Everyman 3,561

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The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3561.

Maybe there were a few things which might not be familiar to some, but I found this went in very easily. For no very good reason, my last in was 1A.

Across
1 UPBEAT
Winning hit makes one cheerful (6)
A charade of UP (‘winning’) plus BEAT (‘hit’).
5 CHANCE
Fortune in part of church, left hidden (6)
CHANCE[l] (‘part of church’) without the L (‘left hidden’).
8 IMAGINATION
Fancy one state employing sorcerers (11)
An envelope (’employing’?) of MAGI (‘sorcerers’) in I (‘one’) plus NATION (‘state’).
11 BOOKMAKER
Compiler, one accepting wagers (9)
Double definition.
12 OF USE
Handy, old circuit breaker (2,3)
A charade of O (‘old’) plus FUSE (‘circuit breaker’).
13 OPEN SEA
Operation seen in a new light, on a body of water away from land (4,3)
A charade of OP (‘operation’) plus ENSE, an anagram (‘in a new light’) of ‘seen’ plus ‘a’.
14 PRESENT
Here‘s a gift (7)
Double definition.
15 IN CHECK
At home, language reportedly under control (2,5)
A charrade of IN (‘at home’) plus CHECK, a homophone (‘reportedly’) of CZECH (‘language’).
17 ABRAHAM
Isaac’s father, in a bar, upset poor actor (7)
A charade of ABRA, an anagram (‘upset’) of ‘a bar’ plus HAM (‘poor actor’).
20 TIARA
Decorative headband held by Portia (rarity) (5)
A hidden answer (‘held by’) in ‘PorTIA RArely’.
21 SATELLITE
A report inside station for important person’s attendant (9)
An envelope (inside’) of ‘a’ plus TELL (‘report’) in SITE (‘station’).
22 ILLUSTRATES
Shows unfortunate American characteristics, we hear (11)
A charade of ILL (‘unfortunate’) plus US (‘American’) plus TRATES, a homophone (‘we hear’) of  TRAITS (‘characteristics’).
23 FEISTY
Plucky fellow is yet to be beaten (6)
A charade of F (‘fellow’) plus EISTY, an anagram (‘to be beaten’) of ‘is yet’.
24 DODGEM
Fair bumper? (6)
Cryptic definition.
Down
2 POISONED CHALICE
This is likely to cause trouble, his deacon unfortunately being arrested by constabulary (8,7)
A envelope (‘being arrested by’) of ISONEDCHA, an anagram (‘unfortunately’) of ‘his deacon’ in POLICE (‘constabulary’).
3 ERASMUS
Problems are mounting for Dutch scholar (7)
A reversal (‘mounting’ in a down light) of SUMS (‘problems’) plus ‘are’.
4 THINK TANK
Fine king taken over reservoir, a source of solution to problems? (5,4)
A charade of THIN (‘fine’) plus K (‘king’) plus TANK (‘reservoir’).
5 CHAIR
Seat I must sit in daily (5)
An envelope (‘must sit in’) of ‘I’ in CHAR (‘daily’).
6 ADIPOSE
Fatty, a pickpocket, got up right away (7)
A charade of ‘a’ plus DIP (‘pickpocket’) plus [r]OSE (‘got up’) without the R (‘right away’).
7 CONFUSE THE ISSUE
Around 12 noon inside, the children make a situation more complicated (7,3,5)
 An envelope (‘inside’) of N (‘noon’) in C (‘about’‘around’) plus OF USE (the answer to ’12’ across) plus ‘the’ plus ISSUE (‘children’).
9 EBRO
The Bronx’s river (4)
A hidden answer in ‘thE BROnx’. The river is in Spain (the Bronx has its own river).
10 BELT
Band‘s hit (4)
Double definition.
14 PLASTERED
Slated rep, awfully drunk (9)
An anagram (‘awfully’) of ‘slated rep’.
15 IOTA
Greek character volunteers to track one of Jupiter’s moons (4)
A charade of IO (‘one of Jupiter’s moons’) plus TA (Territorial Army, ‘volunteers’).
16 ENABLES
Facilitates distribution of beans the French imported (7)
An envelope (‘imported’) of LE (‘the French’) in ENABS, an anagram (‘distribution of’) of ‘beans’.
18 RELATED
Told about tardy daughter (7)
A charade of RE (‘about’) plus LATE (‘tardy’) plus D (‘daughter’).
19 MIEN
Appearance of one captured by soldiers (4)
An envelope (‘captured by’) of I (‘one’) in MEN (‘soldiers’).
21 SASSY
Impertinent reply about steamship (5)
An envelope (‘about’) of SS (‘steamship’) in SAY (‘relate‘‘reply’).
completed grid

12 comments on “Everyman 3,561”

  1. I enjoyed this puzzle.

    New word was EBRO River, and I needed help to parse 7a.

    My favourites were 15a, 2d, 22a.

    Thanks Everyman and PeterO.

  2. Thanks Everyman and PeterO

    Had fun doing this puzzle last Sunday.

    I stupidly could not parse FEISTY or CHAIR.

    Favourites POISONED CHALICE, CONFUSE THE ISSUE and CHAIR

    21a, should important be underlined? I am sure I, and my family members, have no human satellites.

  3. Thanks Everyman for a fairly gentle but enjoyable stroll.

    Thanks PeterO – a couple of small points: C=around in 7; the last word was ‘reply’ rather than ‘relate.’ I must say that I can’t find any support for reply=say. The Bronx’s had to be interpreted as ‘The Bronx has’ to give the hidden indicator.

    I liked the POISONED CHALICE.

  4. Cookie @2

    Yes, it was my intention to underline ‘important’ in 21A, but somehow it did not happen; now realised.

    Robi @3

    Corrections made; in 9D EBRO the ‘s could be a possessive as well as has.

  6. This was about right for me, first half were write ins then came to a halt. Finally completed in about an hour and a half punctuated by breakfast, so pleased with that, especially the breakfast. Liked 7d and 12 a. 14d was a bit feeble, could have printed it in red and said Anagram Ahead. Also thought 20a was rather soft and 24a a bit, er, dodgy. Like PeterO 1a was solved towards the end but 21d and 23a were my last two.

    Thanks Everyman and PeterO.

  7. I found this week’s puzzle quite a bit more challenging than some of its more immediate predecessors and as a result all the more enjoyable. Eventually I got “of use” (not on tap) which went with confuse and N so 7d was sorted (liked this clue) then eventually worked out the composition of 2d’s anagram and all was revealed-I liked this clue the best! It was my loi. My home town had a May Fair and the bumper cars (dodgems) were a popular attraction so I liked 24a.

    Thanks Everyman and PeterO.

  8. Enjoyed this week’s puzzle. Took awhile but got all except poisoned chalice, which stumped me. Thought the first word was ‘prisoner’ and that put me off the track. Had to look up satellite in the dictionary to find out how it fitted the clue. Had no idea it was a 16C word for ‘an obsequious underling’. You learn something new every week!

  9. You certainly do Audrey, I learnt a lot this week! Took me all day off and on, it’s good when something falls into place as 2d did for me a couple of minutes ago!21a had to be satellite, but until I checked, I had no idea why. This was no stroll for me, more like a day’s power walking.

  10. A very nice puzzle. The only gripe I have is with 7dn. I thought issue was singular yet the clue uses children which is plural. Did I miss something?

  11. Rats @10

    No Issue in this sense is collective (although it is unusual among collectives, in that it may refer to any number of offspring, including one; you would not refer to a single person as a team, for example). “He died without issue/children”.

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