Guardian Cryptic 27,702 by Nutmeg

by

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27702.

A thoroughly enjoyable puzzle, in which I found the upper half the easier, and with a theme that even I could not miss, announced in 3D CINDERELLA, with dad BARON HARDUP, BUTTONS, UGLY SISTER and PRINCE CHAR MING.

Across
1 ETHICAL Just emission from drinker, perhaps, during recent setback (7)
An envelope (‘during’) of HIC (’emission from drinker, perhaps’) in ETAL, a reversal (‘setback’) of LATE (‘recent’).
5 BUTTONS On filling casks, press these for attention (7)
An envelope (‘filling’) of ‘on’ on BUTTS (‘casks’).
9 BARON Magnate‘s boozer with no counter (5)
A charade of BAR (‘boozer’) plus ON, a reversal (‘counter’) of ‘no’.
10 CROSS-BEAM Churlish grin that passes between supporters in house (5-4)
A charade of CROSS (‘churlish’ – not a close synonym, I think) plus BEAM (‘grin’).
11 EXUBERANCE High spirits, as sexy Hubert dances unclothed (10)
‘sEXy hUBERt dANCEs’ minus their outer letters (‘unclothed’).
12 CHAR Fish, which aren’t sampled (4)
A hidden answer (‘sampled’) in ‘whiCH ARe’nt’.
14 CELSIUS SCALE It proceeds by degrees in Lee’s classic US novel, with one small exception (7,5)
An anagram (‘novel’) of ‘Lee[s] classic US’ minus an S (small, ‘with one small exception’). Not a mocking bird in sight (or earshot).
18 OVERLORDSHIP Spare house in Westminster — trendy 9 enjoyed it (12)
A charade of OVER (‘spare’) plus LORDS (‘house in Westminster’) plus HIP (‘trendy’).
21 DULY Day and month avoided by judge, when appropriate (4)
A charade of D (‘day’) plius [j]ULY (‘month’) minus the J (‘avoided by judge’ – by?).
22 UGLY SISTER Surly git, ’e’s playing at this time of year? (4,6)
An anagram (‘playing’, doing double duty) of ‘surly git ‘e’s’. With the pantomime tradition of cross-dressing roles, perhaps we have an extended definition.
25 REWRITTEN Amended religious lesson, dry in newer version (9)
An envelope (‘in’) of RI (Religious Instruction, ‘religious lesson’) plus TT (teetotal, ‘dry’) in REWEN, a anagram (‘version’) of ‘newer’.
26 TOKEN Perfunctory gift (5)
Cryptic definition.
27 SCRAGGY Gaunt and small with sharp features (7)
A charadec of S (‘small’) plus CRAGGY (‘with sharp features’).
28 SWADDLE Bind wife in portable seat (7)
An envelope (‘in’) of W (‘wife’) in SADDLE (‘portable seat’).
Down
1 EMBLEM Turn up identical notes con­taining pound symbol (6)
A reversal (‘turn up’) of an envelope (‘containing’) of LB (‘pound’) in ME ME (‘identical notes’ – a name I call myself).
2 HARD UP Not having enough soft down, presumably (4,2)
Definition and literal interpretation.
3 CINDERELLA Re dance, I’ll be transformed! (10)
An anagram (‘be transformed’) of ‘re dance i’ll’, with an &lit indication.
4 LYCRA Stretch fabric covers of lively colour given top rating (5)
A charade of LYCR (‘covers of LivelY ColouR‘) plus A (‘top rating’).
5 BOOK CLUBS Groups of readers for whom Spooner’s chef sheds tears? (4,5)
A Spoonerism of COOK BLUBS (‘chef sheds tears’).
6 TASK Undertaking pilot’s last request (4)
A charade of T (‘piloT‘s last’) plus ASK (‘request’).
7 OVERHEAD Basic liability for firm shot on court (8)
Double definition.
8 SOMERSET A few decline to support region’s top cricket team (8)
A charade of SOME (‘a few’) plus R (‘Region’s top’) plus SET (‘decline’ – the setting sun), with ‘to support’ indicationg the order of the particles in a down light.
13 ASPIDISTRA It’s paradise, newly created without Eden’s first plant (10)
An anagram (‘newly created’) of ‘it’s patadis[e]’ minus the E (‘without Eden’s first’)
15 SPRIGHTLY Nimble American operative taking both sides in (9)
An envelope (‘taking … in’) of RIGHT L (‘both sides’) in SPY (‘American operative’).
16 HONDURAS Country has guards roaming round (8)
An envelope (‘guards’) of ONDUR, an anagram (‘roaming’) of ’round’ in ‘has’.
17 DEFLOWER Ruin agent set up by subordinate (8)
A charade of DEF, a reversal (‘set up’ in a down light) of FED (federal ‘agent’) plus LOWER (‘subordinate’).
19 STAKED Son ungrammatically accepted bet (6)
A charade of S (‘son’) plus TAKED (‘ungrammatically accepted’).
20 PRINCE Royal nipper’s right to ascend (6)
PINCER (‘nipper’) with the R moved up (‘right to ascend’) in a down light; with an extended indication.
23 YONKS Refusal accepted by broadcaster, going back a long time (5)
A reversal (‘going back’) of an envelope (‘accepted by’) of NO (‘refusal’) in SKY (‘broadcaster’).
24 MING Partial problem in German dynasty (4)
A hidden answer (‘partial’) in ‘probleM IN German’.
completed grid

