The Observer crossword / Mar 18, 2018
Some setters just can’t put a foot wrong. Here’s one of them.
This week Everyman used a lot of charades and envelopes but I can’t say this was all too easy. Still accessible enough, though, for those learning the game.
Quality stuff.
Definitions are underlined wherever possible and/or appropriate.
| Across | ||
| 1 | TIP-OFF | Warning from revolutionary work in middle of argument (3-3) |
| Reversal [revolutionary] of OP (work) exactly in the middle of TIFF (argument) | ||
| 4 | EMPHATIC | What about politician with a muscular movement being decisive? (8) |
| EH (what) around MP (politician), then A + TIC (muscular movement) | ||
| 10 | RATTILY | Time after time entering bar and beginning to yell angrily (7) |
| T,T (time (after) time) inside RAIL (bar) + Y[ell] | ||
| 11 | ADDRESS | Begin to deal with commercial outfit (7) |
| AD (commerical) + DRESS (outfit) | ||
| 12 | SOU | Peevish, right away, making tiny sum of money (3) |
| SOUR (peevish) minus R (right) | ||
| 13 | SCOTT JOPLIN | Dry joke initially in exclusive story left by popular composer (5,6) |
| TT (dry, teetotal) + J[oke], together inside SCOOP (exclusive story) + L (left) + IN (popular) Most solvers will know Scott Joplin as a composer of rags and, in particular, the theme tune for the film “The Sting” (The Entertainer). But years ago, in Prague of all places, I saw a staging of his only opera Treemonisha. Here’s more about Scott Joplin . |
||
| 14 | MATINEE JACKET | Small item of kit assembled, including a prong and energy socket (7,6) |
| MET (assembled) around {A TINE (prong) + E (energy) JACK (socket)} One for babies. |
||
| 17 | PATENT LEATHER | Shiny material in heap later shifted outside shelter (6,7) |
| Anagram [shifted] of HEAP LATER around TENT (shelter) | ||
| 21 | MOSQUITO NET | Protective curtain, very large, left in artist’s possession (8,3) |
| OS (very large) + QUIT (left), together inside MONET (artist) | ||
| 23 | COB | Business with black swan (3) |
| CO (business) + B (black) | ||
| 24 | LAUNDER | Note less than clean (7) |
| LA (note) + UNDER (less than) | ||
| 25 | TESSERA | Piece of mosaic put back before start of study period (7) |
| Reversal [back] of SET (put) + S[tudy] + ERA (period) | ||
| 26 | SKELETON | Basic structure half of sketch revealed (8) |
| SKE[tch] + LET ON (revealed) | ||
| 27 | ONESIE | Loose-fitting garment working, I see, in a different way (6) |
| ON (working) + anagram [in a different way] of I SEE Another one for babies. |
||
| Down | ||
| 1 | TIRESOME | Abnormal rise in volume that’s annoying (8) |
| Anagram [abnormal] of RISE inside TOME (volume) | ||
| 2 | PUT OUT TO PASTURE | Offend astute pro improperly forced into retirement (3,3,2,7) |
| PUT OUT (offend) + anagram [improperly] of ASTUTE PRO | ||
| 3 | FRISSON | Is child following father? That must be a thrill (7) |
| IS SON (child) coming after FR (father) | ||
| 5 | MEANT | Indicated nitrogen in substance (5) |
| N (nitrogen) inside MEAT (substance) | ||
| 6 | HADDOCK | Fish received on wharf (7) |
| HAD (received) + DOCK (wharf) | ||
| 7 | THE PLOT THICKENS | Struggling to help sect, think things are getting complicated (3,4,8) |
| Anagram [struggling] of TO HELP SECT THINK | ||
| 8 | COSINE | Nothing wrong in church function (6) |
| O (nothing) + SIN (wrong), together inside CE (church) | ||
| 9 | TYROLEAN | Colour around unknown part of Alpine region (8) |
| TAN (colour) around {Y (unknown) + ROLE (part)} | ||
| 15 | AT LENGTH | Glen that gets spoilt eventually (2,6) |
| Anagram [gets spoilt] of GLEN THAT | ||
| 16 | CRIBBAGE | Game in enclosure disrupted by band? Not on (8) |
| CAGE (enclosure) having inside RIBBON (band) minus ON | ||
| 18 | TRUNDLE | New deal excluding filling in actual roll (7) |
| N (new) + D[ea]L, together inside TRUE (actual) | ||
| 19 | ARTISAN | Skilled worker, prejudiced, quietly dismissed (7) |
| PARTISAN (prejudiced) minus P (quietly) | ||
| 20 | SMILES | One in climbing small trees showing signs of happiness (6) |
| I (one) inside reversal [climbing] of S (small) ELMS (trees) | ||
| 22 | TORSO | Trunk carried by visitor sometimes (5) |
| Hidden answer [carried by]: visitor sometimes | ||
Thank you Sil and Everyman.
Seeing no one else has come on line today I feel I should make sure you do not feel your time explaining it all has been ignored. I usually only comment when I feel something has been missed, but I always read the blog for elucidation as there is always something I have missed.
I found this standard Everyman, which means easily accessible but containing smile-causing moments while having no knobbly bits. There is enough here for it not to be a one pass fill but everything is fairly clued. A pleasant experience. Thanks again.
