Guardian Cryptic 28115 Nutmeg

by

Thank you Nutmeg for this enjoyable puzzle. Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

7 Worked to gain experience under malign influence? (8)

DEVILLED : Double defn: 1st: …, ie. as a trainee in a lawyer’s office in the UK; and 2nd: …/tormented by someone or something devilish.

9 Army colonel’s last two rooms reasonably priced here (6)

HOSTEL : HOST(an army/a large grouping) + last 2 letters of(…’s last two) “colonel“.

10 All but one of team in Lord’s practice session succeeding? (4)

NEXT : X(Roman numeral for “10”, all except one in, say, a football or cricket team of 11) contained in(in) NET(or “nets”, a practice session in the nets, an area resembling a pitch and surrounded by netting in, perhaps, Lord’s Cricket Ground).

Defn: Coming immediately after.

11 Article added to champion Scot’s memorabilia (10)

VICTORIANA : A(a grammatical article) placed after(added to) [VICTOR(a champion/a winner) + IAN(name for a Scotsman)].

Defn: … from the Victorian era in England.

12 Conclusive statement about Irish flyers (6)

AIRMEN : AMEN(conclusive/concluding statement at end of a prayer, say) containing(about) IR(abbrev. for “Irish”).

14 Hot meal enlivened with a drop of neat alcohol (8)

METHANOL : Anagram of(… enlivened …) [HOT MEAL plus(with) 1st letter of(a drop of) “neat“].

15 Read out two letters too many (6)

EXCESS : Homophone of(Read out) [“X”+”S”](2 letters in the alphabet).

17 Faithful man of God admits brief deception (6)

STRICT : ST(abbrev. for “saint”/a man of God) containing(admits) [“trick”(a deception) minus its last letter(brief …)].

Defn: Following, say, a ritual, without any deviation from what has been set out.

20 Quirky novel set in secret hideaway (4,4)

LOVE NEST : Anagram of(Quirky) NOVEL SET.

22 Hare in poor health close to exhaustion (3,3)

RUN LOW : RUN(to hare like a hare) + LOW(in a physically or mentally weakened state/in poor health).

Defn: …, as with petrol in your tank.

23 Complex first stage for heating engineers? (3,7)

GAS FITTERS : Anagram of(Complex) FIRST STAGE.

Defn: Those trained in installing and repairing gas fixtures and appliances, including those for heating.

24 Sightseers here perhaps inclined to knock back a little drink (4)

PISA : Reversal of(to knock back) [A + SIP(a little drink/a bit of liquid taken in)].

Defn:  …, like its leaning tower, perhaps after knocking more than a little drink.

25 Trace sister pinching a case of champagne (6)

NUANCE : NUN(a sister in a convent) containing(pinching) A + 1st and last letters of(case of) “champagne“.

26 Reflective nature of mystery plays with mass participation (8)

SYMMETRY : Anagram of(… plays) MYSTERY containing(with … participation) M(symbol for “mass” in physics, as in E=mc2).

Defn: The quality of having one half a mirror image of the other.

Down

1 Screen rock legend holding his head in empty theatre (8)

TELEVISE : [ELVIS(Presley, rock legend) containing(holding) 1st letter of(his head) “Elvis”] contained in(in) “theatre” minus all its inner letters(empty …).

2 Clue from winner eclipsing Boatman’s last (4)

HINT : HIT(a winner/a success) containing(eclipsing) last letter of(…’s last) “Boatman“.

3 In Madrid, the consistent team? (6)

ELEVEN : EL(“the” as said in Madrid, Spain) + EVEN(consistent/without any variation).

4 Electrical device starts to adjust tension 19 fiddled with first (8)

RHEOSTAT : 1st letters, respectively, of(starts to) “adjust tension” placed after(… first) anagram of(… fiddled with) OTHERS(answer to 19 down).

