All the trademark clues present as usual in this week’s offering from Everyman. Some straightforward anagrams to give you a foothold, then a grid that fell out nicely, for this solver at least.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Remarks to audience: ‘So, a bad day for Caesar’
ASIDES
AS IDES. The reference is to the IDES of March:
Caesar: What sayst thou to me now? Speak once again.
Soothsayer: Beware the Ides of March.
Caesar: He is a dreamer. Let us leave him. Pass.
(Julius Caesar, Act 1, Scene 2)
5 ‘Releases‘? Come on!
LETS GO
A dd. The second version requires an apostrophe, which in crosswordland, can be ignored.
8 Last of ill-gotten wonga Diana wasted from time to time
NOW AND AGAIN
A charade of N for the last letter of ‘ill-gotten’ and (WONGA DIANA)* with ‘wasted’ as the anagrind.
11 Ran, hot, ’til knackered – as part of this?
TRIATHLON
(RAN HOT TIL)* with ‘knackered’ as the anagrind, and an extended definition.
12 Fine water jug, no less!
FEWER
A charade of F and EWER. Even putting aside that FEWER and ‘less’ are not interchangeable, I can’t make this work. ‘No less than twenty’ means at least twenty. ‘Fewer than twenty’ means anything up to nineteen. Happen I’m missing something.
13 Cook’s convenience: mop to take home
HAIRNET
A charade of HAIR and NET. ‘Her net/take home pay is £200 per week.’
14 Roused, seeing old flame mentioned
EXCITED
A charade of EX and CITED.
15 Sullen Everyman finally gets the bird
BITTERN
A charade of BITTER and N for the last letter of ‘Everyman’. And a chance for the Obligatory Pierre Bird Link. The bittern is the UK’s loudest bird, with its call audible up to 5km away. In Norfolk dialect, it’s called, rather delightfully, a Butterbump.
17 What has a turret but isn’t armed?
TANK TOP
A dd, with the second definition whimsical: the TANK TOP that you wear is sleeveless.
20 Language Bill’s spoken
CZECH
Aural wordplay (‘spoken’) for CHECK, which is AmEng for what Brits would call the ‘bill’ in a restaurant.
21 Marble all shattered: this may be because of a drill
ALARM BELL
(MARBLE ALL)* with ‘shattered’ as the anagrind.
22 A (as in grades) reassigned to sports star
ANDRE AGASSI
(A AS IN GRADES)* with ‘reassigned’ as the anagrind.
23 Convenient, like an oven glove
ON HAND
A cd cum dd.
24 After upset, learned to wear outsize swimwear brand
SPEEDO
An insertion of DEEP in OS, all reversed. I would say the two words are distant synonyms: ‘she is a deep/learned thinker.’
Down
2 Song from Spooner suggestin’ Underwater Quasimodo?
SINGIN IN THE RAIN
More whimsy: Spooner would have this as RINGIN IN THE SEINE, which is what the Hunchback of Notre Dame character would do if he was in the river next to the cathedral.
3 Sad to remain, ultimately, in storied Abbey
DOWNTON
A charade of DOWN, TO and N for the final letter of ‘remain’.
4 One description of wearing a vest?
SINGLETON
Someone wearing a vest would have a SINGLET ON.
5 Study section of trochlear nerve
LEARN
Hidden in trochLEAR Nerve.
6 Trade in what may be used in jam-making
TRAFFIC
A cd: the jams are ones on the M5, not ones in the larder.
7 Classic movie, Swept Away?
GONE WITH THE WIND
A cd. Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn.
9 Yearning, in East End, to ride free
ITCH
A dd. Folk from the East End of London in days gone by at least would have stuck their thumb out and ‘itched a ride.
10 Such is primarily gowned, radiant, accepting diploma!
GRAD
The initial letters of the last four words of the clue and a cad.
14 Alienates sergeants, foolishly
ESTRANGES
(SERGEANTS)* with ‘foolishly’ as the anagrind.
15 Second tail
BACK
A dd.
16 Aussie animal had nice bananas
ECHIDNA
(HAD NICE)* WITH ‘bananas’ as the anagrind gives you the Australian monotreme.
18 Asian greeting in Vietnam, as teacher taking part
NAMASTE
Hidden in VietNAM AS TEacher. The palms pressed together, fingers upwards, bowing gesture.
19 Friends: small circle shrinking
PALS
A reversal of S and LAP. ‘Shrinking’ works as a reversal indicator is you think of it in its ‘backing away’ or ‘shrinking back’ sense.
21 A teacher’s coming!
AHEAD
A charade of A and HEAD.
Many thanks to Everyman for this week’s puzzle.
I interpreted 12a as if it were punctuated “Fine water jug? No, less!”, playing on the common grammatical error.
Aside: is there an Everyman today (Easter Sunday); the site is still showing last week’s?
Thanks to Everyman and Pierre.
Thanks Everyman and Pierre. An enjoyable puzzle. Not sure about all trademark clues though, – SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN rhymes with NOW AND AGAIN but they’re not symmetrical as is usually the case.
The pairing this week is WIND and RAIN. Everyman occasionally uses ‘antonym’ word endings in place of a rhyming pair. In the past we’ve had Black/White, Hot/Cold, Grand/Little, Ball/Chain, Rock/Roll, Bread/Potatoes, Back/Front.
[ Today’s pdf for those struggling with access…
https://tinyurl.com/Everyman-4146 ]
Thanks for the blog , pretty good overall , I agree with Jay@3 with the pairing being weather related film titles .
I think I agree with Graham @1 for FEWER , no can mean NOT so it is saying fewer is not less , but not sure the clue really works .
The BITTERN is slowly recovering in the UK , very easy to hear but very hard to see .
For 14a I took “mentioned” to mean sound-alike for EX SIGHTED but think P’s explanation works better. A bit annoyed about “upset” being used for a reversal in an across clue (24a). It could be an anagrind but that would need the fodder in full for an Everyman crossword. Generally a good, fun puzzle.
Thanks E & P.
And today’s interactive:
https://observer.co.uk/puzzles/everyman/article/everyman-no-4146
I see that effective immediately the Observer is able to accept email entries for Everyman and Gemelo competition puzzles. This is what they say: “ Email a clear photograph of your print entry to: competitions@observer.co.uk. You must include the crossword title as it appears in print (e.g. “Everyman No. 4,146” or “Gemelo No. 25”). Type your name and contact details in the body of the email. “
The paired clues aren’t always rhymes, but they are always the longest solutions, and hence symmetrical in the grid; NOW AND AGAIN (not one of the pair this time) they are thematically linked as opposed to rhyming. So in this case it’s WIND and RAIN, not only elements of the weather but both classic films too.
Fun as usual from Everyman, but slight question marks over “shrinking” as a reverse indicator, as well as the “no less”/FEWER issue.
Thanks to E&P.
An enjoyable crossword but I, too, cannot see how shrinking means reversing in 19d. Even a shrinking violet does not turn around.
Def 7 in Chambers:
To draw back, retreat
My only problem with “shrinking” as an indicator is that it can also mean “contracting” or “becoming smaller in size or extent”, which might suggest deletion or subtraction of letters.
Admin@11: I also couldn’t parse PALS. ‘Shrink’ can mean to withdraw, but it doesn’t imply turning around, in fact rather the reverse. One shrinks away from something while still facing it.