Guardian Cryptic 28,377 by Nutmeg

77 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,377 by Nutmeg”

1. Elegant crossword with so much to like, especially TEARAWAY and NEW ZEALANDERS. I was hoping my LOI at 24 down was going to complete the pangram but not to be, and loonapick explains the reason nicely.Great stuff Nutmeg.

   [For those who missed it, I recommend that you read Cookie’s excellent spot @48 yesterday]

2. Normally relish Nutmeg, but after an hour pottering, less than half done, it was becoming a slog. Then the SW yielded and it all went in with no tooth-grinding. And looking back, her clues were as succinct as ever, so just my brain state. Liked pivot (very in lately) and the bell-ringer’s relations, and the ‘ound in a sting (perennial trick). Thanks to both.

3. Thanks loonapick. I failed to completely explain WATER BUTTS, as I was trying to use an anagram of steward with the d removed.

   Thanks also to Nutmeg for a pleasant puzzle.

4. I always enjoy Nutmeg and this was no exception.
   “Lightweight director” would have been a bit unfair for 24
   Thanks Nutmeg and loonapick

5. Re 1a – is it not the point of the DARK WEB that it is beyond the reach of surfers?

6. Nutmeg in mischievous mood today with the Paulian incorporation of SEX, BUTT and LAV but all done in the best possible taste. LEAN was LOI and, like others, I was sure we were headed for a pangram which confused me for some time. Add me to the fan club for TEARAWAY and NEW ZEALANDERS. I also ticked WATER BUTTS, GNOSTIC, QUARTERSTAFF, DEPICT and the lovely ASTOUNDING – although an ‘ound and a pooch are different classes of canine in our house! Finally, I thought both MAIN LINE and DOG WATCH were nicely constructed.

   I take loonapick’s point about ‘snatching’ and maybe Nutmeg might have incorporated ‘away’ to be clear. But it could work as either inclusion or deletion indicator for me, depending on context/circumstances. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

   Thanks Nutmeg and loonapick

7. Enjoyed that whilst waiting for the cricket to start. Favourite was TEARAWAY, but also liked COMPRESSED AIR and NEW ZEALANDERS.

   [I think I’ll ask Ry Cooder to get Jesus on that MAIN LINE.]

   Thanks Nutmeg and loonapick

8. Wow, I thought, that was hard for a Monday.

   Then I realised it was Wednesday.

   Lockdown!

   Couldn’t parse BASIS or GNOSTIC so thanks loonapick.

   And thanks Nutmeg for some lovely clues; I think WATERBUTTS was my favourite.

9. Lovely, – simply lovely.

10. Thanks Nutmeg – enjoyed COMPRESSED AIR, AST’OUNDING, MA-IN-LINE, DOG WATCH, QUARTERSTAFF.
    [19d recalled Thomas Hood (a masterclass in groanworthy punning):
    “His death, which happened in his berth,
    At forty-odd befell.
    They went and told the SEXTON
    And the SEXTON toll’d the bell.”) ]

11. Great puzzle, quite tough. Same favourites as others, but add in GNOSTIC. Many thanks to Nutmeg and loonapick.

12. Tougher than Monday and Tuesday but great fun. Thanks to Nutmeg and loonapick. I think the definition at 1a could say ‘some surfers’ but it worked ok for me as is.

13. What George Clements @9 said. (‘One that’s sadly dropped’ loveliest of all.)

14. Thank you to Nutmeg – I enjoyed the delightful surfaces. 21/22a NEW ZEALANDERS* was definitely my favourite, as already nominated by others above. [*So sorry to our friends “across the ditch” that Queensland has again closed the temporary Trans Tasman bubble due to COVID community transmission. NZ and Australia have been so fortunate to have had the ability to isolate our island nations over this past year.] I gave other ticks for DEPICT at 1d and OVAL at 6d (and I agree with others about 5a GNPSTIC and 76d TEARAWAY). Cheers also to loonabpick for a helpful blog, as I couldn’t see the full parse for a couple.