5 Appraisal Nutmeg’s given in online post? (10)

ESTIMATION : I’M(“I am”/Nutmeg is/Nutmeg’s, with the setter using the self-referential pronoun) contained in(given in) [E-(prefix indicating something online/on the Internet) + POST(a station/a place where a specific activity or service is based)].

6 Supported building, somewhere youth can go, as Spooner might have it (4-2)

LEAN-TO : Spoonerism of(…, as Spooner might have it) “teen loo”(as one might call, a loo/toilet where a youth/teenager can go/urinate in).

8 Leave European Community, breaking restraint on power (6)

DECAMP : EC(abbrev. for “European Community”) contained in(breaking) DAM(something to restrain/hold back a flow) + P(symbol for “power” in physics).

13 Jester may take this Scandinavian drink with added extra (6,4)

MICKEY FINN : MICKEY(jester/one who teases/takes the mickey out of you) + FINN(one from Finland, a Scandinavian country).

Defn: …/spiked with a drug surreptitiously added to knock out the drinker.

16 We put in hardened seed to produce plant (5,3)

SWEET PEA : WE contained in(put in) SET(hardened when cooled or left standing, as with concrete) + PEA(a green seed).

18 Addict invested in retro fashion bags (8)

TROUSERS : USER(an addict who, well, uses drugs) contained in(invested in) reversal of(retro) SORT(a kind, as in “his remarks were compliments of a sort/fashion”).

Defn: Clothing of which “bags” are examples.

19 Balance books for ladies (6)

OTHERS : OT(abbrev. for the Old Testament books in the Bible) + HERS(whimsically, plural of “her”/that lady).

Defn: …/the ones left.

21 Impenetrable work leads to awkward questions, upsetting editor (6)

OPAQUE : OP(abbrev. for “opus”, a piece of artistic work) + 1st letters, respectively, of(leads to) “awkward questions, upsetting editor“.

22 Have the audacity to reject initial synopsis (6)

RESUME : “presume”(to have the audacity/to take liberties/to take for granted) minus its 1st letter(to reject initial).

24 Rome’s commoner people brought sandwiches (4)

PLEB : Hidden in(… sandwiches) “people brought“.

Defn: …/ordinary person.

110 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28115 Nutmeg”

  1. A wipeout for me. I failed to solve 15, 22, 23, 24ac and 13, 18d. Of the ones I solved, I could not parse 6d, 7a, 22d.

    [I have a feeling that it is too hard for me to focus on crosswords during the corona virus fiasco]

    Thanks scchua and Nutmeg.

  2. Thanks Nutmeg and scchua

    Great fun. though I didn’t know the first definition of DEVILLED, didn’t see the SORT in TROUSERS, and I revealed RUN LOW.

    Favourites were NUANCE, TELEVISE and MICKEY FINN.

  3. This was very enjoyable.  Many favourites, including 1d TELEVISE, 11a VICTORIANA (good to see that old crossword staple IAN) and 13d MICKEY FINN.  And a Boatman clue at 2d!

    An alternative definition for 18d TROUSERS is bags in the sense of grabs or takes.

    Many thanks Nutmeg and scchua.

  4. A truly excellent puzzle, providing a very enjoyable challenge, one of the best in recent days. The majority of the clues provided both amusement and satisfaction on solving, TELEVISE, VICTORIANA and TROUSERS being good examples.

  5. A testing puzzle tricky in parts and some took a while to tease out (ESTIMATION & the spoonerism). Favourites were TELEVISE and MICKEY FINN.

    I assumed the under malign influence component of 1a to be DEVIL LED.

    Thanks to P+S.

  6. Not quite up to Nutmeg’s usual standards, imo. Yes, most clues are very nice indeed, but a small number seemed a little iffy.
    In 22a, RUN LOW and “close to exhaustion” are not mutually sustitutable, part-of-speech-wise. In 19d OTHERS, the “for” doesn’t seem quite right. Then there is the problem of Elvis and rock legend in 1d. Elvis was declining in importance just as rock was emerging from rock ‘n’ roll, in fact some would say rock differed by being exactly NOT like Elvis.

