Guardian Cryptic 28,248 by Nutmeg

by

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28248.

Mostly on the simpler side – for a Nutmeg – but with a couple of definitely tricky parses. In all beautifully crafted.

ACROSS
1 WARTHOG Wild pig‘s growth affected eating acorns, primarily (7)
An envelope (‘eating’) of A (‘Acorns primarily’) Iin WRTHOG, an anagram (‘affected’) of ‘growth’.
5 IMPLANT Fix motorway, returning heavy machinery (7)
A charade of IM, a reversal (‘returning’) of MI (M1, ‘motorway’) plus PLANT (‘heavy machinery’).
9 OASTS A trace of smoke in grain ovens (5)
An envelope (‘in’) of S (‘a trace of Smoke’) in OATS (‘grain’).
10 GRAPESHOT Ammunition shortage at sea brought about start of peace (9)
An envelope (‘brought about’) of P (‘start of Peace’) in GRAESHOT, an anagram (‘at sea’) of ‘shortage’.
11 SAUSAGE DOG Sugared sago confection not right for pet? (7,3)
An anagram (‘confection’) of ‘suga[r]ed sago’ minus the R (‘not right’).
12 PRIM Strait-laced Puritan leader outside (4)
A charade of P (‘Puritan leader’) plus RIM (‘outside’).
14 MEXICAN WAVES Signals from Javier Hernandez causing repeated unrest in crowd? (7,5)
Double definition, the first being a cryptic reference to soccer player Chicharito’s Mexican origin.
18 ARISTOPHANES Peer hard in windows to see ancient playwright (12)
A charade of ARISTO (aristocrat, ‘peer’) plus PHANES, an envelope (‘in’) of H (‘hard’) in PANES (‘windows’).
21 POGO 12 attempt to jump up and down (4)
A charade of PO (po-faced, ‘prim’) plus GO (‘attempt’).
22 SERVES TIME Goes down and dishes up porridge (6,4)
A charade of SERVES (‘dishes up’) plus TIME (‘porridge’ in the same sense as the definition).
25 PARCHMENT What was written on role filled by church workers? (9)
An envelope (‘filled by’) of CH (‘church’) plus MEN (‘workers’) in PART (‘role’).
26 AT ALL A running total, not complete in any circumstances (2,3)
A TALL[y] (‘a running total’) minus the final letter (‘not complete’).
27 REDRAFT Revise sketch of Marxist a good deal (7)
A charade of RED (‘Marxist’) plus RAFT (‘a good deal’).
28 SEEK OUT With effort, find believer abroad, we’re told (4,3)
Sounds like (‘we’re told’) SIKH (‘believer’) plus OUT (‘abroad’)
DOWN
1 WHOOSH Husband in court quietly passing wind by the sound of it (6)
An envelope (‘in’) of H (‘husband’) in WOO (‘court’) plus SH (‘quietly’; commonly in crosswords, ‘quietly’ indicates the musical P, while ‘quiet’ gives SH as an imperative, but ‘quietly’ can be a less strident request). In the definition, the source of the wind is, of course, atmospheric.
2 RISQUE Daring revolt stopped by queen (6)
An env elope (‘stopped by’) of QU (‘queen’) in RISE (‘revolt’).
3 HIS MAJESTY The king‘s changing suit in alarm when Sally comes in (3,7)
An envelope (‘when … comes in’) of JEST (‘sally’). in HISMAY, which is DISMAY (‘alarm’) with the D replaced by H (Diamonds to Hearts,’changing suit’).
4 GIGUE Lively dance lifts Brussels band’s performance (5)
A reversal (‘lifts’ in a down light) of EU (‘Brussels’) plus GIG (‘band’s performance’).
5 INAMORATA Withdrawal of a man from capital breaking heart of Latin lover (9)
A reversal (‘withdrawal’) of an envelope (‘breaking’) of A ROMAN (‘a man from capital’) in ATI (‘heart of lATIn’), Cue in Flanders and Swann.
6 PHEW I’m relieved to see seat outside hotel (4)
An envelope (‘outside’) of H (‘hotel’) in PEW (‘seat’).
7 ASH GROVE Threatened woodland remains good to roam (3,5)
A charaade of ASH (‘remains’) plus G (‘good’) plus ROVE (‘roam’).
8 TOTEMIST One adores images from Carry On film (8)
A charade of TOTE (‘carry’) plus MIST (‘film’). Sid James, Hattie Jacques et al are nowhere is sight.
13 SWEEPSTAKE Rushes through to grab a draw (10)
A charade of SWEEPS (‘rushes through’) plus TAKE (‘grab’).
15 IMPLEMENT Carry out apparatus (9)
Double definition.
16 BAGPIPER Acquire stout upright piano imported for musician (8)
An envelope (‘imported’) of P (‘piano’) in BAG (‘acquire’) PIER (‘stout upright’).
17 LINGERED Died slowly, days after one kicked off nightie (8)
A charade of LINGER[i]E (‘nightie’) minus the I (‘after one kicked off’) plus D (‘days’).
19 VIRAGO Victor in the past bearing Irish battleaxe (6)
An envelope (‘bearing’) of IR (‘Irish’) in V (‘victory’) plus AGO (‘in the past’).
20 ZEALOT Enthusiast starts to translate early Zola novel (6)
An anagram (‘novel’) of TE (‘starts to Translate Early’) plus ‘Zola’.
23 VOTES Group in uprising chose to violate polls (5)
A hidden (‘group in’) reversed (‘uprising’) answer in ‘choSE TO Violate’.
24 RHEA We’re instructed to nurture grounded bird (4)
Sounds like (‘we’re instructed’) REAR (‘nurture’).

