Everyman 4,027

by

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/4027.

Something of a departure for Everyman: every answer is related to food and drink. At least there remains his standard ‘primarily’ clue, or we might be completely lost.

ACROSS
7 FAJITA
Note you’ll hear: warmer Mexican fare (6)
A charade of FA (‘note’ of the sol-fa) plus JITA, which is pronounced (‘you’ll hear’) more or less as HEATER (‘warmer’).
8 SMOOTHIE
I’m persuasive. Like a milkshake? (8)
Double definition.
9 WILDFOWL
Cryptic clue for wolf – or pheasant, perhaps (8)
Wordplay in the answer: an anagram (WILD) of FOWL is ‘wolf’
10 SUPPER
Meal measures up perfectly? To some extent (6)
A hidden answer (‘to some extent’) in ‘measureS UP PERfectly’.
11 SOUL FOOD
In Korean capital, lacking energy, scoff seeing sweet potato pie, etc (4,4)
A charade of S[e]OUL (South ‘Korean capital’) minus the E (‘lacking energy’) plus FOOD (‘scoff’, noun).
12 ATE OUT
Singular hawker, we’re told, dined – but not at home (3,3)
Sounds like (‘we’re told’) A TOUT (‘singular hawker’).
13 HOLLANDAISE
Old French president concealing origins of affaire involving starlet: sauce! (11)
An envelope (‘concealing’) of AIS (‘origins of Affaire Involving Starlet’) in HOLLANDE (François, ‘old French President’, 2012-2017).
18 REUBEN
With teetotaller absent, brunette prepared something with rye (6)
An anagram (‘prepared’) of ‘brune[tt]e’ minus TT (‘with teetotaller absent’). A reuben is a grilled sandwich of corned beef (not the canned stuff) and Swiss cheese (and thus not kosher, even though the sandwich is associated with kosher-style delis) with sauerkraut and Russian dressing on toasted rye bread.
20 COCONUTS
Clown to stagger back: source of clip-clop sounds? (8)
A charade of COCO (‘clown’) plus NUTS, a reversal (‘back’) of STUN (‘stagger’). Remember this?
22 SCOTCH
Put lid on whisky (6)
Double definition, the first being to cancel.
23 ICE CREAM
Everyman ‘a hilarious person’, did you say? That’s … sweet (3,5)
Sounds like (‘did you say’) I (‘Everyman’) plus SCREAM (‘a hilarious person’).
24 WELL DONE
Good job that’s how some like their steak (4,4)
Double definition. For the second, there’s no accounting for tastes.
25 SWEDES
Northern Europeans‘ roots (6)
Double definition.
DOWN
1 HARICOT
Some paratha, ricotta and a kind of bean (7)
A hidden answer (‘some’) in ‘paratHA RICOTta’.
2 VINDALOO
Rice and this curry can be arranged for Leonardo da Vinci! (8)
‘Leonardo da Vinci’ is an anagram (‘can be arranged for’) of ‘rice and’ plus VINDALOO. A rare case of a clue in which the definition appears sensibly in the middle (although it could be moved to the start).
3 BAROLO
Booze; aroma: roses – or latterly, oak, primarily? (6)
The ‘primarily’ clue: ‘Booze Aroma Roses Or Latterly Oak’, for the Italian wine as an &lit definition.
4 MOUSSAKA
Mostly chocolatey dessert? In other words … it includes lamb (8)
A charade of MOUSS[e] (‘chocolately dessert?’) minus the last letter (‘mostly’); plus AKA (also known as, ‘in other words’).
5 STAPLE
Form an attachment to rice, perhaps (6)
Double definition.
6 PINE NUT
Languish with idiot having assembled something for pasta sauce (4,3)
A charade of PINE (‘languish’) plus NUT (‘idiot’). Pine nuts are used in pesto.
8 SALADE NIÇOISE
I sailed oceans meandering to find Riviera speciality (6,7)
An anagram (‘meandering’) of ‘I sailed oceans’.
14 LUNCHEON
Initially lacking punch (initially lacking): long time to get something to eat (8)
A charade of L (the initial ‘initially Lacking’) plus ‘[p]unch’ minus the first letter (the bracketed ‘initially lacking’) plus EON (‘long time’).
15 SUN-DRIED
Not finishing various starters of Italian endives, dressed like some tomatoes (3-5)
A charade of SUNDR[y] (‘various’) minus the last letter (‘not finishing’) plus IED (‘starters of Italian Endives Dressed’).
16 PEACHES
Attractive people that are often fuzzy and usually stoned (7)
Definition and two references to the fruit.
17 STEAMER
Ship that may contain broccoli (7)
Double definition.
19 BOTTLE
Grit that’s used for storing wine (6)
Double definition.
21 CHEESY
Characteristic of Leicester …? How to characterise some grins? (6)
Double definition.

