Guardian 27946 by Nutmeg

by

Puzzle here: https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/27946

Some clever wordplay today from Ms Nutmeg. Particularly 10a and 6d.

I do wonder about 24d, since a boomer (in Chambers) is a large male kangaroo and a joey is a young kangaroo – surely they contradict one another.

Across
Clue Entry Wordplay
1 Apparently no socialists and I agree (3,5) ALL RIGHT Double cryptic def
6 Fox starts to be evasive, catching birds (6) BEMUSE Be Evasive(starts) around EMUS (birds)
9 Ruler rejects any dubious packages from the East (6) DYNAST rejecTS ANY Dubious (hidden: packages; rev: from the east)
10 6 down note introduced to band (Queen) (8) SQUANDER SQUAD (band) around Note+ER (queen)
Like 6d, you have to add Down to SQUANDER to sound like SQUANDERED (blew)
11 Toy to produce reedy note (9) PLAYTHING PLAY THIN (produce reedy)+G (note)
13 See 2 [LAY] WASTE
15 No part in play for angel? (6) PATRON NO PART (anag: in play)
17 Flat in a revolting state during function (6) SUPINE UP (in a revolting state) inside SINE (function)
18 Take first flight from Liechtenstein border (6) FLEDGE FL (Liechtenstein)+EDGE (border)
19 Antelope shortened stride, there being nothing ahead (6) NILGAI NIL (nothing)+GAI[t] (stride; shortened)
21,27 Retired like Menuhin, unable to play on? (5,3) BOWED [OUT] Double cryptic def
22 Doctor in Bedford 27 (9) FORBIDDEN IN BEDFORD (anag: doctor)
25 Sleeping partner with huge guts joining firm (8) COMATOSE CO (firm)+MATE (partner) around OS (outsize: huge)
26 Performing bears about to leave coastal state (6) OREGON ON (performing) around RE (on)+GO (leave)
28 Like pie made by chef initially out of practice? (6) CRUSTY C[hief] (originally)+RUSTY (out of practice)
29 Miserable miss, on reflection, breaking engagement (8) DESOLATE LOSE (rev: on reflection) inside DATE (engagement)
Down
2,13 Sack remained unused (3,5) LAY {WASTE] Double def
3 All set to scan far side of galaxy (5) READY READ (scan)+[galax]Y (far side of)
4 Pass ring successfully (3,7) GET THROUGH Double def
5 Non-alcoholic drink brewed in East (6) TISANE IN EAST (anag: brewed)
6 13 down (4) BLUE WASTE (13a)+Down makes WASTED (blew) which sounds like BLUE
7 Commissioning soldier with regular girlfriend? (9) MANDATING MAN (soldier)+DATING (what one does with a regular girlfriend)
8 I tested them at work to check the flow (4,3,4) STEM THE TIDE I TESTED THEM (anag: work)
12 Extra run accorded to the winners? (3,2,6) LAP OF HONOUR &lit – I think
TBH, I never really understand what is andwhat isn’t &lit
14 Designer briefly dipped into gold reserves for yarns we hear (10) AUDIOBOOKS AU (gold)+DIO[r] (designer; almost)+BOOKS (reserves)
16 They said I must leave supply outside empty store now (5,4) THESE DAYS THEY SA[i]D (minus I) anag: supply around S[tor]E (empty)
20 Fellow departs after pinching Georgia’s butt (3-3) DOG END DON (fellow) around GEorgia+Departs
23 Stay and prosper, having refused Oscar (5) DWELL D[o] WELL (prosper) minus Oscar
24 Baby boomer‘s drug-inspired rapture? (4) JOEY JOY (rapture) around E (drug)
A boomer is a (large) kangaroo and a JOEY is a young kangaroo
27 See 21 [BOWED] OUT

47 comments on “Guardian 27946 by Nutmeg”

  1. The parsing for 6d is actually much simpler: Chambers gives a second meaning of the verb “blue” as “to squander” – which is a synonym of “waste” (the answer to 13a), and “down” means blue in the depressed sense.  10a therefore is simply the synonym of 6d (blue), i.e. “squander”, with the cryptic parsing as you have shown it.  No need to convert to the past participles “blew” and “squandered”!

  2. Exactly as Cryptor (above) says re the cross refs.

    But felt more like Paul than Imogen?

    Your fodder at 16dn is missing a couple of letters.

    THESE DAYS won’t make it all the way from THEY SA[i]D (minus I) — “empty StorE”?

    Any chance of getting rid of the grid format in the blog? Hard to read.

