A pleasing puzzle from Everyman, but one I struggled with a bit, especially in the SE corner, where there was a word I had never heard of.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 A way into free flight
AVIATION
This is a charade of A, VIA and (INTO)* with ‘free’ as the anagrind. But it doesn’t quite work for me, since VIA is a preposition in English, not a noun. It means ‘by way of’, not ‘way’. The only thing you could argue is that in some Latin expressions like Via Dolorosa, it does act as a noun, meaning ‘way’ or ‘path’. But that’s not very satisfactory, in my opinion.
5 Air in a small French city
AMIENS
MIEN for ‘air’ in A and S for the Northern French city.
10 Carved ornament from southern UK pocketed by naughty teen
NETSUKE
Luckily I knew this word, but only through crosswords. It’s gettable from the wordplay, but if you didn’t know it, you’d need some crossers, I guess. S UK in (TEEN)* The anagrind is ‘naughty’. Should you ever feel minded to drop it into conversation down the pub, it’s pronounced net sue kay, with the stress on the first syllable.
11 Light tail of gull, an aquatic bird
LANTERN
A charade of L for the last letter of ‘gull’, AN and TERN.
12 What’s left on land surrounding good American resort?
LONG BEACH
An insertion of G in L, ON and BEACH. You have to take BEACH in its verbal sense here.
13 Poet sure to receive a first from Trinity
YEATS
An insertion (‘to receive’) of A and T for the first letter of ‘Trinity’ in YES for ‘sure’ for the Irish poet. Trinity College, Oxford; Trinity College, Cambridge; or Trinity College, Dublin. You choose. Since it’s Yeats, I’m going for the Irish one.
14 Free hand in chapter in new tabernacle
CARTE BLANCHE
Everyman is inviting you to put CH for ‘chapter’ in (TABERNACLE)*
18 Second long night I worked – doing this?
MOONLIGHTING
A charade of MO for ‘second’ and (LONG NIGHT I)* gives you a word meaning to take on a second job, often surreptitiously and often, I presume from the word itself and the implication in the clue, at night.
21 Caught having joint in prison
CLINK
A charade of C and LINK.
22 Nonsense about trusted adviser being a bully
TORMENTOR
A charade of a reversal (‘about’) of ROT and MENTOR.
24 Tell about swim outside
BREATHE
An insertion of RE for ‘about’ in BATHE. I couldn’t see the definition at first, but if you breathe a word about that, I’ll have to kill you.
25 A soldier landed by end of runway demonstrating dexterity
AGILITY
A charade of A, GI, LIT and Y for the last letter of ‘runway’. LIT is the past tense of ‘light’ in its sense of ‘descending from’, ‘getting off’ or ‘landing’. It’s more of a literary usage; modern English would have ‘alight’.
26 Crude burrow close to spinney
EARTHY
The burrow where Mr Fox might live followed by the last letter of ‘spinney’.
27 Has ordered blooming sharkskin!
SHAGREEN
I’ve been doing crosswords for a bit, but this is a new one on me. I had to search online for ‘sharkskin’ to get it. It’s a type of rawhide made from the skin of a shark or a ray. It’s (HAS)* followed by GREEN. Everyman is not given to using unusual words, so the question is, why did he use this one? I’ll hazard a guess why: because naff all else fits ?H?G?E?N.
Down
1 Runs into an aged English poet
ARNOLD
An insertion of R into AN OLD. Matthew ARNOLD (1822-1888).
2 Under canvas showing purpose?
INTENT
A cd cum dd. If you were ‘under canvas’ you’d be IN TENT.
3 Basic drawing fixes sailing vessel after hitch
THUMBNAIL SKETCH
A charade of THUMB for ‘hitch’, NAILS for ‘fixes’ and KETCH for ‘sailing vessel’.
4 A diamond ring turned up in the end
OMEGA
A reversal (‘turned up’) of A GEM O. ‘Diamond, for example’ would be the usual protocol. But then it wouldn’t have worked.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” (Christ, J, in Revelation 22:13).
6 Dishonest financial behaviour in Ireland – young men involved
MONEY LAUNDERING
Plenty of options here: INSIDER TRADING, INTERBANK RATE FIXING, MIS-SELLING … but MONEY LAUNDERING is the only one that fits. (IRELAND YOUNG MEN)*
7 Fine quality – for example, in eastern cavalry weapon
ELEGANCE
An insertion of EG in E LANCE.
