The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27845.
Nutmeg has provided us with an excellent puzzle, falling in my Goldilocks area for a blog – inventive, with plenty of misdirection, fine surfaces, but not too difficult. Many thanks to her.
| Across | ||
| 1 | GREAT APE | Fruit drinks to feed primate (5,3) |
| An envelope (‘drinks’) of EAT (‘feed’) in GRAPE (‘fruit’). | ||
| 5 | MAQUIS | Who in Paris contributes to reduced service in underground? (6) |
| An envelope (‘contributes to’) of QUI (‘who in Paris’) in MAS[s] (‘service’) minus the last letter (‘reduced’). Maquis originally was a Corsican word for dense scrub – “the bush” – into which someone who did not want to be found might disappear. It was applied to the French resistance, or underground, in the Seconf World War. | ||
| 9 | TWITCHING | Worst witch in Gryffindo keeps chasing the odd owl etc (9) |
| A hidden answer (‘keeps’) in ‘worsT WITCH IN Gryffindo’. A twitcher is a birdwatcher principally interested in spotting as many rare species as possible. Maybe it is just the Grauniad, but the house (and sword) in Harry Potter is Gryffindor. | ||
| 11 | CUPID | Bow merchant identified by three coppers, the last retired (5) |
| ‘Three coppers’: CU (chemical symbol) plus |
||
| 12 | PITCH-AND-TOSS | Pre-match requisites at Lord’s — the game’s a gamble (5-3-4) |
| A match at Lord’s will need a cricket PITCH and a coin TOSS. For the game, see Wikipedia. | ||
| 15 | LEAF | Six-footer heading to rear part of plane, perhaps (4) |
| FLEA (insect, ‘six-footer’) with the first letter moved to the end (‘heading to rear’); ‘plane’ being the tree. | ||
| 16 | COMMON COLD | Usual commuter’s first getting on — there’s no cure for it! (6,4) |
| A charade of COMMON (‘usual’) plus C (‘Commuter’s first’) plus OLD (‘getting on’). | ||
| 18 | DONKEY WORK | Academic magnum opus nothing but a chore (6,4) |
| A charade of DON (‘academic’) plus KEY WORK (‘magnum opus’). | ||
| 19 | SELL | Welsh ducks to boost market (4) |
| A subtraction: S[w]ELL (‘boost’) minus the W (‘Welsh ducks’). | ||
| 21 | FOOTBALL CLUB | Pay for social bash where many get their kicks? (8,4) |
| A charade of FOOT (‘pay for’) plus BALL (‘social’) plus CLUB (‘bash’). | ||
| 24 | NORSE | Innate ability to grasp reading or writing of ancient language (5) |
| An envelope (‘to grasp’) of R (‘reading or writing’ – two of the three Rs) in NOSE (‘innate ability’). | ||
| 25 | STONEWARE | Additional area in shop for ceramics (9) |
| An envelope (‘in’) of NEW (‘additional’) plus A (‘area’) in STORE (‘shop’). | ||
| 26 | DREADS | Fears what hairstylist might produce (6) |
| Double definition. | ||
| 27 | BLITHELY | Silly billy smuggling article without a thought (8) |
| An envelope (‘smuggling’) of THE (definite ‘article’) in BLILY, an anagram (‘silly’) of ‘Billy’. | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | GATE | 2 used by secret agent in revolution (4) |
| A hidden reversed (‘in revolution’) answer in ‘secrET AGent’. | ||
| 2 | EXIT | Leave cardinal in Rome, breaking heart of deity (4) |
| An envelope (‘breaking’) of X (10, ‘cardinal in Rome’) in EIT (‘heart of dEITy’). | ||
| 3 | TOCSIN | Bell rung by Jock’s compatriot returning home (6) |
| A charade of TOCS, a reversal (‘returning’) of SCOT (‘Jock’s companion’) plus IN (‘home’). | ||
| 4 | PRINCE OF WALES | Royal places for wine to be produced (6,2,5) |
| An anagram (‘to be produced’) of ‘places for wine’. | ||
| 6 | ACCIDENT | Upstanding girl admitted to stress creating hazard (8) |
| AN envelope (‘admitted to’) of ID, a reversal (‘upstanding’ in a down light) of DI (‘girl’) in ACCENT (‘stress’). | ||
