Guardian Cryptic 26,970 by Nutmeg

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The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/26970.

No great difficulty here, but a sound puzzle. There were several clues of the kind I refer to as “Definition and literal interpretation”, where a common phrase is the definition, and the wordplay treats the component words literally – there are other ways of describing such clues, but I find that the device is widespread enough (particularly here) to be considered a clue type in its own right.

Across
1 SHEEPSHEARINGS Clips from trial of humble man on board (14)
An envelope (the common crossword trick of ‘on board’ giving IN SS, with the IN indicating the envelope) of HEEP’S HEARING (‘trial of humble man’, for the character Uriah Heep in David Copperfield; ‘umble would be a dead giveaway) in SS.
9 ABOUNDS Flourishes when crossing border (7)
An envelope (‘crossing’) of BOUND (‘border’) in AS (‘when’).
10 COINAGE Devising a new word for brass or tin (7)
Triple definition (although the second and third are of a kind, and might be bracketed).
11 GLINT Strange winkless twinkling (5)
An anagram (‘strange’) of ‘t[wink]ling’ without WINK (‘winkless’)
12 TRENDIEST Most current peters out in river (9)
An envelope (‘in’) of DIES (‘peters out’) in TEST (‘river’ in Hampshire) TRENT (‘river’ in the English Midlands) I was nodding, so thanks to Flavia for the correction .
13 TEASINGLY Drink alone, with intent to annoy (9)
A charade of TEA (‘drink’) plus SINGLY (‘alone’).
14 HADJI A formal item worn in greeting pilgrim (5)
An envelope (‘in’) of ‘a’ plus DJ (dinner jacket, ‘formal item worn’) in HI (‘greeting’).
15 ROUSE Retired men need purpose to get up (5)
A charade of RO, a reversal (‘retired’) of OR (other ranks, ‘men’) plus USE (‘purpose’).
17 LAST LAUGH Victor gets it after tussle; comic hopes he hasn’t had his (4,5)
Definition and literal interpretation.
20 OUTFITTER Old-fashioned skilled mechanic who might suit you? (9)
A charade of OUT (‘old-fashioned’) plus FITTER (‘skilled mechanic’).
22 HOP IN Scorer’s missed header? I could be taking you for a ride (3,2)
[c]HOPIN (‘scorer’). The answer is a directive, equivalent to the sentence definition.
23 SAUCIER I must stop cup-holder showing less respect (7)
An envelope (‘must stop’) of ‘I’ in SAUCER (‘cup-holder’).
24 ATTIRED Formally covered races during broadcast (7)
An envelope (‘during’) of TT (‘races’) in AIRED (‘broadcast’).
25 THAT’LL BE THE DAY How future date might be announced? Never! (6,2,3,3)
Definition and literal interpretation.
Down
1 SLAUGHTERHOUSE See through Saul’s arrangement — it’s a shambles (14)
An anagram (‘arrangement’) of ‘see through Saul’. Not the common definition of ‘a shambles’.
2 EXOTICA Recalled a quote about old times in curious collection (7)
An envelope (‘about’) of O (‘old’) X (‘times’) in ‘a’ plus CITE (‘quote’), all reversed (‘recalled’).
3 PINSTRIPE Cut up rubbish fabric for 20 (9)
A charade of PINS, a reversal (‘up’ in a down light) of SNIP (‘cut’) plus TRIPE (‘rubbish’).
4 HASHTAG Means of following online drug trail (7)
A charade of HASH (marijuana or a derivative, ‘drug’) plus TAG (‘trail’).
5 ALCHEMY Longing to trap learner with setter’s mystic art (7)
An envelope (‘to trap’) of L (‘learner’) in ACHE (‘longing’) plus MY (‘setter’s’).
6 ILIAD Ireland’s first parliament set up historic work (5)
A charade of I (‘Ireland’s first’) plus LIAD, a reversal (‘set up’ in a down light) of DAIL (‘parliament’, also of Ireland).
7 GO-AHEAD Enterprising cashier oddly lacking in motivation (2-5)
An envelope (‘in’) of AHE (‘cAsHiEr oddly lacking’) in GOAD (‘motivation’).
8 LEFT HIGH AND DRY Isolated, like TT socialist on trip? (4,4,3,3)
Definition and literal interpretation; LEFT (‘socialist’) HIGH (‘on trip’) and DRY (‘TT’).
14 HALF-HITCH Loose knot‘s only 50% of the problem (4,5)
Definition and literal interpretation.
16 UNTRUTH Relative’s left behind a book of fiction (7)
A charade of [a]UNT (‘relative’) without the A (‘left behind a’) plus RUTH (‘book’ of Bible).
17 LITERAL Accurate misprint (7)
Double definition.
18 SURNAME Chap turns up with certain clothing — it’s passed down in the family (7)
An envelope (‘with … clothing’) of NAM, a reversal (‘turns up’ in a down light) of MAN (‘chap’) in SURE (‘certain’).
19 UMPIRED Was judge imprudent, rashly ignoring last couple? (7)
An anagram (‘rashly’) of ‘imprude[nt]’ minus its last two letters (‘ignoring last couple’).
21 IDIOT Witless couturier briefly invested in new tech­nology (5)
An envelope (‘invested in’) of DIO[r] (‘couturier’) minus its last letter (‘briefly’) in IT (‘new technology’).
completed grid

