Everyman 3,833

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Perhaps a slightly trickier than usual Everyman this week.

The Guardian crosswords blog is still recommending Everyman as a puzzle suitable for beginners. I’m not always convinced; some of the clues here are very straightforward, but a few are extremely devious, and others are a bit dubious in either definition or construction. The grid doesn’t help either, with only three connections between the top and bottom halves. I thought this was quite a hard puzzle at the time, though as usual the clues are often “easy when you know how”.

There are some delights here too: a little mini-theme of geographical entries, and some lovely surfaces, particularly the two self-deprecating references at 1d and 15d which present Everyman as an outmoded hippie. As usual we have a pair of rhyming entries at 1a and 25a, though they appear to have nothing in common apart from the last four letters.

Thanks Everyman as always, and best wishes to everyone who’s finding crosswords (and Fifteensquared) a welcome dose of normality in these abnormal times.

Definitions are underlined; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.

ACROSS
1 WESTERN SAHARA Swansea, rather stormy sandy area (7,6)
Anagram (stormy) of SWANSEA RATHER.
8 LAIR PM, less bold, in retreat (4)
Tony BLAIR, without the B (bold, in text formatting).
Lair = retreat = private space.
9 UP TO A POINT Opt out with pain, suffering to some extent (2,2,1,5)
Anagram (suffering) of OPT OUT + PAIN.
10 COWARD Playwright grovelled, we’re told (6)
Homophone (we’re told) of COWERED (grovelled).
The playwright is Sir Noël Coward.
11 FOUNTAIN With backing of UN, volunteer soldiers in jet (8)
OF reversed (backing) + UN + TA (Territorial Army = volunteer soldiers) + IN.
12 ST PATRICK Church figure with shady past: he’s seen in brothel (2,7)
Anagram (shady) of PAST, then TRICK (Chambers tells me this is slang for a prostitute’s customer; I wouldn’t know).
14 JAWS Yes, in Germany, Wenders – on the fringes – creates film (4)
JA (yes in German) + fringes of W[ender]S.
The surface refers to the German film-maker Wim Wenders, but the definition is of course the well-known 1970s shark thriller. Crossword setters like films with short titles.
15 DIGS Appreciates accommodation (4)
Double definition: dig (verb) = somewhat outdated slang for “like”, or digs = slang for rented accommodation.
16 IN ESSENCE Basically not fine to manipulate fiancé? Not half (2,7)
[f]INESSE (manipulate) without the F (fine), then [fia]NCE without the first half.
20 LIE AWAKE Weak ale? I wobble and worry (3,5)
Anagram (wobble) of WEAK ALE I.
Lie awake = be unable to sleep, typically because of worry; not an exact definition but close enough.
21 ALARMS A learner with weapons leads to panics (6)
A L (learner, as in L-plate on a learner driver’s car) + ARMS (weapons).
23 PINSTRIPED Longed to peel off pinched kind of trousers (10)
PINED (longed), containing (pinching) STRIP (peel off = remove clothing). The grammar of the sentence doesn’t quite work for me – I think the intention is “longed with peel off pinched inside it”, but it doesn’t really say that.
24 SORT Primarily: systematise / order / rank / type (4)
Initial letters (primarily) of Systematise Order Rank Type, and clue-as-definition. Everyman has done several of these “primarily” clues recently; I think they fall into the category of “easy ones to get beginners started”.
