I made a flying start on this one but eventually ground to a halt in the bottom-right corner. Got there in the end though! Thanks Monk.
Down the middle of the grid are the words SELF and ME. I don’t know if this is part of a Nina or just a coincidence.
Update: we have film SPINAL TAP hidden in the grid, and the quote “the VOLUME goes up to 11”. I think self and me were either a coincidence or else the first instance of misdirection in a Nina that I have seen.
My favourite was OPEN-AND-SHUT CASE. I struggled to explain this for ages even though the solution was right there staring me in the face the whole time.
| Across | ||
| 1 | PSALTER | Appendix to amend in sacred work (7) |
| PS (appendix) with ALTER (amend) | ||
| 5 | BRUISES | British issue forged pounds (7) |
| BR (British) ISSUE* anagram=forged | ||
| 9 | OPEN-AND-SHUT CASE | Red-channel order that’s easily decided? (4-3-4,4) |
| cryptic definition – what one will be ordered to do when entering the red channel (items to declare) at customs | ||
| 10 | OILSTONE | Struggles, heading to the end, beside eastern edge on this (8) |
| TOILS (struggles) with T (heading of) moved to the end then TO (beside) and E (eastern) | ||
| 11 | EXPERT | 13 cheeky authority (6) |
| EX (once) and PERT (cheeky) | ||
| 13 | ONCE | Joke going round clubs at any time (4) |
| ONE (joke, the one about…) containing C (clubs) | ||
| 15 | CALUMNIOUS | Slanderous column is initially axed, unapologetic following upset (10) |
| anagram (following upset) of COLUMN IS and Axed Unapologetic (initial letters of) | ||
| 17 | GASTRIC FLU | Stupid racist in Gulf aroused complaint (7,3) |
| RACIST* anagram=stupid in GULF* anagram=aroused | ||
| 18 | STYE | Fashion line is cut – a problem for the viewer (4) |
| L (line) is cut from STYLE (fashion) | ||
| 21 | BLO | Wasted too much in short online journal (6) |
| OTT (too much) in BLOg (online journal, shortened) | ||
| 22 | MILTONIC | 1cc drink made by poet? (8) |
| MIL (millilitre, 1cc) and TONIC (drink) | ||
| 25 | IT’S A FREE COUNTRY | You can’t object to this austerity – confer freely (3,1,4,7) |
| anagram (freely) of AUSTERITY CONFER | ||
| 26 | SURPLUS | Extra confident, positive European will get deported (7) |
| SURe (confident) and PLUS (positive) missing (getting deported) E (European) | ||
| 27 | EVEREST | Quickest first two to split top position? (7) |
| clEVEREST (quickest) missing first two letters (first two to split) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | PRO BONO | Professional singer performed for public benefit (3,4) |
| PRO (professional) and BONO (singer) | ||
| 2 | AREAL | Head of ancient kingdom that’s short of space (5) |
| Area (frirst letter, head of) and REALm (kingdom, shortened) | ||
| 3 | TOASTY | Warm to extremely audacious tearaway (6) |
| TO then AudaciouS and TearawaY (extremes of) | ||
| 4 | REDUNDANCY | Notice incredibly rude daughter interrupting woman (10) |
| RUDE* anagram=incredibly then D (daughter) in (interrupting) NANCY (a woman) | ||
| 5 | BOHR | Physicist reported pain (4) |
| sounds like “bore” (pain) – Neils Bohr | ||
| 6 | UNTAXING | Giving a rebate? Simple (8) |
| definition and cryptic definition | ||
| 7 | SCAPEGOAT | Can carrier attack vigorously, south of small headland? (9) |
| GO AT (attack vigorously) following (south of, on a map) S (small) and CAPE (headland) | ||
| 8 | SLEUTHS | Shadows playing lutes – Hank’s gutted (7) |
| anagram (playing) of LUTES and Hank’S (gutted, no middle letters) | ||
| 12 | FULL CIRCLE | No more seats up here, back where we started? (4,6) |
| definition and cryptic definition – theatre seats | ||
| 14 | COSPONSOR | Jointly support new society in company trail (9) |
| N (new) S (society) in CO (compnay) and SPOOR (trail) | ||
| 16 | TRUTHFUL | Straight talk, at first sad (8) |
| Talk (first letter of) then RUTHFUL (sad) | ||
| 17 | GUBBINS | Catch disease, turning whatchamacallit (7) |
| SNIB (catch) and BUG (desiease) all reversed (turning) | ||
| 19 | ENCRYPT | Ultimately hide in cellar in disguise (7) |
| hidE iN (ultimately, last letters of) then CRYPT (cellar) | ||
| 20 | ATTUNE | Adjust large radio without casing (6) |
| fAT TUNEr (large radio) missing outside letters (without casing) | ||
| 23 | NITRE | Somewhat disconcerting, turning up what goes into bangers (5) |
| found inside (somewhat) disconcERTINg reversed (turning up) – bangers are fireworks | ||
| 24 | ZEUS | Unknown petition backing god (4) |
| Z (unknown) then SUE (petition) reversed (backing) | ||
*anagram
definitions are underlined
Difficult to judge difficulty level as I’ve been peeping at this on and off all morning in odd moments between the things I’m being paid to do. I did notice the Nina, if it is a Nina – perhaps Monk will enlighten us in due course.
