A pleasant Everyman, not too difficult; sound so far as I can see, except for one minor thing that’s mentioned in the blog. There are the usual Everyman trademarks: the first letters &lit, the rhyming pair, the self-referential clue. Maybe some others but I can’t see them.
Definitions in crimson, underlined. Indicators (homophone, hidden, containment, anagram, juxtaposition, etc) in italics. Anagrams indicated *(like this) or (like this)*. Link-words in green.
I suppose one could also say that BLOC rhymes with WINE O’CLOCK but Everyman has always so far as I know chosen for his rhyming pairs words of the same length.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | TAKES A TURN |
Rolls dice in game, perhaps Occupy Ringed Planet (5,1,4)
|
| Take Saturn — take = occupy, Saturn has rings and is known as the Ringed Planet — I suppose the capital letters suggest that it is the name of some computer game | ||
| 6 | BLOC |
Group using sample of Pablo Casals (4)
|
| Hidden in PaBLO Casals | ||
| 9 | WINE O’CLOCK |
Drinks time: company kicked back during lock-in we arranged (4,1’5)
|
| (co)rev. in (lock in we)* — this expression is rather unfamiliar to me, but when I Googled it the AI overview said “Wine o’clock” is an informal, often humorous, phrase referring to an appropriate or desired time of day to start drinking wine, typically in the late afternoon or evening. Officially recognized by the Oxford English Dictionary in 2015, it signifies a transition from daily responsibilities to relaxation. It is commonly used as a cultural reference for unwinding.” Obviously haven’t been moving in the right circles. | ||
| 10 | ODIN |
Mythical figure: sculptor’s forgotten head (4)
|
| [R]odin | ||
| 11 | CLOTHES HORSE |
Fashionable type puts on blanket, nosebag etc? (7,5)
|
| 2 defs — one of the definitions in Chambers is “a person, usually a woman, whose value is primarily perceived as a model for fashionable clothes (informal)” and one can also read the clue as a description of how one clothes a horse | ||
| 15 | ROOKERY |
Pooh’s friend Kanga (to begin with) and Eeyore regularly muddled in bird’s home (7)
|
| Roo (K[anga] E[e]y[o]r[e])* — Pooh’s friend is Roo | ||
| 16 | SUCCOUR |
Comfort from a mug, reportedly (7)
|
| “sucker” — sucker = mug | ||
| 17 | ACERBIC |
Grimacer bickering, somewhat bitter (7)
|
| Hidden in GrimACER BICkering | ||
| 19 | PRESENT |
Quietly take exception to gift (7)
|
| p resent — p = quietly (the musical term ‘piano’), resent = take exception to | ||
| 20 | CHANGE COURSE |
Not much dough: part of meal to take different direction (6,6)
|
| change course — change = not much dough (money), course = part of meal | ||
| 23 | UGLY |
Unattractive on the outside, underling and lackey (4)
|
| u[nderlin]g l[acke]y | ||
| 24 | INTOXICATE |
Supply excitation? (10)
|
| *(excitation) —the clue can be thought of in two ways: as a CD, where to supply excitation is to intoxicate (in the wider, non alcoholic, sense of ‘intoxicate’) and as a clue where ‘supply’ is to be read as ‘supple-ly’ and is an anagram indicator | ||
| 25 | BUST |
Shatter sculpture (4)
|
| 2 defs | ||
| 26 | STREAKIEST |
See skirt at resort that’s most in need of a clean (10)
|
| (see skirt at)* — resort as re-sort | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | TOWS |
Pulls studious type up (4)
|
| (swot)rev. — swot = studious type | ||
| 2 | KIND |
Family with daughter that’s a strain (4)
|
| kin d — kin = family, d = daughter — strain = kind (in the sense type, sort) | ||
| 3 | SHOULDERBAG |
In the event that old monarch given black and silver luggage item … (11)
|
| should ER B Ag — should = in the event that, ER = old monarch, B = black, Ag = silver (the abbreviation for the element) | ||
| 4 | TOLSTOY |
Tales ordinarily long, scribe telling of yore, primarily? (7)
|
| The first letters &lit. that is a feature of the Everyman crossword | ||
| 5 | ROCKETS |
Leaves sun in spaceships (7)
|
| rocket s — rocket = leaves (as in salad), s = sun — I suppose one can say at a stretch that a rocket is a spaceship | ||
| 7 | LEDERHOSEN |
Seen her old fancy man’s attire (10)
|
| (Seen her old)* | ||
| 8 | CONSECRATE |
Dupe taking wings off used car that’s seen better days: bless! (10)
|
| con [u]se[d] crate — con = dupe, crate = car that’s seen better days | ||
| 12 | HOCKEY STICK |
Spooner’s spoken of thickset yokel’s sporting equipment (6,5)
|
| For Spooner, this is “stocky hick” | ||
| 13 | BREADCRUMB |
Apply gratin to crab? Er, dumb move (10)
|
| (crab er dumb)* — breadcrumb a verb, to apply breadcrumbs to | ||
| 14 | POLE VAULTS |
E European crypts in which people get high (4,6)
|
| Pole vaults — Pole = East European, vaults = crypts — when people do pole vaults, the athletic activity, they go high over the bar | ||
| 18 | COCONUT |
You can get butter from one person that’s mad on hot drink, did you say? (7)
|
| nut on (ie following) coco, which is “cocoa” — nut = person that’s mad, cocoa = hot drink — ref. coconut butter | ||
| 19 | PLUS-ONE |
Date, such as 31st is to 30th (4-3)
|
| 30th + 1 = 31st — in a sense at any rate; one might say that really 30 + 1 = 31 — a date can be a plus-one (not necessarily, so perhaps Everyman should have said ‘maybe’ or some such) | ||
| 21 | FADE |
A short-lived pleasure, Everyman’s beginning to decline (4)
|
| fad E[veryman] — fad = a short-lived pleasure — the self-referential clue | ||
| 22 | MEET |
Run into rain that’s upside- down (4)
|
| (teem) rev. — teem = rain |
My top fave: INTOXICATE (&lit).
Also liked CLOTHES HORSE and POLE VAULTS.
Thanks John for the neat blog.