  3. Thanks Nutmeg for a nice steady unpick and Kenmac for the clear blog (which for once my ancient iphone was able see all of!). Re 24d, I think all baby roos are joeys, regardless of type or size. And re animals, yet another antelope, they’re as crossword-handy as fish, hundreds of ’em.
    And thanks cryptor for blue meaning waste or blow; I’ve only known blue as verb (and noun) as slang for fight or argue. Had a bunged-in fag-end at 20d until forbidden changed that, then worried about Ge rather than Ga as abbrev. for Georgia. What’s good for the goose, I guess. Good puzzle all in all, as per for the spice lady.

  6. Thanks Nutmeg and kenmac

    Good, as always, but quite difficult. JOEY was my favourite clue, in fact. I thought “designer briefly” was a bit loose (and clumsy) for DIO.

    I don’t see what “non-alcoholic” contributes to 5d – it could be omitted to make a better clue, as “brewed” would then give more misdirection.

    FLEDGE isn’t the same as “take first flight”, though it’s a necessary prerequisite. It means develop feathers suitable for flight. See here.

  7. My last two were SQUANDER and BLUE. I did think it a little unfair that two of the three linked ones crossed.

  9. A bit hit and miss for me this. Some great surfaces and clues but the cross-referencing did not work IMO. As parsed by kenmac it makes no sense to me at all (especially 10a where the “d” would make “blued” not “squandered” and anyway there is no homophone indicator) so it had to be some obscure synonym. I got “blue” from “down” and assumed it had to mean “waste” in some fashion, and “squander” followed from the crossers and the fact that squander = blue if blue = waste and synonyms are transitive (in the mathematical sense).

    I think “joey” works – a boomer is an adult kangaroo, so a baby boomer is a joey. I wondered is 12d was thought up after the England cricket World Cup victory and the “extra run” controversy? Nicely played if so.

  11. … and yes, muffin@6, meant to say I didn’t know fledge as a verb could mean take flight and it seems it can’t; no sign of it in my soed either.

  12. Took me rather longer than usual for one of Nutmeg’s teasers, but that just extended the enjoyment.
    I’m sure that Eileen will soon join in the well-deserved plaudits, as I know she appreciates Nutmeg’s puzzles as much as I do.

  14. Thank you Nutmeg and kenmac.

    I think there is more to the ‘theme’, DESOLATE can mean LAY WASTE (COED) and GET THROUGH is a synonym for WASTE.

  15. Perhaps the wastage theme’ is linked to Climate Change and the Extinction Rebellion – even a CRUSTY in the grid and STEM THE TIDE.

  17. Some very clever misdirection, which I liked.

    However:

    cryptor@1: Neither the online Chambers nor the mobile app give this meaning for ‘blue’. Perhaps the print edition does, but I don’t have access to that. Nor had I ever heard that sense of the word before now, and I assume today’s blogger hadn’t either (though of course the homophone explanation doesn’t work). That rather spoiled thing for me.

  18. Not one of my good days. I disliked both 10a SQUANDER and 6d BLUE, which as noted by others cross-referenced each other. In what sense can D stand for “departs” in 20d DOG-END other than being its first letter? I usually love a good Nutmeg so not sure what went wrong with this one. Maybe I am just getting 28a CRUSTY in my old age.
    That being said, I really liked 21a27d BOWED OUT, and thought 24d JOEY was cleverly misleading.
    Thanks Nutmeg and Kenmac.

  19. JinA @ 18

    A & D are regularly used for arrives/arrival and departs/departure in, eg, bus an train timetables.

  20. poc @ 17

    From current (c2014) eChambers:

    blue2 /bloo/ (informal)
    transitive verb
    To squander

    [sorry, can’t make the ‘2’ a superscript]

  21. Both the 1963 and the 1995 edition of the COED give for BLUE “Brit. slang squander (money)” – I admit that this was new to me, always thought it came for the verb blow

  22. Hi JinA, I can’t cite examples, haven’t flown in a while, but I’m sure there’ll be travel docs, e-tickets etc, in which a = arrives and d = departs, don’t you think?

  24. Just checked Collins, 1984, out of interest,  it does not give BLUE for squander, but “sl. squander (blew, blown)”

  25. I was unable to parse 9a having entered TYRANT 🙁

    Also could not parse OREGON because I forgot that ON = performing, but I suspecetd that GO had something to do there.

    My favourites were BEMUSE, PLAYTHING, JOEY, FORBIDDEN.

    New for me was BLUE= squander/waste and dog end = butt.

    Thank Nutmeg and kenmac

  26. Not really surprising that many have not heard of BLUE = SQUANDER as Oxford gives it as: ‘informal, dated British.’

    Tough but enjoyable solve.

    Thanks Nutmeg and kenmac.

