The puzzle may be found at http://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/everyman/3569.
I did not know the Derby winner in 9A, and needed the final A to be sure I was on the right lines, but apart from that the puzzle yielded easily, although there were no real write-ins.
| Across | ||
| 1 | HEARTY |
Enthusiastic male team heading off (6)
A charade of HE (‘male’) plus [p]ARTY (‘team’) without its first letter (‘heading off’). |
| 4 | ABNORMAL |
A British opera, length unusual (8)
A charade of ‘a’ plus B (‘British’) plus NORMA (‘opera’) plus L (‘length’). |
| 9 | AUSTRALIA |
Derby winner in USA, possibly blazing a trail (9)
A charade of AUS, an anagram (‘possibly’) of ‘USA’ plus TRALIA, an anagram (‘blazing’?) of ‘a trail’, for the 2014 Epsom Derby winner. |
| 11 | FIGHT |
Good hospital entering appropriate contest (5)
An envelope (‘entering’) of G (‘good’) plus H (‘hospital’) in FIT (‘appropriate’). |
| 12 | HANSEL AND GRETEL |
Fairy tale, a legend, enthrals when broadcast (6,3,6)
An anagram (‘when broadcast’) of ‘a legend enthrals’. |
| 13 | ATHLETE |
A grant secured by the gymnast, perhaps (7)
A charade of ‘a’ plus an envelope (‘secured by’) of LET (‘grant’) in ‘the’. The ‘perhaps’ justifies the indication by example. |
| 15 | NEON |
One dubious name for a gaseous element (4)
A charade of NEO, an anagram (‘dubious’) of ‘one’ plus N (‘name’). |
| 18 | ABUT |
Touch brass instrument in retreat (4)
A reversal (‘in retreat’) of TUBA (‘brass instrument’). |
| 19 | HAYWIRE |
Erratic heir, way out (7)
An anagram (‘out’) of ‘heir way’. I have heard an interesting derivation of the word haywire, that it stems from logging in once vast (and still large) forests of the eastern USA. Logging camps would be set up in the wilderness, and supplies, including hay for the draught horses or oxen, obtained from whatever farms could be found in the area.. The hay would generally be baled with wire rather than binder twine. If an area was particularly productive, the camp might remain for several seasons, and, isolated in the winderness, the haywire found use for all sorts of repairs. A particularly long-lived camp would be practically held together with the stuff, and was said to have “gone haywire”. |
| 22 | UNKNOWN QUANTITY |
Unpredictable type, any one of the last three characters? (7,8)
A reference to X, Y and Z being often used to represent algebraic unknowns. |
| 24 | OPTED |
“Chose” – past tense shown in dictionary (5)
An envelope (‘shown in’) pf P T (‘past tense’) in OED (Oxford English ‘Dictionary’). Very neat. |
| 25 | INEBRIATE |
Make drunk supply a beer in it (9)
An anagram (‘supply’, adverb from supple) of ‘a beer in it’. |
| 26 | UNDER-AGE |
Like a minor in short dungarees, playing (5-3)
An anagram (‘playing’) of ‘dungaree[s]’ without its last letter (‘short’). |
| 27 | LENTIL |
Vegetable in season, one pound (6)
A charade of LENT (‘season’) plus I (‘one’) plus L (‘pound’). |
| Down | ||
| 1 | HEAR HEAR |
I agree to try and try (4,4)
‘Try’ in the judicial sense, with double jeopardy. |
| 2 | ABSINTHE |
Seaman’s popular article is good for a drink (8)
A charade of AB’S (‘seaman’s’) plus IN (‘popular’) plus THE (definite ‘article’). Never having tasted it, I would not know about the ‘good’, but it seems that absinthe is not the poison once thought. Of course, ‘is good for’ is just linkage. |
| 3 | TERSE |
Brusque, in sister’s estimation (5)
A hidden answer ‘in’ ‘sisTER’S Estimation’. |
| 5 | BOARDING HOUSE |
Getting on? Put up pension (8,5)
A charade of BOARDING (‘getting on’) plus HOUSE (‘put up’), for ‘pension’ in the sense borrowed from the French. |
| 6 | OFFERTORY |
Collection made by Conservative supporting bid (9)
A charade of OFFER (‘bid’) plus TORY (‘Conservative’). |
| 7 | MIGHTY |
Large number blowing top after start of match (6)
A charade of M (‘start of Match’) plus [e]IGHTY (‘number’) without its first letter (‘blowing top’). |
| 8 | LET FLY |
Agree to take off and attack (3,3)
Definition and literal interpretation. |
| 10 | LEAVE STANDING |
Outstrip lad with vast engine, surprisingly (5,8)
An anagram (‘surprisingly’) of ‘lad’ plus ‘vast engine’. |
| 14 | EMBROIDER |
Elaborate stitch (9)
Double definition. |
| 16 | VIGILANT |
Watchful living at resort (8)
An anagram (‘re-sort’) of ‘living at’ |
| 17 | VERY WELL |
Enjoying great health? Yes (4,4)
Definition and literal interpretation. |
| 20 | SUDOKU |
Kudos involved first to unravel puzzle (6)
A charade of SUDOK, an anagram (‘involved’) of ‘kudos’ plus U (‘first to Unravel’). |
| 21 | SKATED |
Fish dead? Moved on ice (6)
A charade of SKATE (‘fish’) plus D (‘dead’). |
| 23 | NERVE |
Square up holding end of lager bottle (5)
An envelope (‘holding’) of R (‘end of lageR‘) in NEVE, a reversal (‘up’ in a down light) of EVEN (‘square’). |
Thanks, Peter, especially for explaining AUSTRALIA. And to Everyman too.
