Everyman on good form as usual. Just one clue I found a little clunky.
The paired clues this week are antonymic: COLD LIGHT OF DAY and HOT WATER BOTTLE. A middle-aged Everyman makes his customary cameo in 5 down; and the initial letters clue is at 21 down. For newer readers, these features occur in each Everyman puzzle. Often the paired clues will contain a rhyme.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 Masculine one’s club
MACE
A charade of M and ACE.
3 Posh people‘s stilted, curt supper
UPPER CRUST
(CURT SUPPER)* with ‘stilted’ as the anagrind.
10 Caught thrice as much in port on the Med
TRIPOLI
Aural wordplay (‘caught’) for TRIPLY.
11 My food is usually late
VULTURE
A cd. Vultures are carrion eaters.
12 Tricks gangster; makes cheeky gesture
HOODWINKS
A charade of HOOD and WINKS.
13 Roar in slaughterhouse?
LAUGH
Hidden in sLAUGHterhouse, and a reminder of the remarkable cussedness of English spelling and pronunciation: SLAUGHTER is simply LAUGHTER with and S on the front, but is pronounced very differently.
14 Unsettled, Lucy’s vacuous to extraordinary degree
OUTSTANDINGLY
A charade of OUTSTANDING and L[UC]Y.
18 Blue bird is getting drinks
DIRTY MARTINIS
A charade of DIRTY, MARTIN and IS.
20 Some colossal voles attack
SALVO
Hidden in colosSAL VOles.
21 Miser‘s ciggie paper and lighter
SKINFLINT
A charade of SKIN and FLINT.
23 Mashed roots: it is a carby dish
RISOTTO
(ROOTS IT)* with ‘mashed’ as the anagrind.
24 A rector gripped by one sin – and another
AVARICE
An insertion of A and R in A VICE. The insertion indicator is ‘gripped by’ and the solution is implied.
25 Pass grade-eight piano? Such should open many doors
MASTER KEYS
A cd cum dd.
26 Receding land seen in Great Lake
ERIE
A reversal of EIRE, the ‘land’ that is Ireland.
Down
1 See fight as source of illumination
MATCHBOX
A charade of MATCH and BOX. The only correspondence I can think of for MATCH and ‘see’ is in the game of poker, where you ‘see’ or MATCH your opponent’s bet.
2 Bit of starch in old cotton
CHINO
Hidden in starCH IN Old.
4 Tattered canopying giving aura of sadness
POIGNANCY
(CANOPYING)* with ‘tattered’ as the anagrind.
5 Glimpse of Everyman, 55, is one gyrating hips no more
ELVIS
A charade of E for the initial letter of ‘Everyman’, LV for ’55’ in Roman numerals, and IS. He’s not gyrated his hips since he died sitting on the toilet in 1977. The King, that is, not Everyman.
6 Fact: Holly did go bananas: it’s easier to see now
COLD LIGHT OF DAY
(FACT HOLLY DID GO)* with ‘bananas’ as the anagrind.
7 A S American, you are heard, you said, touring Guyana
URUGUAYAN
A charade of U, R (representing ‘you’ and ‘are’) and (GUYANA)* with ‘touring’ as the anagrind.
Edit: in fact, it’s U, R, another U for ‘you said’ and (GUYANA)* Thanks to Robot for spotting that.
8 Support article that’s cut, in a way
TEETHE
A charade of TEE and THE. ‘Cut’ is the verb sometimes used to describe teeth erupting.
9 Trouble: spirit that’s taken to bed
HOT WATER BOTTLE
A charade of HOT WATER and BOTTLE. ‘He’ll be in hot water/trouble for being late.’
15 Fuss over tips in lists of chores
TO DO LISTS
A charade of TO DO for ‘fuss’ and LISTS for ‘tips’. Very clumsy that ‘lists’ is in the clue and the solution as the same word.
16 Fabulous Armani suit’s third piece granny vacuously altered
IMAGINARY
(ARMANI I G[RANN]Y)* with ‘altered’ as the anagrind.
17 Weariest: ‘done in’, so to speak
AS IT WERE
(WEARIEST)* with ‘done in’ as the anagrind.