    The rest are pretty much all model clues. I had some difficuly in 10a untangling a knot of my own making: cricket practice=NETS, all but one of a team (viz. 3d)=TEN, succeeding=S … you get the picture.

  7. A wonderful puzzle! Like muffin@2 I couldn’t get RUN LOW, but loved NUANCE, GASFITTERS, and PLEB in particular. Many thanks indeed to Nutmeg and scchua.

  8. Hs no-one yet mentioned the nina?  Patriotic or Jingoistic – depending upon your country and your politics?

  9. Thanks Nutmeg and scchua.

    In contrast to muffin, I found this not quite up to Nutmeg’s usual enjoyment level, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.

    I also didn’t know the first definition of DEVILLED: I was trying to squeeze something out of “evil”, “deed”, “did”.

  10. Thanks for the blog, scchua.

    A lovely puzzle, as usual, from Nutmeg. So many excellent clues – I’ll pick out 9ac HOSTEL, 10ac NEXT, 23ac GASFITTERS, 1dn TELEVISE and 21dn OPAQUE, just as examples – and a perimeter nina to boot, celebrating the date and  the Vera Lynn spirit of the times.

    Many thanks, Nutmeg – you’re a star.

  11. Another lovely puzzle from a great setter. Found this one pretty tough in places.

    Thanks to Nutmeg and scchua

     

  12. Terri @8 – that probably explains why it was published on St George’s Day, when England claims ownership of a saint who probably knew nothing about Britain…

  14. That’s the first time spotting a nina early has helped me complete a crossword.  Nice work, Nutmeg and thanks scchua, particularly for clarifying first definition of DEVILLED.

  15. Apologies for my stupidity @10 – I was momentarily thinking it was Vera lynn who sang ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’!!

  17. I thought this was consistently lovely with only RUN LOW seeming a bit meh. I also had DEVILLED as DEVIL-LED with worked as the def (see Chambers) – both seem to work well though. My Corgi Registered friends will have been delighted by GAS-FITTERS. I thought NEXT was superb and also TELEVISE which could refer to Elvis Costello? Cheers all

  18. Dr. WhatsOn @6: of course Elvis was a rock legend!  Rock ‘n’ roll was also known as rock at the time – Rock Around the Clock, Jailhouse Rock, Don’t Knock the Rock…

  19. Outstanding stuff. Loads of misleading, yet totally accessible, wordplay. And a Nina to boot. Have to confess I latched onto the Nina and used it to finish off the SW corner.

    Nutmeg is surely the best of the Guardian setters on current form?

  21. Nothing to add to what’s been said here. Another who read 7A as “devil led”. Otherwise plaudits and thanks to scchua and especially Nutmeg for a delightful St George’s Day puzzle/Shakespeare’s birthday.

  23. Boffo @19 – she is certainly in my top five. I am pretty sure who three of the others are, but deciding who gets the final place is a bit competitive – maybe a top ten would be fairer!

  24. Not easy but very satisfying.  Like others I struggled with RUN LOW.  I know Spoonerisms are not universally liked (Eileen, muffin)  but I thought this was a cracker and I always enjoy them anyway.  So, favourites were LEAN TO, NUANCE  – such a lovely word – and OTHERS because the definition was a great tease.

    Indeed, there will always be an England!!  But what of Scotland, Wales and Ireland?

    Many thanks to Nutmeg for another tremendous puzzle and scchua for the, as ever, comprehensive blog!!

  25. Strange how the mind doesn’t work, did this before going to bed and had a total blank on the second part of 22a, also saw ‘the/there’ but discounted a Nina based on the letters following it. Glanced at it this morning and the Nina then 22a were both obvious.

    Super smooth as usual, loved the spoonerism, thanks to Nutmeg and sschua.