Interesting on HAYWIRE – but why has it come to mean ‘erratic’, I wonder?
ABSINTHE is truly disgusting, btw. Three things to avoid in life: Morris Dancing, incest, and Absinthe.
As I have almost no interest in horse racing you can count me as another who decided to wait for all the checkers for AUSTRALIA.
As far as the origins of HAYWIRE are concerned a couple of online dictionaries I just glanced at simply say that it was first used in the 1920s and came from the habit of people using baling wire for makeshift repairs.
All solved and parsed apart from 27a where I couldn’t figure out why lent was a season. I thought it was just a period of time and that the only seasons were winter ,spring , summer and autumn
‘Deck the hall with boughs of holly; ’tis the season to be jolly’. I’ll leave out the fa-la-las.
Thanks Everyman and PeterO,
As always I really enjoyed this, it is still the only crossword I manage (usually) to complete.
I, too, had to wait for the crossers to get the Derby winner, but it was 23d that really stumped me (still don’t understand what NERVE has to to do with bottle, ‘bottle up one’s feelings’, ‘drink to get courage’?).
As regards HAYWIRE, having helped on a farm in school holidays in the 1950’s, we always regarded going HAYWIRE meant ‘all over the place’, if the roll of wire was not handled properly it sprang crazily apart.
Thanks Everyman & PeterO.
Fairly straightforward; the Derby is run just up the road from me, so I could remember Australia, although I think I watched it on the telly last year. I didn’t realise pt was an abbreviation for past tense.
Cookie @5, from Collins: ‘5.(British, slang) nerve; courage (esp in the phrase lose one’s bottle)’
Thanks Robi, I thought it would be useless to consult the dictionary!
That reminds me of ‘Dutch courage’, Sil will be able to put me right if what I say is not correct. During the bubonic plague in 1665 only the Dutch dared deliver food to London. They would drink, either to get up courage or to protect themselves, before unloading goods onto the shore. I believe that until today the Dutch have the freedom of the river Thames in recognition of their courage.
Thanks Peter,
Very enjoyable as ever. I did half of it very quickly and then came to a full-stop. I thought I was going to be defeated but the puzzle slowly yielded and finally held up a white flag. I thought that VIGILANT was very clever.
To KD @1. You seem to forget that “absinthe makes the heart grow fonder”. Morris dancing is always an easy target for ridicule but it is part of our great folk heritage and is as English as a cup of tea. It is part of a summer’s day and I enjoy watching the stick dancers but, there again, each to his own.
Davy, I was being facetious as usual (about Morris dancers, anyway …)
Kathryn’s Dad @1
I have just found my magnifying glass, missing for several weeks, and have thus been able to do a little more digging about HAYWIRE in the OED. After the literal meaning, it gives the sense more or less meshing with the origin I gave, with a first reference, in the phrase “haywire outfit”, dating to 1905, and then a later metaphorical use, of a person with shall we say a patched-together view of the world – which would be where the ‘eccentric’ comes in.
Thanks, Peter. As I keep saying, you learn stuff from crosswords, don’t you?
The American Heritage Idioms Dictionary:
1891, noun, hay + wire giving ‘haywire’.
1905, adjective, describing something makeshift, only held together with haywire, ‘hay wire outfit’ contemptuous term for loggers with poor logging equipment.
By 1915 its springy uncontrollable quality had led to the sense ‘go haywire’.
What I reckon is the current use of HAYWIRE is simply a reference to the confused mass of wire accumulated after many bales have been unwired.
‘Salt could make tour immune system go haywire’, Daily Mail, 24 October, 2014.
‘Turkey spoils emerging market story as politics go haywire’, The Telegraph, 9 March 2015.
A fun challenge today with no need to scour any reference books and could have done without any reference to Australia! I really enjoyed the anagrams particularly 16d. My final two were 27a and 23d.
Thanks as ever to Everyman, PeterO and the above contributors until next week-Cheers.
Never heard of Norma or Australia the horse but got the lot without electronic assist. Amazing what having no geographic references does to the psyche.
Now have to find a plumber over Easter to fix a mysteriously worrying stream of water through the laundry light fitting.
And the end of daylight saving tonight. Hello Winter?
Wow, that was way too easy. Finished it in next to no time. Don’t understand the UNKNOWN QUANTITY clue but got the answer any way.
Hoping for a harder on next time. Thanks to Everyman and PeterO. Till next weekend!
As I am in New Plymouth I didn’t start till late this afternoon when I got a Herald, Don’t have time to finish before I go to a family function and didn’t get 4 of them, including 23 down which I still don’t get. I got Australia though I guessed it from the clues, and like Ian I could do without references to them.
Thanks everyone.
enjoyed this without at all finding it super easy like everyone else ( no good for the confidence)
some clues are so clever and then some are just weird – like 13 ac what a contrived and unhelpful clue.
but guess that adds to the challenge…
still cannot see that blood moon
Very late in this week due to having a couple of nights at the beach where we go Herald-less. I knocked the bastard off (as our compatriot Ed would say) quite easily while the Mystics were tying with the Magics! Had to check offertory and agree with all the above comments about everything else. Roll on next Saturday