Surely this is not the same Nimrod that was active on the Listener in the 1940’s?
This was pretty hard: clues in alphabetical order of answers, to be entered in the grid in jigsaw-fashion; any occurrence of the (different) letters in a to-be-discovered five-letter word overlooked in the wordplay. This five-letter thematic word leads to the completion of the otherwise unclued perimeter.
I got R, I and E as three of the five letters very quickly, from AFAR, FOLIO, LEI and RUE, which alerted me to the fact that some of the wordplay indications, such as TRIBE, could be very brief! Having got four letters, I guessed BRIDE as the thematic word, confirmed by the D from INDICT, and my mind turned to “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue” – obviously too long for the perimeter, literally.
With about 60% of the clues solved, I got the 10-letter entry OUTBALANCE and finally started the filling in the grid (no 9-letter entries could start with T), then came METALWORK, intersecting; POLICEMAN helped with COMIC STRIP & I was away – flying … The top-left corner was soon complete, then most of the right-hand side, at which point LIBRARY BOOK (“something borrowed”) suggested itself, traversing the bottom-right corner. Bottom-left fell out, so just the perimeter to go: EVERTON (“something blue” – being a life-long Liverpool fan, how would I not know that?) was a strong possibility, and the phrase of unchecked letters now came into play …
… the perimeter reading CHELSEA PENSIONER, PENNY, LIBRARY BOOK, EVERTON HOME SHIRT.
Nice one, Nimrod.
| Answer | Direction: location |
Definition | Wordplay |
| AFAR | D: r1 c7 | some way away | A + FA (=fourth note) |
| COMIC STRIP | A: r5 c4 | feature of Viz | MCS (=presenter’s) in COT (=bed) + P(resident) |
| EARN | A: r8 c10 | make | A + N(ame) |
| ELAPSE | D: r1 c9 | go by | LAPS (=goes by again) |
| ELSE | D: r10 c3 | besides | LS (=L.S.Lowry) |
| ENEMY | D: r9 c10 | time | N(ew) + MY (=clue-writer’s) |
| ESPRIT | A: r7 c1 | liveliness | S(outh) + PT (=point) |
| EYE–DROP | D: r1 c3 | grieving (Shakesp) | Hidden: (m)YOP(ia) |
| FOLIO | A: r2 c7 | number | Hidden: (co)OL OF(f) rev. |
| GAEL | D: r9 c12 | Celt | GAL (=lass) |
| HAMAL | A: r12 c8 | porter | LAMA (=Buddhist priest) + H(ospital) rev. |
| HUNG | D: r2 c2 | suspended | UN (=a, dialect) in HG (=H.G.Wells) |
| HYOID | A: r2 c2 | resembling upsilon | Hidden: (w)HY O(mega) |
| INDICT | A: r4 c1 | charge | N(ew) + CT (=court) |
| INUTILE | D: r1 c12 | useless | NUT (=head) + L(eft) |
| LEI | A: r11 c11 | flowers | L(eft) |
| LOGIC | D: r1 c4 | reasoning | LOG (=make diary entry) + C(onclude) |
| MAGPIE | D: r8 c5 | thief | G (=force) in MAP (=plan) |
| MANUAL | A: r10 c8 | instruction book | A (=one) in MANUL (=cat) |
| MAXIMAL | A: r8 c1 | highest value | MAMA (=mum) around X (=ten) + L (=fifty) |
| METALWORK | D: r5 c6 | this at the forge | [TOM WALK]* |
| MOLTEN | A: r7 c8 | affected by big heat | LT (=lieutenant) in MON (=Scotsman) |
| NILE | A: r11 c1 | long runner | NL (=Netherlands ~Holland) |
| OSLO | D: r10 c7 | city | LO (=look) after OS (=outsize =very large) |
| OUTBALANCE | A: r9 c1 | be more important | A (=article) in [LOU CAN’T]* |
| POLICEMAN | D: r1 c8 | bobby | [ON CLAMP]* |
| POSER | A: r11 c5 | difficult problem | SOP (=steep) rev. |
| RUE | A: r3 c1 | be sorry for | U(nion) |
| SAUCIER | D: r7 c2 | further forward | [USA]* + C(lubs) |
| SCARAB | D: r8 c9 | gem | AC(countant) rev. in SA (=South Africa) |
| SEEABLE | A: r6 c7 | in the visual field | LAS(s) (=girl, nearly) rev. |
| SHOT | A: r6 c1 | go/take | Double definition |
| SITCOM | D: r1 c5 | entertainment | TC (=Top Cat) in SO (=very) + M(ale) |
| SOL | D: r6 c7 | the sun | LOS(s) (=defeat, not quite) rev. |
| SORE | D: r1 c11 | boil | SO (=like this) |
| STALE | D: r4 c10 | no longer fresh | Hidden: (hawk’)S TAL(ons) |
| SWIRL | A: r12 c3 | eddy | S(o) W(e)L(l) |
| TABULAR | D: r7 c11 | laminated | TAU (=letter, Greek) + LA (=Los Angeles) |
| TRA-LA | A: r3 c5 | (I’m) enjoying | TALA (=rhythmic pattern, Indian music) |
| TRIBE | D: r6 c4 | race | T (=TT, half) |
| TRUE | A: r3 c10 | faithful | TU (=you, French) |
1940’s? Check out the wedding photographs!
To clarify: it’s the same Nimrod as in the Independent daily puzzles – John Henderson. This is a follow-up to his “all 5 broadsheets” exploit on his wedding day. With the advantage of inside knowledge, BRIDE was pretty obvious, but the “Something …” saying didn’t occur to me until PENNY and LIBRARY BOOK emerged from checking letters in the perimeter. The pensioner and shirt still took a while to find though.
The blue background used for the grid must be deliberate, though for practical reasons it was more Coventry than Everton.
I read HolyGhost’s question re Nimrod as tongue-in-cheek. Great blog on a v tough puzzle.
This was one of those that seemed intractable at first, but a little patience and cold-solving helped to conquer it. So a very satisfying solve, all in all. I have to admit I enjoyed this quite a lot more than a Nimrod daily, as I always struggle with those.
Thanks HolyGhost.
Was pleased to complete this as I struggled with Nimrod’s(and Enigmatist’s) Friday puzzles.
Assumed it would have a matrimonial theme so guessed BRIDE after the first few clues gave me I,R and E.
OUTBALANCE caused me a few problems as I read the definition as “more important” which left B and E in the anagram fodder – which was obviously wrong.
Had to have a second look at the puzzle next day and managed to solve the 3 long answers and then begin filling the grid,after which it all fell into place.
Really enjoyable and satisfying puzzle.
Well I never, that patience was rewarded with a bottle of champagne waiting on my doorstep this evening. I must remember to submit these more often!
Congratulations Simon – cheers!