  27. SPanza @24

    My test for a Spoonerism is that it must make sense either way round. LEAN-TO passes, just about!

  29. Nutmeg would certainly be in my top 5.  Philistine is number one for me with Arachne a close second although we don’t see much from her these days.  Picaroon and Puck would make up the rest of the top group.

  30. Eileen, for what it is worth I thought your remark was fine!  The Vera Lynn spirit is very evident these days and the Queen, no less, quoted ‘We’ll Meet Again’ at the end of her address.  I guess you like me are barred from choir rehearsals! Such a shame!!

  31. robert @25 and SPanza @29 – you’re both very kind: yes, I was thinking about the Queen’s reference but it got mixed up with all the children’s rainbows in our windows and the impromptu ‘orchestra’ I heard about, playing ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’ from home.

     

  32. Completely missed the Nina, though Shakespeare certainly died on this day, and may well have been born on this day too, though just a baptismal date of 26th April makes it not entirely certain. But certainly the usual excellent Nutmeg puzzle, though couldn’t quite see OTHERS or DEVILLED…

  33. Thanks Nutmeg and scchua

    In 10, I saw the X as simply XI – I, as that’s how teams are generally referred to.

    And 18 I thought was a one-word double definition, with bags as verb as well as garment.

  34. Missed the nina of course, but otherwise managed all except NEXT (I know almost nothing about cricket). However I think ESTIMATION very dodgy. This fairly recent practice of sticking an E in front of some arbitrary word and cluing it as “online” doesn’t appeal to me in the slightest. “E-STATION” is not a word.

  36. I think it’s all been said above. Particularly from Eileen and Spanza: Great puzzle and certainly a Top 5 Setter. Happy St G’s Day and thanks to all

  40. Struggled in too many places, and obviously failed to spot the NINA. Parsed Decamp in 8 as ‘D’ notice (restrain)-ec-amp.

  42. Cracking puzzle, the best so far of a excellent week. Managed to parse all except 7, saw the nina and chuckled over quite a few. 10 and 13 my favourites.

    Many thanks Nutmeg and scchua.

  43. I don’t have a problem with “online post?” = E-STATION. The question mark indicates some lateral thinking required. Just as it does in “under malign influence?” = DEVIL LED. On the other hand, I’m not sure why Nutmeg had a query at the ends of 3d, 10a and 23a.

    I struggled with 22a, but I suppose the Nina explains why Nutmeg used such an awkward phrase rather than a word such as random, which might have been easier to clue.

  44. shatter @43 I think the question marks indicate that they’re examples rather than more direct synonyms

  45. Most enjoyable. A pleasant start to the morning either side of walking down to the Parish Church of St George (observing social distancing, of course) and hoisting the flag…

  46. Definitely something odd about 22a (LOI). I have always disliked There’ll always be an England to say nothing of the absurd Blue Birds Over the White Cliffs of Dover.

    Two very clever ninas this week.

    Thanks to scchua and Nutmeg.

    (Is there a pronunciation for “scchua”?)

  47. With a few to go, solve interrupted by long and pleasant whatsapp, after which brain went to porridge. Knew 7 was devilled but couldn’t parse, still can’t really, and run low was a dnf. So, a bit of a mess, and foi was down at 20ac, which suggests brain already not in gear. 25ac nuance=trace was new; =subtlety, yes, but Collins affirms quantity too (hint, trace, tinge, touch). Terribly slow to get Elvis holding his head inside tr, tho the instructions were clear. 13d very evocative, the name of our first puss (full name: In again Out again Michael Finnegan). So, thanks all, see what happens tomorrow.

  48. Nutmeg is probably my favourite setter at the moment.

    I loved the tipsy nun and the despairing Elvis (who is most certainly a rock legend).

    Spotted the nina but not to my personal tastes/sensibilities.