 

image of grid

75 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,248 by Nutmeg”

  1. Sweet as a nut from the spice lady and a pangram to boot (I only saw that after someone on the G thread said “alphabet soup”). Easy though, well under the hour here at a leisurely potter which will mean write-in speed for nimbler brains. Didn’t know the footballer but his nationality was evident. Pogo for prim attempt was a bit of a giggle, as was the whoosh clue, and the lingering nightie (’twas not the Almighty…). All good fun, thanks Nutmeg and PeterO.

  2. Favourite:  ARISTOPHANES (foi) – the only clue I solved on my first pass of the across clues. Also liked VIRAGO, HIS MAJESTY, OASTS, WHOOSH (loi).

    Did not parse INAMORATA, PRIM (I was wondering about PM outside RI), ash grove = threatened woodland in the UK?

    Never heard of Javier Hernandez (footballer) – found him via google. Also new: porridge = time spent in prison.

    Thanks, Peter & Nutmeg

  3. A dnf due to INAMORATA, which I’d heard of but didn’t remember and would never have gotten from the wordplay (no criticism of the setter, just my own lack of imagination). Otherwise tightly clued as usual from Nutmeg. I didn’t know either GIGUE or VIRAGO, but worked out both from the wordplay. Being on the lookout for a pangram (I think Nutmeg may do more of those than most other setters) helped me with MEXICAN WAVES. Good fun even in defeat, so thanks to Nutmeg. Thanks also to PeterO for the early blog and pointing out that VOTES was a reverse hidden word (I had TES as ‘group (set) in uprising’ and couldn’t figure out the VO – d’oh!).

  4. Quite a gem of a puzzle. Had to wander all over the place to get footholds on the grid, but gradually it all flowed serenely. First one in was GRAPESHOT and last was HIS MAJESTY, with much to challenge/enjoy in between. GIGUE was new-to-me, but readily solvable from the clue. The required background knowledge was over a wide range, but nothing to stress the well-informed guy or gal. Very pleasant entertainment overall.   …   PS: to complete the day I only hope the parsing-police are as uniquely creative and entertaining as they were yesterday ….

