Everyman 3,956

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The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3956.

We have the usual Everyman trademarks, with the grid suitable for the variant of the linked answers, the alliterative phrases across top and bottom, and down the middle. After a particularly easy puzzle last week, this one took me two sessions to complete, which is unusual.

ACROSS
1 THICK AS THIEVES
After time, I have chess kit laid out for friendly (5,2,7)
A charade of T (‘time’) plus HICKASTHIEVES, an anagram (‘laid out’) of ‘I have chess kit’.
9 BRUT
Dry burger (not filling) in France you sent back (4)
A charade of BR (‘BurgeR (not filling)’) plud UT, a reversal (‘sent back’) of TU (‘in France you’). ‘Dry’ of a wine, particularly Champagne.
10 FOREFINGER
For free gin, turning to handy index? (10)
An anagram (‘turning to’) of ‘for free gin’.
11 MORSEL
Student follows code, in small part (6)
A charade of MORSE (‘code’) plus L (‘student’ driver).
12 WAR HORSE
Much-performed play, in more ways than one (3,5)
Double definition (‘in more ways than one’), The ‘play’ titled WAR HORSE (which is much-performed for such a new play) is an adaptation by Nick Stafford of the novel of the same name by Michael Morpurgo. A WAR HORSE is also any play performed perhaps too often.
13 BETRAYING
Stridently yelling about ’80s film selling out (9)
An envelope (‘about’) of ET (‘80s film’ – 1982 to be precise) in BRAYING (‘stridently yelling’).
15 EVEN
Twice, Everyman’s beginning to take against nephew: that’s not odd (4)
A charade of EVE, an envelope (‘to take’) of V (versus, ‘against’) in E E (‘twice, Everyman’s beginning’) plus N (‘nephew’ – not in Chambers as an abbreviation).
16 PUDS
Moving starter of potato to end for desserts (4)
SPUD (‘potato’) with the initial (‘starter’) S ‘moving … to the end’.
17 THEATRICS
Heart aflutter amid nervous motions: what a performance (9)
An envelope (‘amid’) of HEATR, an anagram (‘aflutter’) of ‘heart’ in TICS (‘nervous motions’).
21 STOCKIST
Retailer that’s most thick English abandoned (8)
A subtraction: STOCKI[e]ST (‘most thick’) minus the E (‘English abandoned’).
22 ADVERB
One of a pair in All’s Well That Ends Well? (6)
Cryptic definition, with ‘well’ as the ADVERB.
24 WITHDRAWAL
Reduction in account of self-absorbed period (10)
Double definition.
25 LOOP
Ring from swimming facility returned (4)
A reversal (‘returned’) of POOL (‘swimming facility’).
26 TOO EARLY TO TELL
‘Wonky tea trolley fixed by tool?’ ‘We don’t yet know‘ (3,5,2,4)
An envelope (‘fixed by’) of EARLYTOTEL, an anagram (‘wonky’) of ‘tea trolley’ in ‘tool’.
DOWN
2 HORMONE
Constitutional regulator seizing some wealth or money (7)
A hidden answer (‘seising some’) in ‘wealtH OR MONEy’.
3 CITES
Names and locations in report (5)
Sounds like (‘in report’) SITES (‘locations’).
4 AWFULLY
Absolutely dreadfully (7)
Double definition
5 THROW IN THE TOWEL
Knitted her tent with wool? Give up (5,2,3,5)
An anagram (‘knitted’) of ‘her tent with wool’.
6 INFORM
No firm’s infirm, in brief (6)
An anagram (‘infirm’) of ‘no firm’.
7 VANCOUVER
Vehicle to go across … to go across university city (9)
An envelope (‘to go across’ – the second time) of U (‘unuversity’) in VAN (‘vehicle’) plus COVER (‘to go across’ – the first).
8 STEPSON
Crushes a relative (7)
STEPS ON.
14 RADICCHIO
Leaves from orchid CIA cultivated (9)
An anagram (‘cultivated’) of ‘orchid CIA’.
16 PATRIOT
Nationalist, smooth and funny individual (7)
A charade of PAT (‘smooth’) plus RIOT (‘funny individual’).
18 A BAD LOT
American, obscenely bloated, losing energy: don’t trust him (1,3,3)
A charade of A (‘American’) plus BADLOT, an anagram (‘obscenely’) of ‘bloat[e]d’ minus the E (‘losing energy’).
19 CARROLL
Author wanting banger, perhaps with bread (7)
A charade of CAR (‘banger, perhaps’) plus ROLL (‘bread’ – for once the staff of life). Author CARROLL is most likely Lewis Carroll, the pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, author of the Alice books.
20 SIERRA
Character in pursuit of Romeo? (6)
Cryptic reference to the NATO phonetic alphabet.
23 VALET
Vigilant, attentive lackey: expeditiously tending, primarily? (5)
The ‘primarily’ clue: first letters of ‘Vigilant Attentive Lackey Expeditiously Tending’, with an &lit definition.

