Posted by Colin Blackburn on 20th January 2008
|
| Across |
| 4 |
EGGPLANT — E.G. + G + PLAN + (allotmen)T |
| 10 |
EXCHEQUER — “ex checker” |
| 11 |
ORIBI — (I BIRO)< — the oribi is one of a number of regular crossword antelopes. |
| 12 |
STAND — double def. — a stand in cricket is a partnership, ie the time or score of any two batsmen in at the same time. |
| 14 |
AT THE FIRST BLUSH — F in (ESTABLISH TRUTH)* — the phrase means ‘offhand’. However, the word play is a nice cryptic definition of the phrase too. |
| 16 |
NO EXPENSE SPARED — NO EXPNSE + SPARE + D |
| 19 |
PETTY CASH — PETTY + C + (HAS)* |
|
| Down |
| 2 |
TIC-TAC-TOE — (TO ACT ETC I)* — US name for noughts and crosses. |
| 5 |
GERMAN SHEPHERD — GERMAN(e) + SHEPHERD |
| 6 |
PROVERB — ROVER in PB — the pronunciation of lead here has to be that of the metal rather than the leash. |
| 9 |
QUESTION MASTER — M in (TO EQUESTRIANS)* |
| 14 |
ANNAPOLS — ANNA+POLIS(h) |
| 20 |
TONGA — N in TOGA |
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Posted by Colin Blackburn on 14th January 2008
The last Everyman blog was back in August. As with some of the other weekend competition puzzles the feedback was low and bloggers wanted to concentrate their efforts on the daily puzzles or the tougher weekend puzzles. Now that I’m limited by electronic access to puzzles I’ve decided to restart the Everyman blog for a few weeks to test the water.
I think the the Everyman is an excellent puzzle, often overlooked by the more accomplished solvers. However, it can provide a good introduction for less experienced solvers for a number of reasons. It is relatively easy. It is very fair, following Ximenean principles. It doesn’t have heavy themes or rely on a single key answer. It is very consistent due to its limited number of setters. And, for all of us, it offers some excellent witty clues.
For this first blog I have provided a full breakdown of all the clue, but I have only commented where I have felt that extra help might be required. If anyone needs further help then post a comment and I’ll be only too happy to answer.
* indicates an anagram.
< indicates a reversal.
| Across |
| 1 |
TIFFIN — TIFF+IN |
| 4 |
AGLITTER — AG+LITTER |
| 10 |
PISTACHIO — (HAITI COPS)* |
| 11 |
FRUMP — F+RUM+P(unch) — occasionally the answer is staring you in the face. Here’s a case where the use of one element ‘en claire’ is vital for the surface. |
| 12 |
RALLY — R(ailwayman)+ALLY |
| 13 |
PEN-PUSHER — PEN + PUSHER |
| 14 |
HIGH TREASON — (HEARING SHOT)* — criminal here is part of the wordplay, indicating the anagram, rather than part of the definition. |
| 18 |
PASTURES NEW — (UPSET ANSWER)* — possibly is possibly one of the weakest regular anagram indicators. |
| 21 |
DISREPAIR — (I’D)< + S+REPAIR |
| 22 |
NURSE — N+(SURE)* — sisters can be nuns and nurses as well as siblings. |
| 23 |
OSAKA — A in (OAKS)* — look out for the articles being used for more than surface reading. |
| 24 |
PIER GLASS — PIER+G + LASS — the word play here is quite convoluted on first reading. The landing, PIER, is standing in front of goo, G, before the girl comes into it. A PIER GLASS is a tall mirror. I’m guessing the term originates from the mirrors found on seaside piers. |
| 25 |
TILTYARD — (DRY + LIT AT)* — ‘and’ joins parts of the anagram material. Jousting is also tilting, hence the answer. |
| 26 |
ASLEEP — AS + PEEL< |
|
| Down |
| 1 |
TOPARCHY — (OR PATCH)* + Y(emen) — not an obvious word but clear word play. |
| 2 |
FUSELAGE — GALE< in FUSE — northerly here is used to indicate the reversal, grids often being seen in terms of a compass rose. However, the normal meaning of northerly for winds is from the north. A case where you must read past the surface for the word play. |
| 3 |
ITALY — I + TAL + (victor)Y — The hardest clue for its wordplay. TAL refers to Mikhail Tal a now deceased 1960-1 chess champion. I felt that this clue was on the tough side though the answer, with checking letters, is unambiguous. |
| 5 |
GROUND SQUIRREL — (LORD SQUIRE RUNG)* |
| 6 |
INFLUENCE — (FINE UNCLE)* |
| 7 |
TOUCHY — C in YOUTH* — C = clubs, the card suit. |
| 8 |
REPORT — RE(d) + PORT |
| 9 |
WHIPPERSNAPPER — double def. one cryptic |
| 15 |
TIPPERARY — R in (PAIR TYPE)* — R = runs, in cricket. |
| 16 |
INCREASE — IN+CREASE |
| 17 |
SWEETSOP — WEE in (STOPS)* — cuckoo = mad is used to indicate the anagram, pecking indicates the inclusion of WEE. |
| 19 |
ADROIT — A+DR+O+IT — support is used here in this down clue to state that OIT is under ADR. |
| 20 |
ISRAEL — IS + LEAR< — always worth considering Lear when king is in the clue. |
| 22 |
NEGUS — E(spresso) in SNUG* |
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Posted by ilancaron on 26th August 2007
Last regular Everyman blog…
Lots of dogs and a cat or two. None of whom hailed from Scotland as far as I could tell.