  5. Thanks Peter. Much as Grant over in the west #1 – the RISQUE clues, great surfaces, were quite Pauline. Only aids needed was for GIGUE after the event, for info. Totally failed to parse 3D.

  6. Always great surfaces with Nutmeg — this crossword was a pleasure despite needing the dreaded reveal button on a couple of occasions. Favourites included REDRAFT, WHOOSH, SWEEPSTAKE, and ZEALOT. Thanks PeterO for the blog. I agree with your descriptor, ” beautifully crafted.”

  7. Loved every minute! Top half fell first, then bottom half. SW last in. I had ticks everywhere – agree with Tony@6 re the surfaces. For instance, “Peer hard” in ARISTOPHANES (18a), “Carry On” in TOTEMIST 8d and “stout upright” in BAGPIPER (16d) were brilliant pairings that successfully threw me off the scent along the way before the PDMs happened. Other great clues gave 14a MEXICAN WAVES, 21a POGO, 22a SERVES TIME, 2d RISQUE (as mentioned by Molonglo@5), 3d HIS MAJESTY (as for Michelle@2), and 20d ZEALOT (as for Tony@6).

    Didn’t spot the pangram but all fun fun fun nevertheless. I didn’t understand ASH GROVE at 7d either, Michelle@2 – although Ashgrove – one word – is a suburb of Brisbane, our capital city in Queensland. Perhaps someone from the UK can explain?

    A million thanks for spicing up my day, Nutmeg, and to PeterO for a very thorough early blog.

  10. That was lovely though I needed help with several parsings (HIS MAJESTY, TOTEMISE, GIGUE), all of which now look obvious. I did not know RAFT = good deal and got GIGUE by confusing GIG with ‘jig’ +UE which left me confused. I should have googled it… Loved ARISTOPHANES and SAUSAGE DOG, which always reminds me of my grandmother whose dachshunds used to sit on her knee and chew the table (which I now have, complete with bitemarks). Many thanks to PeterO for the clear explanations and to Nutmeg for a great pangrammic puzzle.

  12. An enjoyable early morning workout.

    I am mildly kicking myself for not parsing 22ac, 26ac, 28ac. Less so for not parsing 27ac because the use of raft to mean a good deal was just too clever for me.

    I missed that it was a pangram, though that’s never something I get terribly excited about anyway. It was, though, a beautifully crafted puzzle without a single duff clue, and some real gems – particular favourites MIS MAJESTY, TOTEMIST, ARISTOPHANES. Thanks to setter and blogger.

     

  13. I love a Nutmeg. This is practically drunken dancing on tables from the good lady: WHOOSH? PHEW? Obscure Mexican footballers? Fart jokes?

    Ace.

  14. Loved the ‘we’re instructed’ to denote a homophone.

    Never heard of a GIGUE but the word rather jumped out from the clue. Not too sure about LINGERED which denotes ‘staying a while’ without necessarily dying – one can linger indefinitely.

    Thanks Nutmeg for the Pangram and Peter O.

  15. And a pangram within the clues, as well as the solutions. Much more real estate to play with, sure, but more likely deliberate than accidental.

    Thanks to Nutmeg and Peter O.

  16. Surprisingly I spotted the pangram fairly early on after getting RISQUÉ, HIS MAJESTY andZEALOT. This helped with the SW corner which took a while to fall. Having encountered bagpipes at close quarters I am not sure I would totally agree that a player of them was a musician (!?).
    No problem for this football loving musician with GIGUE or MEXICAN WAVE.
    Thanks PeterO for explanations of AT ALL and TOTEMIST which I didn’t fully understand.
    Thanks also to Nutmeg for a fun puzzle.

