Crossword Help Forum
Forum Rules

Easy solve but the most iffy clue of last weeks sorta reappears!

I did get a strange deja vu moment when I got to 25a!

I also found it easy, especially compared to last week's.

Strange, but I didn't find the "special instructions" necessary, and didn't notice a celebratory theme in the grid. There are several people's first names, which might mean something unknown to me. Clever variant on the "Everyman" clue tradition (which also points to a theme involving Christian names), clue # omitted to avoid spoiler.

I didn't notice any rhyming pair, and only saw two weak/dubious alliteration candidates. Also odd.

The celebration for this 4000th edition is of all the Everyman setters over the years, including the real name of the legendary Ximenes. I think you will find that nearly all the first names refer to previous setters, and a couple more are hidden in other clues. 6d was in the very first Everyman crossword that was printed earlier this week.

By the way, the very first Everyman was published in August, 1945. There was a fascinating blog on Fifteen-Squared about the first one this week, showing how styles have changed quite dramatically over the years.

Good fun but for the life of me I cannot parse 21a - I can see "son" and "half a mile" but not the rest.

Aahh, I had the wrong part of "half a mile" 🤬

Good fun I thought. I see 6 references to setters past and present. If you want to check the names of each of the previous Everyman setters, they are given towards the end of the article by the current Everyman on the Guardian site. However, there’s is one name in the grid I can’t see the relevance of…

What's the definition in 8d? "Continuously" doesn't seem right.

I'm fortunate that 16d was a "primarily", as I've never heard of it!

Re 8d I thought the same Chris, but it’s there in Chambers. Struggling to think of a usage.