Everyman No. 3434 (29th July)

Lorraine:   Good morning to you all,

Well what can I say, I flew through last weeks offering with ease, but this week I struggled and needed Nick’s help. Perhaps it is because I feel slightly under pressure, who knows?

Big thank you to everyman for a most enjoyable puzzle.

Across
1. Black, old smuggler’s hat (6)
BOWLER B+OWLER
‘OWLER’ is an old word for a smuggler, especially of sheep or wool
4. Bad fire in branch (8)
OFFSHOOT OFF+SHOOT
10. Fixation of old boys at meeting (9)
OBSESSION OB+SESSION
11. Follow lawsuit involving hospital (5)
CHASE CASE around H
12. By exit, dull submissive type (7)
DOORMAT DOOR(exit)+MAT
13. Some camphor, aromatic in jar (7)
AMPHORA hidden: cAMPHOR Aromatic
14. Master let coach horse about (13)
SCHOOLTEACHER (LET COACH HORSE)*
17. What a photographer may use in a nudist colony? (8,5)
EXPOSURE METER cryptic pun – HANDHELD FLASH fits this clue too!
21. Weapon I raise is grabbed by Field Marshal (7)
FIREARM (I REAR) in FM
22. Insincere, each person in revue (7)
SHALLOW ALL in SHOW
24. A minor prize (5)
AWARD A+WARD
25. Suddenly, everyone agreed about Charlie (3,2,4)
ALL AT ONCE ALL+(AT ONE around C)
26. A typical human being may never, sadly (8)
EVERYMAN (MAY NEVER)*
27. Very dry American, one associated with a conspiracy long ago (6)
BRUTUS BRUT(dry, as in wine)+US
Down
1. Introspective family close to bankruptcy (6)
BROODY BROOD+(bankruptc)Y
2. Point, riding smashing horse in resort (6-5-4)
WESTON-SUPER-MARE WEST+ON+SUPER+MARE
3. Racecourse record’s very good over mile (5)
EPSOM EP+SO+M
5. Sweet affectionate worker (7)
FONDANT FOND+ANT
6. Toady, extremely smarmy chap, not replaced (9)
SYCOPHANT S(marm)Y+(CHAP, NOT*)
7. Flying separately, leader of team, not in touch with reality? (2,7,6)
ON ANOTHER PLANET ON ANOTHER PLANE+T
8. A hirsute comic in reference books (8)
THESAURI (A HIRSUTE)*
9. Writer outside smart empty restaurant (6)
BISTRO BIRO around S(mar)T
15. Farming economy (9)
HUSBANDRY dd
16. Very muscular men may make complaint coming to bar (8)
BEEFCAKE BEEF+CAKE
Bradford’s gives ‘CAKE’ under the word ‘BAR’, but I cannot seem to confirm the relationship in Chambers dictionary – perhaps maybe like a cake of soap/bar of soap?
18. Dessert produced by graduate after dance (3,4)
RUM BABA BA after RUMBA
19. 1000 cryptic clues might (6)
MUSCLE M(1000)+(CLUES*)
20. Clothes found in River Severn, originally (6)
TWEEDS TWEED+S(evern)
23. Player in element? Not initially (5)
ACTOR (f)ACTOR
 ……………………………………..

5 comments on “Everyman No. 3434 (29th July)”

  1. Thank you, Everyman and Lorraine! I only finished this puzzle Friday evening because I’ve been so busy watching the Olympics on TV this past week. Last to go in was 2 Down. Even with all the crossing letters I couldn’t get it so I resorted to looking up “resort” in Chambers Crossword Dictionary. Upon seeing the answer I realized that I should’ve been able to figure it out from the cryptic charade, but alas, I did not. I especially enjoyed 5 Down, 23 Down and 27 Across. It was also fun learning the new word “owler,” though I don’t imagine it’ll be popping up in many conversations! As for 16 Down, my mom always used to refer to a bar of soap as a cake of soap, so I’m wondering if this is more of an American usage. Wishing you all a great week and enjoy the rest of the Olympics, which the regrettable Mr. Romney notwithstanding, seem superlatively well-organized and a wonderful showcase for a wonderful way of life with a rich history (not to mention health care!) “See” you next Sunday!

  2. Thanks, Lorraine.

    Another fine Sunday morning puzzle from Everyman. He keeps on providing us with clear but clever clues like TWEEDS and EXPOSURE METER, so I think he’s allowed a bit of self-referential stuff at 26ac.

    I took BEEFCAKE the same way as you and Donna did.

    You have a tiny typo in the answer to 6dn, btw.

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