Guardian Cryptic 28,557 by Nutmeg

56 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,557 by Nutmeg”

1. Thanks loonapick, I couldn’t see a nice cryptic reading of 2, 12, and was a little disgruntled. Now I quite like it.

   Garner = barn was new to me, and I’m not 100% convinced by full = taken either, but I think it’s OK.

   Thanks Nutmeg.

2. I love Nutmeg’s puzzles, but thought that this was not one of her best. I struggled with the parsing of quite a number.

3. Very smooth with the only raised eyebrow for MINDFUL, the second half of which I was unable to parse. I think loonapick’s answer makes sense, just. Interesting to see if others come up with alternative justifications: the inventiveness of this community often astounds.

   MEANIE is my COTD for the &lit though the long one came close for the cunning definition. ITEM is not quite a contronym but gives me a chance to use a newly learned word! THE TOMB is not a phrase I regularly encounter but makes sense and it was nice to encounter another new word – or at least a new meaning – with GARNER. Finally, SILVER reminded me of yesterday’s Matilda but I’ll say no more in case others haven’t tackled that yet.

   Thanks Nutmeg and loonapick

4. I also found it hard to get into this, loonapick, and had nothing in the right hand side for some time. To equate ‘prig’ with ‘Pharisee’? If Chambers says so, as I suppose it must, but I have never heard it – indeed, I doubt I have used either term at all, ever. For me, there were too many “think up a synonym (often an unlikely one) and parse afterwards”. There were some nice exceptions: RUMPLE, STREAMLINE, NOWT, KEEP FINE, CLAPTRAP, SILVER, BIGOTRY, THINK UP. Thanks, Nutmeg and loonapick.

5. In light of the surface, I took full as a synonym for taken in the context of a toilet cubicle.

6. I had a similar experience to loonapick and George @2. Upper half was easier for me. I am usually more on Nutmeg’s wavelength but today I found a few clues hard to understand.

   I did not parse: 4d (apart from VILE bit), 14ac.

   Favourites: GLEAMS, THINK UP, SILVER.

   New for me: GARNER = granary.

   Thanks, both.

   I agree on full = taken in 20ac, as in ‘all the seats are full/taken’.

7. Thanks loonapick and Michelle and Andy for parsing MINDFUL for me; I think these explanations work.
   Cotd for me was SILVER.
   Thanks Nutmeg.

8. I struggle a bit with “keep fine” = “stay fair” because I don’t recognise the former as an expression. “The weather will keep fine”?

   I got 2,12 with just “w… t..” to begin with, so I was pleased with that. I had enough crossers for 8d to guess “allowance”, after which I could see it was an anagram and the rest was easy.

   I got 22 from the wordplay alone, and 13 was my last one in so that was rather backwards.

9. A few decades ago, we should not have had the head-scratching about GARNER=barn because we should all have been singing the Harvest hymn Come, ye Thankful People, Come, with the conclusion “…in the fire the tares to cast/ But the fruitful ears to store/ In God’s garner, evermore”. Similarly, if you have the story of the Pharisee in the Temple in Luke 18, 11 – “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other me are…” you get to PRIG pretty swiftly.
   27a was neat, and the two long ones, I thought, were excellent, especially the clever anagram in 8d coupled with a smooth surface.
   My only reservation is to wonder whether KEEP FINE is really a phrase in its own right in the way that YOGI BEAR and WITH THE BEST WILL IN THE WORLD are. That apart, a most enjoyable hour or so.
   Thanks to Nutmeg and loonapick.

10. As ever from Nutmeg, there are many delightful clues here. I particularly liked the use of ‘execution’ in the long one, and the puzzle is her usual masterclass in the surface readings of clues. With that in mind, BLAST-OFF, MEANIE, RUMPLE, ALGAE, THE TOMB, FAMILY ALLOWANCE and MISER all got ‘ticks’, though reading again through all the clues it’s hard to find any that don’t deserve a mention. I did check here the parsings of MINDFUL and GARDENERS (thanks loonapick), for the reasons discussed above. I notice in Chambers that ‘(to) barn’ is also a verb (or is that, ‘can be verbified’?) which I hadn’t realised. Overall: Fabulous!