picture of the completed gridl.

51 comments on “Everyman 4,027”

  1. 12ac, ATE OUT: do some people really pronounce ‘ate’ as it’s written? I think everyone I know pronounces it as ‘et’.

    18ac, REUBEN was a new word for me. Sounds delicious.

    16dn, PEACHES: Are PEACHES usually stoned? Aren’t they usually sold whole, with stone in? Saw a YouTube short recently that demonstrated how easy it easy to stone a peach with a (clean!) pair of long-nosed pliers: insert, grip, twist, pull. Job done.

    No rhyming pair this week?

  3. It’s as written around here, TC @1, and I think for most Aussies. Ditto reuben, a dnk (wonder how it got the name of one my uncles 🙂 ). Nice puzzle, ta PnE, tho I got lazy and cheated to get loi vindaloo, cute clue though.

  4. Same across the Tasman re ate. 23 brought fond memories of my parents who emigrated from Liverpool using scream to describe person or events, which I think translated to hard case. Thanks PeterO. Everyman and everyone else who has made this site such a pleasure in 2023.

  5. TC@1: yep, everyone I know does. But it was a good thing BAROLO was the initially clue, as I have never heard of it – but then, why drink Italian wine in Oz? Peaches are stone fruit, so they are ‘stoned’. I woke up to the theme early, which helped. Thanks, Everyman and PeterO.

  6. Thankyou Peter O. Very eclectic range of food and drink, and related phrases. Had multiple possibilities with the crossers for PINE NUT and none correct.. Thought it was some kind of mug</em for pasta sauce.

  7. BOTTLE
    Shouldn’t there be a ? after wine?

    Also possibly triple def?
    ‘That’s used for storing’ —if it’s fair to take this as one def, then ‘wine?’ could be another.

  8. I solved this eventually but it was a struggle although the grid didn’t help. I’ve being doing Everyman for probably about 40 years and I nearly gave up on this one. Some tricky clues especially WILD FOWL and VINDALOO. Definitely a much harder puzzle than usual. No doubt Roz will say that the level was just about right as she always does but the truth is that the Everyman puzzle is so far below her level of ability, that any puzzle would be easy for her. Why even bother doing it !.
    Whoever would have thought that ‘rice and vindaloo’ was an anagram of Leonardo da Vinci !. So maybe that’s the food of choice for a polymath. Thanks to Peter and E.

  9. Thanks for the Monty Python clipclop, Peter O. I don’t remember that one, but I do remember COCONUTS and other sound effects in radio plays. Does anyone remember the wireless? 🙂

    I liked FAJITA, mainly because I think it’s a pretty good approximation of a homophone of a foreign word, something that usually fails, or is contentious, and not worth it.
    My fav today was VINDALOO because a) I got it and b) what Peter O said.

    If I remember correctly, this is the first themed crossword, apart from commemorative ones, that the current Everyman Alan Connor has set. I have a feeling Roz won’t be happy. 🙂 If, as he’s said somewhere, his intention is to gradually introduce solvers to the range of gadgets in setters’ etuis, I wonder what we will find in 2024?

    Happy New Year to Everyman, Peter O, and all the bloggers and posters here.

  10. Tony C @1. I wondered if the intersecting, central solutions: HOLLANDAISE and SALADE NIÇOISE were the pair? Both sauces named after geographical areas, both ending with the /z/ sound.