19 Sheep behind tree: retreat!
ASHRAM
A charade of ASH and RAM.
21 Principally, supposedly, the one relaying kids?
STORK
The initial letters of the last five words of the clue. The white stork carrying the baby in a blanket is a very old myth and one present in many cultures and mythologies.
22 More risky – heading off – more remote
ICIER
[D]ICIER.
Many thanks as always to Everyman for this week’s puzzle.
Did anyone else think ‘stilted’ as an anagrind was a bit dodgy, I’ve certainly never seen it used before? Otherwise a return to normal degree of difficulty for Everyman after what I found a tough three weeks.
Thanks Everyman & Pierre.
I thought ‘stilted’ was okay as an anagrind, Graham. For me it has a sense of ‘awkward’, which seemed about right.
It was a while before I filled in TO DO LISTS thinking I must surely be missing something. But the rest was enjoyable and I did like DIRTY MARTINIS.
Yes, having ‘lists’ in the clue of 15d didn’t really work, did it.
Just to note that with 7d there’s a third U to account for. I think it’s U, R (you are heard), U (you said) + GUYANA.
20 ac A Salvo is some guns going off together whether in attack or defence or celebration.
Thanks, Robot. Blog corrected.
The ‘lists’ in the clue should have been caught by an editor. Made me wonder if the answer could be something else, which is never a good sign.
I also thought MATCH=see was strange.
Hi everyone 👋 I really miss the Everyman now it’s behind a pay wall*. Can anyone recommend a good alternative that is accessible online for free?
*I know the pdf can still be found, but without a printer this is not an easy option.
[Kate #8 – I created an account with the Observer but not a subscription. I’ve been able to access the Everyman for free. Mind you – today it isn’t working!]
Re Graham@1 I think part of the fun of cryptics is that they are constantly coming up with new anagrinds you’ve never seen before.
Very frustrating today. The Everyman is not available on line even with a subscription! Only available in PDF format that needs a printer that I don’t have! Hope they fix it.
‘
I agree with Poc @7, on both points. I was sure I must have been missing something with “lists”, surely it wouldn’t have been in the answer as well…
Usually someone puts up a link to the current week’s Everyman for those of us who can’t access it. Anyone out there who can help?
Crossed with Branwen. I’m referring to the PDF version.
Tamarix @12, today’s Everyman PDF can be downloaded here:
https://cdn.slowdownwiseup.co.uk/media/documents/everyman-20260503-4150.pdf
As others have noted, the interactive online version isn’t working today.
Thanks moh, much appreciated. I’ll get on to it once I’ve finished today’s Quiptic.
Thanks, old hack…..also much appreciated!
For those without a printer you can open the pdf in Adobe Acrobat & click “Fill & Sign” & complete the crossword on screen – it can be a bit fiddly at first getting the letter spacing but at least you can get your crossword fix.
Guys! If you’re struggling with paywalls and pdf’s, buy the Observer!
It’s a great read and you’ll be supporting top quality independent journalism (increasingly rare these days).
If you’re in the UK you can get a delivery subscription.
I’ve been buying it for over 50 years (and I still find Everyman very challenging each week).
Thank you for your suggestions. I’m logged in to the observer but still foiled by the subscription pop up. This is on my phone btw. I’ll try the Adobe fill form option. Happy parsing!
Why is this 4.149 and not 4,149? Makes it hard to search.
Agree with comments on Lists. I’ve railed in the past about this setter clearly not having a decent checker but it makes no difference
Hi Barrie, I put in Everyman then the number without any punctuation into Google and it works every time.
On my first pass I thought this was going to be a real stinker, but as I beavers away, all became clear.
Thanks all.
I agree with all ‘lists’ comments, but it does comply with the idea of everymen being consistently slightly inconsistent. Favourite today is URUGUAYAN. Thanks to all.
Good clues almost all.
Obviously list is a problem.
And match box is a holder of matches – the source of illumination is the match.
Triply? ‘Caught’?
No.
15d – I also have winced when I parsed this; I remember reading somewhere this is a no-no. I enjoyed SKINFLINT.