8 Ominous, nun going round home
SINISTER
Another insertion, of IN (‘home’) in SISTER. A word ultimately derived from the Latin for ‘left’, which I’ve always thought was a bit unfair on the 10% of the population who are left-handed. I’m DEXTROUS myself.
9 Group of characters in river near Xanadu needing help
ALPHABET
We’re having a bit of a poetic morning this morning. ARNOLD, YEATS, and now COLERIDGE.
In Xanadu did Kubla Khan
A stately pleasure-dome decree:
Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
Down to a sunless sea.
So once you know that the river is ALPH, you just need to stick ABET for ‘help’ on the end of it.
Samuel Taylor Coleridge was off his head on opium when he composed Kubla Khan, apparently.
15 Jointly, move up, secured by rope
TOGETHER
An insertion (‘secured by’) of OG (a reversal, ‘up’ since it’s a down clue, of GO for ‘move’) in TETHER.
16 Fit to drink mineral, or cordial
AMICABLE
Another insertion, of MICA in ABLE.
17 Boss around pit cutting live wire
DOMINEER
And another: of MINE in DOER.
19 Line street, ready
STRIPE
A charade of ST and RIPE.
20 Original piece of cotton fabric taken from drawer
CRAYON
A charade of C for the first letter of ‘cotton’ and RAYON.
23 Come to an open stretch of water
REACH
A dd.
Thanks as always to Everyman.
I thought that I’d reached the stage with Everyman crosswords that I’d either be finished in about 30 mins or have about two or three unsolved that I’d never get . Not so with this one when I only had a handful after 30 mins and would have given up if I hadn’t been in a place where I had nothing better to do. I did eventually complete this but it took ages. The only thing about Xanadu that came to mind was Dave Dee, Dozy, Mick and Tich’s “Legend of Xanadu”. I was mentally chanting “Are you Anax in disguise”
Well done for getting there in the end, Bamberger. I agree that this is not one that would make you chant ‘Can we play you every week?’. But after last night, that’s probably enough footie references for now …
I agree that this was a little trickier than most Everyman puzzles. I knew NETSUKE so didn’t have a problem with it, and although I’d never heard of SHAGREEN I thought it was pretty obvious from the wordplay. AVIATION was my LOI after I finally made some sense of the wordplay, although I share Pierre’s quibble about way=via.
Yes, I thought this was tricky for an Everyman puzzle.
Thanks Pierre; NETSUKE and SHAGREEN were both new to me. VIA (2) in Chambers is given as: ‘n. [noun] a way, road,’ so I think it is kosher.
Thanks, Robi. That definition is not given in either Collins or the SOED. However, the BRB must be obeyed, as always. Or not.
Thanks Robi@4. I would only expect to see “via” as a noun in Latin or some of the Romance languages. Although it can be seen in something like “Via Dolorosa” which isn’t translated into English when it is used over here it still forms part of a Latin expression, so it should either be alluded to as such within the clue or not used in that way at all. Having said that, I’m sure Everyman would say “it is in Chambers, so there”. If there is anyone out there who can provide an example of how it is used on its own as a noun in English I’d be happy to be proved wrong.
NETSUKE turn up regularly on ‘Flog It’ – the experts usually say NET-sk’, and so does SHAGREEN, but less frequently.
I had to look up Netsuke and Shagreen. I agree with the quibbles about Via and as I also grumble about repetition in crosswords I didn’t like the two land and landed references in 12a and 25a. 25 could easily have said Illuminated which would have made Lit grammatically happier. But overall an enjoyable solve in an hour or so.
I too struggled with 1a trying to make “a way into” work as an anagram. Netsuke and shagreen both required investigation.
Struggled this week. Knew shagreen though but never heard of netsuke. Thought 9d was something to do with Kubla Khan but didn’t know the river , Alpha. Had to give up unfinished this week.
Personally I found this a thoroughly enjoyable puzzle. Although I needed to compute some answers and then confirm them with my dictionary (netsuke and shagreen) I was never left in a quandary as to whether I was correct which is one of the beauties of Everyman’s crosswords. As is so often the case the penny would finally drop after an answer sprang to mind which again is another of his attractions-along with these wonderful anagrams. Thanks for the explanations and a belated thankyou to Kathryn’s Dad for his confirmation of aspirate a few weeks ago.
How weird, I had less trouble with this one than some of other weeks where I read how others finish the in a matter of minutes or hours and it takes me the whole kiwi weekend! I did take this one thru to Sunday but feel proud I have finished it, shagreen was the main stumble ..never heard of that word ever