40 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 26,970 by Nutmeg”

  1. Thanks PeterO and Nutmeg.

    As usual for me, wonder why I struggled so much. Thanks for parsing EXOTICA and GO-AHEAD.

    Liked 11a, 14a, 15a, 22a, 16d and 21d.

  2. I enjoyed the crossword — thanks, Nutmeg.

    The only clue I had difficulty parsing was 17A: the first and the last part of the clue caused me no problem, I just couldn’t work out where the “after tussle” came in. I kept looking for some meaning of those two words that might make them a third indicator!

  3. realthog

    The winner has the last laugh after a contest / argument / tussle. It is a straight forward def.

  6. Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO

    Enjoyable as ever from Nutmeg, with SHEEPSHEARINGS a particular favourite.

    I was a bit puzzled by parts of speech on a couple – “Devising a new word” I took to be “coining” rather than “coiange”, which would be “The devising of a new word”. Also I thought “Witless” was an adjective”, so would give “idiotic” rather than “idiot”, although I suppose some people “Captain Mannering for instance” have used “idiot” as an adjective!

  8. Thanks PeterO

    I found this pretty hard, but mostly due to my own shortcomings – for example not knowing ‘goad’ can be a noun (= ‘motivation’).

    Last in was 25 where I was trying to find a six letter word. The penny dropped eventually but shouldn’t the numeration be 4’2,2,3,3?

  9. A relief to have an easy one after last week…with lots to enjoy. Suspect grammar at 10..but not in a big way.

  10. A slow start for me, with only two answers on the first pass. However, it gradually came together. SHEEPSHEARINGS was my last one in. My favourite was LEFT HIGH AND DRY.

    Thanks, Nutmeg and PeterO.

  14. Thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO. Very enjoyable. I paused over HADJI (I should have remembered DJ = dinner jacket from a previous puzzle), GLINT as “strange,” and LITERAL as “misprint.” SHEEPSHEARINGS (a fine clue) was last in because I was thinking Uriah Heap, not Heep.

  15. Thanks both,

    A very crafty misdirection in 12 – I too fixated on the Test because of the superlative indicator so it was a while until the penny dropped. It wasn’t until I read the parsing of 10 that it occurred to me that coins aren’t actually made out of brass or tin these days; the words are just slang for money.

  16. Thank you Nutmeg and PeterO.

    An enjoyable, but tricky, solve for me and, as for Illupu @1, I wondered why afterwards. GLINT and SAUCIER were great, as were many others too numerous to list.

  17. Nutmeg is always a very enjoyable setter, and this was no exception. I found it a little tricky in places, but in retrospect that just shows how good her misdirection can be. LITERAL was last in. Didn’t know SLAUGHTERHOUSE=shambles but it dropped out from the fodder once a few crossers were in place. Liked PINSTRIPE and UNTRUTH

    Thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO

  18. Fine puzzle, thank you Nutmeg and PeterO.

    “Slaughterhouse” may not be the common definition of a shambles, but it is the original one. A shambles was a slaughterhouse, particularly one in York, where The Shambles is now a tourist spot (see its website, http://www.insideyork.co.uk/what-to-see/shambles).

    Is “glint” some sort of &lit? Twinkling is both the definition and the supplier of the anagram fodder.

    “Literal” for “misprint” is a new one one me as is “Dj” for “dinner jacket”(I couldn’t think how to work disc jockey in).

    Did anyone else put in “erotica”? I missed the x for times.

  20. Should Captain Mannering be Captain Mainwaring of Dad’s Army? I couldn’t find a Captain Mannering, and neither could Google.

  21. I should have remembered it, because Nutmeg has used it herself before – found another couple of much earlier examples too:
    Gemini 22371: A club free-for-all turned into a shambles (8)
    Nutmeg 26092: Crowd trouble on the rise after a cricketer’s shambles (8)
    Taupi 23648: Merriment disturbs quiet river, causing a shambles (14)

  22. I’m sitting a couple of hundred yards away from The Shambles in York, so 1d went in very easily and was a great start!