I think the blog and the puzzle both deserve positive comment. I couldn’t agree more with Sil’s intro; there is always a well-engineered correctness – and a sufficiency of fun – in CG’s clueing which makes his puzzles as entertaining to a more experienced solvership as to those inching their way into this odd pastime. A feeling pervades, though, that there is much more being held back – I don’t have access to his Spectator puzzles but I am sure that they’ll be very much more challenging, but no less a pleasure.
Very good blog and puzzle; thanks to Sil and Everyman
Having done Everyman for 30+ years, I’m finding it more difficult to finish every week. I struggled for ages to get the last two : MATINEE JACKET which I had not heard of and lastly TYROLEAN for which I nearly put Pyronean. I particularly liked COSINE which was simple but misleading. Thanks to Sil for the blog and Everyman for his near perfect clues.
Thank you Everyman and Sil.
MATINEE JACKET was also my last in (Davy @3), and that in spite of having knitted many of them for my four babies, but these were all born in non-English speaking countries – I thought it must be a jacket one wore to the cinema in the afternoon and did not remember what it was until I read the blog!
I also tried to enter PYRENEAN at 9d, the clues seemed to have a French Flavour .
The clue for COSINE, likewise, was my favourite.
Lucky Sil to have seen the opera Treemonisha by Scott Joplin, I never knew that he composed one (in fact two I see on googling the link, but the other, A Guest of Honor, has been lost).
I echo everything that’s been said, especially Sil in the intro and Mystogre@1 – I love the idea of a puzzle being accessible and smile-causing without knobbly bits :-). And I agree that there is a sense of having holding back which I’d see as the mark of a class setter who always has their particular audience in mind.
I know it’s bad form to comment on current puzzles, but today’s Everyman is another masterpiece of elegant, accessible setting that contains all the cryptic devices and can be enjoyed by solvers of all levels. My comment is only to encourage people to have a look at it.
Sorry – I posted befor thanking Everyman and Sil.
Thought this was quite tricky for Everyman, and there was one – 9d – I wasn’t 100% sure of, unusually for these puzzles. Perhaps the accompanying snow and icy conditions finished off whatever cognitive powers I can summon up on a Sunday morning.
I’m not a fan of the recent Everyman efforts. They seem clunky and humourless. The crossword equivalent of making self-assembly Ikea furniture. If you told me they’d been written by an AI bot I would believe you. Each to their own I suppose
bodycheetah @8. I know exactly what you mean. I turned to Everyman after Rufus retired, and have not found much pleasure in it.
So, there we are. Everyman can put a foot wrong. I obviously do not agree but, as I used to say, “we’re all different, aren’t we?”.
To me, Everyman’ cluing technique is near perfect, embedded in (most of the time) meaningful surfaces.
True, we don’t have much Trump, farting or other things that make many solvers laugh out loud.
But “the crossword equivalent of making self-assembly Ikea furniture”? I personally don’t see the analogy.
And, John E @9, “I turned to Everyman after Rufus retired, and have not found much pleasure in it”. The two are indeed completely different in style. Rufus was indeed very playful, Everyman’s more a technician (and a very good one, in my opinion). While many of us miss Rufus (and his alter egos) – including me – , Everyman is somehow a Times setter in Guardian clothing which I think is not that bad. Don’t see him as a successor to Rufus because he’s not.
Delete my name from WhiteKing’s post @5 and it reflects exactly my feelings.
But I will not deny or defy other views. As you say bodycheetah: “Each to their own I suppose”.
Interesting comments. If he’s holding something back I’d hope it to be impishness rather than complexity as I like the standard, but I agree these can be a bit chaste. Perhaps that’s where the diy ikea reference is heading. I too liked Cosine and thought Tiresome was nicely clued. My geography failed me in 9D.
Thanks Sil and EM.
Found this quite difficult to get started, but once I got a few I managed to get all but two. How could I not think of matinee jacket, having knitted quite a few. I thought the answer would be something obscure, and onesie is not a name that I’m familiar with.
A good way to spend the afternoon on such a dismal day.
I can relate to the comments but I’ve warmed to the “new” EM. Every now and then I do a back issue from the Guardian web page (starting from 3,000) which takes a while readapting to Alan Scott’s style. Anyway I really enjoyed today’s and added a couple of new three letter words for my future reference. Even when I had all the crossings it took me ages to get the clue for Matinee Jacket so I had a chuckle when I finally worked it out. Same with Cosine.
Thanks Everyman & Sil.
I found this really hard and never got cosine which I suppose was not that hard and missed the composer –was hung up on the classics. Had Pyrenean also thinking pan might ref Pantone oh dear
But enjoyed all the others for their challenging nature
Found this one pretty tough. Struggled with matine jacket, onesie (!!!) and trundle (LOI).
De gustibus non disputandum, but I really can’t understand the attitudes expressed by bodycheetah@8 and John E@9. Everyman is terrific; just the right level — tough without being impossible, and full of clever “Ah-hah!” items.
I found this a bit tricky but enjoyable nonetheless. Was not able to get 9d. Enjoyed cosine. Not so convinced rattily = angrily. I think it’s more annoyed than angry.
Gee, found this tough – a bit like NZ is finding winning at netball these days! There were some great clues (matinee jacket, mosquito net and cosine to name a few) bit in this case the good clues ended up being a real struggle. Settled for Pyronean so I can’t even say I finished it successfully. Thanks to all.
Very hard for me , got stuck a lot , needed help but got there in the end.