  11. Thought this a bit trickier than usual – and as noted by Davy @ 8 the grid didn’t help.

    Liked: HOLLANDAISE, COCONUTS, SUN-DRIED, VINDALOO

    Never heard of REUBEN. Did not get PEACHES

    Thanks Everyman and PeterO

  12. Everyman set a food and drink themed puzzle last Christmas as well, it was No. 3975

    Interesting to see a compound anagram with a “this” definition in the middle of the clue. That is a first I believe.

    Thanks to Everyman for keeping us entertained throughout the year and a Happy New Year to all the bloggers and those who tune into this thread every week!

  13. Thanks for the blog and all the others this year . PDM@9 I suppose the food and drink theme is for Christmas , it was done well but I do not think this was a suitable Everyman .
    A compound anagram for VINDALOO is going too far , I would not have enjoyed this when I was learning.
    Tony@1 I pronounce ate like eight.

  14. [ Davy@8 I do the Everyman out of nostalgia , it was my first puzzle and used to take me all week. It is also on the opposite page to Azed. I try not to be critical because it is not aimed at me any more, I would like to read more comments from newer solvers. I thought it had a very good run but in recent months it has been too hard and I have said so on occasion. If the setter wants to stretch boundaries he should find another outlet for his puzzles, the Everyman should stay true to its stated aims. ]

  15. Yes pdm @9, I remember one of the Goons saying Here comes Eccles riding on his coconut shells. And yes I still use my tranny for the cricket and footy.

  17. I can no longer claim beginner status, so perhaps I am not qualified to comment, but I thought that although this contained soe difficult clues, the obvious theme is very helpful. Congratulations to Everyman for introducing beginners to Themed Crosswords, I generally don’t notice themand never spot a NINA. The difficult clues were spread outas well, so most solvers should have had some crossers to help.
    Personally I enjoyed this and this week’s is on the easy side of everyman, which should restore confidence in anyone who struggled today.
    Thanks for the puzzle and blog. Blwyddyn Newydd Da i pawb! Và chúc m?ng n?m m?i!

  18. [gif@15. I remember thinking as a child, but how did they fit the orchestra in the old wireless or radiogram.]

  20. Not so elementary, as others have already noted, but alimentary, my dear Watson. Fine puzzle, nevertheless, using the theme throughout without forcing. I suppose an excuse for the level of difficulty is that solvers have more time over a holiday period.

    I particularly liked the anagram for SALADE NIÇOISE and ‘rice and VINDALOO’ for the Renaissance polymath is priceless. Nice use of the contronym ‘stoned’ in the clue for PEACHES.

    TassieTim @5: Why drink BAROLO? Because it’s generally considered to be the best Italian red wine, one that needs a long maturation to be at its best – and with a price to match.

    Best wishes to all for 2024

  21. Thanks Everyman and PeterO
    I wonder why he chose “pheasant” in 9a? “Duck” (or “geese”) are actually referred to as “wildfowl” (as in “The wildfowl Trust”, now “Wildfowl and wetlands”), whereas pheasants are arguably not wild at all, as they are bred in hatcheries before being releaased to be shot at.

  23. As a very occasional solver of Everyman who found himself at a loose end on Christmas Eve, this was a delight to jump into. The setter has done a truly remarkable job in filling a grid with themed solutions and avoiding any real obscurities. That is so hard to do. Whether the cluing is fair or unfair to Everyman solvers and in line with their expectations, I am in no position to say but I very much enjoyed this with SALADE NICOISE, HOLLANDAISE, VINDALOO and REUBEN being my favourites.

    Thanks Everyman and PeterO

  24. As others said, quite a bit harder than the usual Everyman. Mostly enjoyable. REUBEN as a sandwich was a TILT. Didn’t get PINE NUT – to me, neither PINE and languish, nor NUT and idiot, are synonyms, though probably justifiable by searching dictionaries. And to me (like muffin@21) WILDFOWL implies a water bird, though plenty of pheasants do breed wild in UK (but are definitely not native).
    Thanks PeterO and Everyman.