| 7 | UNPROVOKED | Wanton global alliance found to be internally sound (10) |
| An envelope (‘nternally’) of OK (‘sound’) in UN (‘global alliance’) plus PROVED (‘found to be’). | ||
| 8 | SIDESADDLE | Teams go off the way one may go up (10) |
| A charade of SIDES (‘teams’) plus ADDLE (‘go off’). ‘Up’ on a horse. | ||
| 10 | GRAMMAR SCHOOL | Students here charm glamorous cooks, shedding uniform (7,6) |
| An anagram (‘cooks’) of ‘charm glamoro[u]s’ minus the U (‘shedding uniform’). | ||
| 13 | ILL-DEFINED | Dim criminal fell in and died (3-7) |
| An anagram (‘criminal’) of ‘fell in’ plus ‘died’. | ||
| 14 | MAIN COURSE | Route travelled by boat, traditional follower of fish? (4,6) |
| Double definition. | ||
| 17 | BEEBREAD | Auntie studied what workers feed their youngsters (8) |
| A charade of BEEB (BBC, ‘Auntie’) plus READ (‘studied’), for a mixture of pollen and honey. | ||
| 20 | SUREST | Guardian backing others with utmost confidence (6) |
| A charade of SU, a reversal (‘backing’) of US (‘Guardian’) plus REST (‘others’). | ||
| 22 | BASE | Found fake depot (4) |
| Triple definition. | ||
| 23 | VERY | Elevated cleric unknown to a large extent (4) |
| A charade of VER, a reversal (‘elevated’ in a down light) of REV (‘cleric’) plus Y (mathematical ‘unknown’). | ||
11ac: I read this as CU + P + ID (DI reversed, retired).
Definitely one of Nutmeg’s easier offerings (my first solve of a puzzle from this setter), but enough of a challenge to keep me entertained for a couple of hours. Favorites, among others, were CUPID, LEAF, and the two long anagrams. I parsed CUPID as CU + P + DI reversed. I’m pretty sure that Gryffindo was a typo. Thanks to Nutmeg for a fine workout and to PeterO for the parsing of 9a and 19a.
Oops, Travatore@1, we crossed. Sorry.
I agree with Trovatore about 11ac CUPID. And agree with PeterO about the excellence of the puzzle – thanks to both. As often, Nutmeg gets closer than other setters to a pangram, short only of J and Z, after the lipogram of 4 weeks ago
Griffindo works as it is whether typo or not.It could be a midirect or it could confirm that we do not need to know anything about HP books.
Great puzzle.Thanks all.
Had a great time with this, with only one question. Is the compatriot really needed in 3d? The surface reads fine without it. In Crosswordland, Jock himself is a Scot.
Agree with others about CU + P + ID: a PI isn’t a policeman (hence the P).
Thanks all.
Agree with others re CUPID: the middle P is a “copper” in the sense of “penny”. Very clever of Nutmeg to include 3 different “coppers”.
Thanks for explaining why X is a cardinal in Rome.
Favourite was the small but ingenious LEAF.
Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO
Very nice. Favourites were DONKEY WORK and BEEBREAD (of which I was unaware, but was clearly clued).
I have GRYFFINDO on my printout too, but the online version does have Gryffindor. Just going out to pick up the dead tree version!
Not as easy for us as for others. Stuck completely on LEAF and BASE. LEAF now explained is very clever.
Not heard of BEEBREAD but it is a lovely word and perfectly clued as Muffin@8 says.
The PITCH of PITCH AND TOSS took a ridiculous length of time to get, as did the DONKEY part, but really liked the latter once we had it.
Thanks, Nutmeg and PeterO.
Help! This week I became a Guardian subscriber, and now my cryptic appears in a different format, without the comments underneath. What am I wrong? Hoping someone here can point me in the correct direction. Thank you
Mmm – Gryffindo in the paper too!
Very nice thank you Nutmeg and Peter O
Griffindo must a a typo and I’m sure I’ve seen 1a somewhere else in the last few days?