  17. I can’t refer to any specific poster and say I agree with them today, because everyone has, so far, loved this so just add me to the pack.  Nutmeg is one of my absolute favourites with her consistently succinct and perfect clueing dressed in smooth surfaces.  A joy from 1 to 28.  I did spot the pangram.  Quenbarrow has been quietly keeping track of the relative absence of J’s and that letter is my “pangram alert”.  When HIS MAJESTY popped up about two thirds of the way through (thanks PeterO for the parsing on that one), I began looking at what I’d got and realised only the F and Z were missing.  ZEALOT was last in bar three or four and completed the A-Z.  I’m one who admires a pangram (I recall hearing of a setter who made her (I think) debut – possibly in the Independent or FT – with a quadruple pangram!).  I wonder how difficult they are to do.  A post on here fairly recently suggested they might be random.  Maybe a setter will pop in one day and tell us.

    Hard to single out a favourite from so many contenders.  The onomatopoeic WHOOSH was delightful, WARTHOG confused briefly when I identified the wart with the growth but is a lovely anagram, ASH GROVE has a lovely surface even though it refers to a sad development (Michelle @8 and JinA @7 – you identified the problem correctly.  Having lost most of our elms, our oaks, ash, larch and much of our firs are all plagued in one way or another).  TOTEMIST was a stand out with the brilliant misdirect caused by just two capital letters, BAGPIPER was a laugh out loud (once I’d dismissed anything to do with timpani which has an imported ‘p’), I was lead astray for a while by the clever use of battleaxe in VIRAGO, I loved the economy of the RISQUE surface.  What a delightful way to end the week.

    Many thanks Nutmeg and PeterO

  18. Such wonderful surfaces – a gem of a puzzle, as others have said. Invidious to pick favourites clues, but maybe ARISTOPHANES, INAMORATA, POGO and TOTEMIST. Many thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO.

  19. [I could have done this pangram research before pressing Post on my comment @17, but have just done the obvious Google search.  The setter was Maize – who is a he, not a she.  It was indeed a debut puzzle in the Independent (9392) and thereafter he produced a penta-pangram for his 2018 New Year’s day puzzle (Independent 9740).  Which means there will be a blogs in the archives here.  For anyone who’s interested in giving it a go.  I’m going to – though, of course, I do now know what I’m looking for.]

  21. Great fun puzzle! I couldn’t parse inamorata and his majesty, so many thanks for that. When looking at the completed grid my eye was drawn to the AAA in column 2, EEE in row 14 and III in row 2, but that may just be coincidence.

  22. Thanks PeterO, I didn’t know Jest = sally, that a pier was the post as well as the promenade, and a few more things too (and you have v=victory in the blog 19d but surely it’s just v= victor in the NATO alphabet?).

    LOI LINGERED as I never think of a nightie as lingerie, must have been married too long. Also RIM doesn’t equate to outside for me but that’s a minor quibble to keep rodshaw happy. NW went in quickly, followed by SE and by then clearly a potential pangram but didn’t help me with 14A where I had to google the footballer before it clicked. More googling to check others after the fact but I never mind that as a) it proves the clues were well enough constructed to solve without the particular gk/dictionary knowledge required and b) i learn things.

    Favourites ARISTOPHANES (dimly recalled from flyers for his plays around university, great clue here),TOTEMIST and WHOOSH but could easily list quite a few more so thanks Nutmeg for a very enjoyable and taxing puzzle.

  23. Like Mark @17 I’m not going to refer to every poster who’s said what I’d want to say. I broadly agree with him and Julie @7 but, really, George @9 has said it all – again. 😉

    I think this is the first time I have ever spotted a pangram but, as I said the other day, that’s largely because I never think of looking for them and, like NeilH @12, I’m not terribly excited about them, anyway.

    Beobachterin @10 – The Ash Grove is indeed a folk song:

    Down yonder green valley, where streamlets meander,
    When twilight is fading I pensively rove
    Or at the bright noontide in solitude wander,
    Amid the dark shades of the lonely ash grove;

    and I think I’ve sung more than one hymn to the tune.

