Another fun weekend challenge in Everyman’s recent run of good form.
Some have complained about Everyman’s rather loose definitions or vague indicators in the past, but I thought everything here was clear; a few clues took a bit of working out, but that’s no bad thing. We have the usual rhyming pair of long clues answers at 7d / 8d. The inevitable easy-way-in “primarily” clue is perhaps justified this time, because it gives us the one really obscure word in the puzzle.
Good surfaces too. There seems to be a story in the down clues from 8d onwards: a pleasant dinner at a country pub, developing into a rowdy evening and ending up at a comedy club’s charity night. Perhaps a bit of unwise spending under the influence too? And hanging around long enough to see the crew clearing up afterwards. As well as this sequence, I laughed at 4d and the neat clue-as-definition in 12a. Thanks Everyman for delivering week after week.
Definitions are underlined; BOLD UPPERCASE indicates letters used in the wordplay; square brackets [ ] indicate omitted letters.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | TAPE MEASURE | Everyman in area set up for renovation with toolbox item (4,7) |
| ME (Everyman, the crossword setter) in an anagram (for renovation) of AREA SET UP. | ||
| 9 | HENDRIX | Chicken, headless bird reflected, finally complex psychedelic figure (7) |
| HEN (chicken) + [b]IRD (headless) reversed (reflected) + final letter of [comple]X. The rock musician Jimi Hendrix. |
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| 10 | TAGINES | Silver fork’s prongs grabbed hearty stews (7) |
| AG (chemical symbol for silver), grabbed by TINES (prongs of a fork). Tagine (or tajine) = a North African savoury stew, or the earthenware pot in which it’s cooked. |
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| 11 | UNION | Remove tip from inflammation for wedding, perhaps (5) |
| [b]UNION (a swelling / inflammation on a toe joint), removing the tip (first letter). I’m not sure “perhaps” is really needed here; “union” as a synonym for wedding or marriage is fairly standard in crosswords. |
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| 12 | FALSTAFF | Timeless, fat, ultimately fictional man! (8) |
| FA[t] (removing the T for time, so “timeless”) + last letter (ultimately) of [fictiona]L + STAFF (man, as a verb, as in “man the lifeboats!”) Clue-as-definition: Sir John Falstaff appears in a few Shakespeare plays, and is an example of a stock comic character (fond of his drink, overweight, self-important) who can be found in fiction of all periods. |
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| 14 | HAND-PICKED | Applause given to guitar style considered best (4-6) |
| HAND (applause / hand-clapping, as in “let’s have a big hand for . . . “) + PICKED (guitar style plucking individual notes, as opposed to strummed). | ||
| 15 | USER | Person at computer rejected just over 57% of résumés (4) |
| RESU[mes] (4 out of 7 letters = a little over 57%), reversed (rejected). | ||
| 17 | BABE | Clever pig (term of endearment) (4) |
| Double definition: the first refers to the lead character in a film about – well, an intelligent pig. | ||
| 19 | BURNT UMBER | Brownish water glass not holding litre (5,5) |
| BURN (Scots word for a small stream, so “water”) + TUMB[l]ER (water glass) without the L (litre). A reddish-brown earth pigment, or the colour obtained from it. |
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| 21 | BENJAMIN | Disraeli, noted Israelite (8) |
| Double definition: Benjamin Disraeli, former UK Prime Minister, or the youngest son of Jacob in the Old Testament (father of one of the twelve Israelite tribes). | ||
| 23 | COYPU | Reportedly, bashful bear that’s hunted for fur (5) |
| Homophone (reportedly) of COY POOH: coy = bashful, Pooh = short name of the fictional bear Winnie-the-Pooh. A semi-aquatic rodent (similar to a beaver) bred or hunted for its fur. |
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| 25 | LEFTIST | The French newspaper is essentially ultra Marxian (7) |
| LE (“the” in French) + FT (Financial Times = newspaper) + IS + middle letter (essentially) of [ul]T[ra]. | ||
| 26 | SCALPEL | Area of skin peeled, removing outer layers – using this? (7) |
| SCALP (area of skin on the head) + middle letters (removing outer layers) of [pe]EL[ed]. Extended definition: one might use a scalpel to remove layers of skin. |
||
| 27 | THUNDERCLAP | Chandler put out by big surprise (11) |
| Anagram (out) of CHANDLER PUT. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | TENSION | Etonians managed without a worry (7) |
| Anagram (managed) of ETONI[a]NS without the A. | ||
| 2 | PARSNIPS | Noisily, dad cuts veg (8) |
| Homophone (noisily) of PA (dad) + SNIPS (cuts). | ||
| 3 | MAXI | 9am to rise and dress (4) |
| IX (9 in Roman numerals) + AM, all reversed (to rise = upwards in a down clue). Maxi = an ankle-length dress. |
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| 4 | ANTI-AGEING | Again, get in dubious cosmetic terminology (4-6) |
| Anagram (dubious) of AGAIN GET IN. I can’t help thinking that “dubious” is a well-chosen anagram indicator in the context of the elixir-of-eternal-youth industry. | ||
