The usual mixture of charades, insertions and anagrams from Everyman, with some typical multi-part clues. And a little milestone for me today too.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Justification given by one interrupting singer (5)
BASIS
An insertion of I in BASS.
4 Listless learner, I gather, suffering with cold (9)
LETHARGIC
An insertion of (I GATHER)* in L and C.
9 Accidentally popular number, latest from vocalist in association with partner (15)
UNINTENTIONALLY
A typical Everyman multi-part clue. These are fine, and always clear, but I reckon 99 people out of 100 would get this from the definition and maybe a few crossers and then reverse engineer it. It is IN for ‘popular’ and TEN for ‘number’ and T for the last letter of ‘vocalist’ inserted into UNION for ‘association’ followed by ALLY for ‘partner’.
10 Revolutionary book that is full of verse arousing intense feeling (7)
EMOTIVE
A reversal of TOME for ‘book’ followed by V in IE for id est or ‘that is’.
11 Face religious group, ignoring singular form of language (7)
DIALECT
A charade of DIAL and [S]ECT.
12 Cross after anarchic act in capital leads to disappointment (10)
ANTICLIMAX
A charade of (ACT IN)*, LIMA for the ‘capital’ of Peru, and X for your ‘cross’.
14 Completion of filming western followed by strike (4)
WRAP
A charade of W and RAP. ‘That’s a wrap’ is what the director says when he or she’s happy with the take.
17 Proper time for performance by two (4)
DUET
A charade of DUE and T.
18 Fly down by trunk keeping dry (10)
BLUEBOTTLE
A charade of BLUE and an insertion of TT for ‘dry’ in BOLE. The insertion indicator is ‘keeping’.
20 Difficulty with bishop in part contained by head of government (7)
PROBLEM
An insertion of B in ROLE, all inserted into PM. The two insertion indicators are ‘in’ and ‘contained’.
21 Get around parking strip (7)
DEPRIVE
An insertion of P in DERIVE.
22 Are young viewers prepared for film star? (9,6)
SIGOURNEY WEAVER
(ARE YOUNG VIEWERS)* with ‘prepared’ as the anagrind. Nice surface.
23 Without fixed limits, start over (4-5)
OPEN-ENDED
A simple charade of OPEN and ENDED.
24 Scrap with Romeo dividing cast (5)
SHRED
An insertion of R for the phonetic alphabet ‘Romeo’ in SHED.
Down
1 Composer, upper-class, turned up in person in street (9)
BOULEVARD
An insertion of RAVEL and U reversed in BOD. The insertion indicator is ‘in’ and the reversal indicator is ‘turned up’.
2 Insolence in smooth and villainous tone, huge error in speech (4,2,3,6)
SLIP OF THE TONGUE
An insertion of LIP for ‘insolence’ in SOFT, followed by (TONE HUGE)* The anagrind is ‘villainous’.
3 Solid part in rehearsed manoeuvre (3,5)
SET PIECE
Another simple charade, of SET and PIECE.
4 Weapon, look, no good (5)
LANCE
[G]LANCE
5 Inferior article about one on road with informer (5-4)
THIRD-RATE
Another insertion: of I, RD and RAT in THE.
6 Awning usable at regular intervals yearly (6)
ANNUAL
The even letters of AwNiNg UsAbLe.
7 Dog, familiar in type, leapt finally with energy into stream (6,9)
GOLDEN RETRIEVER
Another intricate but ultimately clear clue: an insertion of OLD for ‘familiar’ in GENRE for ‘type’ followed by T for the last letter of ‘leapt’ followed by and insertion of E in RIVER.
8 Exclamation over platinum in vault (5)
CRYPT
Since it’s a down clue, it’s CRY followed by PT for the chemical symbol for platinum.
13 Unlucky guys taken in by silly old lie (3-6)
ILL-OMENED
Can’t say I’ve ever heard this, but it’s an insertion of MEN in (OLD LIE)*
15 Favoured arbiter made a mistake under pressure (9)
PREFERRED
Again because it’s a down clue, it’s a charade of P, REF and ERRED.
16 Politician breaking hearts with start of spending squeeze (8)
COMPRESS
Another insertion: of MP in CORES plus S for the first letter of ‘spending’.
19 Reason to accept large part of contract (6)
CLAUSE
Another insertion: of L in CAUSE.
20 Sauce essential to recipe stockpiled (5)
PESTO
Hidden in reciPE STOckpiled.
21 Nymph not interesting flier? (5)
DRYAD
A charade of DRY and AD. If you are starting out, then DRYAD is a good one to remember, because it comes up often, as does NAIAD, which is another ‘nymph’.
