Everyman 3,979

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The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3979.

All present and correct.

ACROSS
1 DORM
Either side of dayroom offering somewhere to sleep (4)
D OR M (‘either side of DayrooM‘).
3 HENRY MOORE
King further imprisoning old sculptor (5,5)
An envelope (‘imprisoning’) of O (‘old’) in HENRY (‘King’, one of eight in England) plus MORE (‘further’).
9 CHAD
Primarily, country harbouring African desert? (4)
First letters (‘primarily’) of ‘Country Harbouring African Desert’, with an &lit definition (part of the Sahara lies within Chad).
10 FURLOUGHED
Signed off work in posh coat, cultivated, heading off (10)
A charade of FUR (‘posh coat’) plus [p]LOUGHED (‘cultivated’) minus its first letter (‘heading off’).
12 AS YOU LIKE IT
Play in a forest in a way that makes one happy (2,3,4,2)
Double definition. Shakespeare’s play is set mainly in the Forest of Arden.
15 STERILE
Dry piece of oyster I left (7)
A hidden answer (‘piece of’) in ‘oySTER I LEft’.
16 ERITREA
Retire in resort, a Red Sea destination (7)
A charade of ERITRE, an anagram (‘in resort’) of ‘retire’; plus ‘a’.
17 FOLDERS
Stationery for origami practitioners? (7)
Double definition.
19 CABINET
Politicians‘ furniture (7)
Double definition.
20 SEASICKNESS
What may make you green in the blue? (11)
Cryptic definition (‘blue’ being the sea).
23 PLATITUDES
Misguidedly stipulated inanities (10)
An anagram (‘misguidedly’) of ‘stipulated’.
24 PINS
Cut back parts of brooches (4)
A reversal (‘back’) of SNIP (‘cut’).
25 REDRESSING
Compensating, adding more oil and vinegar? (10)
RE-DRESSING.
26 ASKS
Requests wine containers, unopened (4)
A subtraction: [c]ASKS (‘wine containers’) minus the first letter (‘unopened’).
DOWN
1 DECLASSIFY
Increase access to students engaged in worship (10)
An envelope (‘engaged in’) of CLASS (‘students’) in DEIFY (‘worship’).
2 READY MEALS
Convenience food’s modified … Alarmed? Yes! (5,5)
An anagram (‘modified’) of ‘alarmed yes’. Include the ‘s in the definition, or not, as you wish.
4 ELUSIVE
Finally, above all, American crossword setter’s hard to understand (7)
A charade of EL (‘finally abovE alL‘) plus US (‘American’) plus I’VE (‘setter’s’ – i.e. setter has).
5 RELIEVE
To once again experience entertaining earl’s release (7)
An envelope (‘entertaining’) of E (‘earl’) in RELIVE (‘once again experience’).
6 MOUNTAIN BIKE
Ken, I’m in U-boat, unusual form of transport (8,4)
An anagram (‘unusual’) of ‘ken I’m in U-boat’.
7 OCHE
Darts player stands here in part of Rochester (4)
A hidden answer (‘in part of’) in ‘rOCHEster’.
8 EDDY
Everyman’s beginning to get doddery, regularly in a spin (4)
A charade of E (‘Everyman’s beginning’) plus DDY (‘DodDerY regularly’ – once every three letters is just as regular as once every two).
11 BUSINESSLIKE
Professional‘s sin: ‘blue skies’ condemned (12)
An anagram (‘condemned’) of ‘sin blue skies’.
13 ORANGERIES
Reorganise nuts and fruits’ location (10)
An anagram (‘nuts’) of ‘reorganise’, Should that read ‘locations’?
14 FANTASISTS
Saint fasts, stirring visionaries (10)
An anagram (‘stirring’) of ‘saints fast’.
18 STATUES
Sculptures honouring people‘s laws? Not a third time (7)
A subtraction: STATU[t]ES (‘laws’) minus the third T (‘not a third time’).
19 CRIMEAN
Lawbreaking with an inhabitant of Yalta? (7)
A charade of CRIME (‘lawbreaking’) plus ‘an’. The question mark is for the indication by example.
21 SPAR
Blows up box (4)
A reversal (‘up’ in a down light) of RAPS (‘blows’). Like 24A PINS, the clue could be read the other way round, with the required version coming from either the more natural reading, or from crossers.
22 BAND
Musicians prohibited, we’re told (4)
Sounds like (‘we’re told’) BANNED (‘prohibited’).

picture of the completed grid

46 comments on “Everyman 3,979”

  1. In last week’s blog I noticed comments that this puzzle was easier. I didn’t find it so – took me longer than usual.

    HENRY MOORE was FOI

    Didn’t like AS YOU LIKE IT

    Liked: SEASICKNESS, FURLOUGHED (though took me ages to get it), FOLDERS, ORANGERIES

    Thanks Everyman and PeterO

  2. Quite fun as always. Liked the fruit and nuts location and the visionary fasting saints. [Henry Moore always reminds me of my old Aunt Molly’s quick tongue. When some bloke, looking at our local gallery’s Moore reclining nude said “Well I wouldn’t marry her”, Molly shot back “You wouldn’t get the chance!”]. Thanks E and P, now for today’s.

