Everyman 3,736

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The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3736.

Scads of envelopes this week.

Across
1 BLADDERWRACK Snake by water’s margins covered with dark seaweed (12)
An envelope (‘covered with’) of ADDER (‘snake’) plus WR (‘WateR‘s margins’) in BLACK (‘dark’).

Bladderwrack
Fucus vesiculosus, bladderwrack
9 AWARD Give answer, then pull back (5)
A charade of A (‘answer’) plus WARD, a reversal (‘back’) of DRAW (‘pull’).
10 VIGILANCE Alertness from soldier joining unruly clan in struggle (9)
An envelope (‘in’) of GI (‘soldier’) plus LANC, an anagram (‘unruly’) of ‘clan’ in VIE (‘struggle’).
11 SEDATED Made calm declaration initially during sitting (7)
An envelope (‘during’) of D (‘Declaration initially’) in SEATED (‘sitting’).
12 LATERAL Note duck around river, towards the side (7)
An envelope (‘around’) of R (‘river’) in LA (‘note’ of the sol-fa) plus TEAL (‘duck’).
13 CONFORMITY Agreement about fashion in urban area (10)
An envelope (‘in’) of ON (‘about’) plus FORM (‘fashion’, verb in the sense of make) in CITY (‘urban area’).
15 GNAW Worry constantly occupying outlaw anguished in retreat (4)
A hidden (‘occupying’) reversed (‘in retreat’) answer in ‘outlaW ANGuished’.
17 TAUT Tense, given instruction in hearing (4)
A homophone (‘in hearing’) of TAUGHT (‘given instruction’).
18 SCHOOLDAYS Speaks about church with love, and former time as pupil (10)
An envelope (‘about’) of CH (‘church’) plus O (‘love’) plus OLD (‘former’) in SAYS (‘speaks’).
21 WAGERED Carry on with revolutionary bet (7)
A charade of WAGE (‘carry on’) plus RED (‘revolutionary’).
22 BUMPIER Support, led by bishop with hesitation, becoming more uneven (7)
A charade of B (‘bishop’, chess notation) plus UM (‘hesitation’) plus PIER (‘support’).
23 CRAFTSMEN Skilled workers around farm sent all over the place (9)
A charade of C (‘around’) plus RAFTSMEN, an anagram (‘all over the place’) of ‘farm sent’.
24 NINNY New pub, unknown quantity for buffoon (5)
A charade of N (‘new’) plus INN (‘pub’) plus Y (mathematical ‘unknown’).
25 VEGETABLE OIL Obtain competent conclusion from pro enthralled by obscure plant extract (9,3)
An envelope (‘enthralled by’) of GET (‘obtain’) plus ABLE (‘competent’) plus O (‘conclusion from prO‘) in VEIL (‘obscure’, verb).
Down
1 BRANDENBURG GATE Novel began a trend, holding food up as symbol of Berlin (11,4)
An envelope (‘holding’) of BURG, a reversal (‘up’ in a down light) of GRUB (‘food’) in BRANDENGATE, an anagram (‘novel’) of ‘began a trend’.

The Brandenburg Gate at twilight
2 ADDITION Extra commercial issue, not first (8)
A charade of AD (‘commercial’) plus [e]DITION (‘issue’) minus its first letter (‘npt first’).
3 DAVID Psalmist showing depth, devoted (5)
A charade of D (‘depth’) plus AVID (‘devoted’).
4 RIGOLETTO Leave, in anger, dry old opera (9)
An envelope (‘in’) of GO (‘leave’) in RILE (‘anger’) plus TT (‘dry’, abstaining from alcohol) plus O (‘old’).
5 RELATE Run over story, coming up with electronic link (6)
A charade of R (‘run’) plus ELAT, a reversal (‘coming up’ in a down light) of TALE (‘story’) plus E (‘electronic’).
6 CONFRONTATIONAL Antagonistic business of country holding leading position (15)
An envelope (‘holding’) of FRONT (‘leading position’) in CO (company, ‘business’) plus NATIONAL (‘of country’).
7 PARSEC Strike northward, dry for long distance (6)
A charade of PAR, a reversal (‘northward’ in a down light) of RAP (‘strike’) plus SEC (‘dry’, of wines).
8 FELLOW Elf distracted sad man (6)
A charade of FEL, an anagram (‘distracted’) of ‘elf’; plus LOW (‘sad’).
14 MACADAMIA Parrot mostly perched on barrier, one above a tree (9)
A charade of MACA[w] (‘parrot’) minus its last letter (‘mostly’) plus DAM (‘barrier’) plus I (‘one’) plus ‘a’. Nuts to you.
16 FLAMENCO Sweetheart and sergeant possibly dance (8)
A charade of FLAME (‘sweetheart’) plus NCO (non-commissioned officer, ‘sergeant possibly’).
17 THWACK Change course, taking in hot western belt (6)
An envelope (‘taking in’) of H (‘hot’) plus W (‘western’) in TACK (‘change course’).
19 SPRAYS Scatters  branches bearing flowers (6)
Double definition.
20 WRITHE Legal document with explosive twist (6)
A charade of WRIT (‘legal document’) plus HE (high ‘explosive’).
22 BANAL Exclude a line lacking originality (5)
A charade of BAN (‘exclude’) plus ‘a’ plus L (‘line’).
completed grid