39 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 27,702 by Nutmeg”

  1. I solved the puzzle without noticing the theme – I might have been helpful to get ‘prince’, one of my LOIs.   However, it was ‘aspidistra’  that gave the most trouble, for despite my vague recollection that there is such a plant, I can never remember important details about which letters are located where.

    Holiday greetings to all you Fifteensquared bloggers, and a tip of the hat to the setter.

  2. I was pleased to solve this without relying on the theme which was telegraphed in 22A ‘playing at this time of year’, but which I’d never thought of as being quite the  tradition downunder as in the UK. (Made me google it though, and there are a few around.) HONDURAS and DULY were my last ones in, after grappling with the grammar. Favourite was CELSIUS SCALE for the def and the fantastic misdirection.

  3. Why the “American” in 15D? Could it be to do with spritely vs sprightly? In most of the online dictionaries both spellings are given – but not in the (American) Merriam-Webster.

  4. Appropriate theme for the season, which, unusually I did spot. Lots of fun. I found this not too taxing, but , paddymelon I too struggled with. Honduras ,duly which threw me and sprightly. My first thought being “spritely” , but of course not enough letters… so went and found the ugly sisters before finally the penny dropped! Seasons greetings to all… Thanks Nutmeg and Peter O.

  5. Hope everyone has had an enjoyable Christmas. Sorry I missed lots of puzzles and posts last week, so I didn’t get to wish everyone a happy festive season.

    Like paddymelon@2 I didn’t realise the pantomime “Cinderella” is associated with Christmas in the UK. However I liked the theme – and indeed the whole puzzle, as I didn’t look anything up, which made me feel quite virtuous.

    All went swimmingly until I came to a crashing halt in the SW. It didn’t help that despite having all the fodder, I had misspelt 13d ASPIDISTRA (what is it about that word, Vinyl1@1?).

    From the 24d MING part of CHARMING, I managed to put together the SW eventually once I realised my error.

    I was left wondering why I had been stupid enough to go on the “To Kill a Mockingbird” tangent for 14a for a while (something SLAVE, I pondered?) before CELSIUS SCALE hit me in the face. Such silly ideas keeps me ‘umble. Of course once I solved it, it immediately became my COTD, echoing paddymelon again.

    What fun! Thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO.

  6. Thanks both. For the first and probably the last time this year, I saw the theme!
    Old Tom @3 – I think that an American operative is the SPY bit. In the UK we call them “civil servants”.

  7. Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO

    I’m usually a fan of Nutmeg, but not this one. Too many dodgy surfaces (2d, 3d and particularly 22a, for instance – I do dislike the latter type of clue). Is “going back” OK for a reversal in a down clue (YONKS)?

    Last 2 were HONDURAS (my favourite) and DULY.

    I didn’t see the theme, of course.