picture of the completed grid

60 comments on “Everyman 3,956”

  1. Thank you Peter O.
    Re ADVERB. My take is that there is a pair of ”well”s in All’s Well That Ends Well, but only one of the pair, the second one, is an adverb. The first ”well” is an adjective in a copular sentence.

  2. My picks were THROW IN THE TOWEL for the hilarious image of someone trying to knit a tent with wool , and giving up. A characteristically great find in the fodder by Everyman. Similarly, TOO EARLY TO TELL, whether or not the tool is going to fix the wonky trolley. And a quirky definition.
    I also liked PATRIOT as the synonyms for ”smooth” and “funny individual” didn’t jump straight out, to me anyway, and distracted me from the definition.

  3. So another puzzle with same starting letters for the three intersecting long clues. But a bit different from previous examples as they all comprised more than two words. I don’t think I’ve seen this before.

    First one in was THROW IN THE TOWEL which was a good start and gave me the first letter *T* of the two other long clues – though not where to place the second *T* in the bottom clue – turned out to be both of the final two words.

    Worked steadily through it until got to my last one and even with all the crosses couldn’t work it out so left it for later in the week and got it when I went back to it on Friday – WITHDRAWAL.

    Favourites included: FOREFINGER, THEATRICS, HORMONE, MORSEL, CARROLL

    Thanks Everyman and PeterO

  5. Sounds right, pdm @1, though my formal grammar ed didn’t get much past subject, predicate, phrase, clause, and the basic parts of speech.

    War horse was a shrug, had no idea about the play. And v slow in remembering that sierra comes after Romeo, d’oh. Otherwise pretty clear, thanks PnE.

  6. I was a bit unsure with ADVERB but PDM@1 has a good explanation, the WELLs form the pair and one of THEM is the ADVERB.
    Like Fiona Anne @3 I am used to two words for top, middle and bottom. I think there has been 3+ words before but not for all 3 ?? . Jay is our expert and may enlighten us later.
    Once again I thought this was very good, I hope the newer solvers will tell us what they think about it.
    I agree for N=NEPHEW , could not find this , maybe someone knows a typical usage.

  7. paddymelon@1

    I agree with your reasoning.

    WAR HORSE

    Though a sportsperson who has played many matches/games is a warhorse, in this sense warhorse doesn’t match the part of speech of the definition. Or does it somehow fit in as a third angle?

  8. Roz@6 I think you are correct that we have not had 3+ word expressions in all three positions before. We did have RULES ARE RULES combining with ROMULUS AND REMUS? previously.

    The last 5 alliteration letters spell PSSST and last week we had PSST in 22d. Perhaps Everyman is trying to attract our attention! ?

  9. KVa@7 , Chambers has warhorse= much performed piece of music, play etc so this is one way. War Horse the actual play is the second way.
    Your individual warhorse is a nice idea but does not seem to really fit with play .

  10. Jay @8 that is sheer brilliance , a meta-theme .
    So you think that this 3 then 4 then 4 words is the first time they are all 3+ ?