15. Me@14: GNOSTIC – grrr!

16. Alan@1 – thanks for the tip about yesterday’s Matilda (and thanks to Cookie, too). There I was thinking it was rather lightweight. Looking at it again this morning I counted about 10 theme words – there could be more? Am now applying that tin tray. (Said tray is wonderfully referenced in the forum today; even though the utube link provided by medvedox takes you to a different kind of use of the tray it provides the kind of belly laugh we all need from time to time these days.)

17. Most enjoyable, as usual from this first rank setter.

    Somewhat surprised at our excellent blogger’s raised eyebrow re snatchingg as a removal indicator. For me, it conjured a word picture of the C of CLOSER being snaffled to leave LOSER.

    Cookie, if you’re around, so sorry I missed your fine spot yesterday, completely missed the theme altogether.

    Many thanks, both.

18. Snatching…sorry!

19. Sunshine, Nutmeg & HMHB references – what’s not to like?
    Even the multi-word answers are lined up sequentially in the grid 🙂
    Superb stuff

20. Thanks Nutmeg and loonapick
    Lovely. Favourite also TEARAWAY.
    I’m struggling to see why”facing” is TO in 9a. Could anyone elucidate, please?

21. @bodycheetah @19 – I consider myself a reasonable HMHB scholar, but I’m missing the references to which you refer – what are they?

22. [Skinny @21 The sexton’s wife from the best-kept village nearby…
    Inter’s end on derby day.]

23. Thanks Penfold. Always nice to see

24. [Couldn’t remember the duck, tho it’s not new, but surfing and deleting from my old-tech HD recorder, came across Goldeneye, starring whatsisname, Mr Remington Steel (one of Streep’s, er, beaux in Mama Mia) and watched it for a bit of fun, so that helped]

25. muffin @20: I read it as “facing the sky” or “to the sky”.

26. [yesyess @8: Wednesday, you say? Which year? It’s all starting to blur….]

    Foud that very hard going and was on the lookout for the pangram-which-wasn’t.

    FOI was DARK WEB (if you haven’t been there, don’t…); LOI was more than I care to think about.

    COTD has to be COMPRESSED AIR – love it!

    Thanks Nutmeg and loonapick!

27. It’s always good to see Nutmeg’s name atop a puzzle, which inevitably leads to an entertaining and satisfying solve.

    This was another beauty with ticks by me for GNOSTIC, NEW ZEALANDER, WATER BUTTS, the nicely compact OVAL, and the standout TEARAWAY. Most dictionaries seem to give DOGWATCH as one word, although it’s given as an alternative in ‘American English.’

    Thanks Nutmeg and loonapick.

28. Harder than the last 2 days but very satisfying. Couldn’t parse REITERATE. Took a while to get LEAN. Thanks to Nutmeg and Loonapick

29. Fun puzzle.
    Favourites: SULTANATE, GNOSTIC, OVAL, DARK WEB, DEPICT, PIVOT.
    New for me: WATER BUTTS.

    Thanks, Nutmeg and loonapick

30. Well I’m afraid there’s a few I still don’t get. so despite some great clues I can’t quite share the enthusiasm expressed already ..

    Didn’t know you could inspire compressed air

    Can’t see clear = fair

    Struggle to equate lean with either ‘unrewarding’ or ‘tip’

    Never knew a Sexton to be a bell-ringer (and I’ve been doing it for many a year)

    Thanks in advance for any elucidation.

31. Gosh! I enjoyed this Nutmeg challenge today. At first sweep through I rather pathetically only had INTER written in, but despite numerous devious but clever misdirections I gradually filled the grid in. Last one in the TEARAWAY, but that’s hardly how I would describe my progress this morning. Great fun, though…

32. Confidently entering DARK NET straight off didn’t help me. Nevertheless, this was a steady solve, with a fair bit of thought and a great deal of enjoyment. The NE went in last. Lots to like, mostly already mentioned. I had to check that a sexton does ring bells, and came across an Anne Sexton poem “Ringing the Bells” – so which was Nutmeg referencing? Thanks Nutmeg and loonapick.

