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The puzzle may be found in interactive form (behind a paywall or as a limited free trial) at https://observer.co.uk/puzzles/everyman/article/everyman-no-4171 or openly as a pdf at https://tinyurl.com/Everyman4171.
I have the feeling that Everyman is making greater use of deception – at least I found this one a touch harder that his average. However, this does not affect his usual signatures: the ‘primarily’ clue at 1A TAJ MAHAL (which doubles as the geographical reverence), the rhyming pair at 9A COME TO A FULL STOP and 25A SHOP TILL YOU DROP, the self-reference at 26A EATERY and maybe even two one-word anagrams at 16D DISTASTE and, if you take ‘coat’s’ as a single word, 14A TOSCA.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | TAJ MAHAL |
Primarily, the affluent Jahan’s mausoleum; Agra’s heart; architecturally luxe? (3,5)
|
| First, the ‘primarily’ clue: first letters of ‘The Affluent Jahan’s Mausleum Agra’s Heart Architecturally Luxe’, with an &lit definition. | ||
| 5 | NUCLEI |
Central parts in clue needing editing (6)
|
| An anagram (‘needing editing’) of ‘in clue’. | ||
| 9 | COME TO A FULL STOP |
Park up as we do here. (4,2,1,4,4) (4,2,1,4,4)
|
| Something of a dog’s breakfast of a clue, I think. ‘Park’ is a near-miss for the definition, as one may COME TO A FULL STOP at a traffic light, say, without parking. I do not see the purpose of ‘up’, unless ‘park up’ is an idiom with which I am not familiar. The text of the clue does indeed end in a full stop (providing a second definition), but is followed by the enumeration twice for no discernable reason. | ||
| 11 | EHS |
Uncomprehending utterances: Cockney confusion (3)
|
| Sounds like a Cockney pronunciation (the inevitable dropped aspirate) of HAZE (‘confusion’). | ||
| 12 | HAIRDRESSER |
Locksmith? (11)
|
| Cryptic definition. | ||
| 13 | POISONER |
Spooner’s confused about one baddie in whodunnit (8)
|
| An envelope of I (‘one’) in POSONER, an anagram (‘confused’) of ‘Spooner’. A Spoonerism that isn’t! | ||
| 14 | TOSCA |
Opera coat’s fashionable (5)
|
| An anagram (‘fashionable’) of ‘coats’. | ||
| 17 | INDIA |
I will often become this when spelling things out (5)
|
| I can be an abbreviation for INDIA, as in IPA for India Pale Ale. The wording of the clue avoids the objection that I is not given as an abbreviotion for INDIA in Chambers (for example). | ||
| 19 | MOMENTUM |
Flash corporation men will be cutting impetus (8)
|
| An envelope (‘will be cutting’) of ‘men’ in MO (moment, ‘flash’) plus TUM (stomach, ‘corporation’). | ||
| 22 | THUNDERCLAP |
Tremendous roar coming from Earth under Clapham (11)
|
| A hidden answer (‘coming from’) in ‘earTH UNDER CLPham’. | ||
| 24 | HOE |
Tool getting end of gerbil out of cavity (3)
|
| A subtraction: HO[l]E (‘cavity’) minus (‘getting … out’) the L (‘end of gerbiL‘). Complain to Animal Aid. | ||
| 25 | SHOP TILL YOU DROP |
Troopship loudly goes off to embark on spree of a sort (4,4,3,4)
|
| An anagram (‘goes off’) of ‘troopship loudly’. | ||
| 26 | EATERY |
Glimpse of Everyman at ultimately inexpensive or unhealthy greasy spoon? (6)
|
| A charade of E (‘glimpse of Everyman’) plus ‘at’ plus ERY (‘ultimately inexpensivE oR unhealthY’). | ||
| 27 | ADHERENT |
A partisan, that woman’s overcome by a depression (8)
|
| An envelope (‘overcome by’) of HER (‘that woman’) in ‘a’ plus DENT (‘depression’). The ‘A’ at the start of the clue is to draw attention away from the ‘a’ near the end, the latter playing a significant part in the wordplay. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | TICKET |
Loudly convey approval of that proof of payment (6)
|
| Sounds like (‘loudly’) TICK IT (‘convey approval of that’). | ||
| 2 | JAMES BOND |
Spy having problems concealing bit of electrical connector (5,4)
|
| A charade of JAMES, an envelope (‘concealing’) of E (‘bit of Electrical’) in JAMS (‘problems’); plus BOND (‘connector’). | ||
| 3 | AITCHES |
Australian yearns for starters of halloumi and harissa (7)
|
| A charade of A (‘Australian’) plus ITCHES (‘yearns’). | ||
| 4 | ARABIC NUMERAL |
Not one for one, but 1 for one (6,7)
|
| An ARABIC NUMERAL is a number expressed in digits. Any resemblance to clue 1A is purely coincidental. | ||
| 6 | UGLIEST |