    A lovely way to start the day – huge thanks to Nutmeg, as ever, and to PeterO, especially for the link: that’s the way my mind always turns, whenever I see INAMORATA.

  24. Munromad@16 If course, a true Scottish gentleman is someone who knows how to play the bagpipes, but doesn’t.

    A lovely puzzle. Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO.

  25. Much to enjoy here, but spoiled by the dreadful “homophone” at 24d. Even aside from the usual rhoticism issue, the vowel sounds are entirely different to my ear.

  26. I found this fairly straightforward. I admired the cogent, polished surfaces of virtually all clues which aren’t forced by-and-large, with tenuous anagrinds or other indicators.  Having said that, I wasn’t impressed by “A trace of smoke…” to generate the ‘S’  in OASTS.

    I never think to look for a pangram which wouldn’t have helped me in this instance.  I didn’t think it necessary to look up the footballer as the name was obviously from a Spanish speaking country and the “W” I had, gave the game away.

    Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO.

     

  27. Oh please, let’s not have the usual homophone discussion. As I’ve said before, one can’t write a homophone clue that will satisfy all dialects/accents. If you consult Collins and Oxford online and listen to the pronunciations, RHEA and rear are pretty close.

    Excellent crossword, up to her usual high standard I thought. I had to laugh at the clue for WHOOSH – as someone else said above, Paul now has some competition. Too many other good clues to mention, and I followed the ‘J’ rule once I got HIS MAJESTRY and found the pangram, although it wasn’t a lot of help with the solving. Mark @17; I think it is extremely unlikely that one could generate a pangram by accident. Setters often need some inspiration before starting, be it a theme, a pangram, puns etc.

    Thanks to Nutmeg for brightening my day and to PeterO for the useful blog.

  29. I need to apologise to Nutmeg for my appraisal on the puzzle page.

    I started like a house on fire and completed the top half (but for 5d which only had vowels from the acrosses). I actually entered ROMA to no avail, my bad for not thinking of reversing it!

    Not only that but I tried HOGWART, having thought of WARTHOG immediately,  and ASH Trays – so near but so far!  I ruled out Warthog because the W seemed unlikely in 1d , Whoosh :O.

    Once I was bogged down and reduced to guessing obvious letters, which did not appear,  I think I lost patience.

    I got to Mexican Waves barring the X and C , getting there with guesses! As a football fan I was amazed when I guessed the C and the penny dropped, how obvious should it have been?  Great clue Nutmeg!

    After seeing the solutions, thank you Peter, I have learned a another lesson re my blinkered view of clues.

    e.g. court (woo), stout upright (not upright piano), Carry without the ON etc never gave me a chance of solving the full clue. Furtermore, “Early zola” gave me the Z and from there Zealot was obvious but the logic was missing yet again.

    My frustration was down to my immaturity and not Nutmeg’s clues. Many apologies Nutmeg.

    I had enjoyed several clues “Serves time” was best, before I got frustrated.

     

    Got His Majesty quickly from King (And from there tried Warthog) but never got close to Peter’s explanation.

    Good work Peter, thank you.

     

     

     

     

     

  30. Anyone else think that the device in “A trace of smoke…” is a bit iffy?  It didn’t hamper my solving but it just seemed a very unusual device which isn’t specific unlike such things as ‘primarily’ or ‘heart of’.

  32. Mark @31  That might justify it but I might also have the trace of beard having just shaved badly and the trace is what’s left. I don’t think trace implies beginning.

     

  33. Am I the only person who had to Google Javier H..? Am I the only one who fell for Carry On films and so couldn’t parse 8d? Otherwise, I was totally on the right wavelength and the answers came along quickly. Missed the pangram as usual. Thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO.