Across
| 1 |
BAS,SET – our first dog |
| 4 |
DOGGY BAG – cryptic def for something he might like to eat. |
| 12 |
DO(IN)G – another canine clue: to DO someone can mean to impersonate them (though it does have other verbal meanings!). |
| 13 |
MISCREANT – (miner’s cat)* |
| 14 |
WE ARE NOT AMUSED – cryptic def ref. Q. Vic’s comment – I suppose “one queen” is a bit of a dig at the use of the royal we. |
| 20 |
AVALANCHE – cryptic def (“An Alpine snowdrop?”) which I was sure would be EDELWEISS at first which was probably an intentional misdirection. |
| 27 |
SEVE(R)N |
Down
| 2 |
SUSHI – hidden in “impresS US HIghly”. |
| 5 |
OVER,STATEMENTS |
| 6 |
GO,FE=iron,R[ange] |
| 7 |
B(OX, CAME)RA – “one that snaps” is a nice misleading cryptic def of a CAMERA. BRA for “supporter” is a v. familiar cryptic idiom. |
| 8 |
G(YR)ATE – my last clue since GATE for “wicket” didn’t occur to me for a long time. |
| 9 |
WORMWOOD SCRUBS – a couple of nice terms here: WORMWOOD is very bitter indeed (I read an article about absinthe production recently) and “clothes worn by operator” is a nice touch (ref. surgical SCRUBS). And the prison is a v. well-known London site. |
| 16 |
UP, F,OR SALE=(a loser)* |
| 19 |
MARCEL – (RC male)* — one of many Frenchmen… |
| 21 |
AMBER – it really is in ‘ChAMBERs’. |
| 23 |
FENCE – two meanings |
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Posted by ilancaron on 12th August 2007
Nice to be welcomed by a fairly straightforward puzzle to ease myself back into cryptic solving – having been on a diet of Les Mots Croises for the past couple of weeks.
Scotland is served this week by Gretna, though we find ourselves in Australia listening to Stravinsky as well. Everyman does a good job again finding apposite anagram fodder… see 16A, 10A, 1D.