  13. Roz@9
    I parsed it like PererO did, but was just wondering if there was a third component.

    I agree that there isn’t one. Thanks.

  15. Sorry KVa@13 I see what you mean now, maybe a slight twist to the definition could allow the third option.
    PDM@12 you have solved the Everyman mystery. Now who is Jay?

  16. There’s an interesting parallel between this puzzle and Everyman 3898, blogged here.

    On that occasion we had two hard C’s along the top (COUNTY COUNCIL), two soft C’s along the bottom (CIVIL CEREMONY), and a hard C/soft C combination linking the two (CUBIC CENTIMETRE).

    Today we have two ‘TH’ sounds along the top (THICK AS THIEVES), three ‘T’ sounds along the bottom (TOO EARLY TO TELL), and a combination of two TH’s and one T sound linking the two (THROW IN THE TOWEL).

    (Also – in this part of the world, TH’s can often sound not so very different from the F’s in FOREFINGER!)

    Roz @4 – glad you saw the PUDS.

    I like pdm @1’s way of resolving the ADVERB problem. Whether that was Everyman’s intention I’m not sure – we’ll have to ask Jay 😉

    Thanks E & P

  17. MrEssexBoy@16 i never miss the PUDS , great spot on the TH and T, I think you also spotted the hard C and soft C of the puzzle you mention. If I am right this may be the puzzle that ignited the war, for which I have one of my very rare clues.
    Provoked resistance – this should be frowned upon (8,7) .

  18. Interesting observation EB@16. I recall you referencing it at the time. Skimming through that earlier blog I see both Everyman and Jay are there, so we can’t be the same person, can we?

  19. I found this tougher than the week before too, which was a really quick solve. It would have helped me solve STOCKIST if I could spell RADICCHIO.

    Interesting discussion on the starting letters.

  20. Well done to Jay, essexboy and Roz for spotting all the extras. If Jay is not Everyman, they must be the character in the morality play “Everyman, I will go with the and be thy guide” who was quoted on the Everyman classics.

  21. Enjoyable as ever, with the usual Everyman quirks. I like “handy index”as a definition for FOREFINGER.
    Roz@4, is there always a follow on clue we should be looking out for? It isn’t something I was aware of before.

    Thanks to setter and blogger.

  22. 1961B (Danny?) @21 it seems a bit sporadic, Essexboy spotted this first and he has lots of examples . This is the first one I have got.

  23. I almost love reading the blog as much as doing the crossword! All the forensic examination is impressive.
    For Roz – as a new solver, I managed to complete this in a reasonable time. Last one was HORMONE which I suddenly spotted after much mental contortions ?

  24. I agree with MarieB: reading the blog and comments is always interesting! I’m rather taken with the idea of follow-on clues, and from now on shall keep an eye out for them. (Which, I rather suspect, will be as successful as my track record of spotting ninas, pangrams, themes…)
    My only quibble, and it’s minuscule, is that “80s” is pretty well unnecessary in 13A. Dear old ET crops up so often that whenever I see the word “film”, he’s the first I think of.
    Many thanks to Everyman (or Jay) and PeterO for the blog.

  25. I didn’t have to THROW IN THE TOWEL, but it’s TOO EARLY TO TELL if Jay and Everyman are as THICK AS THIEVES.

    Roz @6; I couldn’t find N = nephew in any dictionaries but it is used in genealogy. I thought HORMONE was nicely hidden, and enjoyed STEPS ON.

    Thanks Everyman and PeterO.

  26. I agree with much of the above that this was slightly harder than usual but all fair and fun. I’m sure Everyman enjoys reading some of the comments too.
    Thanks PeterO and Everyman.