25 SCARLETT O’HARA Coastal, rather stormy: character of the South (8,5)
Anagram (stormy) of COASTAL RATHER.
Character in the novel / film Gone with the Wind, set in the southern US.
DOWN
1 WEAR OUT Crossword setters are mostly unfashionable and need replacing (4,3)
WE (crossword setters: Everyman and friends) + AR[e] (mostly) + OUT (unfashionable).
2 SYRIA Some fairy stories about far-off land (5)
Hidden answer (some), reversed (about), in [f]AIRY S[tories].
The Everyman crossword is published in a UK newspaper, so the definition just about works; but many readers will be solving it online, and could be anywhere in the world, so “far-off” is debatable. Hello to anyone who’s reading this from Syria or thereabouts!
3 ECUADOR Country dancing, caroused with seconds to spare (7)
Anagram (dancing) of CAROU[s]ED, without the S (seconds).
4 NOT IF I CAN HELP IT Most of notifications: ‘New Kind of Menu, Italian!’ This won’t last long (3,2,1,3,4,2)
Most of NOTIFICA[tions] + N (new) + HELP (kind of menu, in a computer interface) + IT (Italian).
I’m not at all convinced by the definition: to me, “not if I can help it” expresses the desire to prevent something from happening, not to stop (quickly or otherwise) something that’s already started.
5 ABACUS Upwardly mobile head of Uber takes taxi in South Africa? You can count on it (6)
First letter (head) of U[ber] + CAB (taxi), all inside SA (South Africa), all reversed (upwardly mobile = reading upwards in a down clue).
Abacus = device for counting or calculating.
6 ABOUT-FACE U-boat questionably brave to reverse direction (5-4)
Anagram (questionably) of U-BOAT, then FACE (brave, as a verb, as in “to brave the weather”).
7 AUNTIES Australian gets loose with relatives (7)
A (Australian) + UNTIES (releases = gets loose).
13 AEGEAN SEA Aeneas’ age? It’s uncertain, but the location is somewhere around Greece (6,3)
Anagram (it’s uncertain) of AENEAS’ AGE.
A bay in the Mediterranean, bordered by Greece and containing many of its islands.
15 DAISIES Everyman wearing platforms and flowers (7)
I (Everyman) inserted into DAISES (plural of dais = platform, though I don’t think I’ve ever had occasion to use the plural). The surface conjures up a lovely picture of Everyman in 1970s costume.
17 SO-AND-SO Nothing special and, at heart, a bit of a git (2-3-2)
SO-SO (OK but nothing special), with AND in the middle (at heart).
So-and-so = a euphemism to describe an annoying person: “He’s being a right so-and-so about it.”
18 CUMBRIA A mountainous place, Cuba, a mountainous place (7)
C (Chambers says this is the vehicle registration identifier for Cuba, though Wikipedia suggests it might be CU. Someone must know, surely?) + UMBRIA (a mountainous place in Italy).
Cumbria = region of north-west England known for mountains, lakes, and generally beautiful landscape.
19 LAUREL Is it a tree? Yes. A shrub? Also yes. Hardy? … not quite (6)
Definition and cryptic definition: LAUREL is a name used for various trees / shrubs, and Stan Laurel was Oliver Hardy’s partner in Laurel and Hardy. This one took me a long time to see, mainly because of the wordiness of the definition.
22 AT SEA Lost part of Great Seal (2,3)
Part of [gre]AT SEA[l].
At sea = (metaphorically) lost or confused.