  9. [George Clements@8, I enjoyed the seasonal nature of your comment.]

    [muffin@7, I didn’t think that those ones you mentioned were “dodgy” surfaces. Isn’t it interesting how we can receive/interpret things differently? I thought of ducks lacking soft feathers (2d), and how dancing can be transformative from the everyday (3d). For 22a, my thoughts went like this: “What a clever anagram – suggestive of the surliness of the UGLY SISTER/s” at Cinderella’s beauty and opportunities.” (The “e’s” -masculine – might have been a little imprecise, yes, but it was an amusing clue at the same time. I have seen many an ugly sister played by a man with a bit of a five o’clock shadow. Sometimes the attempt to fit a big male foot of someone dressed as an ugly stepsister into the glass slipper has been highly amusing!) I also thought the “NO” reversal (“going back”/backwards in YONKS 23d) was perfectly fine.]

    [Well done, Shirl@6, on getting the theme. I cannot count how many times I see the detail but miss the theme.]

  10. Thanks Nutmeg; great seasonal fare.

    Good blog PeterO; having got CINDERELLA and UGLY SISTERS early on it was fairly impossible to miss the theme.

    Unlike muffin @7 I rather liked the all-in-one clue for UGLY SISTERS. In terms of reversal indicators, my understanding is that ‘Across’ ones can sometimes be used in a Down clue because one writes the word left-to-right. Conversely, ‘Down’ ones are not usually applied to ‘Across’ solutions.

    Seasons Greetings to all.

  11. Knew Cinderella is a show, but my brain seems to just ignore theme hints (even the recent solution “theme”, clued by “This puzzle has one article by setter (5)”, or something like). Nice puzzle anyway, do-able during cricket lunch and tea, but a dnf as couldn’t think of fed reversed to go on lower (too long ago!).

    Enjoy the Season all, and thanks Nutmeg and Peter.

  12. Thank you for the the pantomime, which I miss, but I did get a ‘Cenerentola’ from Milan,
    I think, on Rai Radio 3 this year (fantastic but, alas, no Fairy Godmother).
    My students get all sorts of nonsense about first/third person ‘shalls/wills’ at school. [Both shall and will can be used in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd person singular or plural] So, I invariably quote:
    “You SHALL go to the ball !”.
    I also love Chris Lloyd’s sign on the gents in the Cambridge Blue pub:
    “Gentlemen WILL not, and others SHALL not, smoke in this room.”, which illustrates the semantic difference perfectly.

    Noce moscato, grazie and thank you Peter O.

  13. il principe @12

    You may have heard the story of the Italian tourist who fell in to the Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park and cried out “I will drown, and no-one shall save me!”

     

     

     

    …so no-one did

  16. Enjoyed this one. Spotted some of the theme but it didn’t help mych and I would not have known Baron Hardup. DEFLOWER was last in.

    Thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO

  17. Thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO. I enjoyed t his a lot and just about the right level of difficulty for post seasonal celebrations. I spotted the theme which would have been difficult to miss, and for me a steady solve. Last ones (unsurprising given the above comments) were in the SW. Honduras and duly were last and favourites were the aforementioned Honduras, deflower and Celsius scale. Thanks again to Nutmeg and PeterO.

  18. Noce moscata (nutmeg) is a feminine noun.
    Noce (f) = nut and more specifically walnut.

    ‘Sprightly’ is the name of a pantomime character (I googled it earlier and have already forgotten who the character is!)

  19. Thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO. Lots of fun as usual from this setter. I know little about pantomimes so I parsed UGLY SISTER but did not make the connection to CINDERELLA until much later. I was slow to get OVERLORDSHIP and SOMERSET and I enjoyed HARD UP-soft down.

  20. Thank you Nutmeg for a most enjoyable puzzle and PeterO for a super blog.

    Julie @18, sometimes in the past the Prince’s servant was called Sprightly, nowadays in the pantomime version of Cinderella the Prince does not always have a servant with whom he  changes places, but where he does the servant is usually called Dandini.