| 5 | URGES | Clockwork Orange author’s innermost desires (5) |
| Inner letters only (innermost) from [b]URGES[s] – the author Anthony Burgess. | ||
| 6 | ENNEADS | Primarily, entities numbering nine envisaged as discrete sets? (7) |
| Everyman’s standard “Primarily” clue: take the first letter of each remaining word, and a clue-as-definition. Ennead = a set of nine things. The sort of word that doesn’t get out much except when crossword setters have an awkward corner to fill. | ||
| 7 | THOUGHT BUBBLE | But … but misprinted Bible hasn’t one representation of idea (7,6) |
| THOUGH (but, as in “I solved this clue, though it took me some time”), then an anagram (misprinted) of the second BUT, then B[i]BLE (without the I = one in Roman numerals). Representation of a character’s thoughts in a cartoon or comic-book image. |
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| 8 | ASK FOR TROUBLE | Invite disaster when raft’s rulebook thrown out (3,3,7) |
| Anagram (thrown out) of RAFTS RULEBOOK. Ask for trouble = invite disaster = act in a way that could be expected to cause difficulties. |
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| 13 | ACQUAINTED | Friendly and well served with charming interior (10) |
| ACED (well served, in tennis terminology: ace = serve a good ball that the opponent can’t return), with QUAINT (charming, in a somewhat patronizing sense) inserted into it (interior). | ||
| 16 | PUB-CRAWL | Night out: wrap up with club (3-5) |
| Anagram (up) of WRAP with CLUB. Drinking in multiple venues in a single session. |
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| 18 | BENEFIT | Geordie wearing suit for charity performance (7) |
| NE (Geordie: relating to the city of Newcastle in NE England, with NE postcode), inserted into (wearing) BEFIT (suit, as a verb = be appropriate to). Benefit = a fundraising performance. |
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| 20 | BUY A PUP | Oddly blue with pay rise and happy to get swindled (3,1,3) |
| Odd-numbered letters of B[l]U[e] + PAY reversed (rise = upwards in a down clue) + UP (happy). I think I’ve only come across this phrase as “to be sold a pup” (to be deceived / swindled), but Chambers recognises “buy a pup” too. I suppose it depends on whether the emphasis is on the dishonest seller or the unwary buyer. |
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| 22 | ADIEU | A little roadie unloads, getting cheers (5) |
| Hidden answer (a little) in [ro]ADIE U[nloads]. Adieu = cheers = goodbye. |
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| 24 | TSAR | Ras Tafari, somewhat elevated emperor (4) |
| Part of (somewhat) RAS T[afari], reversed (elevated = upwards in a down clue). East European title equivalent to “emperor”, originating from the Latin caesar. The surface refers to a title given to Haile Selassie, former Emperor of Ethiopia. |
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A good challenge that had me coming back to it several times between other tasks, but everything fell into place quite satisfactorily in time. Putting together Jimi HENDRIX bit by bit was fun, as was HAND PICKED. BABE is neat, as are PARSNIPS and PUB CRAWL. 25a had me wondering why the clue used ‘Marxian’ and not ‘Marxist’ – not to give away the IST ending, I assume. Like you, Quirister, while I know ‘sold a pup’, I don’t think I have ever heard BUY A PUP – but that’s what I had when I put the bits together. Thanks, Everyman and Q.
By the time I got the left half in I was sure we were looking at a pangram, but it turned out to be a wild goose chase with no V or Z. Still, I enjoyed the chase.
Thanks Everyman and Quirister
I had RAGOUTS first at 10a, but thankfully a crosser saved me from continuing to try to justify “routs” as “prongs of a fork”.
There’s something in the air. Scuse me while I kiss the sky.
2D. It is not clear to me how we get the R in PARSNIPS.
@5 it’s the homophone, PAR sounds the same as PA, the abbreviation for dad.
Surely 13d counts as a loose definition? Since when did acquainted mean friendly? “Aware of” (as in “I’m acquainted with his works, but haven’t studied them in depth”). An “acquaintance” is surely described as such to distinguish him FROM your friends, no?
vds prasad @5 noisily shows us this is a clue involving a homophone; Dad gives us Pa which sounds like Par.
I have to give kudos to Everyman for the BENJAMIN clue and the dummy hidden word. For quite a while I was sitting there thinking ‘uh-oh – something’s gone horribly wrong with the process this week…’
Also enjoyed BABE.
Phil @6 crossed with you above. And agree entirely regarding acquainted.
Really enjoyed this one. Thanks Everyman and Quirister. Wasn’t sure about ‘up with’ as anagram indicator separating the two words to anagram.But might be missing something.
Hi VDS Prasad….we thought it was a ‘sounds like’ (noisily) clue. If you say Pa snips it could sound like it’s got an R in it?
Thank you, phil, imatfaal and and Jess Anderson.
Phil @6, imatfall @9: I agree that an acquaintance isn’t quite the same as a friend. But getting acquainted / getting friendly might be used interchangeably I think, especially as euphemisms for a fast-developing relationship visible in public.