  35. Robi@27: Although it’s true that homophones will often depend on the accent, in Guardian crosswords the non-rhotic pronunciation is always favoured over the rhotic, and this can materially affect the difficulty of the clue. I for one couldn’t solve 24d but had to reveal it, and I’m afraid that spoiled the puzzle for me.

  36. Robi @27: Random arrival at a pangram wasn’t my theory.  As I said, it was suggested in another post.  I’m definitely in the subset of those who enjoy pangrams.  Precisely because I appreciate the extra time, effort and artistry surely required.  Same goes for themes, NINA’s, acrostics and the like.  Selecting the grid, populating it whilst incorporating the device and then clueing in such a way that we solvers don’t look for or spot it, fills me with admiration and certainly heightens the puzzle experience.  When the clueing is as smooth as Nutmeg’s, particularly so.  Sure, there are times the device leads to forcing a solution that grates and this community is quick to cry foul but we’ve been fortunate to enjoy some really good examples of late.

  37. Eileen @34.  That’s what I took trace to mean but it is a new one on me. I’ve always assumed single letter indicators were more specific. A trace of smoke might be OK, if you get my gist 😉

  38. A typically elegant offering from Nutmeg. By the time I’d worked my way down to MEXICAN WAVES (“You have to say that’s magnificent” – Barry Davies) it was clear that a maximum break of 26 was on the cards. My favourite was possibly TOTEMIST, which had me doing a Sid James-style chuckle.

    Michelle @2, so you’ve never seen Porridge? It’s the best sitcom ever, far superior to the one themed in yesterday’s puzzle. Now that might spark a lively discussion…

  39. Beobachterin @10, Eileen@23 – those words are a literary English set put to a Welsh version of the tune. I don’t have any of my homeland’s native language so I cannot tell what the original words meant. However, the without the (also probably 18th or 19th century) modulation the tune itself is one of a substantial Anglo-Welsh family including the Morris dance Constant Billy (and possibly also William and Nancy), the naval mutiny folk song The Death of Parker, and various others. The earliest form I can find is a 13th century 2-part hymn to the Virgin, Edi Beo Thu, much recorded, including by my near neighbour Shirley Collins. I have had musicians in a folk session playing five different versions, from all 13th to 20th century, simultaneously, and including the 13 century lower part. Eight centuries of continuous tradition!

    A diversion from this quite excellent puzzle, but I hop of interest to some.

  41. A very enjoyable puzzle.  Favourites were 6d PHEW and 8d TOTEMIST.

    Pentman: as Eileen suggests, it’s just one of those crossword conventions that “a bit of” or “a little of” usually means the first letter.  Whether it’s a convention that really makes sense or is worth keeping up is I suppose a matter of opinion.

    poc @25 and Robi @27: similarly I think the convention is that a homophone usually means a homophone in received pronunciation, unless indicated otherwise (“in the East End” etc).  Again, whether or not you like the convention is up to you.

    Many thanks Nutmeg and PeterO.

  42. I really liked this, a fine example of crossword setting, nothing too outlandish or contrived. Just about the right difficulty level for me as well. But that’s two pangrams in a row that I have missed, must try harder.

  43. I found this easier than any previous Nutmeg puzzles but still harder than yesterday’s puzzle. Did not get POGO or LINGERED and made more use of the dictionaries in getting the others but managed to parse all but two of the others eventually and liked the wordplay a lot.

    Favourites HISMAJESTY IMPLANT VOTES

    Thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO.

  45. Like others, I worked steadily through, and for once, no external lookups! On 14a I hadn’t heard of the hombre, but W as the start of the second word was a big help. Thanks to setter and blogger.

  46. Michelle @8

    Thanks for the link. I had suspected that ‘threatened’ in 7D might mean something of the sort, but a very brief search did not turn it up (as the link says, it has not been front page news), and I did not get back to do a more thorough search.

