Lorraine: Good morning to you all.
This weeks offering took me quite some time to get going, but once I was up and running they started to come to me quickly.
I was slightly stuck towards the end with 2dn but once I confirmed that Paul Anka is Canadian I was fine. For those of you who have not heard of Paul Anka please click on the link.
I am hoping my boss Sally will see this weeks blog so lots of lovely comments please. Tee-Hee.
| Across | |||
| 1. | Face endless people giving a stream of abuse (8) | ||
| DIATRIBE | DIA(l)+TRIBE | ||
| 5. | Locksmith? (6) | ||
| BARBER | cryptic pun | ||
| 9. | Request to see Italian and invite trouble (3,3,2) | ||
| ASK FOR IT | ASK FOR+IT | ||
| 10. | Plot to strike causes a state of uproar (6) | ||
| BEDLAM | BED+LAM(to strike) | ||
| 12. | Drink after Foreign Office meeting (5) | ||
| FORUM | FO+RUM | ||
| 13. | Try to land (9) | ||
| TOUCHDOWN | dd is a rugby ‘try’ ever called American football’s equivalent ‘touchdown’? |
||
| 14. | High tea – treat a lad, but not now (2,1,5,4) | ||
| AT A LATER DATE | (TEA TREAT A LAD)* ‘high’ the anagrind |
||
| 18. | Appropriate newspapers found in a hotel room, perhaps (7,5) | ||
| TROUSER PRESS | TROUSER+PRESS appropriate=steal=trouser |
||
| 21. | Level with complete stick-in-the-mud (3,6) | ||
| ALL SQUARE | ALL+SQUARE | ||
| 23. | Take it on before performance (5) | ||
| REACT | RE+ACT | ||
| 24. | I’d gone out for a Bible (6) | ||
| GIDEON | (I’D GONE)* as found in hotel bedside table drawers |
||
| 25. | Small ballistic missile, shrill (8) | ||
| STRIDENT | S+TRIDENT(missile) | ||
| 26. | Drunkard clutching soft hat (6) | ||
| TOPPER | TOPER around P(soft in musical notation) | ||
| 27. | Batting posture is a case in point (8) | ||
| INSTANCE | IN(batting)+STANCE | ||
| Down | |||
| 1. | Overshadows front of dry docks, we hear (6) | ||
| DWARFS | D(ry)+homophone of WHARFS | ||
| 2. | Canadian showman and artist in capital (6) | ||
| ANKARA | (paul)ANKA+RA | ||
| 3. | Fellow lodgers are most fussy about order (9) | ||
| ROOMMATES | (AREMOST*) around OM(order of merit) | ||
| 4. | Sherry and port, the best (7,5) | ||
| BRISTOL CREAM | BRISTOL(port)+CREAM | ||
| 6. | A help in translation of a letter in Hebrew (5) | ||
| ALEPH | (A HELP)* first letter of the Hebrew alphabet |
||
| 7. | Bonnet and boot (8) | ||
| BALMORAL | dd – both have types called ‘balmoral’ | ||
| 8. | Aide-memoire concerning bodyguard (8) | ||
| REMINDER | RE+MINDER | ||
| 11. | US actor/director’s 1988 British film Kate worked on (6,6) | ||
| BUSTER KEATON | BUSTER(British film)+(KATE*)+ON the film ‘buster’ was about one of the members of the great train robbery |
||
| 15. | Self-control shown by others surrounding coach (9) | ||
| RESTRAINT | REST around TRAIN | ||
| 16. | Frank’s flat (8) | ||
| STRAIGHT | dd | ||
| 17. | Carrying a gun as well, was first in court (6,2) | ||
| TOOLED UP | TOO+LED+UP(in court, up before the bench) | ||
| 19. | Wear nothing in port (4,2) | ||
| HAVE ON | O in HAVEN clever clue as the surface reading is opposite to the solution |
||
| 20. | Figure country must import uranium (6) | ||
| STATUE | U in STATE | ||
| 22. | Refer to short cut taken by tortoise at the end (5) | ||
| QUOTE | QUOT(a)+(tortois)E | ||
| …. | |||
Many thanks Lorraine. I didn’t know the use of TROUSER for steal. I was wondering why it was that as I could not get anything else to fit,
I liked 5ac, 1d and 4d as they were obvious but required that little bit extra in the thought process. And I did smile at the derivation of ANKARA from Paul Anka.