  49. I’m lost in admiration with this crossword: a brilliant creation from an always engaging setter. There are often a few clues in the Grauniad’s crosswords that make me smile, occasionally there are one or two that make me hug myself with glee – but with this little beauty, NEXT, RESUMÉ, ELEVEN and MICKEY FINN were all wonderful, TELEVISE and EXCESS had me writing “wow!!” in the margin – and as for the awe-inspiring nina….
    April 23rd, for me, has always been more about Shakespeare than St George, a genius whose writings speak to all nations through all times. And he knew a thing or two about surviving pestilence.
    Thank you Scchua for help with completing the parsing to 26a: I’d forgotten M for “mass” and was trying to find some religious connection. And all praise to Nutmeg, crême de la crême, your crosswords are such stuff as dreams are made on….

  52. Thought I had completed this, then noticed that my final check showed I had carelessly entered VICTORIANS at 11a (sigh). Still fun to (almost) solve with the delightful RHEOSTAT/OTHERS combo and the misdirection of GAS FITTERS, where I at first took “engineers” to be an anagrind with “for heating” as the fodder.

    I’m with others who put Nutmeg among their top five setters, and now that Arachne seems to have retired I would rate her as the most consistent in delivering puzzles of high quality. Thanks to her and scchua.

  53. sh @43; R?N?OW was needed to preserve the NINA. Perhaps ‘ran low’ would have been better for ‘close to exhaustion(?)’

    I thought the Spoonerism was fun and I also liked TROUSERS and MICKEY FINN, among others.

    Great setting to produce the NINA without many obscurities – it’s not that easy to do. Thanks Nutmeg and scchua.

  56. I’ll add my praise to Nutmeg and thanks to scchua (also for the enlightenment @51 – all these years I’d been thinking SHWAH !)

    On 22a, I interpreted the RUN in RUN LOW as the past participle rather than the infinitive or present – analogous to ‘feeling run down’ – it then just about works as an equivalent to ‘close to exhaustion’.

  58. Auriga @57 – I wonder how many times the Skewer has blogged the Impaler?

    As Daniel Craig might say – one sympathises.

  59. A very good crossword, and a pleasant tonic while stuck at home. I had doubts about RUN LOW and OTHERS, but the former was just a tough clue, which I convinced myself, eventually, was a sound one, and the latter just works. ‘Balance’ means ‘the remainder’ or ‘the others’, not just ‘others’, but I have to acknowledge that the article can, by convention, be dropped in both clues and solutions.
    I failed to spot the Nina – but that’s normal and hardly worth reporting! But it was something else to appreciate after the fact.
    Thanks to Nutmeg and scchua.

  61. Another Cracker from the Nut lady; thanks for the sentiment and thank you Scchua. The grid screamed NINA, but on two consecutive days? Nonetheless, it still took me too long.  I’d forgotten the date despite  la festa della liberazione (25/4). Strangely I live under the cross of St. George here, I’ll have to wave it, though the locals seem to know nothing of the Geno(v)ese reason why.

    Having finally realized the date, this nitwit’s thoughts are with you lot in England and Wales and Scotland and Ireland (I’m a proper mongrel), but particularly England, today.

  63. Thanks to Nutmeg and scchua. (Not “Skua” then…)

    I’m hmming and hawing all the way through this until eventually I have to reveal RUN LOW (I saw/see no nina). On review I find it quite delightful – at one point I was hoping for a pangram but it was not to be – with many fair tests and elegant surfaces.

    But that’s what I’ve come to expect from the spice-girl, so nothing new there.  So why am I in a state of suspended judgment?  Just a combination of the various niggles articulated in the heretofore and that my own batteries are a bit run down today.  Although most days are days like any other in life, the continual restriction is making me dawny today.  It’ll pass.

    I particularly liked TELEVISED (who else could it be but Elvis? It had to be Elvis – there is no other rock legend) and PISA for the inclining sightseers. (On which: it is advisable to clutch your valuables when lining up to view the leaning tower.  Yes, when abroad it’s always wise to watch your Pisan queues.) (My coat? Oh thanks…..)

