Everyman 3523/13 April

Another lovely Everyman, with plenty of anagrams to get us going, and some delightful but accessible clues all over the grid.

 

 

Abbreviations

cd  cryptic definition
dd  double definition
(xxxx)*  anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x]  letter(s) missing

definitions are underlined

Across

1 Particular house, inside warm and snug
CHOOSY
An insertion of HO in COSY.

4 Approaching fast in mini, men crashed by front of tavern
IMMINENT
(MINI MEN T)* with ‘crashed’ as the anagrind.

10 Funny series on radio? Poor audition cost me dearly, ultimately
SITUATION COMEDY
(AUDITION COST ME Y)* with the anagrind being ‘poor’.  I guess that Everyman has included ‘on radio’ just for the surface reading, since I’d associate SITCOMS more with the idiot box.

Edit: Adam H at comment no 2 has quite rightly pointed out that the definition should be ‘funny series on the radio’.

11 I am no tall fizzy party drink
AMONTILLADO
(I AM NO TALL)* plus DO for ‘party’.  I’m more of a fino man myself, since you ask.

12 Section of curve in semicircular channel
ARC
Hidden in semicirulAR Channel.

14 Old record with new inset showing pop group’s manager
EPSTEIN
A charade of EP for an ‘extended play’ record and (INSET)*  Referring to the late Brian Epstein, sometimes referred to as ‘The Fifth Beatle’.

16 A disinclination to act in opening of Educating Rita, possibly
INERTIA
A charade of IN, E for the first letter of ‘Educating’ and (RITA)*  Nice surface.  Although it was originally written as a stage play, it’s one of my favourite films, starring Julie Walters and Michael Caine.  Best one-liner is below.

Essay question: In what ways could one overcome some of the staging difficulties associated with Ibsen’s Peer Gynt?
Rita’s answer: Put it on the radio.

But she was, in fact, ferociously intelligent.

17 Spots, while talking, a town on the Thames
STAINES
A homophone (‘while talking’) of STAINS.

19 Working with improved remit, deservedly so
ON MERIT
A charade of ON for ‘working’ and (REMIT)* with ‘improved’ as a rather unlikely anagrind.  One of its synonyms is ‘tweaked’, so we’ll let Everyman off on this occasion.

21 Circuit friend recalled
LAP
A reversal of PAL.

22 Gradual damage caused by Durham river trade, staggering article covered
WEAR AND TEAR
An insertion of the article AN in the River WEAR and (TRADE)*.  Not been to Durham?  Go.  It’s astonishingly attractive.

24 Come out? Some who went here may have done so afterwards
FINISHING SCHOOL
A cd.  It’s not ‘come out’ in the ‘reveal your sexuality’ sense.  FINISHING SCHOOLS were (perhaps still are) institutions – mainly in Switzerland – where young women from privileged backgrounds spent a year learning etiquette, what order to use their cutlery in, and how to get out of a Rolls-Royce without flashing their expensive knickers.  After that, they ‘come out’ into upper class society at debutante balls in order to be introduced to rich men.  At least I think that’s what this clue is about.

25 Russell, perhaps – Russell, perhaps squeezing ‘er tight, initially
BERTRAND
Two ‘Russells’ at completely opposite ends of the intellectual scale.  BERTRAND RUSSELL, one of the 20th century’s greatest intellects and perhaps best known for his History of Western Philosophy.  And RUSSELL BRAND, perhaps best known for being a dickhead.  Put ER T inside the latter and you’ve got the former.

26 Charge exorbitantly for wool
FLEECE
A dd.

Down

1 Spent LSD close to a Spanish region
COSTA DEL SOL
(LSD CLOSE TO A)* for the Spanish sunshine coast.

2 Better in bloom, ahead of function
OUTDO
A charade of OUT (‘in bloom’) and DO (party or ‘function’ and the second time we’ve had this today).

3 Establish colony around a US port
SEATTLE
An insertion of A in SETTLE.

5 Bureaucrat, and row about round fruit!
MANDARIN ORANGE
Another insertion, of O for ’round’ in MANDARIN RANGE.  MANDARIN is a term for a senior civil servant in the UK government, hence ‘bureaucrat’.

6 A metal may be extracted from it – there’s iridium and gold in one
IRON ORE
IR for ‘iridium’ followed by OR for ‘gold’ in ONE.

7 Girl given support from then on, till the end of time
EVER AFTER
A charade of EVE and RAFTER for ‘beam’ or ‘support’.

8 Dostoyevsky’s play?
TOY
You have to take the apostrophe s here as meaning ‘Dostoyevsky has’.  Some folk don’t like this, but it’s fine by me.   And DosTOYevsky has, or contains, TOY.

9 Where juice may be obtained, satisfying Victoria in central London?
FILLING STATION
‘Juice’ here in the sense of petrol.  A charade of FILLING for ‘satisfying’ and STATION, which is what Victoria is.

13 Cultivated, hence taller mushroom
CHANTERELLE
(HENCE TALLER)* with ‘cultivated’ as the anagrind.

15 Being clearer about New England, one may make a point
SHARPENER
An insertion of NE in SHARPER.

18 Still in ignorance, at the present time, over planned rise
NO WISER
A charade of NOW and (RISE)* with ‘planned’ as the anagrind.

20 Examination claimed to be fixed
MEDICAL
(CLAIMED)*

23 Call up? That’s all right during the night before a festival
EVOKE
An insertion of OK in EVE.

24 Francs alumnus got out of pocket
FOB
A charade of F for the old French currency, the Franc, and OB for Old Boy or ‘alumnus’.  Many people will know this from FOB WATCH or FOB CHAIN, but it does have a meaning of the ‘pocket’ in which you’d keep said watch.  And it doesn’t seem to be etymologically related to FOB OFF, I discovered.

Thanks to Everyman as always for this morning’s puzzle.