  25. I was advised by good friend to avoid this as food&drink is my absolute blackhole when it comes to trivia.

    Decided to give it 20mins and see how bad it would be.

    Was pleasantly surprised to rip through this in the quickest time I’ve done an Everyman for months, possibly ever.

    Except PINE-NUT which despite loving pasta I’ve never heard of, and would never think of languish equalling pine. Didn’t realise there was an emotional quality to languishing, thought it was just lying about, being lazy.

  26. I’m surprised that ‘languish’ = ‘pine’ is a surprise to some. It always has a connotation of unhappy circumstances, and not just ‘being lazy’. From Chambers:

    To become or be languid, inert or depressed
    To lose strength and animation
    To pine
    To flag or droop
    To look languishingly
    To spend time in hardship or discomfort

  27. Let’s hope some of our current batch of leaders become as forgettable in 2024 as Francois Hollande was for me, when I solved this puzzle.

  28. Like PostMark at 23, I enjoyed this and found it a pleasant change from Everyman’s usual fare. Themed crosswords are clearly much harder to create – but Everyman has succeeded in making every clue fit the theme. No mean feat!
    Thanks for the fun – and thank you PeterO for the blog and for the Migrating Coconut link.
    [Paddymelon at 9 & Grantinfreo at 15: I remember radio sound effects very well, for in my early professional life my job included doing fx on Her Britannic Majesty’s Steam Wireless. There were hundreds of recorded fx – birdsong, city skylines, motors of all kinds (both inside and outside the vehicles) etc etc etc – but my faves were Spot FX, those performed in the studio. My hardest task was two men getting into an 18th century coach.
    I can still “be” someone climbing and then descending a staircase, on the spot. Alas, it’s a skill that’s not much use elsewhere….]

  29. Interesting departure with a very well-made grid.

    18 and 20 had me confused, until I realised that I was thinking of Reuben (sic) and the Jets versus Kid Creole and the Coconuts, as opposed to Reuben and the Coconuts.

  31. I found this very much on the tough side, like most of the past few weeks – once again it was the middle of the week and multiple re-visits before I completed it. VINDALOO was my loi, and I only got it from the crossers – it did bring a smile to my face when I parsed it, however.

    Liked ATE OUT (I vary how I pronounce ATE, depending on who I’m talking to – I regularly change my manner of speech to match others, something which my family finds hilarious, but which seems perfectly normal to me).

    I also liked LUNCHEON, mainly because I got it straight away and it made me feel clever!

    Thanks Everyman and PeterO, and thanks to all on this site for helping me find my way in this new hobby. Happy Hogmanay to all!

  32. Meant to add, I felt very silly this morning when I realised there was such an obvious theme that I hadn’t spotted all week…

  33. As usual, quite a tough puzzle which I would not recommend to a beginner. I gave up on 6d.

    I could not parse 2d VINDALOO.

    New for me: REUBEN sandwich on rye bread – I love rye bread but I will never be eating a Reuben sandwich!

    Favourite: COCONUTS.

    Thanks, both.

    Tony Collman @1 – I’m Australian and I pronounce ATE as ‘eight’ not as ‘et’.

  35. Kva@2 & TassieTim @5, so ‘stoned’ is one of those words, like ‘cleave’ that has two contradictory meanings? Ah, Gervase@20, contranym: that’s the word for it! Thanks.

    @Everyone who said they pronounce ‘ate’ as eight, thanks. I should get out more.

    Paddymelon@10, those two don’t rhyme, as the vowel sounds are different. Certainly, though, they have things in common. Not familiar enough with Everyman to know exactly what the tradition is.

  36. Very impressed by the totality of the theme, so willing to forgive the absence of the rhyming pair. (You’re a demanding lot!)

    As a newer solver seduced into this world by Sunday afternoon Everymans I am now frequently finding Mondays a faster solve than Sundays which may speak to the difficulty question. But I got all of this one quite quickly, though tbh got VINDALOO from the crossers before I then saw the parsing.