  64. poc @ 62 I’m curious now! If you know that Nutmeg did not put an e in front of an arbitrary word or use e-station in the clue which part of your statement are you standing by?

  65. I seem to be in the minority in finding this one not one of Nutmeg’s best.  Nothing much wrong with it overall but not much that shone out either, with the notable exception of PISA, which was excellent with its laugh-out-loud definition.  I’m still struggling to see RUN LOW as a past participle and would have preferred a verbal definition.  OTHERS alone for balance seems a bit tenuous too.  I got it via RHEOSTAT rather than the other way round.  I agree with sheffield hatter @43 regarding the overuse of question marks.  It definitely held me up a bit with ELEVEN.

    SWEET PEA sent me off to the archives because I wondered if Nutmeg was trying a little ongoing surreptitious character placement.  However, POPEYE (Pan recently) and OLIVE OYL (Everyman late last year) were from different setters.  So much for that theory.

    Nina, what Nina?  I still have an almost 100% record of not spotting Ninas when they are there and looking for them when they are not!

    Thanks, Nutmeg and scchua (I was in the “schwa” pronunciation group, so thanks for the clarification!).

  66. Phitonelly: Re: “I’m still struggling to see RUN LOW as a past participle..”

    If “My batteries are run down” (Alphalpha @63) works, why not “My batteries are run low” ?

  67. Very satisfying crossword — I found EXCESS, PISA, TELEVISE, LEAN-TO, and DECAMP to be great clues among orhers. I did not get RUN LOW or NEXT, the former too odd and the latter too convoluted for me. Thanks Nutmeg and Scchua.

  69. True, in principle, il principe @66, but I’ve never heard anyone use the phrase “run low” like that, so it just doesn’t sound right to my ears.

  70. p@ 69  I agree entirel; I’ve never come across it either, but I cannot construct an argument against it.

  72. il principe and phitonelly

    My mind was working along the same lines as il principe’s, which was why I settled on the ‘past participle’ explanation of RUN (though I’m not 100% sure that was Nutmeg’s intention – it would be interesting to know).

    The problem – echoing phitonelly’s reservations @69 – is that I think I would say either ‘My batteries have run low’ or ‘My batteries are running low’.  ‘My batteries are run low’ has an almost Elizabethan feel to it (supposing the Good Queen had access to batteries!)  Using ‘to be’ as an auxiliary in the present perfect, as opposed to ‘to have’, is normal in French, Italian etc but feels archaic in English (‘Behold! He is come!’)

    Perhaps it could be justified as a whimsical/poetic usage, e.g. –

    Dirty old town,

    no place to go,

    folks run down,

    stocks run low…      ?

  73. Rome’s common people are the plebs not pleb ; and where is the indication for the final s in “trousers”?

  74. Well not only did I not see the NINA, I read around the grid and still couldn’t see what it was until SPanza spelt it out.
    Like Tyngewick I back-solved OTHERS from the clue for RHEOSTAT.
    Great crossword. Only had to chat on RUN LOW. Thanks to steer and blogger.

  76. DM @73

    The definition for 24d is “Rome’s commoner”, hence singular; the “people” is part of the hidden word.

    The S in TROUSERS comes from SORT (I hadn’t seen that either).

  77. I’m sorry if this has already been suggested but I’m trying to post in the middle of emergency plumbing, and I’m in no way trying to detract from this wonderful puzzle: Hare in poor health is to come close to exhaustion (3,3)

  78. il principe @77

    Better clue, though rather easier (I would have got it!)

    Good luck with your emergency 🙂

  79. Thanks Muffin. Super Mario ???!!! From the horrors I’ve discovered below my sink, I’m beginning to think the local plumbers are not to be trusted with changing a washer!

