Everyman 3659

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A tricky little number this morning, I thought.  What did you make of it?

 

 

 

 

 

Abbreviations
cd  cryptic definition
dd  double definition
(xxxx)*  anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x]  letter(s) removed

definitions are underlined

Across

1  Fruitful development of clearest system for measuring quakes
RICHTER SCALE
A charade of RICH and (CLEAREST)* gives you the earthquake register.

9  Bound to turn round new board
PANEL
An insertion of N in LEAP reversed.

10  Justify being very mean
VINDICATE
I liked the surface reading of this clue.  A charade of V and INDICATE.

11  Overthrow leader in disgrace and rest, right away
DEPOSE
A charade of D for the first letter of ‘leader’ and [R]EPOSE.

12  Lion grew terribly menacing
LOWERING
(LION GREW)*

14  Make more efficient version of metal siren
STREAMLINE
(METAL SIREN)*

15  Benefit from place with our team
PLUS
A charade of PL and US.

17  Curse love at end of speech
OATH
A charade of O, AT and H for the last letter of ‘speech’.

18  Aspect of expert in person
FACE TO FACE
Everyman is asking you to think of FACET OF ACE, so it’s a cd cum dd.

20  Recurring image about revolutionary party with rage
PERIODIC
An insertion of DO and IRE reversed in PIC.

21  Son takes out gifts
SKILLS
A charade of S and KILLS.

24  Promise to get gold back, surrounded by relative support
GUARANTEE
An insertion of AU for ‘gold’ reversed in GRAN and TEE.

25  Pin in shadow, elusive
DOWEL
Hidden in shaDOW ELusive.

26  Sentimental stuff I start about bygone pie
CORNISH PASTY
This setter likes his multi-part clues, doesn’t he?  This is CORN for ‘sentimental stuff’ followed by I and an insertion of PAST for ‘bygone’ in SHY for ‘start’
(as in horses).

Down

1  Express rebuke over identification
RAPID
Since it’s a down clue, it’s a charade of RAP and ID.

2  Scheming and playing ironic part also
CONSPIRATORIAL
(IRONIC PART ALSO)*

3  Chap after endless chat is showing charm
TALISMAN
A charade of TAL[K], IS and MAN.

4  Party needing some extra vehicles
RAVE
Hidden in extRA VEhicles.

5  Baffled fool set up
CONFOUNDED
A charade of CON and FOUNDED.

6  Dally with one in group with hesitation
LOITER
An insertion of I in LOT followed by ER.

7  Actor wades in, ideally trained
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS
(WADES IN IDEALLY)*

8  Song in clip with guys dancing with energy
PEGGY SUE
There are lots of songs in the world, so I expect that like me, you needed some crossing letters to get this.  A charade of PEG, (GUYS)* and E for the Buddy Holly hit.

13  Shabby field with portion over time engulfed by marsh
FLEA-BITTEN
More convoluted cluing.  An insertion of LEA for ‘field’ and BIT for ‘portion’ next to T for ‘time’ in FEN for ‘marsh’.

14  Work quietly during present strike
STOPPAGE
An insertion of OP and P for ‘piano’ in STAGE.

16  Invented company with approval excited dupe
COOKED UP
A charade of CO, OK and (DUPE)*

19  Recording absorbing account in principality
MONACO
An insertion of AC in MONO.

22  Odds on bet spread out
SPLAY
A charade of SP for starting price or ‘odds’ and LAY.

23  Not so much praise without bishop
LESS
[B]LESS

Many thanks to Everyman for this morning’s puzzle.

12 comments on “Everyman 3659”

  1. Normally the “Ev” takes me about 30 mins but this was one of the rare ones I couldn’t finish. As said previously, I detest those clues like 26 where you have to think of synonyms for words in the clue – in this case 3 different ones – and then anagram them. How could anyone get “corn” from all the possible synonyms for ‘something sentimental’; ditto “shy” for ‘start’, and “past” for ‘bygone’? 13 is another similar one. This sort of thing is best kept for Wednesday’s Grauniad IMO

  2. Thanks both. Quite tricky but ok. I was a bit riled last Sunday about MONO=recording but it seems fine now, remembering the transition from mono LPs to stereo ones

  3. Thank you Everyman and Pierre.

    I found this tricky, and stupidly entered COINED UP at 16d which meant 21a was unsolvable. I agree with Oldfakir @1 about clues like 13 and 26, I can only get the answer by guessing or waiting for the crossers, and then cannot always be bothered to parse.

  4. Definitely a little trickier than usual. Mono for recording was literally the last thing I thought of, and I put a big question mark beside it. It’s in the dictionary, however, so it’s fair game for the setter.

  5. I didn’t make any note last weekend about extra trickiness, and I can’t remember one way or the other now. I think I got CORNISH PASTY from “pie” and a couple of crossers and then parsed it. Yes, it was a bit complicated (as was 13d), but there were no anagrams. Is combining a charade and an envelope too difficult for an Everyman? I don’t think it should be when both envelopes are clearly signposted (particularly the “engulfed” in 13d). Perhaps the problem was more that we were looking for some less familiar synonyms (SHY in the sense of “start”, LEA and FEN)?

    Thanks, Everyman and Pierre.

  6. No anagrams, Jenny? And there was me thinking ‘this is a bit hard, thank god there are a few anagrams’

    I really enjoyed this tussle. Sniffed at Mono but liked Once I’d got them) 10,18,20,21 Across and 2,3 and 15 Down. Didn’t fully parse Guarantee (gave up after ruling out Grantee as being anything) and made a real hash of 10A to begin with.

    Thanks Everyman and Pierre, merry crimple to all Kiwi correspondents.

  9. Quite liked this one, but agree with others about the convoluted clues. Richter scale was timely given all the earthquakes that have happened recently in some parts of NZ.
    I liked all the anagrams. Sorry Jennyk but they were there.
    I’m off to New Plymouth on Monday so unlikely to be doing this next week.
    Merry Christmas everyone.

  10. hi all kiwis am still going on this one with all that happens on dec 24th so havent had the time to devote, more’s the pity..No doubt will return to it after tomorrow’s shenanigans are all over
    Happy christmas to all bloggers, I enjoy all the comments

  11. Finished it after all on Sat. But then on checking discovered i had two wrong when thought was all done I had written CONSPIRATIONAL instead of the right answer. That’ll teach me for not checking all the letters were used in the right order….subsequently then decided on Photofit for 20ac which was a new word for me but thought it had to be right with nothing else matching. Oh well that’s good enough for the day.
    liked 18ac 21ac 10ac

  12. Funny but I found this to be a little more straight forward than usual – or maybe I was a bit luckier with my guesswork this week! Or maybe because for once in a blue moon I got 1ac straight away and it got me going from there. Thanks to all and Happy Christmas!

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