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Percybass - Agree, it's quite strange what's been going on over the last month or so. There's definitely been a shift so Everyman is now scarcely distinguishable from Saturday's Prize in terms of difficulty. Fine if that's what they want to do, but some warning might have been nice. I've been an Everyman devotee for more than 30 years, and the last few have included some of the trickiest clues I can remember. For instance, this week, 10A has a partial anagram indicated by 'falling ... with ...', plus a couple of Us for 'pair of unionists'! How could anyone be expected to parse that other than retrospectively?

Problem with being older held me up. Anyone else get Robin as in Robin Knox Johnston as the first go at the feathered friend?

What is the purpose of the Everyman crossword these days? I used to look forward it is as a novice/useless solver and could get my teeth into it.

I rarely get 2 or 3 solutions now.

Today I have managed to solve 9a, 22a, 27a.

1a - Is no longer interested in row, abandoned with gusto (8)

5a - Amateur scales back, being more than dozy (6)

10a - Falling apart with bile, pair of unionists: slow down there! (5-2,4)

Where the heck do you begin with these clues?!

Hi Druh,
It does seem that Everyman has become rather more tricky in recent times.
Anyway…

1a “abandoned” looks like an anagram indicator, and “row+gusto” gives 8 letters, so that’s the way in.

5a Amateur suggests a single letter and ‘back’ indicates a reversal. “More than dozy” is a somewhat stretched definition.

10a This is another anagram of parts… “falling” is the indicator for ‘apart’ and ‘bile’, then unionist is U, so add UU into the mix.
Not easy.

Hope that helps.

Druh, further to 10A, and the answer is a place where you'd slow your car down, such as somewhere with schools, shops, etc.

I did not like this week’s one much either. 10a is an anagram of apart and bile, plus two u’s. Somewhere you slow down your speed. 1a the definition is no longer interested in (in the sense of putting aside childish pursuits as you mature). It has row in it, plus g for gusto, and 4 letters that loosely mean abandoned. 5a the definition is the stage after feeling dozy, usual 1 letter abbrev for amateur and a 5 letter word for scales, backward( not the musical ones but something you might do to veg, say). Certainly not straightforward, and most of the clues were very much harder than usual IMO. I suppose we must recognise how hard it is to set a crossword to the same standard of difficulty, week in week out. Have a great Bank Holiday everyone.

Sorry I stand corrected re the fodder for 1a. Abandoned did not immediately suggest anagrind!

What do we say?

The Everyman used to be my Sunday night relief 10 years ago when I had failed to finish the Saturday Prize in the Guardian. And I think when I read druh6sm's posts that's the way it should be.

My dilemma is I am actually quite enjoying the tougher Everyman puzzles these days. Is that fair? I really can't say. I haven't finished this yet and there are some tough clues here for an EM. My advice to those out there is come to the forum if you're stuck. There's always a willing ear.

A belated "thank you" to phil and justsolve for answering my query on 24. I've never come across that meaning of the 4-letter word but you live and learn!

Rocky7, I agree, but I can see that those who are learning could do with an older-style Everyman. I wonder whether there are enough puzzles in store for there to be both an older-type Everyman *and* a cryptic more at the new-style Everyman level on a Sunday?