    In addition to the musical link that I did add, I might have added a couple of others, as varied as Bach for 4D GIGUE (I’m a little surprised at the number of comments from people who either did not know any of the Bach pieces, or did not realize they were dance based) and Cole Porter for 19D VIRAGO, with its intricate and delightful internal rhymes – “pretty, itty-bitty Pitti Palace”, and more pertinently:

    Where is Fedora, the wild virago?
    It’s lucky I missed her gangster sister from Chicago.

    though maybe not quite ‘battleaxe’ in this context.

  47. An excellent puzzle, with good clues and surfaces, and a pangram too (which I didn’t spot).
    As with Michelle (@2), ARISTOPHANES was my only answer on my first pass through the Across clues. And about half way through it took me a while to get LINGERED (because I couldn’t think of that particular meaning of the word, and perhaps also because ‘nightie’ wasn’t indicated as an example of ‘lingerie’) and ASH GROVE (which, like Michelle and Julie (@7), I didn’t recognise as a particular thing as defined in the clue).
    Despite those minor hold-ups, this puzzle was a pleasure to solve.
    Thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO.

  48. Wow – top half went in in the blink of an eye and then I struggled as the effect of the coffee wore off…

    But this was a class puzzle so top-marks to Nutmeg and thanks to PeterO.

    [Munromad @16 – you ain’t heard BAGPIPES until you’ve heard Bagrock – https://rhcp.scot/ I’ll say no more because we’ve told off about discussiing music before 🙂 ]

  51. I just wanted to mention one thing: In college I directed a production of the late Terrence McNally’s play Lips Together, Teeth Apart. (If you don’t know McNally’s work, read up–he was a wonderful writer whom we lost to COVID this spring.) I became rather familiar with the script.

    Anyway, there’s one scene where one of the two men is doing a crossword, and his wife comes behind him and, after a second or so, annoyingly says, “Gigue. 4 down is gigue.”

    I kid you not.

  54. mrpenney @53 – I wouldn’t be surprised.

    And you’ve reminded me of this, from last autumn, where an Arachne puzzle featured in a wonderful TV series (but it’s rather the other way round).

  55. Thank you Nutmeg and PeterO.

    Lovely puzzle, completed with a sleeping baby granddaughter on my lap. When she was awake she was fascinated by the black and white squares.

    Only commented to add 1ac to Flanders and Swann animal song memories.

  56. MaidenBartok@48, thanks for the link. Not really my scene I am afraid. I can just about stomach”the pipes” in Peter Maxwell Davies’ An Orkney wedding with Sunrise. As you say we got reprimanded for discussing music before so I will stop droning on ?.

  57. Mark @17 I followed your quenbarrow rule, and when I noticed after finishing the puzzle that HIS MAJESTY had a J chased after and found the pangram. Thanks for the tip.

    17d LINGERED I’ve never thought of a nightie as “lingerie” either, and in fact I’ve never said the word out loud because I can’t bring myself to use the pseudo-French “lonjeray,” and I’ve never seen the plausible but nonexistent anglicised form that might rhyme with “gingery.”  So I pronounce it “underwear.”

    Have you ever wondered why there is no male equivalent of “battleaxe” or “virago”?  The behavior that the terms criticize in women is presumably normal for men — in fact “virago” means “acting like a man.”

    goujeers @40 I know a tune for “edi beo thu,” and it’s nothing like the one for The Ash Grove.  I found it in Noah Greenberg’s “An English Songbook,” a collection of medieval and Renaissance music from England.

    I had to search hard for the words in Welsh, but eventually came across something that begins

    Ym mhalas Llwyn Onn gynt,
    fe drigai pendefig,
    Efe oedd ysgweiar
    ac arglwydd y wlad;

    It does work to the traditional Ash Grove tune.  While searching, I typed “The Ash Grove” with one hand off by one key on the keyboard and produced “yhr sdh htob” — which almost looks like Welsh!

    munromad @56 — droning on about bagpipes?