  3. OCHE was a new word for me: I was pretty sure that must be the answer but had to look it up just in case. Was confused about the definition for FURLOUGHED, which to me means placed on involuntary leave, not simply “signed off work”. Thank you PeterO for clarifying that “regularly” can mean every nth, not just every second—that one makes sense now. Overall I thought this was tougher than usual and, now that I’m looking at it again, less fun. Better luck with the next one, I guess!

  4. I liked the 3 grantinfreo mentioned @2. ORANGERIES, FANTASISTS and HENRY MOORE. I wondered if Everyman also deliberately included STATU(T)ES. Wiki tells me too that Henri Moore’s “Reclining Figure” is/was housed in the ORANGERIE des Tuileries, but there were six copies, so I suppose they’ve been all over the place.

    Knew OCHE from cryptics. Funny word, with the various theories of its etymology, and even stranger theories as to how far it is set from the dartboard … eg spitting distance!

    My favourite was FOLDERS. Loved the image of origami practitioners buying their paper from the stationers. I tried it once. It’s a bit like playing darts. You need to be relaxed but precise at the same time.

  5. It took me a long time to realize in 13a ORANGERIE that reorganise was the anagrist and not the anagrind. It was the crosser from 20a that forced me to rethink. Nice misdirection, E.

    Like Fiona Anne and Nick, I found this tougher than usual, but not excessively so – still excellent for beginners – and just as much fun as Everyman usually is. For this, much thanks to Everyman and PeterO.

  6. We needed a word search for our LOI: FURLOUGHED. Should have got it, as our son was furloughed in London during the pandemic (though that word wasn’t used here, where it was Jobkeeper). We liked AS YOU LIKE IT, HENRY MOORE, FOLDERS, FANTASISTS. We tried reorganising nuts/fruits too, Cellomaniac @5. Thanks, Everyman and PeterO.

  7. I thought this a standard strength Everyman, I found this weeks harder, but keeping the usual level of enjoyment. Technically, cultivating is what you do after ploughing, but that’s neither here nor there.
    Thanks forpuzzle and blog.

  8. Thanks for the blog, I liked EDDY with the reference to Everyman and the unusual triple regularity. STATUES is neat with the very precise third time.
    ORANGERIES and PLATITUDES both very good long complete anagrams for Jay’s list. Is a FUR a posh coat ? Perhaps a long time ago with expensive mink, fortunately those days have largely gone.
    Any sign of a follow-on clue ? Not even a hint for me .

  9. Had the same trouble as cellomaniac@5 with ORANGERIES: right up to the final crosser the nuts/fruits fodder still looked possible.

  10. Everyman is always touted as a suitable crossword for beginners, but I usually have more trouble with him than I do with most of the supposedly tougher ones. Just me, I suppose.

  11. Roz@8 yes, we’ve had 13 long (10 letters or more) single word anagrams since October last year (when we first started noticing them; there maybe more before this of course), and a few more were the fodder is one word but the grid entry is two.
    Also, 7 geographic locations this year already, though Everyman will have a task to beat last year’s 74 (by my count).
    Fiona Anne, I thought of you when I saw this week’s grid 😉

  12. Thanks Jay , 10 letters is quite a lot for a single to single anagram .
    Gladys it is of course very subjective, my view is that the Guardian has far more setters now that are easier than Everyman so in that sense it has shifted towards the harder end of the scale.

  13. [pdm @ googling wa art gallery Henry Moore tells me that ours was purchased in ’63 (which surprised me, I thought I was younger than 15 at the Molly incident). It was in the gallery forecourt, public space, hence the passing oick!]

  16. Finally Anne, the simple smiley is colonclosebracket with a space either side 🙂 . There’s a heap more in this site’s Menu/FAQ/emoticon, like semicolonclosebracket for a wink 😉 . Always with a space either side.
    (Feel free to ignore all this 🙂 l

  18. I had never heard of the word FURLOUGHED. Is it American?
    Apart from that, I felt the puzzle was quite easy.
    More about that next Saturday.

  19. Fiona Anne @1 – I agree, I found this crossword took me pretty much the same time as the week before.

    No, I couldn’t see a follow on, but noted the two African countries for Jay’s list and wondered about the inclusion of Henry Moore following the poets.

    Thank you to Everyman and PeterO

  20. [As a child I was given a big stamp album which had belonged to a much older cousin, with the 1940s colonial-era names of many African countries: it was Oubangui-Tchari-TCHAD then.]