Another beauty from Nutmeg. Completed, but baffled by the parsing of 19a, so thanks for clearing that up.
Had peruse the other site to get a hint for loi 15, even though six-footer for insect and ‘heading to rear’ are standard, d’oh! And 19 was a biff, d’oh again. As for most posters, Nutmeg is always enjoyable. Base as in adulterated, hence fake, took a while to gel. Definitely keeps the brain lateral and associative, this hobby. Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO.
… had to peruse…
Well the last two (“leaf” and “well”) took about as long as the rest together I reckon – but maybe it was the break for the gym that was needed so the brain could go into automatic or whatever it does when we’re not demanding too much of it by trying to solve ingenious, misleading and downright sneaky word puzzles!
Beebread was familiar having just taken up beekeeping this year – knew there had to be a good reason for that. I rather liked “unprovoked” which came together piece by piece, but the combos of “pitch and toss”, “donkey work” and “football club” were all frustrating because I had one word in each and a clear idea of how they worked but could not bring the relevant phrase to mind. Slow slow slow…I blame an excellent dinner last night.
Yesterday we had “one up” for a rider and today we have “one may go up” for someone on a horse (the way ER rides one anyhow). Although I got both I was not convinced by either. I can’t say I recall hearing the expression “to be up” as specifically meaning on horseback. One mounts a horse, so one is up, but one also mounts a bicycle, the stairs and a picture on the wall. It just seems a tad ambiguous. And talking of ambiguous, “cardinal” appeared for the second time in a week, in the guise of “pick a number, any number”. If you don’t like “girl” or “boy” for one of the thousands of possible names, then this might be added to the “not for me” list.
Anyhow, ta muchly Nutmeg, and PeterO for the detailed blog (and explaining “sell” to me)
ps: never heard of beebread, and pitch and toss qua gambling only vaguely, mostly remembered as “don’t argue the pitch and toss with me”, from eg parent to child, along with other classics like “do as I say, not as I do” (shudder).
Excellent puzzle, with some good words and surfaces to hide them. Thanks Nutmeg, and PeterO for commentary.
Contrary to the flow, I struggled a bit with this and thought some clues were 13d. Eg how does hazard = accident.
Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO
thezed @ 16 – my wife is an equestrienne: ‘up’ is a standard expression for being on a horse.
@ Ang Almond. I have similar problems from time to time when the Guardian techs tweak the code. Usually the problem can be solved by switching to another internet browser.
Had entered LEAR at 15a without full confidence but parsed as LEA = an insect (thanks to google) + R = heading to rear. The remaining definition should have alerted me, Nutmeg would never leave such a clumsy surface.
Otherwise most enjoyable with my LOI SELL too.
Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO
Thanks for the blog. Nice puzzle. A DNF as I also put in LEAR, needed your parsing, ta. I had it as CU+(D+1P<=).
Simon S @20 thanks for the clarification. Having come along twice in two days, I’ll file it away possible never to use again!
Sadly, I could not finish this one – I failed to solve 5a, 12a, 3d, 19a.
Of the ones I solved, I could not parse 9a or the X in 2d.
Thanks Peter and Nutmeg.
Thanks both,
In contrast to yesterday’s offering, this was a delight from start to finish for me. Elegant surfaces and inventive devices. Like Doofs @22, I flirted with Lear for 15ac, as in Lear jet, but that wouldn’t have parsed correctly, and, when the penny dropped, it was my COD. Thanks for parsing of 7d.
pedro @ 19 In the sense of chance / luck (as in “it was unplanned, we met by chance”).
Usual excellence from Nutmeg, thanks to PeterO.
A good quality crossword, most enjoyable. TOCSIN and BEEBREAD were new to me but (as reported already) clued well and solved without problems. Favourite was CUPID.
Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO.
Thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO. No disagreements here on the quality of the puzzle, which largely unpacked quite readily. Tocsin, maquis and beebread all new to me, but getable from the cluing, and last ones were leaf, tocsin and unprovoked. Favourites for me were donkey work, main course and stoneware, and thanks again to Nutmeg and PeterO.