  27. [1961 B @21, this is my list of follow-on clues so far:

    3947 STEWARD (“flight attendant”)
    3948 AIR HOSTESS (“former attendant”)

    3948 RAINBOW (“seven colours”)
    3949 REFRACTION (“what makes a rainbow”)

    3950 SOCIAL SCIENCES (“subjects such as history”)
    3951 HUMANITIES (“history etc”)

    3952 ERNE (“eagle – rather nautical eagle, primarily”)
    3953 ERNE (“sea eagle’s gross, we’re told”)

    3955 MAIN COURSE (“substantial part of meal”)
    3956 PUDS (“desserts”)

    As Roz says it’s a bit sporadic, but it’s happened so many times now that it can’t be coincidence.]

  28. [Roz @17 – yes, Everyman 3898 (the COUNTY COUNCIL puzzle) appeared in June 2021, but as you say it sparked off a bit of a kerfuffle over indirect anagrams. I managed to track down your very concise clue from June this year, composed in response to Paul in Tutukaka’s implied challenge @30 on that blog – and just a few posts earlier is my extremely wordy one!]

  29. Well done Marie@23 , there is always one clue that holds out, I think Everyman is in a good run at the moment.
    Robi@25 thanks, family trees of course . They also give us d=deceased and s=succeeded.

    EB@28 I remembered the CU from CUBIC being in the anagram as copper. I have stolen and slightly modified the definition from your clue to add to mine.

  30. Thanks essexboy@27 and Roz@22.
    These follow-on solutions open up a new can of worms and will require a heightened level of scrutiny. Everyman used to be so straightforward, but this adds to the fun. Great detective work too.
    Yes Roz, the user name does refer to the great Danny B, 1961 being the year he captained Spurs to the Double.

  31. @essexboy @27
    I believe I have spotted a link from last week’s puzzle to today’s; will confirm (or otherwise) next week. I wouldn’t have suspected a thing if it hadn’t been for you and Roz. The two solutions are in the same position on the grid.

  32. I was briefly held up by looking for a rhyming top/bottom row couplet, momentarily forgetting that it’s sometimes alliterative. Both those phrases and THROW IN THE TOWEL emerged through definition and enumeration and only fully parsed after the event, but it all counts. Those three gave me so many crossers that the rest fell into place fairly steadily.

    Thanks both.

  33. Roz@6

    I started just over two years ago in lockdown so I am not sure if I qualify as a newer solver – although I do still feel like one.

    I look forward to Everyman every week and have not allowed myself to use any aids to help solving for over a year now.

    I really enjoyed this puzzle – got them all last Sunday save one which I got on Friday.

  34. I got them all last week except for INFORM, which I never got at all.

    I’m in awe of those who have done all this analysis.

  35. I don’t much care for this Everyman’s foibles, or follies, as for me they add nothing to the solving of the puzzle, which here, as usual, and again for me, features some questionable compiling. Perhaps working on technique would provide a better route forward, but that is, I concede, just my opinion.

    By no means a highlight, but I would like to understand how Everyman could know his burger wasn’t filling without actually having eaten (all of) it.

  36. Thanks to paddymelon @1 for explaining 22ac. I had thought that both WELLs were adverbs, and the clue was simply telling us to take one of them, but you’re quite right that only one is an adverb. I like this clue better now that you’ve pointed that out.

    I have been enjoying recent Everymans, and this was no exception. I thought the dd in 4dn was a bit uninspired, but it’s perfectly sound, and not every clue has to be a gem.

  37. Rob@32 the alliteration always seems to be this type of grid. A long word (15) down , long words ( some variation ) across the top and bottom. The rhyming couplets more variable although quite often down the two sides .

    Fiona Anne@33 looks like you have moved beyond the newer solver stage if you can complete it unaided for a year . You are in a good position to judge the relative difficulty week to week.

  38. Roz @37

    I don’t always manage to complete it – and certainly not when I started doing without aids a year ago. But now I usually get down to the last one or two.

    I need to start making more of an effort not to use aids on the weekly crosswords now.

    I still fall into the beginner’s trap of not seeing beyond the surface all too often. Tim Mooney said this was one of the hardest things to do for a newbie.

    I try to remember your sage advice to look suspiciously at every word – even tiny linking ones like *for* or *a*.

