CROSSWORD #292 & BEQ Does the Observer's Everyman Crossword

ACROSS LITE PUZZLE: [ THEMELESS MONDAY] 
PROGRAM: [Across Lite]

PROGRAM: [Java]

PRINTOUT PUZZLE: [ THEMELESS MONDAY]
PROGRAM: [Adobe Acrobat]

Everyman Crossword No. 3352

Constructor: Anonymous

Relative difficulty: Medium-plus

THEME: None

Word of the Day: EFFULGENT {22A: Leader in event to head back into the wind on the way back - man is brilliant (9)}

adj. Shining brilliantly; resplendent. (American Heritage Dictionary)

No Guardian came to the in-law's house over the weekend, so I didn't try that one. Looks like it's going to be the Observers puzzles instead. There is a variety puzzle by Azed that I glanced at, but was too intimidated by the thing. So, onto the traditional one (after the obligatory Sudoku warm-up).

Surprised that I was able to get roughly 60% of this one not a problem. I guess the reasons for that are manifold. For starters, I've been Devouring the stellar Wall Street Journal Saturday puzzles, and we all know that means once a month there's a cryptic by Emily Cox and Henry Rathvon. And their work is always in the gentle side of cryptics. Secondly, I rather enjoyed David Astle's Book "Puzzled" which pretty much puts training wheels on those starting off on cryptic solving. Lovely techniques outlined in that book that helped immensely with this puzzle. And finally, this puzzle is called the "Everyman" puzzle. Presumably every man can solve it.

Right out the gate nailed ORANGE {4A: Fruit in orchard's first row 6)} which gave me ON THE FACE OF IT {4D: Where you can see clock's hands, apparently (2, 3, 4, 2, 2)} not so much that I got the, uh, riddle per se? But got it from the enumerations and it just sort of "felt right." More solving the puzzle by using enumerations and feel approach for AFTER ALL {5D: Last, at the end of the day (5,3)} which as I'm typing that now is probably a double definition, and the utterly silly GRIN AND BEAR IT {8D: How, stoically, to suffer the unwanted paparazzi? (4, 3, 4, 2)}. It probably bears (Get it? Bears!?) repeating that really the only way to "stoically" "suffer the unwanted" Chicago Bears Shuffing Crew video is to GRIN AND BEAR IT.

Had to dredge up what the Brits call gas stations as 7A: {Charging Victoria, say, where juice is sold (7, 7)} clearly ended in STATION (Petrol didn't seem to want to fit). I eventually recalled FILLING. Had not a chance in hell with the other British-isms. Take 23A: LECTURE THEATRE {Reprimand rep in hall (7, 7)}, for instance. No clue. Had to take a lucky stab with that one. from the crossings. Crossings didn't help at all, though, with the Natick-tacular 16A: BERMONDSEY {Governor taking in surprisingly modern small London district (10)}. Who knows, maybe that should have been the Word of the Day?

It became clear that about mid-way through the puzzle, I was better off just guessing what words could probably fit in the grid, as opposed to, you know, sussing out the riddle. This lead to three ludicrous stabs in the dark. For EFFULGENT (which was entirely new to me), I had E?F???E?T. So I threw down confidently EFFICIENT. That lead to ?C?E?E in 19D {Charged way over the odds for wool (6)}. I figured SCHEME seemed right as in I schemed money out of someone. At least that's what I talked myself into. It was only after a quick Google check to confirm some of these guesses did I realized SCHEME was in fact FLEECE (so obvious now as I'm retyping the clue). I had also talked myself into ARGENTINE for 10A {Friar of noble birth in Spain (9)} which I'm guessing is supposed to be AUGUSTINE??!? Since I had the N in that spot it took forever to recognize the crosswordese special of OTIOSE at 3D {Lazy old couple housing sailor (6)}. Lazy indeed.

Bullets:

• 1A: {Think logically about a boy (6)} REASON Love the way this clue reads. Elegant starting point of a puzzle.

• 17A: {Novel set in Salem, Massachusetts (9)} EMMA Just throwing it out there, I got married at the House of the Seven Gables, which is a novel that was set in Salem, Massachusetts.

• 24A: {Mimic arrives on board vessel (6)} PARROT While I was prepping for this post, I had flagged this clue as a possibility to run alongside a Jimmy Buffett YouTube clip. You can thank me later for saving you the horrorshow.
• 2D: {Reptile flying at gorilla (9)} ALLIGATOR This time last year, all I could have grokked were the anagram clues. What a difference a year makes.
• 11A: {Codeword, more used in front of 'Oscar' (5)} ROMEO Last night, Liz and I watched this ridiculous made for TV movie followed immediately by a documentary both about Live Aid. These guys should have played one of the concerts, IMHO:

Share the puzzle. New one on Thursday.