  22. In 15d as I read it, the phrase “American X” is used to mean X is the American English form, solver is to supply the British English equivalent. My memory may be totally faulty here, but I seem to remember the construction being more commonly used to work the other way around, namely X is British English, solver is to Americanize it. I’m not suggesting a problem here – ambiguity is the lifeblood of these puzzles – but I was wondering if indeed there are in common usage two ways to take such a phrase. I could do a search, but really don’t feel up to it. Thanks.

  23. 14a and 16d : Sublime examples of superb surfaces resulting in clever misdirection.
    Until the S from Aspidistra ruled it out I was convinced the second word of 14a was going to be ‘trial’ and kept thinking of a charade.
    As for 16d …Nutmeg, I am in awe!
    Thanks to you and our blogger log the day and Happy New Year To all

  25. Second visit to the site today and now I’m fully caught up with crosswords having finished Picaroon this morning. This was somewhat easier than Nutmeg usually is but none the worse for that. And I got the theme which I admit was pretty obvious- at least for the domestic audience. HONDURAS took me a while to see and I was delayed by my misspelling of, yes, ASPIDISTRA. I liked BOOK CLUBS.
    Thanks Nutmeg.

  27. Neat, topical fare. Was hoping for more Cinderella solutions, having guessed the theme as soon as buttons popped up,ie first one in! Where were the fairy godmother and the glass slippers?! The split Char/ming was brilliant. Thanks Nutmeg and Peter O

  28. Abject apologies – I should know better, having grated  so much of it into ravioli.

    Please forgive me Nutmeg.

  30. Lots to like here.  My favourites were EXUBERANCE, CHAR, CELSIUS SCALE, HARD UP and HONDURAS.

    The “American” in 15 confused me too.  I wonder if it’s an editing error (what? in the Guardian??) such that it should be in 17 to reference FED and not in 15 at all.  Perhaps Nutmeg will drop in to clarify.

    Much enjoyed the puzzle.  Thanks, Nutmeg and PeterO.

  31. PS  Meant to add that even I spotted the theme, but, inexplicably, missed CHAR MING, which it most certainly is.

  33. On the subject of clue quality in general and surface quality in particular, I’d like to single out 22a UGLY SISTER (on which opinions are varied) as deserving of praise for both its surface and its creativity.  There is a ‘?’ at the end of it which I interpret as indicating that a liberty has been taken – in this case for the sake of the surface – and I think that liberty is fully justified.

    I liked STAKED for a similar reason, as the non-word ‘taked’ has been clued in an imaginative way.

    All in all, an excellent crosword.  Thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO.

  34. Alan B @33

    We often agree, but not this time. I think a clue that has to include ” ‘e” for the anagram fodder is lazy and inelegant 🙂

  36. I disagree with PeterO’s parsing of 26ac (TOKEN) as I had it as a Double Definition rather than a CD. Token (adj.) means ‘perfunctory’ whereas token (n.) means ‘gift’.
    Since this has moved me to comment (for the sake of future solvers), I’ll add a couple of thoughts which otherwise I might have left unsaid:
    Firstly, for the umpteenth time, I find dear muffin’s quibbles groundless (for reasons others have already given).
    Secondly, I cannot understand why a couple of commenters think that 14ac was such wonderful misdirection. The word ‘novel’ immediately alerts one to the likelihood of an anagram, ‘Lee’s classic US’ has 13 letters and with the clear ‘with one small exception’ (i.e. remove an s) making it 12 – that likelihood becomes almost certain. The words left (probable definition) are then ‘it proceeds by degrees’ so that, with the numeration, the solution is pretty obvious. Where on earth is the misdirection – any more than any clue where the surface doesn’t relate to the answer?!…….

  37. …..
    I thought this a lovely puzzle – and a super blog.

    Particularly enjoyed CINDERELLA (a clever &lit I thought), ETHICAL and EXUBERANCE.

    Many thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO

  38. Oh! and I am a hypocrite (though, of course, hypocrites know best!) as I also had a quibble. Like PeterO, I raised at least one eyebrow at ‘cross’ as a synonym for ‘churlish’….

  39. 17d Deflower = ruin??? I know plenty of women who’ve been deflowered (not by me) and they’re all mostly fine and lovely – not ruined at all

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