33. Just got lean = tip

34. William @25
    Thanks. I’m not entirely convinced, though!

35. Great blog thanks and great crossword, I sometimes think we are too blase about the quality of some of these crosswords and do not appreciate them enough , me included. I do think it deserved a j somewhere though.

36. Pedro @30 – you might inspire compressed air in a hospital setting (all too relevant nowadays, unfortunately) and a clear / fair day or sky, perhaps. As you say @33, to lean / to tip = to be slanting.

    An enjoyable puzzle which helped me tolerate sciatica pains a little better, this morning! Thanks to Nutmeg and loonapick.

37. Pedro @30 forgot to add a business might have a lean / unrewarding year or you might do something for lean / unrewarding returns.

38. Great puzzle with some excellent surfaces. Steady solve for me, with the NE quadrant prompting more head scratching. I was cleverly misdirected by 5ac , convinced that the definition was ‘Heretical movement’. TEARAWAY the standout for me, as for others.

    SEXTON brought Thomas Hood immediately to mind, but gladys @10 has beaten me to it.

39. Pedro @30: no-one’s answered your queries yet – except you @33. (And, even there, it’s not clear if you’ve equated lean = unrewarding as you’ve only mentioned lean = tip. I thought of a lean/unrewarding harvest). With regard to clear = fair, it’s in Chambers Online Thesaurus: 4 a clear day cloudless, unclouded, fine, fair…
    I thought of inspiring compressed air in the sense of underwater diving .
    I’m afraid I can’t help you with bell-ringing clergy.

40. Larry @36/37: sorry ’bout that. You weren’t there when I started typing 5 minutes ago… We are aligned in nearly everything, including not being able to help with bellringers.

41. Thanks Larry @36.

    I did wonder about hospitals and even divers using it as a source. Presumably it has to be decompressed before entering the lungs though.

    Still mulling over whether fair equates to clear in the weather sense. Perhaps I should not worry about these things – no-one else seems to.

42. PostMark @40: Ditto – You weren’t there when I started :). Thanks for your help too.

43. Pedro & PostMark, Chambers online mentions that sextons may do various tasks to help a church, often including bell-ringing. So, not a requisite task but one which many sextons do fulfil.

44. Pedro @30 I agree with PostMark @39.
    COMPRESSED AIR has divers uses.

45. Pedro @ 41

    How about “There was a fair / clear gap between them”?

    Thanks Nutmeg and loonapick

46. [Penfold @44: you are a gas, as always. I assume there is more in the tank…?]

47. Definitely a more gentle week so far and another excellent puzzle. I was happy with facing=to and snatching in 23d so no quibbles from me. Like others LEAN was my loi which took a minute to justify. Many thanks to Nutmeg and loonapick.

48. Many thanks to Nutmeg for a delightful puzzle and to loonapick for an insightful interpretation. The particular task of 19’s SEXTON is enshrined in Hood’s lovely pun: ‘They went and told the sexton and / The sexton tolled the bell’. As regards ‘snatching’ in 23’s clue, I think there’s clear sense of ‘taking away’ (not just ‘taking’) in: ‘The seagull was seen snatching her ice cream’.

49. As usual, Nutmeg is pleasing with her precision. I should have known this as I put in DIVE BAR for 1ac. It seemed like a shady location, and the surfboard can be a “diving bar” (yeah, right!) Only a crosser made me revisit, and then things fell in place.

    Many thanks, N & l

50. Hadn’t heard of DOG WATCH, so for a while I had a tentative POX WATCH for 17d; then had second thoughts about pox = plague; finally tried DOG more in hope than expectation – hurray! Narrow escape from DNF-dom.

    A really enjoyable tussle, same favourites as others. Thanks Nutmeg and loonapick.

    [AlanC @1: I’m another who was totally theme-blind yesterday. Thanks for the heads up, and muchos kudos to Matilda and Cookie.]

51. Pedro@41 et al – inspiration can be synonym for inhalation.

52. Enjoyed this a lot. Took an embarrassingly long time to twig the Kiwis, couldn’t parse 3d fully/properly & was surprised 19d had any energy left to indulge in a bit of campanology after digging graves.
    Thanks all.

