A slightly atypical Everyman, in that I have my reserves about a couple of clues.
A couple of rather dismal nautical references here, probably as a result of the sailors’ love of French wines, despite the clergy’s example.
Definitions are underlined, with the exception of one clue – see below
| Across | |||
| 1. | My partner may be set to drive off with a member on board (7) | ||
| SHAMPOO | A + MP in SHOO. Cryptic definition, as in “shampoo and set” | ||
| 5. | Almost heaven, after tea, this French wine (7) | ||
| CHABLIS | BLIS(s) (“almost heaven”) after CHA (=”tea”) |
||
| 9. | Ten jerks in the Spanish bar (5) | ||
| EXPEL | X + PE (=”jerks”) in EL (=”the” in Spanish) | ||
| 10. | Pass big gun mashed cabbage and potatoes (9) | ||
| COLCANNON | COL, a mountain pass, + CANNON | ||
| 11. | A Hollywood hangout for the stars, and racing tipsters on newspaper (6,5) | ||
| SUNSET STRIP | *TIPSTERS after (“on”) SUN | ||
| 14. | Remark on bridge puzzle (9) | ||
| CROSSWORD | WORD (= “remark”) after (“on”) CROSS, = “bridge” as a verb | ||
| 16. | Monk holding head of laden transport animal (5) | ||
| LLAMA | LAMA around L(aden), container indicator “holding” | ||
| 17. | What can help to make children nuisances? (5) | ||
| ENNUI | Cryptic definition, or &lit, depending how far you take it, with the answer hidden in “childrEN NUIsances” . Boredom could explain the making of children, or their becoming nuisances ;D |
||
| 18. | A bishop spotted on the wagon (9) | ||
| ABSTAINED | A + B(ishop, in chess) +STAINED. I’m not quite happy with this one: “on the wagon” has adjectival function, whereas the solution is the past form of the verb, and I don’t see that it can be used in the same sense | ||
| 19. | Weak wine, mostly, in Davy Jones’s locker (6,5) | ||
| WATERY GRAVE | WATERY (=”weak”) + GRAVE(s) |
||
| 23. | What may be brittle in trash can? (6,3) | ||
| LITTER BIN | *BRITTLE IN, anagrind “what may be” | ||
| 24. | Chide son lacking in affection (5) | ||
| SCOLD | S + COLD | ||
| 25. | Flash, the Parisian wit (7) | ||
| SPARKLE | SPARK + LE (=”the” in French”) | ||
| 26. | Duck circling duck – one makes off quickly (7) | ||
| SCOOTER | O in SCOTER, container indicator “circling” |
||
| Down | |||
| 1. | Watch one who is easily deceived accepting bit of rubbish (10) | ||
| SEERSUCKER | SEE + SUCKER around (“accepting”) R (=”a bit, 1st letter, of rubbish”). We seem to be missing a definition here | ||
| 2. | Plan her son hatched to acquire wind instruments (10) | ||
| ALPENHORNS | *PLAN HER SON. I would have written this as two words but Chambers confirms it as one. |
||
| 3. | 21? Nervous energy, or vitality? (5) | ||
| PULSE | *PLUS, the answer to 21d, + E(nergy) | ||
| 4. | Produced for some special event, story about black piece of furniture (10,5) | ||
| OCCASIONAL TABLE | OCCASIONAL + B(lack) in TALE | ||
| 5. | Poor lad crossing polluted US city (8,7) | ||
| COLORADO SPRINGS | *POOR LAD CROSSING, anagrind “polluted” | ||
| 6. | A better piece of phrasing by Fitzgerald, sung without accompaniment (1,8) | ||
| A CAPPELLA | A + CAP (= “better” as a verb) + P(hrasing) + ELLA |
||
| 7/8. | Obtain post as head in Cornwall (5,3) | ||
| LAND’S END | LAND = “obtain” + SEND = “post”, plus a sneaky change in the word count 🙂 – not a device I remember Everyman using before. |
||
| 8. | See 7 | ||
| – | See 7 | ||
| 12. | Girl with sailor, not here to waste time (5,5) | ||
| FANNY ABOUT | FANNY + AB + OUT. I couldn’t find this in Chambers Online, but it was in the Urban Dictionary. | ||
| 13. | Ted Heath, for example, also included in British editorial (10) | ||
| BANDLEADER | AND in B(ritish) + LEADER (=”editorial”) not the PM, but this one | ||
| 15. | Whisper spread about king’s ruin (9) | ||
| SHIPWRECK | *WHISPER + C(irca, = “about”) + K | ||
| 20. | Gadget soldiers and army medic required (5) | ||
| GISMO | GI’S + M(edical) O(fficer) | ||
| 21. | Cut lavish bonus (4) | ||
| PLUS | PLUS(h) = “lavish” | ||
| 22. | Mount out of Newmarket – nap (4) | ||
| ETNA | Hidden in NewmarkET NAp | ||
Thanks, Stella. Not very taxing, but I too was surprised at the apparent lack of a definition for 1d. Has anyone an explanation?
Thanks Stella,
I enjoyed this very much but share your reservations about ABSTAINED. The only way that I can see it working is in the sense ‘He was on the wagon’ and ‘He abstained’ but that includes an additional ‘was’ !.
As to 1d I thought maybe it was &lit and ‘seersucker’ was a type of watch but I cannot confirm this.
There were some excellent surfaces here and I have ticked ten clues which may be a record. Favourites were EXCEL, ALPENHORNS, BANDLEADER and PLUSH.
Thanks Everyman.
Thank you, Stella, for your blog.
I always enjoy Everyman on a Sunday morning, and this was no exception. I liked FANNY ABOUT (not a typical Everyman clue, I have to say) and WATERY GRAVE also raised a smile.
I agree with you about ABSTAINED, and can’t throw any light on the lack of a definition for SEERSUCKER, I’m afraid.
As I am in Madeira for a month, I have no access to my notes re this crossword. I doubt if they would provide answers to to the problems re ABSTAINED and SEERSUCKER, so please accept my apologies.
Re 18 across — it’s A B(ishop) + stained = spotted.
Yes, John, you’re right about the construction of 18ac, but the question is: is ‘on the wagon’ a good definition for ABSTAINED? Like others, I think it’s not.
As to 1d: it looks like the definition has simple been edited out. Perhaps, Everyman’s original clue ended in “… bit of rubbish material”, after which the editor thought that “material” wasn’t needed in combination with “rubbish”. I found the word anyway as nothing else did fit.
Many thanks Stella for blogging [just try to divide the number of ‘your’ posters by the number of comments in my latest blog …. :)].
Yes, this puzzle had a different feel compared to the average Everyman.
And btw, FANNY ABOUT is in Chambers with the definition Everyman gives us.
Everyman – well, he’s in Madeira for a month.
Wish I were … 🙂 [but I’m not]
Thanks Stella for the lovely blog.
Everyman’s puzzles never fail to entertain – solving them is a regular part of my Sunday post-prandial routine, when I wouldn’t fancy undertaking anything too taxing.
Like all the other posters here I was mystified by the absence of a definition for 1d and Sil’s suggestion seems as good an explanation as any. I agree with the comments on ‘Abstained’, though I must admit that the dodgy grammar did not strike me at the time of solving.
hmmm, Everyman 3401. Isn’t 8d missing a definition. Again?
No, Phil, this time it’s you who’s missing the definition! 🙂
But more about that – of course – not now but later!
Therefore, end of discussion.