11. I wondered if cry was s homophone indicator for OY=warning? Chambers doesn’t have OY as an alternative for the more usual OI. Maybe other dictionaries do?

12. Did not get 4 or 16d, so thanks loonapick. Otherwise I found this an enjoyable puzzle, well-clued, from Nutmeg who I usually struggle with. Thanks to both.

13. LOI was PRIVILEGE as I rarely use the word “Pharisee” and “prig” never.
    COD for me is SILVER.
    Thanks to Nutmeg and loonapick.

14. I had trouble with this one, particularly with some of Nutmeg’s synonyms: BIG=valiant? FUL(L) = taken? I thought the G in GLEAMS was “last of the morning” and then couldn’t account for the rest: I had GLINTS until proved wrong. Took me a while to work out that the cry in YOGI BEAR was OY! and not YO! Strangely I spotted 2/12 from the enumeration and the initial W alone, and then had to figure out why.

    However, I enjoyed this: nice anagram in FAMILY ALLOWANCE, and I also liked NOWT, ITEM and VILLAS. And lo and behold, another metallic inclusion clue with SILVER!

15. Thanks Nutmeg and loonapick. I found this hard work but it all fell into place gradually, starting with the two long ones. Quite a few cases of only being able to get the solution thanks to the crossing letters then reverse-engineering the parsing. Had to resort to the dictionary to confirm garner but yes, it’s there all right. (Guess I should have paid more attention in church, NeilH.)

    Bodycheetah @11 – I didn’t query this at the time of solving but since you’ve mentioned it… OED has OY as an Yiddish expression of horror or surprise, so a slightly different meaning. You could be on to something with the homophone thing.

16. No one has yet mentioned “Lancashire” – how do people feel about that? I thought it was more widespread “northern” but as a soft southerner, what do I know?

    [I’m reminded of the old adverts for Allinson bread “wi’ nowt taken out” – Thomas Allinson was a Scot, and he did his baking in Hull and London, no Lancashire connection at all. His story is actually quite interesting – https://www.allinsonsbread.co.uk/about-us-story ]

17. NOWT is nothing in Lancashire. The fact that it is nothing in some other places too doesn’t invalidate the clue. A good comparison is with the various misleading words indicating a French word: French is French in Nice and also in Nancy.

18. Of course, gladys – and well explained. I was just imagining some people (those from Yorkshire especially) being disgruntled that Nutmeg had chosen to reference Lancashire… but I’m just troublemaking!

19. Like Michelle @ 6 I found the top half easier. and like TassieTim @ 4 got quite a few by guessing a synonym and then parsing. There were a few I couldn’t parse.

    Favourites included: SILVER, SOLOMON, ALGAE

    Thanks Nutmeg and loonapick

20. Bodycheetah @ 11. Very familiar with Aussie Aussie Aussie Oy! Oy! Oy!

21. I do like Nutmeg’s surfaces – another fine crossword.

    I liked the anagram spot in FAMILY ALLOWANCE, WTBWITW, MINDFUL, YOGI BEAR and CLAPTRAP. It would be good, perhaps, to have added an ‘old’ to barn as garner is given as archaic in the ODE.

    Neil H @9; I found this example in The GuardianSealed correctly, these will KEEP FINE in a cool dark cupboard as you would store jams and chutneys.

    Thanks Nutmeg and loonapick.

22. Had no idea about https://thesaurus.plus/related/prig/pharisee

23. Ravenrider @8/NeilH @9/Robi @21

    “What a pest you are, you miserable object,” she sighed. “I remember years ago, when you were in your cradle, being left alone with you one day and you nearly swallowed your rubber comforter and started turning purple. And I, ass that I was, took it out and saved your life. Let me tell you, young Bertie, it will go very hard with you if you ever swallow a rubber comforter again when only I am by to aid.”

    “But, dash it!” I cried. “Do you know what’s happened? Madeline Bassett says she’s going to marry me!”

    “I hope it keeps fine for you,” said the relative.