    This was very enjoyable, though I agree with Matrixmania about the numbering in 25a.

  23. PS I read somewhere that, possibly in the 19th century, writers started using the phrase “a bloody shambles” to describe war scenes, and that it was from this that the modern use of the word evolved.

  24. Fine puzzle which I found quite hard. Struggled for a while to get the long 1A and 1D but, after I found them, it all became a bit easier. Favourite clues SAUCIER, ALCHEMY, PINSTRIPE. Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO.

  25. Thanks to PeterO not just for blog but for producing a name for a type of clue that is certainly distinctive, and which I couldn’t find a suitable name for.

  26. Good in parts I thought; what PeterO calls ‘definition and literal interpretation’ is not my favourite sort of clue, but I enjoyed some of the clever envelopes and so forth.

    SHEEPSHEARINGS is a very good construction but I fear the construction came first, leading to a rather clumsy word (and, one guesses, one that is rarely used even in outback wool stations). But the particular usage of SLAUGHTERHOUSE gave me no problem owing to many years spent in York, cf Valentine @18.

  28. Glad I persevered as I enjoyed this; only flaw was that I also missed the X for “times” in 2d and like Valentine@18 put in EROTICA!

    Thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO.

    Favourites were 17a LAST LAUGH and 8d LEFT HIGH AND DRY. It was interesting that TT (teetotaller) was part of the clue for the latter and was also used in a totally different sense, in reference to the Isle of Man race, as part of the construction for 24a ATTIRED.

    LOI was 10a COINAGE and even though I got it from the crossers, I only understood the money part, not the “devising a new word” sense, so seeing the parse here was helpful. I do tend to agree with others that “coining” a word or phrase does sound better to my ears.

  29. An enjoyable crossword, with fair clues throughout (apart from a query over ‘devising’ in the clue for 10a COINAGE, as noted already).

    My favourites were the four long answers (of which 1a SHEEPSHEARINGS surprised me a bit because I did not think it was a word!) and 4d HASHTAG, 5d ALCHEMY and 7d GO-AHEAD.

    Thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO.

    [Cookie, I added a comment to the Vlad blog.]

  30. Valentine @20
    Quite right – it occurred to me some hours later that he was annoyed when someone pronounced it MAIN WEARING.

    “Idiot boy! of course refers to Pike.

  31. Thanks, Muffin. Never having seen Dad’s Army (I don’t know if it ever showed this side the pond) I didn’t know about the pronunciation/spelling ambiguity. I’d have said “Main wearing” myself. But I figured he’d be the kind of person who’d liberally use “idiot” as an adjective.

  33. Didn’t Mainwaring call Pike “stupid boy” rather than “idiot boy”?

    “The Idiot Boy” is a poem by Wordsworth.

  35. Beautifully pitched crossword. But finally stumped by ‘untruth’ – must get cleverer!

    Thanks N & P.

  36. I found this quite hard but,looking back at the puzzle, I’m not sure why. The bottom half went in quite easily but I got badly stuck on the top. SHEEPSHEARINGS was LOI and it’s an excellent clue so I can’t see why it delayed me so much but there you are. I liked SLAUGHTERHOUSE which was FOI. I remember the Shambles in the centre of Manchester which is sadly long gone although residents of that city might not agree.
    Thanks Nutmeg.

  37. I didn’t know the misprint meaning of “literal”. I’m sure I’ve seen TT for “races” before, but didn’t remember it. And the abbreviation DJ for “dinner jacket” is new to me. But in all cases the cluing was clear, so I was able to figure out what was going on.

    Nutmeg’s puzzles seem to me to be among the most consistently satisfying. Thanks!

  38. After a slow start, there was steady progress. I couldn’t see COINAGE, and came to the blog having forgotten that that one was still missing from the grid or I’d have had one more try first. Favourites include ALCHEMY, GO-AHEAD, SURNAME and UMPIRED.

    Thanks, Nutmeg and PeterO.

  39. Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO.

    I must have been on the right wavelength because I breezed through this starting at 1ac and finishing with 25ac with only one hold-up – I needed to check the misprint meaning of literal which was new to me.

    Very much liked the simplicity of 11ac.

  40. Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO

    Enjoy these Guardian crosswords when I get back to them – found this one of medium hard difficulty – but much easier than the previous week’s ones. I liked the variety of devices that were used – even many of the charades were constructed in a slightly different manner.

    I like the ‘definition and literal interpretation’ grouping of clue types and enjoyed all of those in this puzzle.

    Finished in the NW corner with SLAUGHTERHOUSE (was a new definition of ‘shambles’ for me), HASHTAG (a really clever clue) and SHEEPSHEARINGS (hadn’t heard of this meaning of it, although having lived on a sheep farm in my early life).

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