17 comments on “Everyman 3,736”

  1. Very enjoyable Sunday puzzle as always!

    New words for me were BLADDERWRACK + PARSEC.

    My favourites were 4d and 25a (loi)

    I could not parse 22d.

    Thanks Everyman and Peter.

  2. Thanks Peter. This was the customary enjoyable Sunday stroll for me, though VEGETABLE OIL did detain me for a while. The usual excellent surfaces here, as in today’s Everyman as well. I think E’s general avoidance of obscure answers (maybe PARSEC the exception here) can sometimes make it too easy to guess from word counts and crossers but, on the whole, these fine puzzles seem unjustly under-rated.

  3. Thanks both. Looking at the blog on an iPad, all the ends of the longer lines in your blog are truncated – e.g. 9a ends as of DRAW (p plus half of “u” then nothing. When I look on a MacBook, the ends of your sentences are all there. Is it me?

  4. Shirl @3

    No, it is not just you. I have fallen afoul of this before: the trouble is that the pictures are too wide, and for whatever reason the program’s response is to truncate the text rather than wrapping it round. I have shrunk the pictures, and the problem should have gone away (at least it has on my iPad).

  6. Thank you Everyman and PeterO.

    A pleasant crossword with lovely smooth surfaces. I now solve a week late so as to remember how it went. PARSEC was new, or forgotten.

    I always have trouble bringing the BRANDENBURG GATE to mind, ‘mandelbaum’ always clouds the name, even though one of my sons lived in Brandenburg recently and is now in Berlin – must think of the concertos.

  7. On the tricky side I thought, with a few more obscure answers – 14d and 1d among them. Those, together with a few longer, more complex clues, means this felt more like a weekday cryptic than Everyman, for me at least. It’s always possible, of course, that I was just having an off week!

  10. Yeah, didn’t get far with this one. Just found it too much of a chore to enjoy and gave up. The only interesting note is that I got Agard for 9a which also seems to fit the clue.

  11. Thanks Peter & Everyman. A real slog for me this morning with some pretty obscure words and definitions. Electronic assistance definitely required. Couldn’t solve 17ac until I discovered I needed a U instead of another E for Berlin’s gate. Go the ABs!

  13. I didn’t find it too hard but I always keep mr google close so suppose am not a pure player. Of course I had never heard of bladderwrack but knew it must either be an obscure snake or seaweed.I did not know parsec either wil prob never need that again . Got all but vegetable …got the oil not the Vege and should have.
    Liked thwack and bumpier for fun value.

  14. I found it reasonably challenging but enjoyed working the answers out from the clues for once. I did not know parsec either and couldn’t guess it even though I had the second half. Like Paul@11 I wasn’t sure of the spelling of Brandenburg but knew it must be burg so it could be grub coming up.
    But not too bad for me, getting all but parsec.

  15. I found it hard Barrie! If I ever see a bladderwrack I’ll know I’ve traveled too far from home!

  17. Hmmm, strange. I didn’t find this too hard. Started this at 8pm today and did it on and off for a couple of hours. Enjoyed parsec and vegetable oil. Though I’d never heard of a bladderwrack, it wasn’t too tricky to parse.

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