    (Right Ho, Jeeves, chap.20, last line)

24. Also this.

25. That’s a plum reference, essexboy!

26. I found this a bit knottier than your average Nutmeg, but with plenty of good constructions and surfaces.

    KEEP FINE is a very familiar phrase to me – usually in the expression ‘I hope it keeps fine!’ (cf the Wodehouse quotation which essexboy cited). Given the discussion about the provenance of NOWT I though it might be because I am a native of the (historic) county of Lancs, but it has clearly been shown not to be dialectal.

    LOI was THE TOMB – I should have clocked ‘one particular’ earlier. Favourites were MEANIE and SILVER. – the latter with its echoes of yesterday’s puzzle. “Metal covering of pewter” anybody?

    Thanks to S&B

27. At the risk of over-egging the pudding:

    Then he hammered loudly on the panels and shouted: “Hey, you inside there! You think you’re jolly clever skulking in the libe, don’t you! Well, now you’re jolly well up a gum tree and you can stay there – and I hope it keeps fine for you!”

    (According to Jennings)

28. Good spot Essexboy @23. Got to reread him.

    Quite a stern test for this plodder today. Stared at the virtually complete 2 12 for ages till it dropped.

    Fine stuff from Nutmeg this morning with MEANIE taking top spot by a whisker.

    Can’t imagine how a setter resists involving that famous silk/hack Rumpole of the Bailey at 19a.

    Many thanks both.

29. Gervase @26: praseodymium perchance?

30. William @26: Exactly. This could be the best way to clue such an uncompromising word!

31. Like others, I struggled to make an impression until I had managed to solve and insert the two long clues, which filled in a great deal of the grid. Spent some time circling KEEP FINE, but when THINK UP went in, it became a rather reluctant LOI. Found a few of these hard to parse.

32. Like ravenrider @8 MEANIE was last to fall, as I had forgotten the hint at 22d MISER. So the clue at 13a was not only an &lit but also had a definition borrowed as a solution elsewhere in the grid.

    Nutmeg’s speciality is the misleading synonym, especially the definition disguised as wordplay and vice versa, so you really have to be on her wavelength to stand any chance. Luckily this was my most “on wavelength” day for a long time, despite a slow start (like loonapick’s experience).

    I didn’t get the correct parsing of 27a until coming here: I’d been thinking of the slang term ‘cage’ for the cashier’s desk in a casino, but of course there’s paper money as well as SILVER there!

    Thanks to Nutmeg and loonapick.

33. As PostMark says, SILVER was a lot easier after yesterday’s Matilda. I had STAY FINE for a while. I often struggle with definitions like REMOTEST = tiniest which only work in a particular context. Thanks, both.

34. Thanks for the blog , some nice clues here, agree with Michelle for FULL=TAKEN, I was thinking of train carriages.
    Totally agree with all for the weather for KEEP FINE .
    Did not like MISER really, – SETTER’S BACK for a down clue ? My only minor quibble.

35. [William @28 – I had a similar thought re 19a, but must make one small but important correction on your comment: unlike most of his colleagues, Rumpole never took silk!]

36. Gervase @26: I wonder if you’d consider, “Metal plating of pewter”?

37. Thx to Nutmeg and loonapick – Struggled to get on Nutmeg’s wavelength and with parsing a number of clues. I should have got GARNER sooner as NeilH @ 9 suggests I have been singing this favourite Harvest hymn forever. Thumbs up for SILVER, NOWT, MEANIE, and YOGI BEAR

38. Roz @34. I think of assembling the letters like Scrabble tiles in the (horizontal) rack, and then placing them in the grid. So a “back” in a down clue works for me, but an “up” instruction in an across clue would be a no-no.

39. The brain works in a strange way. Having worked hard to fill most of the RHS, I had nothing on the left and couldn’t get anything for 2,12. Decided to go out for a bike ride and 15k in the phrase ‘with the best will in the world’ appeared from nowhere!! Raced home and completed the grid. Thanks Nutmeg for the usual chewy puzzle and loonapick for clearing a few up.

40. Thanks Nutmeg and loonapick
    Nutmeg is in my top three favourite compilers, but I really didn’t enjoy this one. I found it very loose in lots of places. I was particularly irritated that my perfectly valid PAIR at 11a was wrong; this held me up.
    I did like NOWT.