  59. I had no idea it’s called the “Mexican” Wave – at least on this side of the pond, it’s just the “Wave!” And I loved INAMORATA…

    Thanks to PeterO and Nutmeg.

  60. Aahhh! another day, another homophone debate.  Wonderful.

    Fine puzzle, not as tricky as Nutmeg can be.  Of course I missed the pangram (I looked for a Nina and a theme, but not the third element of the trifecta), but no worries.  The only real raised eyebrow came at the use of “withdrawal” as a reversal indicator in a down clue.  I can’t really see how this works, but it didn’t prevent me from solving the clue (with sufficient crossers).  Loved TOTEMIST.  Indeed, one does!

    Thanks, Nutters and PeterO

  62. @58 Depends what you mean by “home county”.  Mine was Humberside, and I would only hear the second “r” in “rear” when there was a vowel after it.

  63. I did finish the whole puzzle 🙂 for which, as an American, always makes me happy, BUT… I really wouldn’t mind a deeper explanation of SERVES TIME… I got it from “goes down” (slang) but not the porridge part.

  64. Glenn, “porridge” is another British slang term for jail time.  They’re way more creative about that stuff than we are.

  65. @Eileen Goujeers and Valentine, thank you for the further reflections on Ash Grove: fascinating.
    mrpenney, I love the connection with tge play.
    On the pangram, every codeword puzzle (daily in the Independent and the Evening Standard and elsewhere for all I know) so in terms of the technical construction they can’t be all that difficult. This is much more elegant though.

  66. Finally caught up after missing almost a week of crosswords on my holiday in Scotland. This is my fifth crossword completed today, so the brain cells were firing on all cylinders. Did this one in an hour, including the killer sudoku above it in the paper.

    What’s that? It’s an easier than normal Nutmeg? Curses! Another ego dent to add to my failure (yet again) to spot a pangram.

    Has there ever been a homophone clue that has not prompted at least one complaint on this site? I thought “we’re instructed” was a good indicator, and a four-letter bird with second letter H, sounds a little bit like a word for nurture, what’s the problem? It made me smile, anyway.

    Thanks Nutmeg.

  67. I got the homophone, probably because I’ve never actually heard anyone talk about the flightless bird. I’m sorry for anyone whose ornithological conversations stopped them from completing the puzzle.

  69. As others I enjoyed this. Quibble was with 21a. Po-faced might at a push = PRIM but I don’t think that PO (from pot de chambre) can on its own.
    Thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO

  71. PeterO @70
    I ought to check with the BRB before commenting here but it involves getting up out of my chair and going into another room and too often I’m too idle but, now that you’ve made me, my edition says “po-faced = stupidly solemn and narrow-minded:stolid,humourless” and “prim = exact and precise:stiffly formal” and, as I said, I think it is pushng it to equate the two.

  72. Totally foxed by 8 down. Had to go to 225 to see the explanation. Seems someone

    else remembers Janice from Wednesfield.

  73. Late to this, but could someone explain why raft = good deal? I can’t see the connection. Someone else said they hadn’t got it but it was never explained further in the comments.

    Thanks, PeterO and Nutmeg!

  74. Val@73. ‘Raft’ and ‘a good deal’ as in ‘a large amount’ eg ‘a raft of ideas’, and ‘a good deal of money’

  75. I’ve only just finished this brilliant crossword, so I’m late to the party and no one will see this, but I had to point out something.

    Mark@36 mentioned his fondness for pangrams, ninas, etc., which I share. But did anyone notice that this was a NINA-PANGRAM (or PANGRAM-NINA)? That is, all 26 letters appear in un-crossed lights. I’m sure that was not unintentional, which makes it even more impressive.

    Here in eastern Canada our ash trees too have been devastated by the dreaded ash-borer.

    Thanks Nutmeg PeterO and the usual blogger suspects for all the fun.

    P.S. I also have what I think is a definitive answer to the endless homophone debate, but I’ll save it for another day.

     

Comments are closed.