  29. I often find Nutmeg difficult and today was no exception. A DNF for me because like Michelle@25 I had tyrant for 9a. I was also held up in the right hand side. I had storybooks pencilled in which slowed me down. Last ones were nilgai, audiobooks and blue (a total guess). However no complaints, it was fairly clued and I should not have missed the hidden word @9a. Lap of honour made me smile, and thanks to Nutmeg for the challenge and kenmac for the informative blog.

  31. poc @ 30

    eChambers is the downloaded version of the dictionary that I have on my ipad. My post simply copied and pasted the relevant entry.

  32. FORBIDDEN held me up for a while because I took 27 (out) to be the anagrind and was looking for a synonym for doctor. Also not helped by having entered FAG-END at 20d, which the check button eventually rejected, so another of several recent “almost got there” dnf’s today. Still enjoyed it, especially BOWED OUT and JOEY. Thanks to Nutmeg and kenmac.

  33. Meaning 2 of Blue in my Chambers app is “squander”. When Viv Nicholson’s husband won the pools, she blued all the winnings.

    I enjoyed this, but was annoyed with myself for not being able to parse DOG END

  34. Mea culpa – I just didn’t see BLUE=SQUANDER in Chambers. I see it now!

    poc @30: your link is to Chambers 21st Century Dictionary – not the same as Chambers Dictionary. I don’t think Chambers is available on-line.

  35. Blew v blue?

    Even Milton was confewsed:-

    At last he rose, and twitch’d his Mantle blew:

    To morrow to fresh Woods, and Pastures new.

  36. Simon S@31, copland smith@30 and kenmac@@34: in fact my first recourse was to the app rather than the online dictionary. My version is on Android and that definition does not appear. It gives the same definitions as the online one. I’m wondering if the IOS and Android versions are different for some reason.

  37. In my view Nutmeg is getting better and better – and tougher. I used to think she was easier than Arachne, but no longer. I had several ticks for misdirection and 3 which I didn’t parse – SQUANDER because I missed SQUAD = BAND, OREGON because I missed both ON and RE and DOG-END because I was another who thought GEORGIA should be GA state and didn’t know GE country. Favourites were as already mentioned BOWED OUT COMATOSE DESOLATE THESE DAYS DWELL JOEY (loi) and I could have listed more.
    Thanks to Nutmeg, Kenmac and other contributors to the BLUE BLEW conversation.

  38. poc @ 36

    I had to scroll about 12 pages on an ipad mini to reach the squander definition, so it’s not the easiest to find.

    hth

  39. I was a TYRANT at 9ac which,needless to say, I couldn’t parse along with SQUANDER which I didn’t like much..BLUE was a guess really and,while I usually enjoy Nutmeg’s puzzles, this one left me cold. Probably having a bad day!
    Thanks Nutmeg.

  40. Thanks both,

    A satisfying puzzle where solving each clue felt like an achievement once the easy ones had gone in.

    11 gratinfreo – ‘Fledge’ for first flight is in my idiolect. As birds usually fly pretty soon after they get their full set of feathers, the test of whether they are fledged is whether they have taken their first flight. When the young blue tits leave the nest, we say they have fledged.

    25 Michelle – I was another who put in ‘tyrant’, noted that it contained the letters of ‘any’ and then struggled to parse it.

    ‘Blue’, passim, OED gives ‘blew’ as an alternative spelling of ‘blue’ = ‘squandered’. This meaning of ‘blue’ has come up in Guardian cryptics before.

  41. Tyngewick @40

    They fledge, then they fly – apart, apparently, from guillemots, who fly before they fledge (although “plummet” might be a better description!).

  43. JOEY is fine by me.  A baby boomer. FOI and favourite clue. Brilliant misdirection and great surface.

    I also didn’t know BLUE and was wondering why no homophone indicator.  TILT and to store away for the future, as Tyngewick said @40 it’s come up before.

  44. Simon S@38: I found it at the very end, a secondary definition as you say and after many other expressions involving the work (true blue, out of the blue, etc. etc.). Apologies for the noise.

  45. My grandfather was chased up a tree by by a nilgai ca. 1884. I believe they are also called blue cows. Or should that be blew? Some good stuff here but couldn’t quite finish it.

  46. Concerning 6d and 13a. A bit late I’m afraid afraid. I remember to blue as the present tense and blued as the past (perfect?). Interesting etymology herehttps://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2018/11/blue-blow.html

  47. I have only come across BLUE in this sense among bookmakers (or turf accountants). They used to (perhaps some still do) refer to a profit on a race or a day’s betting as COP and a loss as BLUE. By using dated or unusual language, the idea is that any outsider casually overhearing “we cop a monkey” or “blue a grand” will not immediately grasp that the speaker has won £500 or lost £1000.

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