Everyman’s distinctive style continues with another reasonably straightforward crossword.
A good range of different clue constructions here, including a few examples of clue-as-definition (though I thought these were somewhat contrived; perhaps Everyman did too, because he’s added a question mark to all of them). The anagram indicators are perhaps less off-the-wall than usual, but there are some amusingly misleading definitions (and a couple that are just a bit loose). We also have the trademark rhyming pair of long entries at 3d and 6d, though they don’t have much in common apart from the rhyme.
My favourite clue today is probably 21a, for both the ingenious construction and the mischievous surface, but there are many others to enjoy. Thanks Everyman for coming up with these puzzles every week.
Definitions are underlined; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | FIESTA | Party that might be in a garage (6) |
| Double definition: Spanish for a festival, or the popular small car made by Ford. | ||
| 4 | BROWNING | Making toast, perhaps for a poet (8) |
| Double definition: cooking, or one of the 19th-century husband-and-wife poets Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. | ||
| 9 | APOGEE | In part, male ego panicked about height (6) |
| Hidden answer (in part), reversed (about) in [mal]E EGO PA[nicked]. The highest point (furthest away from the Earth) in the orbit of the Moon or another satellite. |
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| 10 | BRASILIA | Lingerie on hips (partially) in S American city (8) |
| BRAS (lingerie) + ILIA (plural of ilium, which is part of the pelvic bone, so “hips partially”). Federal capital of Brazil. |
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| 12 | PARDON ME | ‘I’ve offended you’; ‘I’ve been offended by you’ (6,2) |
| Double definition, I suppose: two contrasting usages of the same phrase. “Pardon me” is generally an apology for offending someone, but can also be used emphatically “Pardon me!” in a politely-sarcastic way to mean “actually I think you should be apologising to me”. | ||
| 13 | BYGONE | Bigamy heartless: good to get married one time (6) |
| B[igam]Y (heartless = middle letters removed) + G (good) + ONE (married). Bygone, as in a bygone age = gone by = in the past. |
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| 15 | CHAISE-LONGUE | Regrettably so, I clean huge fixture in sitting room (6-6) |
| Anagram (regrettably) of SO I CLEAN HUGE. French for “a long chair” = an extended armchair long enough to lie on. Sometimes incorrectly spelled/pronounced “chaise lounge”. |
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| 18 | PITT THE ELDER | Titled peer leaders of High Tories condemned? (4,3,5) |
| Anagram (condemned) of TITLED PEER + leading letters of H[igh] T[ories]. Clue-as-definition: William Pitt, 1st Earl of Chatham, Whig Prime Minister (hence opposed to the Tories), and not to be confused with his son William Pitt the Younger (also a Prime Minister). |
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| 21 | HORACE | Phwoar! Fancied on-and-off Latin lover (6) |
| Alternate letters (on-and-off) of [p]H[w]O[a]R [f]A[n]C[i]E[d]. Horace, Roman poet (writer of Latin love poems). |
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| 22 | CLUELESS | Inaccurate description of crossword in 1995 film (8) |
| Cryptic definition: a crossword is full of clues, so it would indeed be inaccurate to describe it as clueless. The straight definition is Clueless – American teen comedy film. |
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| 24 | MASSEUSE | She pummels Everyman with wear and tear around bottom (8) |
| ME (Everyman, the crossword setter) + USE (wear and tear), around ASS (American spelling of slang term for bottom). | ||
| 25 | VENICE | Very agreeable to take in European tourist destination (6) |
| V (very) + NICE (agreeable), taking in E (European). | ||
| 26 | SUNDRESS | Sensible, at first, to peel off clothing when it’s hot (8) |
| First letter of S[ensible] + UNDRESS (peel off). | ||
| 27 | LEAN-TO | Sign that insect’s invaded shed (4-2) |
| LEO (a sign of the zodiac) with ANT (an insect) inserted (invading). A simple structure added on to the side of an existing building so that it appears to lean against it. A lean-to might be a shed, or a garage, or something else; a shed might be a lean-to, or a free-standing structure; so the definition is a bit loose. |
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| DOWN | ||
| 1 | FLAT-PACK | Military commander hoisted during anti-aircraft fire needing piecing together (4-4) |
| CAPT (short for captain = military commander), reversed (hoisted = upwards in a down clue), inserted into (during) FLAK (anti-aircraft fire; short form of a German compound noun for “aircraft defence cannon”). Flat-pack (furniture etc) – sold as a kit of parts for assembly by the customer. |
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| 2 | ECOFREAK | Poker face: not starting to turn green (8) |
| Anagram (to turn) of [p]OKER FACE (not starting = first letter omitted). Green = an environmentalist; a particularly committed one might be called an ecofreak by someone who doesn’t share their enthusiasm. |
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| 3 | THE COAST IS CLEAR | Catholics: ‘Easter – with transfiguration, now we are safe’ (3,5,2,5) |
| Anagram (with transfiguration) of CATHOLICS EASTER. “The coast is clear” = it’s safe to proceed / there are no enemies in the vicinity. |
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| 5 | RARE | Mostly red, a little raw in the middle? (4) |
| RE[d] (mostly = last letter omitted), with A + first letter (a little) of R[aw] in the middle. Clue-as-definition: rare (meat) = lightly cooked and still red or pink in the centre. |
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| 6 | WISH YOU WERE HERE | Yen posted from abroad? (4,3,4,4) |
| Cryptic definition: yen = wish / desire / longing, not Japanese currency in this case, and “wish you were here” is a cliché written on postcards from foreign holidays. (Though some of us know it better as the title of a Pink Floyd song.) | ||
| 7 | IGLOOS | Pieces of Inuit Greenland with little rooms? (6) |
