Not quite your standard Everyman…
… inasmuch as it’s lacking the usual single-word anagram, though the other standard clue types are there, as highlighted in the grid. I have a couple of quibbles/queries here and there, as noted below. Overall I found this towards the trickier end of the Everyman spectrum (which no doubt means you all found it easy-peasy), so I’m going with…
Moh’s flagrantly subjective cruciverbal hardness scale rating: Fluorite
Thanks, as ever, to Everyman for the challenge.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | WOOD PIGEON |
Club’s language discussed in flyer (4,6)
|
| WOOD (golf club) + soundalike (discussed) of ‘pidgin’ | ||
| 6 | ASIA |
A lot of land in limits of atlases’ Iberia (4)
|
| First and last letters (limits of) of AtlaseS IberiA | ||
| 9 | GRECO-ROMAN |
Moan, flailing with grocer, wrestling thus? (5-5)
|
| Anagram (flailing) of MOAN GROCER | ||
| 10 | LIMP |
In retreat, Starmer largely ailing and weak (4)
|
| Reversal (in retreat) of PM IL[L] (largely ailing). A rather topical surface. | ||
| 11 | DOUBLE-BOOKED |
Incapable of satisfying demands – like the Bible, largely? (6-6)
|
| I’m guessing this is a double definition alluding to the fact that the Christian Bible is made up of the Old and New Testaments, which could be thought of as two books, were it not for the fact that each of them is itself divided up into many different books. But maybe I’m barking up the wrong tree here? | ||
| 15 | ONE-TIME |
Formerly a magazine (3-4)
|
| ONE (a) + TIME (the magazine of that name). It strikes me that the definition demands an adverb, but the solution (as hyphenated) is adjectival, and so ‘former’ would work better as the definition. But that wouldn’t make surface sense. Unless someone can suggest a way in which ONE-TIME can mean formerly, as distinct from former? | ||
| 16 | THE FENS |
Adolescent’s getting hot – and later, loud – somewhere in E England (3,4)
|
| TEENS (adolescent’s) around H (hot) and later F (loud) | ||
| 17 | CADENZA |
Exotic dance with last and first characters showing musical flourish (7)
|
| Anagram (exotic) of DANCE + ZA (last and first characters of the alphabet) | ||
| 19 | MATADOR |
Some beam at adorable fellow in jacket and tights (7)
|
| Hidden in (some) beaM AT ADORable | ||
| 20 | SINGLE-HANDED |
Unaccompanied, like a swimming-pool clock (6-6)
|
| Pace clocks at swimming pools typically have only one hand, allowing swimmers to time their lengths in seconds | ||
| 23 | IOTA |
Everyman: old? Bless you! A little bit (4)
|
| I (Everyman) + O + TA (thanks, bless you) | ||
| 24 | TELEVISION |
Challenged Soviet line that’s set (10)
|
| Anagram (challenged) of SOVIET LINE | ||
| 25 | GOSH |
I ask you to leave quietly (4)
|
| GO + SH | ||
| 26 | DECAF LATTE |
At year’s end, an unstimulating brew – mostly that? (5,5)
|
| DEC (December, year’s end) + A FLAT TE[a] (an unstimulating brew mostly). ‘That?’ as the definition refers to a DECAF LATTE itself being an ‘unstimulating brew’, so I suppose you could argue that it’s an extended definition | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | WAGE |
Carry On Nurse’s finale introduced by comedian (4)
|
| E (last letter of nursE) after (introduced by) WAG (comedian). Def as in wage/carry on a campaign or a war | ||
| 2 | OWED |
Outstanding poem recited (4)
|
| Soundalike (recited) of ‘ode’ | ||
| 3 | PROMOTIONAL |
In favour of proposal initially addressing lewd, concerning advertising (11)
|
| PRO + MOTION + first letters (initially) of Addressing Lewd | ||
| 4 | GOODBYE |
Spin round, ultimately knackered: run’s so long (7)
|
| GO (spin) + O (round) + D (knackereD ultimately) + BYE (an extra run in cricket). Am I happy with ‘spin’ for ‘go’? I suppose you could set a top spinning/going? But I feel there must be a better way of reconciling this… | ||
| 5 | ON ALERT |
Ready and available beer, right? (2,5)
|
| ON (available) + ALE + RT (right) | ||
| 7 | STICKY ENDS |
Misadventures, as glue guns are wont to lead to? (6,4)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 8 | ASPIDISTRA |
Apiarist’s worried about dead evergreen (10)
|
| Anagram (worried) of APIARISTS around D | ||
| 12 | OVER-THE-HILL |
Conspicuous chuckle: trouble getting on (4-3-4)
|
| OVERT (conspicuous) + HEH (chuckle) + ILL (woe, trouble) | ||
| 13 | PODCASTING |
Sticking around, old policeman chatting online (10)
|
| PASTING around O DC (old detective constable) | ||
| 14 | TENDONITIS |
Inflammation in it doesn’t hurt (10)
|
| Anagram (hurt) of IN IT DOESNT | ||
| 18 | ATHLETE |
One having, primarily, a terrifically healthy lifestyle; example: track eventer! (7)
|
| First letters (primarily) of A Terrifically Healthy Lifestyle Example Track Eventer | ||
| 19 | MANDELA |
Old President calling for some Imodium and Elastoplasts (7)
|
| Hidden in (calling for some) imodiuM AND ELAstoplasts | ||
| 21 | RIOT |
Going up to Reading, say, entertaining one that’ll amuse you (4)
|
| Reversal (going up, in a down clue) of TO R (to Reading, say – as in one of the “three Rs”, namely reading, riting and ‘rithmetic) around (entertaining) I (one), def along the lines of ‘he’s a riot’. I’d have preferred ‘one’ to be part of the definition, but that would mean it doing double duty | ||
| 22 | ANTE |
Verbally opposed requirement to play poker (4)
|
| Soundalike (verbally) of ‘anti’ |
Here is a link for the crossword on 10 May 2026
https://content-api.slowdownwiseup.co.uk/api/mobile/v1/puzzle-data/13535072-98f0-41e1-b410-aa39f127726f/file/puzzle.pdf
Thanks moh for the detailed blog. I agree with your hardness rating.