  37. Re: rhyming pair

    Where I originate from ‘Luncheon’ rhymes with ‘Well Done’.

    Well done indeed to Everyman and PeterO.

  38. Tony @1: I don’t think there’s a single North American dialect in which “ate” is pronounced as “et,” so that’s 300-odd million of us right there… Which brings to mind the mother of all Dad Jokes: Why is 6 afraid of 7? Because 7 8 9.

    Surprised at how many have not had or even heard of a REUBEN. It’s sandwich deliciousness, but is sadly no longer on my diet, so I can only have one on cheat days–and on cheat days, there are usually things higher on the list. (I had a cardiac event in September of ’21, so the chese and the beef are both no-nos.)

  39. Hello, my first post. I consider myself a beginner… but after reading these comments, maybe I’m not! I enjoyed this, as all the Everymans, but they take me all week. I did not get FAJITA or WILD FOWL, nor, sadly, HOLLANDAISE, and kicked myself when I saw this as I’d considered that early on. I think my problem was the same as Petert at 27, whose comment resonated with me. I got VINDALOO!
    Thank you to everyone for making my crossword-solving journey both easier and more fun.

  40. Hurray! I finished this one! Thank you Everyman! And Peter.
    I guessed Vindaloo – had to look here to make sense of it but it “felt right”.

  41. Lots of fun as usual.
    It is worth repeating that Everyman always has a related pair, which often rhymes. In this case I took the middle cross to be the main ones.

  42. [Petert @27, when Francois Hollande was replaced by Macron, a Parisian friend of ours said Now he can go back to normal dress … he reckoned Hollande wore daggy looking suits to appear more Of The People]

  44. Well done Theo@39 and Quiet Ears@40 , keep trying and keep commenting . I used to carry Everyman around all week and it would get very scruffy . No blogs in those days, just the answers a week later.
    Tony @43 it is not a hard and fast rule , just a tradition that regular solvers notice.
    A PRIMARILY clue , self-defining , see BAROLO .
    A clue containing Everyman ( = I , me etc ) see ICE CREAM.
    Usually a long rhyming pair in symmetrical places, not this week, sometimes not rhyming but linked , new/old or black/white etc.
    Countries often turn up . Long COMPLETE anagrams , one word to one word.
    Occasionally alliterative long answers across the top and bottom and down the middle.
    Scan a few previous blogs, some bloggers have coloured highlights in the grids.

  46. Like others I was impressed by the totality of the theme. Was Hollandaise and Niçoise the closest Everyman could get to a rhyming pair?! At least the primarily and the Everyman clues were there to keep me right. Vindaloo was hard. I’ve never seen a definition in the middle of the clue.

  47. Having bagged last week’s I thought this was excellent. LOI and best clue by far was Wildfowl. Luncheon was a bit laboured.

    Ate to me is eight not ett, especially when coupled with out. If it’s on its own I’d probably avoid and say I had x rather than I ate x.

    Horses for courses. Not that I eat horse, at least not knowingly.

  48. A pretty tough one. Brought up in North and East London and I learned to say et. Married a kiwi who also said et, but she had studied middle English. Took me a while to figure the clue out. I can’t argue with Barrie though – you rarely hear it in NZ. Google GBShaw on “When Englishman opens his mouth…” But I’m sticking to et; never knew it was good oop north.

  49. My wife Marion still complains in (presumably) being marked wrong in the School.Certificate exam for putting ‘8’ instead of ‘ett’ as the pronunciation of ‘ate’.

  50. Thoroughly enjoyed the themed crossword – yes it was harder in parts but that’s a good test of how we’re doing. VINDALOO & REUBEN both goodies – mind you we love a curry and a Reuben sandwich!
    We say 8 not et so thought that was a great clue, along with ICECREAM.
    Thanks all!

  51. Extremely tough. Needed extensive use of wild card dictionaries
    and web-searching. Could not parse “vindaloo” although I noticed traces of “Leonardo da Vinci” therein. Thanks to PeterO for the explanation.

    Only hillbillies pronouce “ate” as “et”.

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