41. I also parsed NOWT as nothing in NW (Lancs) plus t as in ITFC (Ipswich Town FC). Some great clues already mentioned.

    Ta Nutmeg & loonapick.

42. Generally I enjoy Nutmeg but not this time. I had not heard of the phrase in 2,12 and there was no wordplay to solve it nor did the phrase KEEP FINE ring any bells. I did like CLAPTRAP and SILVER but the cleverness in these seemed to be the exception, not the rule. Thanks to both.

43. 1a and the long anagram went in straight away so I was off to a flyer. Top half seemed straightforward but I slowed a lot with the S.

    I thought some of the surfaces were superb – favourites were 10a GLEAMS and 6d ALGAE

    The animated character had to be YB but I’ve never seen OY before.

    I had no problem with taken = full

    Pharisee = prig (a self righteous person) also fine by me

    A fun puzzle overall, not too difficult but diverting enough

    Thanks to Nutmeg and to loonapick

44. Just the SW corner eluded me preventing a hat-trick of solves so far this week. No reason other than brain freeze.
    I could not parse 14a (so I wasn’t smarter than the average bear) or 27a, which after IRONCLAD yesterday, was obvious.
    Apart from that, a steady solve and an enjoyable one.
    Thanks Loonapick for bring light where all was dark, and Nutmeg of course.

45. This was a bit of a slog for me compared to my average Nutmeg experience with 2,12 and KEEP FINE both new to me along with some unfamiliar synonyms (eg prig for Pharisee and garner for barn), but worth the work and some clues I could enjoy. Like others I appreciated SILVER, CLAPTRAP was another favorite.

    Thanks Nutmeg for the puzzle and loonapick for the blog!

46. I rationalised FULL in 20 in the sense of full of/taken with oneself. Full/taken as in an occupied train carriage does seem to work rather better. Be interesting to know which Nutmeg had in mind.
    Good puzzle, slightly tougher than normal. Garner as a barn was a TILT for me.
    Thanks, loonapick and Nutmeg.

47. Interesting that we had CLAPTRAP in the cryptic and POPPYCOCK in the quick.

48. Thanks to Nutmeg and loonapick for the entertainment.

    My childhood education was well populated with Pharisees in their natural environment (not to mention Philistines, Samaritans and other would-be smitees) so I always have difficulty separating them from their latterly assumed roles – I hope I’ve got it now: Pharisee=prig, Philistine=ignorant pig. (Which leads to the quibble about a right and a privilege being distinctly different ITEMs, but no doubt some learned lexicographer has decided otherwise…)

    Great fun for this oft-times Philistine.

    [essexboy@: I chortled at your French navy motto yesterday.]

49. My last one in was 2, 12; still not fully taken with this one! And of course, not being English, NOWT was a new one for me – is this a derivative of “nought” perhaps?
    But an enjoyable puzzle overall. Thanks Nutmeg and loonapick…

50. Jay@49. Yes I think it’s just a regional pronunciation. Confusingly though in Lancashire nowt – or nowty- is also used to mean bad-tempered.

51. Alphalpha @48
    That was one of the ones I was thinking of when I commented on looseness earlier. You could argue that a right is almost the exact opposite of a privilege; a right is something you are entitled to, a privilege is something you are not entitled to, but have gained by some other means – for instance, having been granted it.

52. A good education should be a RIGHT not a PRIVILEGE , I did agree with Alphalpha and Muffin but Chambers does give some support to the setter.
    PRIVILEGE = A right or favour granted = A sacred and vital civil right = A right of sanctuary.

53. I have to second (fourth?) Alphalpha @48, muffin @51 and Roz @52. Equating a right and a privilege is just plain wrong, whatever Chambers says. I thought so at the time, but I had found the clue – my LOI – so impenetrable that I forgot to comment on that as well.

54. Alphalpha@48 I’ve occasionally come across Pharisee being used as a synonym for ‘prig’, but I’m afraid the those poor old Sadducees never get a mention.

55. I had no problem with PRIG = PHARISEE or BARN = GARNER. I suppose it just shows how old I’m getting! Thanks, Nutmeg.

56. I didn’t parse YOGI BEAR but noticed solve one CAGE as it came so soon after the ironclad clue.
    Thanks both.

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