Subjective, but it adds a nice flavour to the blog.
I agree with your comments w.r..to DOUBLE-BOOKED, ONE-TIME, GOODBYE (Chambers says spin: “to go swiftly esp on wheels”. There may be a simpler explanation, and DECAF LATTE (In the extended def, “At the year end” doesn’t seem to play a role).
RIOT
The def works for me without ‘one’ (Collins: “an occasion of boisterous merriment”).
Thanks for the blog , I would have to say apatite in the context of this puzzle , I hope newer solvers are not being put off . Difficult to be positive , SINGLE-HANDED a good double definition , the clock is something I have used far too many times .
Didn’t manage to finish this one but still enjoyable . I took “largely” at the end of 11 across to be an indication to focus on the bible as a whole rather than individual books , don’t know if that’s right or wrong but it made sense to me. 😃
Onto 4,151 !
My dad used to say he was taking the car for a spin. I remember the phrase give it a spin, meaning give it a go…..
I’d agree with Phil @5: I think GO/SPIN is a join here.
Didn’t have DECAF LATTE when I went back to check last my grid from last week, but I distinctly remember finding that solution – has it turned up elsewhere recently, or did my pdf writer not save it as I’ve been going back and forth to the document?
I found this unusually difficult, not helped by getting the wrong anagram for 14dn – DISTENSION – which seemed quite plausible. Only when I got 17ac did I have another think. I failed to get 26ac and 21dn. Amuse seems a weak synonym for RIOT!
DOUBLE-BOOKED might be because a fair amount of the Bible has consecutive pairs of books – First Book of Samuel, Second Book of Samuel, First Book of Kings, Second Book of Kings, etc. If it were just referring to the Old and New Testaments, I’m not sure what “largely” would be doing.
I found this one quite tricky – I hope they don’t get any harder. Still managed to submit it for my chance of a book token.
Thanks moh and Everyman
I got PODCASTING but was totally stumped at the parsing because I thought “policeman” was the singer Sting!
Found this one quite straightforward, which is not the case every week.
SPIN = GO in the context of giving something a try.
If something is a RIOT, then I think it’s reasonable to say it will amuse you
Thanks Everyman & MOH
Thought I’d managed to finish this but had LIFT for 21d as the Elizabeth line goes to Reading and I assumed it was therefore part of Transport For London (TFL). (It’s not.) Plus LIFT going up and when you’re amused you’ve had a lift ? Bit of a shoehorn job really. Oh well.
Thanks Everyman and moh
Muetenive @ 12: As a reasonably regular use of the Elizabeth Line and a Reading resident I can assure you that the line is part of TfL.
I had quite a few question marks over this puzzle. 11ac: I don’t feel this works for either definition. “Incapable of satisfying demands” doesn’t define double-booked and the Bible has 66 books, two testaments. Maybe a large-print Bible would come in two volumes, but that’s getting rather tenuous. Milo@8’s suggestion is a good try, but there are only seven pairs (and one threesome) among the 66, so that wouldn’t justify “largely”. (Now if the clue had said “like Chronicles”, that would have been more appropriate!) 15ac: one-time is definitely an adjective, as the blog says. 25ac: I wouldn’t say “I ask you” and “Gosh” are used interchangeably. 12dn: Hehe is a chuckle, but I’m not sure about Heh.
The rest was ok! 🙂
Yes, lots of absorbing and enjoyable stuff, but as mentioned by others, I’m not quite sure where Everyman puzzles – as supposedly newcomer-accessible – are going these days.
(A notch or two up from bunter sandstone, perhaps.)
Thanks. 4D does raise a general complaint from me: why are setters so obsessed with cricket? I had thought Goodbye was a possible answer but I had absolutely no chance of knowing that ‘run’ could give ‘bye’. To me that’s far too expert knowledge for a crossword. I have very reluctantly got used to the basics of run=r, over=o, but I very much resent having to know anything about cricket.
Agree with comments by 14, 15 & 16 above. So many of these clues are only understandable once guessed and then parsed to work them out, because too many obscure or frankly dodgy meanings are being used. I thought 11ac 1d & 4d were shockers. On 1 ac how many birds and languages does one have to think of to come up with pidgin?
Agree with comments by 14, 15 & 16 above. So many of these clues are only understandable once guessed and then parsed to work them out, because too many obscure or frankly dodgy meanings are being used. I thought 11ac 1d & 4d were shockers. On 1 ac how many birds and languages does one have to think of to come up with pidgin?
What used to be a pleasant Sunday afternoon workout has quickly become a chore…
I also had lift for 21 down, in agreement with muetenive above.
A tough one this week I agree.
GRECO-ROMAN featuring opposite TELEVISON … I reckon not a coincidence
A step backwards from some good offerings of late. Felt like a different setter.
Never heard of the wrestling reference
Very late to comment so likely nobody will see this. DOUBLE-BOOKED – I took it that ‘the Bible, largely’ referred to those bibles including both the OT and NT as opposed to the smaller versions which are just one or the other.
Must say I always thought ‘The Bible’ meant both books.
I’ve taken to doing these on line as I’ve cancelled my Herald print subscription so I’ll need to get my comments timing up to snuff.