Everyman 3,617

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The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3617.

Lots of envelopes here, with varied indicators, a fair amount of misdirection, and some somewhat convoluted wordplay, such as 1D.

Across
1 PARAPET Clumsy person breaking section in wall (7)
An envelope (‘breaking’) of APE (‘clumsy person’) in PART (‘section’).
5 PUT OFF Discourage delay (3,3)
Double definition.
8 COPPER-BOTTOMED Reliable police officer with watchword back in base (6-8)
A charade of COPPER (‘police officer’) plus BOTTOMED, an envelope (‘in’) of OTTOM, a reversal (‘back’) of MOTTO (‘watchword’) in BED (‘base’).
10 ILLUSTRATE Left with desire to disrupt mad show (10)
An envelope (‘to disrupt’) of L (‘left’) plus LUST (‘desire’) in IRATE (‘mad’).
11 OSLO Ring linked to odd elements in sale of capital (4)
A charade of O (‘ring’) plus (‘linked to’) SLO (‘odd elements of SaLe Of’).
13 GLEAN Learn good tip (5)
A charade of G (‘good’) plus LEAN (‘tip’).
14 BROADCAST Air in large shed (9)
A charade of BROAD (‘large’) plus CAST (‘shed’). Arguably ‘in’ carries too much baggage to be a good link word.
15 REGULATOR Controller‘s true goal ruined by resistance (9)
An anagram (‘ruined’) of ‘true goal’ plus R (‘resistnce’). I leave it to you to argue which R is the ‘resistance’, or whether it is part of the anagrist.
17 LOCUM Substitute returning pass with doubtful expression (5)
A charade of LOC, a reversal (‘returning’) of COL (‘pass’) plus UM (‘doubtful expression’).
19 EARN Gain vase, according to report (4)
Sounds like (‘according to report’) URN (‘vase’).
20 PERCUSSION Pressure to join in courses arranged for part of orchestra (10)
A charade of P (‘pressure’) plus ERCUSSION, an anagram (‘arranged’) of ‘in courses’.
23 SELF-EFFACEMENT Fellows taken in by devious effect, false modesty (4-10)
An envelope (‘taken in’) of MEN (‘fellows’) in SELFEFFACET, an anagram (‘devious’) of ‘effect false’.
24 STOREY Level enclosure filled with mineral (6)
An envelope (‘filled with’) of ORE (‘mineral’) in STY (‘enclosure’).
25 HOTHEAD Article in store, not right for impetuous type (7)
An envelope (‘in’) of THE (definite ‘article’) in HOA[r]D (‘store’) minus the R (‘not right’).
Down
1 PECKING ORDER Exercises on record oddly involving monarch and hierarchy (7,5)
A charade of PE (‘exercises’) plus CKINGORDER, an envelope (‘involving’) of KING (‘monarch’) in CORDER, an anagram (‘oddly’ – not indicating the odd-numbered letters this time round) of ‘record’.
2 REPULSE Agent with service admitting large defeat (7)
A charade of REP (‘agent’) plus ULSE, an envelope (‘admitting’) of L (‘large’) in USE (‘service’). The definition looks questionable to me in military terms, but is perhaps defensible in the sense, say, of a motion of debate.
3 PLEASANTLY Agreeably different panel last year (10)
A charade of PLEASANTL, an anagram (‘different’) of ‘panel last’ plus Y (‘year’).
4 TIBER River in wood, miles away (5)
A subtraction: TI[m]BER (‘wood’) minus the M (‘miles away).
5 PETIT FOUR Prepared to erupt if getting little cake? (5,4)
An anagram (‘prepared’) of ‘to erupt if’.
6 TROY Attempt to encapsulate love for city of Paris? (4)
An envelope (‘to encapsulate’) of O (‘love’, tennis score) in TRY (‘attempt’). Paris is of course the son of King Priam, not the place in France.
7 FREESIA Flower father planted on raised area, I notice (7)
A charade of FR (‘father’, generally in the ecclesiatical sense) plus EESIA, a reversal (‘raised’) of A (‘area’) plus ‘I’ plus SEE (‘notice’). For once, ‘flower’ is really an inflorescence, not a flow-er.
9 CONTAMINATED No admittance after development is polluted (12)
An anagram (‘after development’) of ‘no admittance’. Very neat, both for the unexpected anagram and the smooth surface.
12 ADOLESCENT Benefit in advancement for young person (10)
An envelope (‘in’) of DOLE(‘benefit’) in ASCENT (‘advancement’).
14 BUTTERFLY Book entirely about loud insect (9)
An envelope (‘about’) of F (forte, ‘loud’) in B (‘book’) plus UTTERLY (‘entirely’).
16 GARMENT Something with which chap covers part of body? (7)
An envelope (‘covers’) of ARM (‘part of body’) in GENT (‘chap’), with an extended definition.
18 CHINESE Language used by machines extensively (7)
A hidden answer (‘used by’) in ‘maCHINES Extensively’.
21 CLASH Disagree with Conservative whip (5)
A charade of C (‘Conservative’) plus LASH (‘whip’).
22 AFAR At a distance from Nadal, upset? (4)
A reversal (‘upset’) of RAFA, the famiilar form of Raphael (‘Nadal’, the tennis player off his best form at the moment).
completed grid