  21. Jay@11 : African locations feature again in CHAD and ERITREA ? and even “lough” and “range” are contained within FURLOUGHED and ORANGERIES and “Ness” within BUSINESSLIKE, although it’s Loch Ness & not Lough Ness ( Scottish as opposed to Irish ).

    I once worked in a team full of darts fanatics and learned the rhyming expression “Jocky on the oche ” referring to the late Jocky Wilson, darts supremo. ( Was World Champion twice in the 80’s ). So I knew the word “OCHE”. If you want some wordy entertainment, Google — re a Cambridge History graduate who specialised in flowery language; swish language about darts – now that’s something else !

    Thank you E and P.

  23. Liked ORANGERIES, ELUSIVE (loi).

    Thanks, both.

    gladys@10 and Roz@12
    I agree with your comments. If I was going to recommend any Guardian puzzles to beginners, I would tell them to go back to the Everyman puzzles (online) from 2018 and earlier then work backwards and refer to fifteensquared blogs for the relevant puzzles if in need of explanations.
    I’d also recommend beginners to do the Monday Cryptic puzzles when Rufus was still setting them, but I’m not sure what year he retired?

  25. gladys@10 and Roz@11

    Everyman is still the only puzzle I aim to complete without using aides. Don’t always manage but when I don’t I am usually down to the last two or three. Then if I still haven’t got them by Saturday evening I try a word finder to see if I can get an answer that fits and I can parse.

    I really should try doing the Monday puzzles without aides.

    Thanks Grantinfreo – here goes 🙂

  27. Good Sunday work-out; I can’t remember if I found it easier than usual, but it all seemed to go in successfully.

    I thought using reorganise as anagram fodder was a masterstroke; that had me fooled for a while. I also liked the ELUSIVE American crossword setter.

    [Several years ago I was playing Scrabble with some friends. I confidently put down OCHE towards the end, using a triple word square and feeling rather proud of myself. I was, however, challenged and the host’s ancient dictionary did not include it. For the next time, I presented the host with a new dictionary that did include OCHE!]

    Thanks Everyman and PeterO.

  28. Does Edmond (Eddy) Fischer ( 1920-2021 ), who discovered the first enzyme and who was a Nobel Laureate, qualify “EDDY” for a scientist/inventor follow-on, in the manner of MARCONI and BERNERS-LEE…, listed in previous weeks ?

  29. [Interesting theory about the derivation of OCHE:
    The derivation of the word ‘oche’ is obscure but my best guess is that it derives from the word ‘hockle’ an old English word, utilised more in the North of the country than anywhere else and meaning ‘to spit.’ Given that darts was originally played in the public bar or vault of the English public house where the floor was often covered in sawdust and the room liberally furnished with spittoons, my theory is that the ‘hockey’ line was determined by the length that a given player could spit from a position with his back to the dartboard.]

  30. I had READY MEALS as a possible follow-on from last week’s fish’n’chips takeaway. (More food for thought next week.)

    Loved “Ken, I’m in a U-boat”! Thanks E & P.

  33. @various on darts etc, I remember “Jocky on the oche” . The world championships used to be held at Jolley’s night club in Longton , I was too young to go.
    There is a famous Top of the Pops with Dexy’s Midnight Runners with a picture of Jocky Wilson instead of Jackie Wilson.

  34. essexboy@ 30; if one took any two subsequent crosswords by the same setter, isn’t it likely that you could find some connection between words. It doesn’t mean it’s deliberate unless Alan has said so.

  36. Roz@33 :
    Jolley’s Longton eh ! Even visited by Princess Margaret ( Googlable possibly under term substitution Jollees – the “then” spelling ). Everyone who was anyone played there ! Darts World Championship ’79 – ’85. Jocky Wilson’s walk-on music was Jackie Wilson Said. ( that’s the link to the TOTP art you describe ). My love of Dexy’s is enhanced by the fact that “C’mon Eileen” ( now there’s a Fifteensquared reference ! ) was top when my middle offspring was born.

  37. Flea@36 by the time I went it was called Razzmataz , no longer had the darts nobody ever played there. Above the bus station, total dump, dog-rough.

  39. Robi @34 – yes, that’s why I was a bit tentative in my comment @30 (as previous posters had been with their suggestions). As far as I know Everyman hasn’t said anything about the follow-on idea – of course, that could mean that I and others have been barking up a non-existent tree, and that all the week-to-week connections we’ve spotted are just coincidences. But if so, some of those coincidences have been very striking (see here for example) – much more striking than anything I’ve noticed with other setters.

    Ted @38
    Two men puzzled at Everyman’s clue:
    One got wet; the other flew 🙂

  43. Perfect remedy for us today having had to put our wee cat to sleep – Henry Moore, As You Like It and Furloughed our favourites today. Thanks all for the very welcome diversion.

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