53. Really liked this. It’s turning into a super week, or at least it is for the likes of me, stretched but not driven totally to distraction.

54. Yesyes @8, and there was me thinking, “That was easy for a Friday”!! I am very glad it is not yet Friday though.
    Muffin @34 and 20, I also read facing here in the sense of turned towards.
    That was lovely, though I was another who was taking the d our of steward instead of the i out of water, and I didn’t parse reiterate.
    Many thanks to Nutmeg and lonapick, and indeed to all of you. (I am posting less as I tend to do the crosswords early, before the blog appears, and then not have a chance to look during the day.)

55. [Folks – for those who have time, there’s a lovely Monk in the FT which might appeal to many of this community.]

56. Thanks both,
    Did not parse 6d as I was distracted by the trio of elderly matrons unable to exit the inverted location.

57. manehi — thanks for parsing ABOUT TIME TOO, which defeated me. I had ABOUT TIME FOR. Thanks too for the blog, and Nutmeg, thanks for a perfect Goldilocks puzzle with lovely clues.

    Anybody else try “elan” for “enthusiasm” in 25a?

    Terriblislow@16, where is the link to medvedox’s utube selection?

    Some may not know about dog watches. A 24-hour day has six four-hour periods, the usual length of a watch, the time crew members have to be on duty. But there are two two-hour watches between 4pm and 8pm, which makes the number of watches seven instead of six, and with this odd number everybody alternates which watches they stand from one day to the next. A good way to disrupt everybody’s sleep cycle. If you want a good picture of life on board as the watch changes, look at the lyrics and the surrounding sea lore for the song “Strike the bell, second mate,” at https://mainlynorfolk.info/folk/songs/strikethebell.html.
    It’s to the tune of “Ring the bell watchman,” which isn’t a Scottish song as Stan Hugill {major authority on sea shanties) in the link suggests, but an American one, by Henry Clay Work, who also wrote a song you’re more likely to have heard, “Grandfather’s clock.” In Clay’s song, though, there is a bell-ringing sexton. They have the same tune as the Australian sheep-shearing song, “Click go the shears, boys,” if that’s any help.
    I’m getting carried away with folk music because I never know any of the rock music often referred to here and this is a chance for my own musical world.

58. Did anyone else read 1a as a lightweight &lit.? You have DARK = shady = not much light, and WEB = a place for surfers, but in the phrase as a whole DARK = shady = sketchy/illegal. I said lightweight because the readings are very similar, but I think it might work, and earn the clue more points.

59. gladys@10 and Robert@48 I love the quote from Faithless Sally Brown. I like to think Thomas Hood would have been a prolific poster on fifteensquared

60. [Valentine @57: thanks for the extra info on watches. You mention Henry Clay Work and the well-known Grandfather’s Clock. Being reminded of that immediately prompted a recollection of a song of similar sentiment which might appeal to your preferences: have you encountered Kristina Olsen? Her My Father’s Piano is worth listening to.]

61. Valentine @57: Thanks for that interesting background. I wonder if you’re familiar with the Jack Aubrey/Stephen Maturin tales by Patrick O’Brien? Stephen, the surgeon, is something of a wit and in response to one of the young lieutenants query one evening in the mess “why is a dog watch so-called?” Stephen replies, “Why, Sir, it is because it is cur-tailed”. To which Jack roars with mirth and repeats the joke ad nauseam for the next several days.

62. [Valentine @57 – again. I meant to also include the link provided by medevox on the G thread earlier since you’d asked for it at the beginning of your post. Here it is.]

