An enjoyable puzzle, as always, with a few big smiles, like 2d, 4d or 8d, but I must confess to being a little disappointed – however much I look at it, I can’t see anything special or any seasonal references as promised, and it’s not even ‘bumper’, as Lorraine suggested in her blog last week
| Across | |||
| 1. | Think logically about a boy (6) | ||
| REASON | RE+A+SON | ||
| 4. | Fruit in orchard’s first row (6) | ||
| ORANGE | O(rchard)+RANGE | ||
| 7. | Charging Victoria, say, where juice is sold (7,7) | ||
| FILLING STATION | FILLING (a lighter, for example) + (Victoria) STATION | ||
| 10. | Friar of noble birth in Spain (9) | ||
| AUGUSTINE | AUGUST+IN+E (International Vehicle Registration) | ||
| 11. | Codeword, more used in front of ‘Oscar’ (5) | ||
| ROMEO | *MORE+O(scar) | ||
| 12. | Comment in memo (4) | ||
| NOTE | dd. | ||
| 13. | Cabal can, as represented in film (10) | ||
| CASABLANCA | *CABAL CAN AS, easy enough to solve, but the surface reading is nonsense | ||
| 16. | Governor taking in surprisingly modern small London district (10) | ||
| BERMONDSEY | *MODERN+S in BEY (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bey) | ||
| 17. | Novel set in Salem, Massachusetts (4) | ||
| EMMA | Hidden in SalEM MAssachusets | ||
| 20. | Clubs suffer defeat nearby (5) | ||
| CLOSE | C(lubs, card suit)+LOSE | ||
| 22. | Leader in event to head into the wind on the way back – man is brilliant (9) | ||
| EFFULGENT | E(vent)+<LUFF (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luffing)+GENT | ||
| 23. | Reprimand rep in hall (7,7) | ||
| LECTURE THEATRE | LECTURE (reprimand)+THEATRE | ||
| 24. | Mimic arrives on board vessel (6) | ||
| PARROT | POT around ARR(ives), though I think the abbreviation is more commonly applied to ‘Arrivals’, as in an airport | ||
| 25. | Slowly fencing in a shed (4-2) | ||
| LEAN TO | LENTO round (fencing in) A | ||
| Down | |||
| 1. | Stop female artist wearing check (7) | ||
| REFRAIN | F +RA in (wearing) REIN | ||
| 2. | Reptile flying at gorilla (9) | ||
| ALLIGATOR | *AT GORILLA | ||
| 3. | Lazy old couple housing sailor (6) | ||
| OTIOSE | O+TIE (couple,unite) round O(rdinary) S(eaman), a new word for me, which I got thanks to the wordplay, via Spanish ‘ocioso’ | ||
| 4. | Where you can see clock’s hands, apparently (2,3,4,2,2) | ||
| ON THE FACE OF IT | Cryptic dd. | ||
| 5. | Last, at the end of the day (5,3) | ||
| AFTER ALL | slightly cyptic dd. | ||
| 6. | Good scope for stable hand (5) | ||
| GROOM | G+ROOM | ||
| 8. | How, stoically, to suffer the unwanted paparazzi? (4,3,4,2) | ||
| GRIN AND BEAR IT | Nice &lit. that made me smile | ||
| 9. | Painter having year in part of India (4) | ||
| GOYA | Y(ear) in GOA. He seems quite popular among setters | ||
| 14. | After noon, clear up after Brown in his former home? (6,3) | ||
| NUMBER TEN | N+ UMBER+<NET. Another smile-provoker | ||
| 15. | Enterprising sort making torte with egg, whisked (2-6) | ||
| GO-GETTER | *TORTE EGG | ||
| 16. | Second defender (4) | ||
| BACK | dd. | ||
| 18. | Intricately traced round in style of interior design (3,4) | ||
| ART DECO | *TRACED + O | ||
| 19. | Charge way over the odds for wool (6) | ||
| FLEECE | dd. | ||
| 21. | Greek character making an appearance in home game (5) | ||
| OMEGA | Hidden in hOME GAme | ||
| _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ | |||
Sorry about the late post. I’d set it for midnight, but for some reason it hadn’t been published by the time I logged on this morning.
Hi Stella,
I totally agree with you I enjoyed the puzzle also.
Thought I read somewhere that last week that there was a bumper crossword, I get my puzzle on-line so perhaps it was only in the newspaper?
Lorraine.
Blog looks great Stella 🙂
Nick
Thanks to you both.
Everyman had said we were to expect something special, but, as I say, I can’t find it 🙁
Thanks, Stella. There were some inventive clues as usual – my favourites this week were GRIN AND BEAR IT and ON THE FACE OF IT.
I also enjoyed the jumbo Everyman, which was in the paper (and from memory, had a bit of a Christmassy theme).
I enjoyed this too.
Sadly, it appears the jumbo was only in the newspaper and since I live in Australia I can’t go out and buy a copy of the Observer.
I’ve just finished this week’s puzzle and enjoyed it as well. It was a bit harder than last week’s Everyman puzzle but still a very enjoyable solve.
Thanks Stella. It seems we all smiled at the same clues. An enjoyable solve. I was stuck for a while on 16ac but remembered BEY from a recent crossword and so conjured up BERMONDSEY which looked unlikely but got a hit from Google.
Disappointed to miss the jumbo. But I have never even seen an Observer so not much chance of tracking it down here.
Thanks Everyman and Stella. An enjoyable puzzle. Didn’t see the ARR in PARROT, which I thought was just a reference to parrots being on vessels (?)
Thank you, Stella, for your explanations.
Needed them for OTIOSE (3d) and FLEECE (19d, should have asked advice from Mrs Chambers).
I also want to say that I like the fact that you decided to blog the Everyman as the Trafites did so far.
In daily (Guardian) puzzles I prefer the “usual” way, but this is just perfect!
Happy New Year.
Thanks for the blog, Stella.
I liked the clues being included – saves having to look through the recycling pile
Thanks, muck,
It is a good idea, though I can’t take credit for it; I borrowed it from more experienced bloggers 🙂