Across
| 3 |
TOWER=wrote*, BLOCK |
| 10 |
STRAVINKSY – (navy skirts)* and I believe the clue is counterfactual since the composer himself was gay. I think. |
| 12 |
ALICE(SPRING)S |
| 15 |
DEMUR[e] – nice clean clue with the definition hiding in the last word. |
| 16 |
AYATOL(LA)H – LA in (at a holy)*. Good choice of anag fodder. |
| 17 |
SALT,PETRE=”peter” – Peter, meaning safe, is a cryptic idiom for some reason. |
| 19 |
ELEVENTH HOUR – two meanings with the second being a bit vague: “a sixty minute period” (why the 11th?). |
| 24 |
[gr]ETNA – without checking, there must be a Scots village named Gretna. |
| 26 |
BEST – two meanings: with the first meaning of “worst” as in “to beat thoroughly”. |
Down
| 1 |
OUTLANDISH – (sound lathi)* — another good choice of fodder. |
| 2 |
DRAW IT MILD – wasn’t familiar with this (probably Brit) term for “don’t exaggerate” but with D?A I? ??L? I made a valiant guess. |
| 5 |
[thos]E,RADI(C[ape])ATE |
| 6 |
B(RING,TO[o]) LIGHT – had to think about the wordplay a bit here: “very briefly” is TO[o] and “harm” is BLIGHT. |
| 7 |
[r]OAST – OAST is another cryptic idiom – for me at least. Not something I’ve encountered in the kitchen. |
| 8 |
KAY,O – KAY’s our “girl” and K.O. and KAYO are both legit for knockout in the boxing sense. So both knockout and ring change meanings in the cryptic and surface readings. |
| 11 |
METROPOLITAN – it’s not just an underground line (which Aldgate is on presumably), it’s also a term for a kind of orthodox archbishop. |
| 13 |
BLUE,BOTTLE – my parents fed us “The Goons” as children, so I also associate BLUEBOTTLE with something else. |
| 14 |
THE SERVANT – a dark film with I think Dirk Bogarde written by Pinter. |
| 20 |
NOOS=rev(soon),E |
| 21 |
ABBA – not sure I see the wordplay here: our group must be ABBA and a bishop is B… the rest? |
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Posted by ilancaron on 29th July 2007
My Scots theory I think has more evidence in the form of Everyman also being Ascot in the Spectator. This week, JJ is Jeremiah Johnson and admirably the two J’s are checked. Some literary and musical refs as well: Conrad, Satie, Jonson, Auden, Hitchcock — none of whom are Scots though.
Across
| 1 |
MEANS WELL – The wordplay is MEAN, SWELL where MEAN is “excellent” as in: “he has a MEAN serve” – probably more of an Americanism though. |
| 6 |
BALSA – it’s a South American tree indeed – not sure about a “good deal of resin” yet… unless it refers to the fact that BALSA while technically a hardwood is actually a softwood (“deal”) and produces “resin” (?). |
| 10 |
TURN, ROUND – wordplay is: TURN for “go” and ROUND for “stage” (as in a tournament). |
| 11 |
JEREMIAH, JOHN’S,ON – needed all the crossing letters I could get and even then had to wiki-check that JEREMIAH JOHNSON is a 1970’s (Robert Redford) film. |
| 14 |
MULL,AHS=has* - took me a while to get from MULL (our Scots island!) to something that means (Islamic in this case) a plural of “teacher”. |
| 18 |
BO(MB)AST – note that Brit doctors can be any of: DR, MO, MB, MD. |
| 19 |
FAMOUS LAST WORDS – clever cryptic def and my first clue: “Memorable remarks made on the way out?” |
| 21 |
WIS[e],CONS,IN – American states all have a nickname and the Badger State is WISCONSIN – turns out having to do with the fact that early settlers were miners who actually lived in the mines. Unions probably wouldn’t allow that nowadays. |
| 22 |
ALIBI – (Bail? I)* — nice consistent surface. |
| 27 |
NOTORI=(noir too)*,US – another film which qualifies as an anag &lit since it was indeed complicated, American and the genre was noir. |
Down
| 1 |
MARI(JUAN)A |
| 2 |
ADDER – it’s a “snake” – not sure about the wordplay though it might be ADDER[wort] but I don’t see how “make off” removes “wort” from adderwort which is a “plant”. |
| 3 |
STOP ME AND BUY ONE – (about – ‘Spend money’)* — good apposite anag fodder. |
| 5 |
LORD, J,I,M – ref. Conrad’s novel. |
| 6 |
BARTHOMOLEW, FAIR – Bart’s our boy and ref. Jonson’s play. |
| 7 |
LOUIS(IAN)A – another US state. |
| 8 |
A,U,DEN |
| 13 |
ALA(R,MIST)S – “suppressing” is quite a good containment indicator since it means “holds down” which is appropriate since it’s a down clue. |
| 15 |
SAT(IS,F)IE,S – def is “meets” but my wordplay interpretation depends on IS being abbrev of “island” or the IVR for Iceland: “Meets French composer touring island with fine son”. Ref. Erik SATIE. |
| 17 |
NI(LSSO)N – loss* in inn*. Ref. Birgit NILSSON (soprano). |
| 18 |
BASINET – (Beast in)*. |
| 20 |
RHINO – two meanings: the second a frequent cryptic (African) currency (“lolly” is Brit swag). |
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