63. A splendid puzzle, I thought. Great fun.

64. Valentine@57: I always thought the dog watches were very early in the morning, not 4 pm.
    “Short as the watch that ends the night, before the rising sun” Though the hymn writer may not have known what he was talking about…

65. Thanks loonapick, i forgot that time is the enemy and couldn’t for the life of me see why OVAL had to be right, perhaps I thought Nutmeg was above such things but clearly not as PostMark@6 shows. I enjoyed this as it required several stabs to reach completion (and gave us a couple more layers!) but all seemed pretty fair at the end, though the last time I shed a tear I wasn’t feeling sad and I wonder if any trainspotters can confirm that main lines really do see heavier traffic than suburban commuter lines? (Intercity trains themselves are certainly heavier than the tin cans stuffed with commuters so maybe that’s good enough anyway.) Thanks Nutmeg, my favourite IN THE WARS which took a while to unravel.

66. Van Winkle@5, I think it may depend on exactly what it means to “surf” the web, dark or otherwise. I have never been to the dark side but was interested enough to do some minimal research – seems that you are right that you can’t reach it by accident or design from a browser like Chrome or Firefox, but if you are using TOR there may be some equivalents to search engines which could allow you to click away aimlessly (which is how I think of surfing in a web context) rather than entering specific site addresses one at a time (which I would say is not surfing). Hopefully someone here knows more even if they don’t want to say why!

67. [Valentine@57, thank you for that name and link which led me to discover that he also wrote “Marching through Georgia”: the version by Acker Bilk was recommended by my dad when I was discovering “Trad” Jazz, I have just listened and enjoyed it again.

    PostMark@62 thanks also for that – the missing link between skiffle and thrash metal perhaps?]

68. [Gazzh @68: certainly a form of headbanging!]

69. Interesting (?) connection between the DOG WATCH and SEXTON clues and comments – both the cur-tailed pun (William@61) and the toll’d/told pun (gladys@10) were originally by Thomas Hood (according to Wiki).

    Thanks for another excellent crossword, Nutmeg and thanks loonapick for explaining 18a ABOUT TIME TOO.

70. William @61 I’ve read one or two of the Aubrey/Maturin books, but they didn’t grab me.

71. “Dog watch” reminded me of Stephen Maturin’s joke from the Jack Aubrey books, by Patrick O’Brian.

    “Why is it called the dog watch?”
    “Because it is cur-tailed”.

72. I see I’m not the only one who remembers that joke. 🙂

73. Had to resort to the books for NE corner. RSPB’s Birds of Britain for GOLDENEYE and Chambers wordsearch for TEARAWAY, d’oh.

74. hi all – first-time posting. Love this blog but usually come to each puzzle a couple of days late as I don’t have so much spare time for crosswords (pandemic has actually made my work and home life at least twice as busy and exhausting – but I won’t complain as we are all healthy and still have work, which is not the case for so many) – and so I have to chip away in small bursts here and there!

    I have a question about parsing REITERATE. I cannot get the word order of the clue to work.
    If I take ‘first set up’ to indicate ‘put TIER at the beginning upside down’ then I am left with ‘fee European’ which gives me RATE E. If I take ‘set up’ as applying to the whole clue I get TIER ETAR E or REIT RATE E.
    Am I mad in thinking the clue would make more sense as ‘Repeat European fee bank first set up’ ? I just can’t put the bits together in the right order from the clue as printed.

    Great crossword, lots of fun, just like Matilda’s the day before – I do enjoy excellent surfaces that make me laugh out loud! (‘astounding’/’compressed air’ etc) and Matilda’s one the day before made me laugh in several places.
    Thanks to all on the blog and the setters.

75. Hi Patrick. I’m late to this one too. And rarely post here. But since most others will have moved on, it’s RATE preceded by a reversal of E+TIER. I have similar blindspots.
    If anyone’s still watching, thanks to Nutmeg and blogger. TEARWAY was my favourite too.

76. ..so it’s ‘European bank’ first, set up(wards)? I guess I can see it….

    I wasn’t expecting to take two words and reverse the combined two-word phrase, especially when one of them is only one letter and there are actually three words in total…

    Bloody hell. That’s a bit cryptic ;-D

    Thanks for the enlightenment.

77. Very enjoyable. Thanks Nutmeg. Only slight judder at the use of “Inter” as it is a shorthand never acceptable to the footy connoisseur.

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