A little bug lies twitching, extremely unpleasant (7)
|
| A hidden answer (‘a little’) in ‘bUG LIES Twitching’. | ||
| 7 | LOTUS |
Many around university displaying yoga position (5)
|
| An envelope (‘around’) of U (‘university’) in LOTS (‘many’). | ||
| 8 | IMPERIAL |
The writer’s threat to describe a sovereign (8)
|
| An envelope (‘to describe’) of ‘a’ in I’M (‘the writer’s’ i.e. “the writer is”) plus PERIL (‘threat’). | ||
| 10 | UNDEREMPLOYED |
Pitifully yelped, mourned being made little use of (13)
|
| An anagram (‘pitifully’) of ‘yelped mourned’. Include ‘being’ in the definition if you so wish. | ||
| 15 | STUD HORSE |
Boss on gymnastic equipment that’s valuable in stable (4,5)
|
| A charade of STUD (‘boss’) plus HORSE (‘gymnastic equipment’). | ||
| 16 | DISTASTE |
Repugnance as staidest put out (8)
|
| An anagram (‘put out’) of ‘staidest’. Everyman has a penchant for one-word anagrams. | ||
| 18 | AUDITOR |
Financial official in German car on rocky outcrop (7)
|
| A charade of AUDI (‘German car’) plus TOR (‘rocky outcrop’). | ||
| 20 | NEPTUNE |
English maniac to write about God (7)
|
| A reversal (‘about’) of E (‘English’) plus NUT (fanatic, ‘maniac’) plus PEN (‘write’). | ||
| 21 | DESPOT |
Tyrant to remove blemishes? (6)
|
| DE-SPOT. | ||
| 23 | U-BOAT |
Underwater vessel but prow taken from sub (over a ton) (1-4)
|
| A charade of ‘[s]ub’ minus its first letter (‘prow taken from’); plis O (‘over’) plus ‘a’ plus T (‘ton’). |
I read the clue to INDIA as a reference to the radio communication alphabet. If you spell out INDIA it’s India November Delta India Alpha.
Thanks PeterO.
@Hector, That’s how I read it too. What is often known as the NATO phonetic alphabet often turns up in crossword clues.
Well up to the usual Everyman standard. Except, does anyone else recoil at SHOP TILL YOU DROP when it should be SHOP ‘TIL YOU DROP. TILL is what you do to a garden bed with a 24a. The usage here is abbreviated UNTIL.
Thanks to PeterO & Everyman
Thanks for the blog , I agree with Hector@1 and I think the clue was cleverly worded for this one .
COME TO A FULL STOP – park up is used in the UK to mean stop , switch off the engine , leave the car etc so again I think the clue is good and I like punctuation as a definition . Enumerated just once in the paper .
ARABIC NUMERAL – I would prefer Indian but we are stuck with this so the setter is fine .
The enumeration for 9A didn’t appear twice in my print newspaper. I enjoyed it all. My favourite was MOMENTUM; least favourite EHS.
Much easier than last week: I managed to complete it despite not understanding the clue to “India”.
I’m in the UK and have never heard ‘park up’. Maybe regional? And it adds nothing to ‘park’ in the context of the clue. The enumeration is presumably an editorial glitch.
Why “will be cutting” in 19a, rather than simply “cutting”?
Poc@7. “Park up” is definitely an expression I am familiar with – born in the Home Counties, but studied in Durham – so maybe a Northern expression ?? Baffled as to why the online version of 9A has a double enumeration though.
Also agree with Hector@1 re 17A, INDIA.
GrahamInSydney@3 – the first definition (of several) of till in Collins is “until”. Also ’til. But never til. Although both words come from old English “til”.
Some sources advise that till is informal and spoken whereas until is more formal and written.
SimoninBxl@8: OED notes that “park” is sometimes used with “up” but does not elaborate beyond citing two examples, both from the Guardian. I’m the opposite of you – born in the North, living in the South – but I don’t think “park up” is particularly Northern. To me, as to Roz, it suggests parking for rather longer than it takes to pick someone up from the station. I’ve heard lorry drivers talk about parking up overnight.
[“Parking a custard”, by the way, is apparently a slang expression for vomiting. Research can have unexpected outcomes.]
Couldn’t parse EHS, even with crossers. Seems Everyman’s three letter words are even worse than the four letter ones.
I always think that “up” attached to a verb denotes a completeness, a finality, and closely resembles the German “ab” used similarly. So “park up” is subtly different from “park”, meaning that the issue is settled and need not be further kept in mind.