Jess Anderson @10: I think I’ve seen “up with” before. Essentially, “with” puts together the two parts of the anagram fodder, and “up” is equivalent to “thrown up in the air”. The latter is at the loose end of anagram indicators, but seems to be accepted usage.
I thought there were some great clues here: 8d ASK FOR TROUBLE, and the nice CAD FALSTAFF at 12a (I suppose you could say that Falstaff really was a cad!). But my favourite was 3d MAXI, which was very clever and neat.
I did have the same feeling as Phil @6, that ACQUAINTED is not really quite the same as friendly (13d). But Quirister @13 you make a good point in its defence.
Many thanks both.
Thought bubble ….
…. Ask for trouble!
(that’s the double)
It is fascinating to watch Everyman improve their craft week on week and the number of very good clues increases. I wasn’t sold on “benjamin” though the confusion sown by the near anagrams of Disraeli and israelite was neat (and the headless PM has been used before to clue one of that nation).
“marxian” is very odd though and got me thinking whether there is any rule about “ian” vst “ist” endings. Keynsian not Keynsist, but Marxist. Christian but Islamist. Darwinian but atheist.
Many thanks Everyman and Quirister.
VDS Prasad@5: Some people pronounce the R in PARSNIPS, some don’t. I’m in the former camp, but cryptic crosswords invariably favour the non-rhotic pronunciation. This makes these clues harder for the rhotic amongst us, but it’s never going to change. This example was at least gettable, unlike some I’ve seen.
I’m struggling to understand why 21a even counts as a cryptic clue. Surely Disraeli was named after the patriarch?
I also think ACQUAINTED = friendly is dubious.
Interested to see during the week a reference to an anniversary for Jimi Hendrix- hence the guitar clues?
PS Quirister @13: I think there are various ways you can justify “up” as an anagram indicator. Firstly as you say there is the suggestion of “thrown up in the air”. Secondly, “up” can sometimes mean “wrong”, as in “something’s up”, or “what’s up with him?”. Thirdly there is the (perhaps rather dated) sense of “up” which the SOED gives as “”In a state of disorder, revolt or insurrection”.
Anyway I think “up” is vastly better as an anagram indicator than “on”, which I have seen. The apparent justification for it is that “on” is an (extremely old and obscure) slang term for “tipsy” (!).
Loved the CAD for ENNEADS. I also thought URGES very neatly clued. Like muffin I started out with RAGOUTS for the stew having concluded there was no such thing as TINAGES. Duh! Got there in the end though. On ACQUAINTANCE: this would generally be translated into German as “Bekannte” which also means friend, often of quite an intimate type, especially for those who feel they are too old to have a girl-/boyfriend. My (widowed) father-in-law referred to his partner of many years as his Bekannte. I eealise we are working with English but because of this cross-lingual connection the definition resonated with me. Thanks to Everyman and to Quirister.
Apparently ‘Buy a Pup’ came from the practice of putting a pup in a bag and thus deceiving the buyer into thinking it was a pig.
A literary footnote: Benjamin’s father was the author of some very entertaining books.
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Author:Isaac_Disraeli
Really liked the “primarily” clue this week (though I pretty much really like it every week).
I thought coypu was also pretty obscure. I hadn’t heard of it anyway. Googled “shypu” and then gave up:)
Nicolas @22. I toyed with BUY A PIG (in a poke) when I had B[l]U[e] YAP (pay reversed) – certainly a phrase I knew. But ‘happy’ didn’t give IG – and then I saw UP. Are the two phrases – your explanation of ‘buy a pup’ and my phrase ‘buy a pig in a poke’ related? It would seem so.
TassieTim @25: yes, I think the two phrases have the same origin, referring to buying an animal in a bag without checking the contents. See this Wikipedia article.
Ah – and also related to letting the cat out of the bag. The things you learn doing cryptics! Thanks, Quirister.
Lovely crossword this week from Everyman I thought. Struggled to parse 12a – couldn’t put staff and man together in my mind – so thanks to Quirister for shedding light on that. I also struggled too long with 13d until I got all the cross words – but got there in the end. On the whole very satisfying and clever cluing.
Tassie@27: I thought the cat in the bag referred to the cat-o-nine-tails, kept in a bag in view of the crew on Royal Nay ships.
Best in ages. Liked Parsnip and Hand Picked. Coypu worked although had to Google check it.
Coypu is a new one to me. Wanting to finish I put in bayou (homophone for buy you…. I know… which left me with pub brawl, not pub crawl. Still pleased I finished it. Enjoyed this.
What?
Ripped through it for a change. No nasties and lots of good clues.
Great crossword. Favourites were 7d & 13d but they were all pretty good. Tenfold@4’s Hendrix line came up in The Chase recently (no doubt years ago in the UK) in reference to this website for misheard lyrics: kissthisguy.com
Surprised no one has mentioned cross over clue from last week (subject for discussion in previous blogs).
Pooh bear has appeared in both – part of clue last week & included as homophone answer in 23a. This week.