Many thanks to Everyman for today’s puzzle. The milestone? This is my 500th blog for Fifteensquared. And kind of appropriate that it’s an Everyman, because this was the puzzle that got me back into cryptics about ten years ago. Could never finish them – or even half finish them – to start with, but it’s that practice thing, because here I am now blogging them in the hope of helping others to improve and enjoy our harmless pastime. I need to be able to insert an obligatory Pierre bird link soon, though, otherwise I’m packing the whole thing in. There’s not been one for ages.
Congratulations on this significant event! Although I rarely comment on thie 225 blog, I do read it regularly and greatly appreciate and enjoy your commentary. I hope that you are covering today’s Everyman, because there’s an excellent opportunity for a bird link therein.
I don’t usually comment here, either, but congratulations, Pierre, and thank you – to you and all the bloggers – your explanations are such a help in the parsing.
Thanks both and congrats Pierre. How about a WEAVER bird that happens to be called SIGOURNEY?
Thank you Everyman and Pierre – congratulations on your 500th blog, like Shirl I wondered about the WEAVER bird …
WRAP for the completion of filming was new to me. The anagram in 22a for the film star was great.
Yes, congratulations Pierre. Another good Everyman, more straightforward than the past couple of weeks I thought.
Many thanks to both and congratulations to Pierre. I always come late to this forum due to time zones but appreciate the work done by the bloggers who fill in my lack of knowledge very well.
Yes, this is a typical Everyman and all the better for it. I did look sideways at ILL-OMENED as it was not a term of which I was aware. But it could not be anything else and that is the great thing about these crosswords. They are very well written. And, yes, I am frequently guilty of parsing afterwards.
Congratulations, Pierre, splendid effort.
Agree with you re not bothering to unpack some of the multi-part parsing, there were a number of those today in a crossword that was a good 15-20% easier than recent weeks’.
Hey, Audrey, I’m playing bowls tomorrow! Balmoral, dry run for the missus’s work Christmas do.
Never fail to learn something new – today’s learning was ‘ reverse engineer’ which is what I usually have to do with the long ones. Glad I appear not to be the only one. Otherwise the term wouldn’t exist. Happy to admit it. Loved Bluebottle and was very pleased when it jumped off the page for me. I love clues that try to send you off a totally different path.
Had to wait for the explanation to justify the other bits of 1d. I guess Bod does means person but you don’t hear it that often.
Gee there were some real good clues here, including some vague ones, dryad and boulevard to name a couple. Particularly liked “bluebottle”, more so I think because it reminded me of the Goons. So much so that I spent sometime this afternoon making a pathetic attempt at a Peter Sellers accent no doubt causing consternation amongst anyone within earshot!
Well done Pierre and thanks to all.
Congrats on the milestone Pierre and many thanks for all your work on Everyman. I seem to find the Everyman a bit easier these days and am now regularly completing it. That’s definitely In part due to your excellent explanations, and also the comments here. Todays I really enjoyed, but agreed – a bird clue would be nice…
Congratulations Pierre. Hope you get a bird soon. Maybe a kiwi.
Enjoyed this crossword even though I couldn’t parse many. I liked Dryad, and dialect.
Hope the bowls goes well Barrie. Maybe you’ll get hooked. It’s a lovely game.
Congratulations – and what a good way to celebrate
Congrats Pierre! That’s some milestone. I think I would have lost count. I thought this one suited my wiring much more that recent puzzles. The only one I needed help with was the nymph. I liked 1d & 2d for making me not just consider the obvious construction. Like Cookie @4 I hadn’t heard of wrap in this context until recently I was asked to be a stunt double for a cycle race scene in Brownwood Mysteries. It was the middle of winter but for some reason my character wore a short sleeved cycle jersey, so while I was waiting they gave me a dressing gown to keep warm. After my bit was shot the costume person asked: “Is that a wrap?”, to which I replied: “Yes, I guess you want it back.”
A simpler effort than the last couple. DRYAD and DERIVE had me stumped for a while and I couldn’t parse BOULEVARD though it was simple enough to guess.
Hey Pierre, out of the 500 blogs how many times have you mentioned “how easy” the Everyman was?! 😉
Thanks for all your comments – it’s been fun, and a pleasure to share my enthusiams for crosswords with others, especially on the other side of the world. I can’t ever remember saying ‘how easy’ the Everyman was or is, Rats. I have indicated it’s a puzzle intended for beginners, which it is, and I recommend it (and the Guardian Quiptic) to friends who want an entry into cryptics. Of course it’s not ‘easy’ the first time, or the first few times, you try it. That’s true of most things – on the guitar, E minor is an ‘easy’ chord because you only need two fingers on your left hand to produce it and they are next to each other. But when you try it, you think ‘I’ll never be able to do that’. But you can. The P-word is the key.
Keep enjoying the crosswords over there – always interested to read your comments and thoughts.