17 comments on “Everyman 3,617”

  1. Thanks Everyman and PeterO. I thought that this was fine for an Everyman, with some good clues but not too challenging

  2. Thanks Everyman and PeterO,

    I enjoyed this. I see by my notes that GLEAN was the last in, I nearly always find the short answers a problem – Nadal spells his first name RAFAel, so that was not as hard as it could have been. COPPER-BOTTOMED was new, or forgotten…

    PARAPET, TIBER, CONTAMINATED, STOREY, HOTHEAD, PECKING ORDER, BUTTERFLY and many others pleased me.

  3. Another enjoyable Everyman. Among my favourites were ILLUSTRATE, REGULATOR, PECKING ORDER, CONTAMINATED and ADOLESCENT.

    Thanks, Everyman and PeterO.

  4. [I did this just before the “Garden Birdwatch”. On our sunflower hearts feeder there was a definite “pecking order” amongst the finch species. The bullfinch pair that visit us occasionally ate when they wanted too, but the surprising thing was that the goldfinches defended the feeder against the slightly larger chaffinches.]

  5. [That is interesting, muffin. We only feed the birds in very bad weather since we have cats – not by choice, but because they come here every time a dairy farmer retires, or is killed by the bull as our farmer was. Nobody wants to have a dairy herd here now, there are only two left in the commune. This area used to provide the milk for Geneva. However, we see many bird species, especially in the autumn/winter when birds tend to move lower down the Jura. Unfortunately, now that the cows are gone, we rarely hear nightingales and the swifts and swallows are scarce, not enough insects.]

  6. [Just checked my e-mail, and see that my bank, the Crédit Agricole, is inviting me to a meeting for the Laiteries Réunies de Genève!? I guess the milk produced here still goes to Geneva.]

  8. Google told me that there is a river Balsa and balsam is wood, so that held me up for a while. Everything else good, rather enjoyed this.illustrate, broadcast, clash and storey all gave me ‘aha’ moments.

  9. I am confused by the use of city of Paris when it means nothing to do with Paris the city. Have I missed something?
    Liked the rest tho, Thought 11ac rather ‘clumsy’ and on that same subject, I’d never think of referring to a clumsy person as an ape….

  11. I never have time to do these on Saturdays now so probably no one will read my comments. This week I got all except the second word in 8 across. Should have got it as I’ve just got rid of all my copper-bottomed saucepans as I now have an induction hob.

    Got most by guessing what I thought might be a crossword clue word, as the clues were mostly too convoluted and clumsy for me to work them out.

  13. Enjoyed this one. Lots of “ah-ha!” moments.

    Couldn’t parse 7 down because mis-spelt it as “freasia”. 🙁

    Aside from that, everything clicked. Eventually!

  14. yep but I still dont see the relevance of the work ‘city’ in the clue 6ac
    is there a reason for ‘city’ to be in the clue?

  16. City of Paris = city where the famous Greek chap called Paris came from. He came from Troy, so city of Paris = Troy.

    City of Barrie = Auckland. City of Joe = Hamilton. City of Vanessa = ? Auckland?

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