Everyman 4,150/3 May 2026 – Fifteensquared

Not quite your standard Everyman…

… inasmuch as it’s lacking the usual single-word anagram, though the other standard clue types are there, as highlighted in the grid. I have a couple of quibbles/queries here and there, as noted below. Overall I found this towards the trickier end of the Everyman spectrum (which no doubt means you all found it easy-peasy), so I’m going with…

Moh’s flagrantly subjective cruciverbal hardness scale rating: Fluorite

Thanks, as ever, to Everyman for the challenge.

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1	WOOD PIGEON	Club’s language discussed in flyer (4,6)
		WOOD (golf club) + soundalike (discussed) of ‘pidgin’
6	ASIA	A lot of land in limits of atlases’ Iberia (4)
		First and last letters (limits of) of AtlaseS IberiA
9	GRECO-ROMAN	Moan, flailing with grocer, wrestling thus? (5-5)
		Anagram (flailing) of MOAN GROCER
10	LIMP	In retreat, Starmer largely ailing and weak (4)
		Reversal (in retreat) of PM IL[L] (largely ailing). A rather topical surface.
11	DOUBLE-BOOKED	Incapable of satisfying demands – like the Bible, largely? (6-6)
		I’m guessing this is a double definition alluding to the fact that the Christian Bible is made up of the Old and New Testaments, which could be thought of as two books, were it not for the fact that each of them is itself divided up into many different books. But maybe I’m barking up the wrong tree here?
15	ONE-TIME	Formerly a magazine (3-4)
		ONE (a) + TIME (the magazine of that name). It strikes me that the definition demands an adverb, but the solution (as hyphenated) is adjectival, and so ‘former’ would work better as the definition. But that wouldn’t make surface sense. Unless someone can suggest a way in which ONE-TIME can mean formerly, as distinct from former?
16	THE FENS	Adolescent’s getting hot – and later, loud – somewhere in E England (3,4)
		TEENS (adolescent’s) around H (hot) and later F (loud)
17	CADENZA	Exotic dance with last and first characters showing musical flourish (7)
		Anagram (exotic) of DANCE + ZA (last and first characters of the alphabet)
19	MATADOR	Some beam at adorable fellow in jacket and tights (7)
		Hidden in (some) beaM AT ADORable
20	SINGLE-HANDED	Unaccompanied, like a swimming-pool clock (6-6)
		Pace clocks at swimming pools typically have only one hand, allowing swimmers to time their lengths in seconds
23	IOTA	Everyman: old? Bless you! A little bit (4)
		I (Everyman) + O + TA (thanks, bless you)
24	TELEVISION	Challenged Soviet line that’s set (10)
		Anagram (challenged) of SOVIET LINE
25	GOSH	I ask you to leave quietly (4)
		GO + SH
26	DECAF LATTE	At year’s end, an unstimulating brew – mostly that? (5,5)
		DEC (December, year’s end) + A FLAT TE[a] (an unstimulating brew mostly). ‘That?’ as the definition refers to a DECAF LATTE itself being an ‘unstimulating brew’, so I suppose you could argue that it’s an extended definition
DOWN
1	WAGE	Carry On Nurse’s finale introduced by comedian (4)
		E (last letter of nursE) after (introduced by) WAG (comedian). Def as in wage/carry on a campaign or a war
2	OWED	Outstanding poem recited (4)
		Soundalike (recited) of ‘ode’
3	PROMOTIONAL	In favour of proposal initially addressing lewd, concerning advertising (11)
		PRO + MOTION + first letters (initially) of Addressing Lewd
4	GOODBYE	Spin round, ultimately knackered: run’s so long (7)
		GO (spin) + O (round) + D (knackereD ultimately) + BYE (an extra run in cricket). Am I happy with ‘spin’ for ‘go’? I suppose you could set a top spinning/going? But I feel there must be a better way of reconciling this…
5	ON ALERT	Ready and available beer, right? (2,5)
		ON (available) + ALE + RT (right)
7	STICKY ENDS	Misadventures, as glue guns are wont to lead to? (6,4)
		Double definition
8	ASPIDISTRA	Apiarist’s worried about dead evergreen (10)
		Anagram (worried) of APIARISTS around D
12	OVER-THE-HILL	Conspicuous chuckle: trouble getting on (4-3-4)
		OVERT (conspicuous) + HEH (chuckle) + ILL (woe, trouble)
13	PODCASTING	Sticking around, old policeman chatting online (10)
		PASTING around O DC (old detective constable)
14	TENDONITIS	Inflammation in it doesn’t hurt (10)
		Anagram (hurt) of IN IT DOESNT
18	ATHLETE	One having, primarily, a terrifically healthy lifestyle; example: track eventer! (7)
		First letters (primarily) of A Terrifically Healthy Lifestyle Example Track Eventer
19	MANDELA	Old President calling for some Imodium and Elastoplasts (7)
		Hidden in (calling for some) imodiuM AND ELAstoplasts
21	RIOT	Going up to Reading, say, entertaining one that’ll amuse you (4)
		Reversal (going up, in a down clue) of TO R (to Reading, say – as in one of the “three Rs”, namely reading, riting and ‘rithmetic) around (entertaining) I (one), def along the lines of ‘he’s a riot’. I’d have preferred ‘one’ to be part of the definition, but that would mean it doing double duty
22	ANTE	Verbally opposed requirement to play poker (4)
		Soundalike (verbally) of ‘anti’