  39. Thanks Everyman and PeterO. Just as tlp’s response is predictable, so is mine: namely that this was a pleasant way to pass half an hour on a Sunday morning.

    I had the parsing of ADVERB the same as paddymelon @1. (essexboy @16 – I’m happy to give Everyman credit for having better grasp of grammar than those Guardian commenters who were griping about the clue in the comments over there last week.)

  40. Fiona Anne @38 – crossword clues can be like magic eye pictures. Sometimes you have to stare at them a long time before you can see past the surface…

  41. Fiona Anne@38 the most important thing is time and practice , just think how much better you are now compared to at the start. Use aids for as long as you think they are helping your progress. Be stubborn and remember the setter is your enemy. Try not to “read” the clues, interrogate each word and reassemble , easy to say I know but it does come with practice.
    I will try to add little snippets to Guardian blogs, for typical tricks and techniques.

  44. Agree with paul b, as a setter I never want to defeat the solver. In a recent puzzle a couple of solvers told me that they had to give up, never my intention. Others succeeded and enjoyed it, so it is all about balance I believe

  47. I agree there must be balance, Everyman is the classic example , but I am sure setters like Bunthorne and Fidelio did not want the solver to win. We seem to have lost that, it is “Everyone must have prizes” every day.

  49. I liked the linked theatrical clues and answers (12a, 17a, 22a, 20d). I am surprised to be the first to raise the curtain on them and, not wanting to upstage the regular Everyman trademarks, perhaps I should have waited in the wings for a prompt to act.

  51. I guess it is stick on Sep 30 because the blog is northern hemisphere and it is still Sep 30 up there or was until a couple of hours ago.
    Enjoyed this but my ony quibble being doesnt A Fat lot refer to a group of people rather than a ‘him’
    Like Stockist, Patriot, Morsel and Brut best this week. Didn’t get inform which now makes me cross

  53. Got stopped by “adverb” (LOI) and had to use a wildcard dictionary.

    Apropos of Fiona Anne@33 and various responses:
    I’ve been doing cryptics for 40 or 50 years, and I still consider myself to be a (rank) beginner. I alway leave “aids” till the end, and then use them to fill in the clues that I haven’t been able to get.

    Found this puzzle tough but enjoyable. Thanks to Everyman and PeterO.

  54. I agree with Vanessa over the def in 18D, a lot isn’t a person. You make the most of a bad lot.

    Never heard of a war horse either as a play or a thing.

    Steps on was nice.

  55. War Horse was on in Auckland a year ago. At the Civic. Went. Was OK, or as OK as a blockbuster can be at the Civic.
    Nice puzzle.

  57. Having compiled a couple of puzzles with a more experienced colleague, I can sympathise both with Everyman and solvers over the amount of general knowledge that can be reasonably assumed. I’m sure I’m not alone in feeling a little surprised when a solution I found easy has clearly baffled others e.g. ‘a bad lot’. I’ve only ever known this in the context of an individual! Equally, I can feel as frustrated as anyone when something comes up I’ve never heard of e.g. radicchio – at least this was an anagram so I could tease it out anyway.
    Surely these are all part of the fun of solving? There are so many little tricks one has to watch out for – e.g. 22ac which sent me looking for characters in the play, when it’s simply the parts of speech, and three weeks ago 26ac ‘ampersands’. Then there are the occasional cross references to other clues e.g. a couple of weeks ago 11ac featured an 18 – it took ages for the penny to drop!
    Did anyone else find 20dn ambiguous? For me, Quebec pursues Romeo, and also has 6 letters. I suppose these uncertainties can also be part of the fun? Or is there some rule against ambiguity?

  58. David MW @57
    For 20D, I cannot recall whether I had any crossers in place when I came to this clue, or whether I simply interpreted ‘in pursuit of’ as “following”. Continuing with the subject of ambiguity, I am not sure whether Vanessa @51 made a typo with “a fat lot”,or had the answer wrong, but I would suspect the latter.

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