It would appear that the scheduled blogger for last Sunday’s Everyman has either forgotten that it was his turn or he has had some other difficulty that has prevented him from posting.
Consequently, here is an analysis of the cues but with no further elaboration (it’s too nice a day to be stuck in front of this monitor for longer than need be).
Across
1 People go on, mostly quiet and unknown (6)
OCCUPY – OCCU[r] (go on, mostly) P (quiet) Y (unknown)
4 Unfair skill is possessed by Greek god (8)
PARTISAN – ART (skill) IS in (possessed by) PAN (Greek god)
10 Not detained, turn for coast (9)
FREEWHEEL – FREE (not detained) WHEEL (turn)
11 Cold, ill-mannered man in power (5)
CLOUT – C (cold) LOUT (ill-mannered man)
12 Directly demolished cheat’s argument following fabrications (2,3,4,5)
AS THE CROW FLIES – an anagram (demolished) of CHEAT’S followed by ROW (argument) F (following) LIES (fabrications)
14 Delicate and risky, ignoring hospital (4)
AIRY – [h]AIRY (risky, ignoring hospital)
15 Crass act on ground regarded as holy (10)
SACROSANCT – an anagram (ground) of CRASS ACT ON
18 Porcelain produced back in top year (5,5)
CROWN DERBY – BRED (produced) reversed (back) in CROWN (top) Y (year)
19 Fool after end of exams becoming complacent (4)
SMUG – MUG (fool) after [exam]S (end of exams)
21 Scare superstar with worry about new spicy dish (6,3,5)
CHILLI CON CARNE – CHILL (scare) ICON (superstar) plus CARE (worry) around (about) N (new)
24 Novice in charge of measurement of volume (5)
CUBIC – CUB (novice) IC (in charge)
25 Heavy garment in crate awkwardly carried by kid? (9)
GREATCOAT – an anagram (awkwardly) of CRATE in (carried by) GOAT (kid)
26 Set off from school in time (8)
DETONATE – ETON (school) in DATE (time)
27 Not indecent, hurried in speech (6)
CHASTE – sounds like (in speech) ‘chased’ (hurried)
Down
1 Abandoned rest, unprepared (3,7)
OFF BALANCE – OFF (abandoned) BALANCE (rest)
2 A tribute for each working person adhering to routine (8,2,5)
CREATURE OF HABIT – an anagram (working) of A TRIBUTE FOR EACH
3 Look closely, apprehending weight in alloy (6)
PEWTER – PEER (look closely) around (apprehending) WT (weight)
5 Grant, humble, supporting Pacino? (5)
ALLOW – AL (Pacino) LOW (humble)
6 Indiscreet stories about court and head of state (8)
TACTLESS – TALES (stories) around (about) CT (court) plus S[tate] (head of state)
7 Grotesque mask, one with depth, reflects deception (5,3,7)
SMOKE AND MIRRORS – an anagram (grotesque) of MASK ONE followed by D (depth) MIRRORS (reflects)
8 Crazy shock coming up (4)
NUTS – STUN (shock) reversed (coming up)
9 Moderate when in command (8)
DECREASE – AS (when) in DECREE (command)
13 Step round plant and large insect (4,6)
STAG BEETLE – STAGE (step) around BEET (plant) L (large)
16 Revolutionary, about to honour rising, started again (8)
REBOOTED – RED (revolutionary) around (about) TO OBE (honour) reversed (rising)
17 Clan again badly missing a church member (8)
ANGLICAN – an anagram (badly) of CLAN AG[a]IN
20 Wreck? It may be on the rocks (6)
SCOTCH – double def.
22 Bar outclassing others to some extent (5)
INGOT – contained in (to some extent) ‘outclassING OThers’
23 Help to keep leader in contest sharp (4)
ACID – AID (help) around (to keep) C[ontest] (leader in contest)
Thank you Everyman and Gaufrid, I wonder if the scheduled blogger is worse for wear after the Saturday do in Derby?
I enjoyed the crossword, especially the anagrams for CREATURE OF HABIT and SACROSANCT
Thank you for stepping in, Gaufrid, particularly on such a nice day. I rarely post, but really appreciate the site for helping me parse some of the more tortuous, multiple-stepped clues that some setters (Everyman is a prize example) rely on. I often have the correct answer, but no idea why it is right until I come here.
Thanks also to Everyman.
This was solved in a little over average time after four hours sleep, which probably means that it was actually extremely easy and I struggled badly. 🙂 First across in something down the bottom of the grid, LOI 9d.
Very enjoyable Sunday puzzle as always!
My favourite was 21a CHILLI CON CARNE
Thanks Everyman and Gaufrid
Sorry Gaufrid. It’s been a manic few days with lost then chewed passports. Sorry i didn’t post it in advance.
Thank you for that. I was waiting for the answer to 9D.
Lately I’m managing to solve these puzzles in a single sitting. I’m wondering if others are finding them easier too or if I’m just getting used to the setter. What I have noticed is I now tend to jump straight to the cryptic components of the clue. In the process I often fail to appreciate the elegant misdirection of the surface which is a shame.
Best Everyman in a while, albeit Decrease and Smoke and Mirrors took a head scratch. Occupy, Freewheel and Acid were nice.
Might do Chilli con carne tonight.
Thanks for stepping in Gaufrid, and thanks EM.
Took me forever to get 1ac 1d and 9d found them really a challenge
Loved the ac clues the most this week 12ac 21ac 25ac and 18ac
Does decrease really = moderate?
Took a while this week and didn’t find it as enjoyable as other more recent ones. Just when I thought I was getting used to this setter!
Found this one to be *very* hard. Needed to use a wildcard dictionary and online thesaurus to get many of the clues. LOI was “crown derby” (18 across).
Hmm, got most of it out pretty quickly but 1d, 14ac and 9d had me stumped. Resorted to electronic help and wasn’t overly impressed to see RISKY = HAIRY. I would typically consider hairy to mean something frightening e.g. Oh, that was a pretty hairy roller-coaster! No matter, once I got AIRY, that solved 1dn which was a pretty good clue. However I was unable to get 9d at which point I gave up and came here to check answers.