| First letters (pieces) of I[nuit] G[reenland] + LOOS (loo = toilet = “smallest room”). Clue-as-definition: shelter or house made from snow, built by Inuit (or others) in Greenland (or elsewhere in the Arctic). |
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| 8 | GOATEE | Something worn by men in Indian state: short-sleeved shirt (6) |
| GOA (Indian state, formerly a Portuguese colony) + TEE (T-shirt = short-sleeved shirt). Goatee = a partial beard (on the chin but not the cheeks). |
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| 11 | EMULATE | Ape and flightless bird extinct (7) |
| EMU (a flightless bird) + LATE (dead = extinct). Ape (as a verb) = copy = emulate. |
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| 14 | ANT-HILL | Home with little ones restless all night – not good (3-4) |
| Anagram (restless) of ALL NI[g]HT, without the G (good). Ant-hill = ant colony = home of tiny creatures. |
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| 16 | ADHESION | Bond had criminal picked up – sound (8) |
| Anagram (criminal) of HAD, then NOISE (sound) reversed (picked up = upwards in a down clue). Definition as in glue; nothing to do with 007. |
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| 17 | PROSPERO | Shakespeare’s one spelling ‘fare well’ at end of Othello (8) |
| PROSPER (fare well = be successful) + end letter of [othell]O. “One spelling” is an old crossword trick for someone casting spells, in this case the sorcerer in Shakespeare’s The Tempest. |
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| 19 | THYMUS | Gland and herb reduction unpleasantly served for starters (6) |
| THYM[e] (herb; reduction = last letter omitted) + first letters (for starters) of U[npleasantly] S[erved]. Gland in the chest that forms part of the immune system. |
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| 20 | ARISEN | Begun preparing sarnie (6) |
| Anagram (preparing) of SARNIE (slang term for a sandwich). | ||
| 23 | ASPS | Primarily alarming, serpentine poisonous slitherers? (4) |
| Everyman can’t seem to set a puzzle without using this construction at least once: the first letters (primarily) of Alarming Serpentine Poisonous Slitherers, and clue-as-definition. I think the majority view among Everyman bloggers is that these “primarily” clues are getting a bit tedious. I understand the idea is to include a few easy clues for beginners, but could we at least see some other word used as the indicator for “take the first letters”? | ||
Loved WISH YOU WERE HERE, with its Floyd echoes (pun intended). PROSPERO was clever, too.
I thought the rhyming long ones did go together, conjuring up a poignant image of a clandestine tryst that sadly wasn’t happening.
Thanks Everyman and Quirister for the enjoyable puzzle and blog.
Thanks Everyman and Quirister
You are a little harsh in describing Clueless as “American teen comedy film”. That’s true, but it is also an updating of Jane Austen’s Emma!
I thought this was pretty crunchy by Everyman standards. PITT THE ELDER was fun and LEAN-TO was highly apposite given the debate we had over Nutmeg using it on the Friday prior. As if Nutmeg could ever be wrong….
Slightly more challenging vocabulary and wordplay than usual made this a decent workout, I thought.
An enjoyable Sunday solve. I particularly liked the clue for ADHESION.
Pity that 13 had ‘one’ in both clue and solution, although not a major issue. The ‘primarily’ is beginning to be rather tedious and there is another one in today’s puzzle.
Thanks Everyman and Quirister.
Thanks @2 Cellomaniac: I too thought the rhyming long ones went together and your interpretation is delightful.
Couldn’t finish, lost interest. Maybe I was not on the setter’s wavelength for this one. I did not find this straightfoward. This week and last week, I find Everyman more difficult than the Prize puzzles. I am missing the old Everyman a lot at the moment.
Failed to solve 9 + 21a, 2d + 19d.
Thanks Everyman and Quirister.
Pretty tricky for Everyman I thought, more on a par for a daily cryptic. Which is Ok, if that’s what the editor is aiming for.
Totally agree with Jon and Michelle. Am pretty new to Everyman but was almost finishing them ‘til this week succeeding in only solving a handful. More frustrating than challenging but learning so much from here! Thank u always…
I have just begun to tackle the Guardian cryptic crosswords and have to agree that some of the clues in Everyman this week had similar elements – adhesion – was one. Still love the challenge!
I got stuck for a while in the NW. Flat-pack is not a common expression where I come from, so it took me ages to see it. Also, as an American, I am more accustomed to the spelling FLACK rather than FLAK, which prevented me from parsing it even when I did spot the solution. But to be clear, those are both criticisms of me, not of the clue or of Everyman.
I had a more favorable view of the CADs (also known as &lits) than Quirister. I thought both 5dn and 18ac were excellent examples of the form. I also enjoyed some of the cleverly-hidden definitions, such as “home with little ones” for ANT-HILL.
I enjoyed this and found it mostly do-able. Many thanks Everyman. Thank you also to Quirister for the blog. This week’s Everyman is not showing up in the Guardian app, which is annoying. I shall have to look online instead
I thought this crossword was supposed to be beginner level. Way beyond me. I agree with Michelle @7.
It was far from straightforward.
Bit too tough for me too. Writing EXCUSE ME in 11ac and misspelling 15ac a la Quirister’s blog certainly didn’t help.
In 24 ac I had “ass” arising from Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Thanks for the blog, Quinster, and to those that comment.
Found this one tough, and had to use wildcard dictionaries a lot, but given that help, I got it all out. There were several that I couldn’t parse, but they were forehead slappers when I saw Quirister’s explanations.
Lots to like. Thanks to Everyman and Quirister.
I’m afraid I have to agree with the concerns above. I rarely find myself unable to finished this one, which is very disappointing considering how Everyman should be an accessible crossword.
I did solve some though and enjoyed 1ac and 22ac.