (8,4)
|
| SWITCHES (whips) + GEAR (kit – the upper-case K is only there for misdirection) | ||
| 23 | EELS |
Slippery types rest up (for the most part) (4)
|
| Reversal (up) of SLEE[p] (rest for the most part) | ||
| 24 | WELL-EARNED |
Justly deserved, like some oil? (4-6)
|
| Double definition, the second a bit flighty. I suppose oil that comes from a well (rather than a nut or a seed, say) could just about be described as ‘well-earned’. Sort of. | ||
| 25 | PART |
Leave rôle (4)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 26 | GRACIOUSLY |
I’m surprised to have exhausted Lady in elegant fashion (10)
|
| GRACIOUS (I’m surprised, as in ‘good gracious’) + L[ad]Y (exhausted lady) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | FORD |
Cross off, or delete, removing most (4)
|
| Hidden (removing most) in ofF OR Delete | ||
| 2 | RAMP |
Pram struggling in incline (4)
|
| Anagram (struggling) of PRAM | ||
| 3 | SIMPLE AS ABC |
Miss Capable flourishing, very straightforward (6,2,3)
|
| Anagram (flourishing) of MISS CAPABLE. I shall refrain from putting a link to the obvious earworm… | ||
| 4 | ONE-EYED |
Seed money M&S wasted unwisely with vision restricted (3-4)
|
| Anagram (unwisely) of [S]EED [M]ONEY (minus M and S/’M&S wasted’) | ||
| 5 | MEMOIRS |
Everyman with pretentious reference to self rambles vacuously in recollections (7)
|
| ME (Everyman) + MOI (pretentious reference to self. Pretentious? Moi?!) + R[amble]S (rambles vacuously, ie emptied of its inner letters) | ||
| 7 | BEAVER AWAY |
Labour’s account of why dam construction incomplete? (6,4)
|
| Double definition, the second whimsically suggesting that if the beaver’s away, the dam doesn’t get built | ||
| 8 | SQUARE MEAL |
What some Shreddies and cheese slices will give you? (6,4)
|
| Cryptic definition. Shreddies breakfast cereal and cheese slices both tend to be square. Probably best not eaten together though | ||
| 12 | BURKINA FASO |
Leader of blasted UK on safari touring African country (7,4)
|
| Anagram (touring) of B (leader of blasted) UK ON SAFARI | ||
| 13 | BLACK SHEEP |
Bad son, perhaps, that may get you sacked thrice? (5,5)
|
| Reference to the nursery rhyme ‘Baa baa, black sheep, have you any wool?’, although that song has ‘three bags full’ rather than sacks, so this is perhaps a little stretchy | ||
| 14 | COUNCILLOR |
Local official also therapist, we’re told (10)
|
| Homophone (we’re told) of ‘counsellor’, therapist | ||
| 18 | ROE DEER |
How the Cockney oarsman got to this doe-eyed creature? (3,4)
|
| Homophone. If a Cockney oarsman was asked how he got somewhere, he might reply that he “rowed ‘ere” | ||
| 19 | ANGELIC |
Hair product with a nice short casing: sweet! (7)
|
| A NIC[e] (a nice short) around (casing) GEL (hair product) | ||
| 21 | ONUS |
Uncapped perk? That’s a liability (4)
|
| [b]ONUS (perk without its first letter, ie uncapped) | ||
| 22 | GDAY |
Victorian greeting, ultimately relaxed, welcoming … carefree? The reverse (1’3)
|
| Envelope (welcoming) of GAY (carefree) around D (ultimately relaxeD). ‘The reverse’ because the clue initially suggests it’s the other way about, ie ‘ultimately relaxed’ around ‘carefree’ |