Everyman 4.149/26 April

Everyman on good form as usual. Just one clue I found a little clunky.

The paired clues this week are antonymic: COLD LIGHT OF DAY and HOT WATER BOTTLE. A middle-aged Everyman makes his customary cameo in 5 down; and the initial letters clue is at 21 down. For newer readers, these features occur in each Everyman puzzle. Often the paired clues will contain a rhyme.

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 Masculine one’s club
MACE
A charade of M and ACE.

3 Posh people‘s stilted, curt supper
UPPER CRUST
(CURT SUPPER)* with ‘stilted’ as the anagrind.

10 Caught thrice as much in port on the Med
TRIPOLI
Aural wordplay (‘caught’) for TRIPLY.

11 My food is usually late
VULTURE
A cd. Vultures are carrion eaters.

12 Tricks gangster; makes cheeky gesture
HOODWINKS
A charade of HOOD and WINKS.

13 Roar in slaughterhouse?
LAUGH
Hidden in sLAUGHterhouse, and a reminder of the remarkable cussedness of English spelling and pronunciation: SLAUGHTER is simply LAUGHTER with and S on the front, but is pronounced very differently.

14 Unsettled, Lucy’s vacuous to extraordinary degree
OUTSTANDINGLY
A charade of OUTSTANDING and L[UC]Y.

18 Blue bird is getting drinks
DIRTY MARTINIS
A charade of DIRTY, MARTIN and IS.

20 Some colossal voles attack
SALVO
Hidden in colosSAL VOles.

21 Miser‘s ciggie paper and lighter
SKINFLINT
A charade of SKIN and FLINT.

23 Mashed roots: it is a carby dish
RISOTTO
(ROOTS IT)* with ‘mashed’ as the anagrind.

24 A rector gripped by one sin – and another
AVARICE
An insertion of A and R in A VICE. The insertion indicator is ‘gripped by’ and the solution is implied.

25 Pass grade-eight piano? Such should open many doors
MASTER KEYS
A cd cum dd.

26 Receding land seen in Great Lake
ERIE
A reversal of EIRE, the ‘land’ that is Ireland.

Down

1 See fight as source of illumination
MATCHBOX
A charade of MATCH and BOX.  The only correspondence I can think of for MATCH and ‘see’ is in the game of poker, where you ‘see’ or MATCH your opponent’s bet.

2 Bit of starch in old cotton
CHINO
Hidden in starCH IN Old.

4 Tattered canopying giving aura of sadness
POIGNANCY
(CANOPYING)* with ‘tattered’ as the anagrind.

5 Glimpse of Everyman, 55, is one gyrating hips no more
ELVIS
A charade of E for the initial letter of ‘Everyman’, LV for ’55’ in Roman numerals, and IS. He’s not gyrated his hips since he died sitting on the toilet in 1977.  The King, that is, not Everyman.

6 Fact: Holly did go bananas: it’s easier to see now
COLD LIGHT OF DAY
(FACT HOLLY DID GO)* with ‘bananas’ as the anagrind.

7 A S American, you are heard, you said, touring Guyana
URUGUAYAN
A charade of U, R (representing ‘you’ and ‘are’) and (GUYANA)* with ‘touring’ as the anagrind.

8 Support article that’s cut, in a way
TEETHE
A charade of TEE and THE. ‘Cut’ is the verb sometimes used to describe teeth erupting.

9 Trouble: spirit that’s taken to bed
HOT WATER BOTTLE
A charade of HOT WATER and BOTTLE. ‘He’ll be in hot water/trouble for being late.’

15 Fuss over tips in lists of chores
TO DO LISTS
A charade of TO DO for ‘fuss’ and LISTS for ‘tips’. Very clumsy that ‘lists’ is in the clue and the solution as the same word.

16 Fabulous Armani suit’s third piece granny vacuously altered
IMAGINARY
(ARMANI I G[RANN]Y)* with ‘altered’ as the anagrind.

17 Weariest: ‘done in’, so to speak
AS IT WERE
(WEARIEST)* with ‘done in’ as the anagrind.

19 Sheep behind tree: retreat!
ASHRAM
A charade of ASH and RAM.

21 Principally, supposedly, the one relaying kids?
STORK
The initial letters of the last five words of the clue. The white stork carrying the baby in a blanket is a very old myth and one present in many cultures and mythologies.

22 More risky – heading off – more remote
ICIER
[D]ICIER.

Many thanks as always to Everyman for this week’s puzzle.