Did anyone notice (or care) – with EXIT we have the third appearance of a part of the present conjugation of the Latin exire in the last few weeks (cf. EXEAT and EXEUNT).
I’m another who got stuck on Leaf, technically a DNF for me, as I resorted to the check button having entered in Lear initially (but not happy with it). And of course, once I got it, thought “now why was that so hard”! TILT beebread, which I couldn’t quite believe was a word till I looked it up in my dictionary (where it was hyphenated), and maquis. I did like 9ac which made me smile (no typo in the version I saw) with its clever use of owls. Thanks to Nutmeg for an enjoyable puzzle and to PeterO.
Thanks robert. See what you mean.
Nutmeg’s 98th Guardian puzzle (excluding Quiptics) – she is now one ahead of Tramp and Crucible. A prize would be a fitting and long overdue way to mark the 100th – this was another fine puzzle. Took me an annoyingly long time to see BASE at the end…
Thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO
Very enjoyable puzzle, I liked the hidden, the three coppers, FOOTBALL CLUB and DONKEY WORK, the place for wine and loads more.
Many thanks Nutmeg and PeterO
Liked this puzzle, and pleased to find this site as couldn’t work out how ‘sell’ or ‘leaf’ could be parsed. The explanations have only increased my enjoyment. I had Cupid as Cu + p + 1d, the last being an old penny, now retired.
I didn’t find this as easy as most did but I wouldn’t disagree about the quality of th puzzle. LEAF was very good even though it took me a long time to get it,and SELL was a guess. I liked MAQUIS and TOCSIN. I’ve heard of the latter but I didn’t know what it meant. Failed, annoyingly enough, on CUPID which was perhaps the neatest clue of all.
Thanks Nutmeg.
Thanks PeterO and Nutmeg. I agree with DaveinNCarolina that this was one of Nutmeg’s easier offerings as it’s also the first I’ve finished. Lots of rather clever clueing here; SELL was my LOI when the penny eventually dropped, but the parsing of LEAF eluded me although it was obviously the answer.
Like others, I think Gryffindo was probably a typo. However I also think a Harry Potter-themed puzzle sooner or later is inevitable, if indeed there hasn’t already been one. Perhaps it’s time to have a quiet word with Maskarade…..
Thanks Nutmeg for the excellent puzzle with some great surfaces and misdirection.
I struggled with LEAF and WELL but kicked myself for not thinking of the correct six-footer or the correct plane especially as I had correctly identified the word-play so it was ultimately a great clue. Was not quite so happy with WELL which seemed a bit loose.
Like pedro @19, an accident may be a hazard but a hazard is not really an accident but identifying words from crossers is all part of the solve so can’t complain too much as there were so many clues to enjoy today on another wet day.
Thanks also to PeterO for your parsing and blogging.
re: 26ac – since dreadlocks are formed by not washing or combing hair & just letting nature take its course, surely no hairstylist would be involved at all?
I loved this. 11ac I also had the third Copper as DI = One old penny.
Can someone explain why base = fake please. Ta
Eric @41: Chambers has ‘counterfeit’, can’t say I’ve seen it used thus.
Similarly, whilst the ‘innate ability to seek out’ meaning of ‘nose’ is familiar, the simple meaning ‘flair’ is less so.
Last time I looked, the UN was not actually a global alliance.
Great puzzle though, thanks Nutmeg and PeterO
Shikasta @39 – you are repeating an old myth about dreadlocks. Look up howtodread.com for the real thing. Modern dreads wash their hair very often.
Straightforward puzzle, thanks to setter and bloggers.
pedro @32: If you see this posting (posted late), please explain what you saw that robert meant. I thought your original comment @19 was spot on and cannot see how robert clarified anything with “it was unplanned, we met by chance”. “We met by accident” is proper English. “We met by hazard” clearly is not.
hfowler @44
‘ “We met by hazard” is clearly not’. Who sez? Sounds fine to me. Or how about:
“And I will stand the hazard of the die”
It does not strike me as an impenetrable quote from Shakespeare (Richard III)
PeterO: I defer to your greater knowledge and wisdom.