  80. Nice one, il principe @77.  I wonder if “hare” can be used as a plural noun in the same way as, say, “deer” can.  If so, you’d just need – “Hare in poor health come close to exhaustion (3,3)”.  Not sure if it works myself.

  81. Plumber today optician yesterday; broken reading glasses but fixed an old pair, broken across the bridge, with a wire tie from a bread bag. Thank God I inherited my grandmother’s war-time mentality of never throwing anything away!

  82. Ah well,it never rains– Yesterday we had gas leaks and electrical faults which screwed up our hot water system. Gas leaks fixed but electrics still down. No puzzle for me yesterday but just finished today’s. Not her best but Ok – didn’t like RUN LOW and had to guess DEVILLED.
    Thanks Nutmeg.

  83. Like Lord Jim, I justified  “bags” =  TROUSERS by thinking of them both as verbs meaning “takes”, but the noun definition works too. I think of that expression as old-fashioned: I’m pretty sure Lord Peter Wimsey refers to trousers as bags, for instance.

    I made slow progress on this puzzle, but each time I thought I was permanently stuck, a penny dropped, making it a satisfying solving experience.

    Like others, I missed the nina and didn’t know the first definition of “devilled”. I also didn’t know that MICKEY could mean “jester”, although I do know the expression “take the mickey”.

    I immediately assumed the rock legend would be ELVIS, but I still couldn’t spot TELEVISE until the very end.

  85. Ted @83 « Jester may take this » is the definition for Mickey.  It was a great crossword that took several sittings to solve, and spotting the Nina helped with 10 and 12.
    Thanks to Scchhua and Nutmeg

  87. Ted @83  MICKEY doesn’t mean jester: the wordplay is ‘jester may take this’:  he may ‘take the mickey’.

  93. 90 comments, impressive, as was this puzzle, a joy as always.

    Loved the tidy anagrams LOVE NEST, GAS FITTERS, A spoonerism which is actually funny (as they should be), and the lovely hidden PLEB were my favourites but it was all good. It took me a while to finish NW

     

    Many thanks nutmeg and thanks schuss

  96. Dr. W @6:  “In 19d OTHERS, the “for” doesn’t seem quite right.”

    His and hers watches, for example. His for gentlemen and hers for ladies.

  98. Splendid puzzle, count me as another who missed the Nina. It took longer to read the comments than do the puzzle.
    I always think ‘trousers’ has a whiff of skulduggery about it as a verb, so prefer the noun interpretation.
    Thanks Nutmeg and scchua.

  99. Thanks to Nutmeg for a lovely puzzle and to scchua for the enlightenment. One minor quibble – I’m sure when I was at school, Scandinavia was DK, SE and NO but not FI which was a Nordic country, but not formally part of Scandi.

    Twas a very long time ago, TBF!

  101. I too enjoyed this puzzle – and the compliments more than than the carpings – but I’m really only posting belatedly so that someone else can score the century…

  104. A nice but very difficult crossword at my level.
    By the way, what is a nina?
    Also Finland is NOT a Scandinavian country as my Norwegian acquaintance often tells me quite forcefully.

  106. I should add that in crossword-land, a nina doesn’t mean that actual name but a hidden word or phrase.

  108. Managed this in just over 24 hours ( didn’t get the paper till after midday due to shopping run). Today’s exercise got brains in gear to finish the NW corner which had been troublesome. Liked the Puzzle and didn’t even look for the NINA – silly us! Thanks Schua and Nutmeg.
    Now we’ll return to the backlog of Everyman puzzles that is keeping us occupied in lockdown. The question is – will lockdown or the backlog be finished first?

  109. “There’ll always be an England… That’s not saying much. There’ll always be a North Pole, unless some fool goes and melts it.” — Michael Flanders c. 1964. Prescient on global warming, too!

  110. Finland is not a country in Scandanavia, a mistake which it seems almost everybody wants to keep making.

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