Thanks to Monk and PeeDee too.
When I was young, over 60 years ago, GUBBINS was an ironic form of address for oneself as a foolish person – I have not lived in an English speaking country for over 50 years, so am not sure if this usage is still current.
There are also GOAT and NIT in the answers, I had better stop or Monk will be calling me CALUMNIOUS…
If you read down column 2 to the second letter of 21 across, then skip to column 4 and continue to the bottom, you get SPINAL TAP. Then starting from the bottom of column 10, reading upwards, you get VOLUME, ending at the first letter of 11 across. Google “volume goes up to eleven”, and you’ll see the connection.
I’m generally hopeless at seeing Ninas, etc., so there may well be more to it.
A lovely challenge I thought. Re a Nina, Columns 2 and 4 reveal ‘Spinal Tap’ and column 6 ‘Eno’ (as in Brian) so maybe some sort of music theme as well as the ‘Self Me’ in the middle column?
Cheers Monk and PeeDee
“The volume goes up to 11” Brilliant, just brilliant!
For those wondering Spinal Tap is a spoof documentary of a slightly-famous rock band. Here the lead-guitarist is explaining how the band have custom-built amplifiers where the volume knobs go
all the way up to 11
For some stupid reason (dementia or dyslexia) I’d scribbled diatonic instead of Miltonic-
Nice puzzle as usual from Monk-the ninas seem a tad impressionistic to me-compared with some of his earlier stuff.
Brilliant, well spotted Tom_I and Steven!
Belated thanks to all, especially PeeDee for another of his meticulously presented blogs. Truly amazed that anyone spotted this particular Nina: the cruciverbati seem to be of a certain age and mentality 😉 The group’s front man was David St Hubbins (named after “the patron saint of quality footwear”), which was so close to 17dn that I was tempted to regrid. That I did not is related to the comment of Compus @8, a reply to which is the main point for popping in.
(My) Ninas were only ever meant to seed, and hence limit, the otherwise gargantuan combs and perms for a given grid fill. Older Ninas, e.g. same first and last letters, etc., pinned the grid down in so many places that some entries inevitably became obscure; although one could hide behind Chambers, that never really seemed fair to the wo/man on the Clapham omnibus, and a whiff of dissatisfaction did indeed surface in blogs about the obscurity of answers. At one stage I think some editors reined in the setters on this point. By going to much smaller and “buried” Ninas, one can still have and give fun, whilst leaving a puzzle with a perfectly everyday vocab.
Thanks PeeDee and Monk – the latter for both setting and for the elucidation above.
I enjoyed this and even spotted SELF ME – but not the Spinal Tap reference – Dammit!
I held off 5dn until I had 9ac because it could have been BOHR or BORE.
Interesting that Monk uses 2x initials or extremes in 3dn and 15ac – just to lead us astray.
Snib for a latch was a new word for me – now filed for future use.
I’m getting deja vu with 18ac. I’m sure I saw something almost identical in an almost identical position in either the Guardian or FT in the last 10 days……or did I only dream that?
Thanks Monk and PeeDee
Only got to this one yesterday … and it lasted on and off all day ! Reasonably hard but very enjoyable – a lot of variation in clue devices with a couple that I couldn’t fully parse – EVEREST and OPEN-AND-SHUT CASE (didn’t know the Customs term – but an amusing clue).
Completely missed the nina which I would never have understood in any case, but acknowledge the cleverness of it.
Finished with TRUTHFUL (and the uncommon RUTHFUL), then up in the NW corner with OILSTONE and TOASTY as the last few in.
Can someone please tell me:
7d Why is a scapegoat a “can carrier” ?
12d What does “circle” have to do with “up here” ?
Thanks, hoping it’s not to late for someone to read this.
hello nregan
If you “carry the can” it means you are responsible for what has gone wrong.
In a theatre a circle is a seating floor above ground level, so the seats are “up here” rather than “down there”.
Thank you PeeDee.
Carry the can is new to me. I just read up on its history, apparently deriving from military slang. It seems to connote accepting responsibility as much as it also refers to taking blame.
I should have realized that circle refers to seats such as the dress circle in a theater.