 

24 comments on “Everyman 3,833”

  1. Thanks Quirister.
    I was OK with 23 as ” ‘longed’, ‘to peel off’ pinched”. I took more exception to ‘bold’ for B, but really a fun puzzle, thanks Everyman.

  2. I was unable to parse IN ESSENCE and ST PATRICK.

    Favourite was LAUREL.

    Thanks, Quirister and Everyman

  3. Thanks Quirister and Everyman.

    I couldn’t parse 16ac or 18d, though I got both.

    For 18d the solution contains the letters of CUBA and I had been wondering where the MRIA came from. Kicking myself that I didn’t see C+UMBRIA.
    The following site looks authoritative and says that C has been the IVR code for Cuba since 1930.
    https://enacademic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/236858

  4. I liked the rhyming pair WESTERN SAHARA and SCARLETT O’HARA at the top and bottom.  And like you Quirister I loved the hippie image of Everyman in the surface of 15d.

    The only thing I wasn’t quite so keen on was “Most of notifications” to give us NOTIFICA at 4d.  I think “most of” in a clue usually tells you to knock off the last letter.  Telling you to knock off an indeterminate number of letters is a bit imprecise.

    Many thanks Everyman and Quirister.

  5. I think it’s OK to label the Everyman as a ‘beginners’. I find it easier than most quiptics.

    One absolute cracker of a clue in today’s, by the way.

  6. Thanks Everyman and Quirister

    Gonzo @ 1: I think B = BOLD is OK if you think of the icon for it in a spreadsheet or word-processing app.

  7. For me, Everyman crosswords are the gentle end of the week, which is why i like them so much. (I’m told the Monday quiptics are the “easy” ones – but I generally find them far more obtuse than that same day’s cryptic.) I relished DAISIES, LAUREL and DIGS and especially LAIR.
    Quirister, I share your reservations about NOT IF I CAN HELP IT, and thanks for the help with IN ESSENCE: it was a wild guess which I couldn’t begin to parse…
    Thank you Everyman for the fun.

  8. Enjoyable Everyman with the nice rhyming pair.

    I agree that ‘most of notifications’ is imprecise – could have put ‘8 of notifications’ or some such. The clue for AUNTIES is a bit of a chestnut, but that’s OK for the brief.

    I liked ST PATRICK being seen in a brothel.

    Thanks Everyman and Quirister.

  12. Thank you Everyman for a fun puzzle and Quirister fo a helpful blog.

    Like michelle @2, the clue for LAUREL was my favourite.

    Gonzo @1 and Simon S @6, B for bold is given below in the “Leave a Reply” space …

  14. but yes on my iPad via Safari, Simon S @13, and on the variants of most computer typefaces in my experience (eg Helvetica B, Futura BCI — bold condensed italic, etc)

  15. Aphid @ 14

    What I meant was that on this site on my ipad I don’t have any icons for bold, italic etc, so don’t seem to be able to apply any emphasis, abbreviate a hyperlink or similar. Maybe it’s because I run an adblocker.

  16. Thanks Everyman and Quiriste

    Sorry, the definition for NOT IF I CAN HELP IT made no sense at all for me – for that reason I haven’t even attempted today’s.

  17. muffin – “NOT IF I CAN HELP IT” and “This won’t last long” are both phrases that can express a determination to stop something.  (The latter could be a simple prediction but could also express intent.)

    It’s a shame if you don’t try today’s because there are good things therein.

  19. You say as usual there are a pair of rhyming entries. I have never noticed this or heard it mentioned before re Everyman crosswords. Are there always rhyming pairs ?

  20. Sugarbutties @19: this is something introduced by the current Everyman setter, who took over the role just over a year ago. (It wasn’t a feature of Everyman puzzles before that.) The puzzle always seems to include a pair of entries related in some way: they might rhyme, as in this case, or they might have similar (or opposite) meanings, or one might include DAY and the other one NIGHT, or UP and DOWN . . . something like that. So it’s always worth looking for a pair of some kind, but not necessarily rhyming.

  22. Couldn’t parse In Essense or Cumbria, and agree with those who queried the def in Wear Out and Not if I can help it.

    The rest were all good, So-and-so especially.

    Thanks all.

  23. Great crossword. I actually found the grid quite helpful with the 1ac write-in. Have no issue with most of notifications. It is factually correct and as it spells out most of the solution I don’t think any further assistance is warranted. Favourite was Laurel. Thanks Quirister & Everyman.

  24. Enjoyed this puzzle and got it all out … but could not parse 12 across (St. Patrick) and 18 down (Cumbria).  I agree with the complaints about “Not if I can help it” not being at all the same thing as “This won’t last long”.  And with the complaint about “Most of notifications” from Lord Jim @ 4.

    Thanks to Everyman for the puzzle and to Quirister for the explanations.

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