The rest seemed prety much standard Everyman fare and, for that, I was thankful. But I also wondered about calling a bible a GIDEON, as I thought that organization handed them out and it wan’t a generic term as such. Still it was a nice Sunday lunch solve.
‘Trousered’ is often used in ‘Private Eye’ when they are talking about Bankers ‘trousering’ huge bonuses.
Quite tough this one. Needed help. 19d is a very nice clue
Many thanks Lorraine.
As always, you have delivered the goods – as well as inspiring us to eat more quiches.
I’m sure that quiche sales have gone through the roof as a consequence of your subliminal advertising.
Hi Sally and Welcome to Fifteensquared.
Please let us know how the quiche sales are going. Thanks.
Bryan,
many thanks for making me laugh not only on this weeks blog but also on my last blog, We all need a good laugh on such a horribly wet Sunday. Still laughing now.
Many thanks.
Lorraine.
Thanks Lorraine,
It’s a warm, sunny day up here in Yorkshire but the rain is much needed. I can’t remember much about this puzzle but I always enjoy it. I’ve ticked three clues which are BRISTOL CREAM, BUSTER KEATON and HAVE ON which I particularly liked.
I didn’t know about the other meaning for trouser but I like it. Don’t trouser from the poor has a ring to it.
Incidentally, my first experience of a trouser press was in a London hotel many, many years ago and the first time I tried to use it, I managed to break it completely. C’est la vie.
Usually I get about 3/4 of the way through before getting stuck but found many more clues that I just couldn’t get.
Looking back most of the ones I couldn’t get were down to my lack of ability but I think that 5a,2d,11d & 16d were hard.
Thanks for the blog
Thanks, Lorraine. Accessible and enjoyable puzzle from Everyman as usual. BRISTOL CREAM was my favourite in this one. Had to google to confirm BALMORAL.
Thanks Lorraine, and to Everyman for a typically enjoyable puzzle.
I got 2d without making the connection to the showman, so thanks for that.
I understood TROUSER as roughly synonymous to “pocket”, if you get my meaning 🙂
I needed Wiki for 7d, and it took me ages to remember BRISTOL CREAM, as I was looking for Spanish words to fit and my taste in sherry is dry, rather than sweet 😉
I think Sally will be satisfied with your work today.
I am thrilled to have found this site – I have been trying cryptic crosswords for some time with varying levels of success. I have often found the right answer to a clue, after having several letters filled in, but have had no idea why it was the right answer and how the clue worked. It is a revelation to be able to see not just the right answer but how it was arrived at! And more fun doing the puzzles ‘in company’.Thank you!
Welcome Fran from Cornwall. The site is a godsend for learners, as I’ve found myself.
Yes, welcome Fran!
This is the place to be.
BTW, just found out there’s a colleague at work who really likes to start understanding cryptics. I will surely recommend this site to her and the Quiptic and Everyman section in particular (for a start).
BTW2, thanks Lorraine for the – as ever – immaculate blog.
I have to admit that I found this Everyman harder to get into than usually. Ah well, maybe it was just me that weekend (having more trouble with Crux and Mudd than I normally have, too)
🙂
Sil van den Hoek re 11.
The blog is produced from a simple script (in perl). Obviously you still need to do the crossword.
Refer to -> instructions
Nick
Sorry, Nick, I don’t get this.
I only made a polite (and genuine) remark about the neatness of the blog – as ever!
“Obviously you still need to do the crossword”.
I did do it, and I said that I found it harder than usual to get into.
Communication breakdown?
Sil – if I may answer on Nick’s behalf. He’s being charmingly modest, in alleging that the immaculateness of the blog is down to the script. As if! And when he says “you still need to do the crossword”, he means “one still needs to do the crossword [before doing the blog]”. Hope this helps.