Guardian Cryptic 28,637 by Nutmeg

by

The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/28637.

Seasons greetings all round, and, to celebrate, this was just the right level for me, as long as I kept on the lookout for deceptive but valid definitions. Nice one, Nutmeg.

ACROSS
1 HOSEPIPE
Socks, maybe churchwarden’s gardening gear (8)
A charade of HOSE (‘socks’) plus PIPE (‘maybe churchwarden’ – a churchwarden pipe is a long-stemmed tobacco pipe)
5 PRISED
Forced to work one’s way up in Palladium (6)
An envelope (‘in’) of RISE (‘work one’s way up’) in PD (chemical symbol, ‘palladium’).
9 BOX CAMERA
One takes pictures rolled up by artist on set (3,6)
A charade of BOX (‘set’ – a box of crayons, perhaps) plus CAME (‘rolled up’) plus RA (‘artist’).
11 COPES
Leader pushed to back of room gets through (5)
SCOPE (‘room’) with the first letter (‘leader’) S moved to the end (‘pushed to back’).
12 GENERAL STORE
Officers rent retail outlet (7,5)
A charade of GENERALS (‘officers’) plus TORE (‘rent’).
15 INNS
Taverns in France avoided by north Europeans (4)
[f]INNS (‘northern Europeans’) minus the F (‘France avoided’).
16 FORNICATOR
Rule applied to criminal faction or one cheating partner (10)
A charade of FORNICATO, an anagram (‘criminal’) of ‘faction or’; plus R (‘rule’).
18 EPICUREANS
Might they demolish a nice supper, having spent a penny? (10)
An anagram (‘demolish’) of ‘a nice su[p]per’ minus one P (‘having spent a penny’), with an extended definition.
19 ONCE
As soon as possible, couple cleared out (4)
A charade of ON (‘possible’) plus CE (‘CouplE cleared out’).
21 WRITING PAPER
Item for man of letters said to be correcting journal (7,5)
Sounds like (‘said to be’) RIGHTING (‘correcting’) PAPER (‘journal’).
24 OCHRE
Taps into source of mineral pigment (5)
An envelope (‘into’) of CH (cold and hot, ‘taps’) in ORE (‘source of mineral’).
25 TRANSLATE
Put more plainly, tenor and soprano’s parting was overdue (9)
A charade of T (‘tenor’) plus RANSLATE, an envelope (‘parting’) of S (‘soprano’) in RAN LATE (‘was overdue’).
26 SADISM
Cruel perversion of son stopping legendary king’s return (6)
An envelope (‘stopping’) of S (‘son’) in SADIM, a reversal (‘return’) of MIDAS (‘legendary king’).
27 INFANTRY
Lines on baby’s foot (8)
A charade of INFANT (‘baby’) plus RY (railway ‘lines’).
DOWN
1 HOBO
Rolling Stone who bought sandwiches (4)
A hidden answer in (‘sandwiches’) ‘wHO BOught’
2 SEXT
Noon service? It’s on time (4)
A charade of SEX (‘it’) plus T (‘time’).
3 PEALED
Rang a licentiate in profound reflection (6)
An envelope (‘in’) of ‘a’ plus L (‘licentiate’) in PEED, a reversal (‘reflection’) of DEEP (‘profound’).
4 PIECES OF EIGHT
Men put energy into old contest for real money (6,2,5)
A charade of PIECES (‘men’ in chess) plus O (‘old’) plus FEIGHT, an envelope (‘put … into’) of E (‘energy’) in FIGHT (‘contest’), with a play on ‘real’ as Spanish currency
6 RUCKSACK
Some players at Twickers rifle kitbag (8)
A charade of RUCK (‘some players at Twickers[) plus SACK (‘riflw’).
7, 22 SUPPORTING CAST
Every rep needs such protection, should limb be broken (10,4)
Definition and literal interpretation, with ‘rep’ being a repertory theatre company.
8 DISHEARTEN
Crush food prepared and consumed with right filling (10)
An envelope (‘with … filling’) of R (‘right’) in DISH (‘food prepared’) plus EATEN (‘consumed’).
10 AGAIN AND AGAIN
A land with military commander elected time after time (5,3,5)
A charade of ‘a’ plus GAIN (land’ – “I landed a job”) plus AND (‘with’) plus AGA (‘military commander’) plus IN (‘elected’).
13 TIGER WOODS
US sportsman ultimately losing in row with some clubs (5,5)
A charade of TIGER, an envelope (‘in’) of G (‘ultimately losinG‘) in TIER (‘row’); plus WOODS (‘some clubs’).
14, 17 UNFINISHED BUSINESS
Cryptically ‘trad’ items carried forward to the next meeting? (10,8)
Wordplay in the answer: ‘trad’ is TRAD[e] (BUSINESS) UNFINISHED.
17
See 14
20 PERSIA
Praise diverse kingdom of old (6)
An anagram (‘diverse’) of ‘praise’.
22
See 7
23 DENY
Turn down end of alley, following retreat (4)
A charade of DEN (‘retreat’) plus Y (‘end of alleY‘).

picture of the completed grid

57 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,637 by Nutmeg”

  3. Lots of nice Nutmeg neatery here, like officers rent, on for possible and infant ry for foot, inter alia. Vaguely thought box or set of something, but TV is good.

    Thanks Nutmeg and Peter, and good Season all.

  4. I thought several times I wasn’t going to finish this, but got unstuck in time to continue, so rather more a feeling of relief than pleasure in the end. There were some good clues, maybe OCHRE my fave.

  5. We did wonder if there might be the ghost of a theme going here – I believe that Tiger Woods was a Fornicator, Again And Again. But I didn’t think that either Sexting or Sadism were involved. It would seem odd for such a theme from Nutmeg on Xmas Eve, so maybe it’s just me, seeing smut in everything!

  6. A Christmas Eve treat to see Nutmeg’s byline, and the puzzle lived up to expectations.
    Season’s greetings to eveyone.

  7. Quite enjoyable, though few of the clues stand out for me. The West went in faster than the East. I needed help with parsing a few, so thanks to PeterO for that, and to Nutmeg for the crossie. Merry Christmas Eve, everyone.

  8. Wasn’t on the right wavelength. Only got three clues out, looked at the solution, and even then didn’t understand ten. Nutmeg goes back to my “don’t attempt” list.

  9. ONCE, INNS, & TRANSLATE entered unparsed. All three excellent clues and I’m disappointed in myself.

    Otherwise, all as ginf above.

    Happy Christmas, if that’s your thing, everyone.

  11. Did anyone else try to shoehorn ‘adulterer’, without crossers. for cheating partner? Not being very biblically informed, I thought that a ‘fornicator’ just did ‘it’.

  12. Loved PIECES OF EIGHT which I can only say in a parrot voice. Also AGAIN AND AGAIN. What’s on the set tonight? Hmmm – not in this house. Happy winterval to you all

  13. Thanks for the blog and all the others this year, agree that OCHRE was a neat, clever clue and ONCE was nicely deceptive.
    [ Happy launch day for the JWST tomorrow, of the all the days to make me so nervous. ]

  14. Like one or two others, I raised a questioning eyebrow at FORNICATOR and SADISM appearing on Christmas Eve so was relieved to find it wasn’t a theme. Appropriately UNFINISHED BUSINESS was my LOI and required a degree of staring and scratching. I had it in my head that the ‘cryptically clued’ was going to refer to ‘dart’ which misled me for a while. I agree with Roz on two standouts in ONCE and OCHRE and would add HOSEPIPE for the lovely use of churchwarden’s, INFANTRY for both construction and superb definition and EPICUREANS for the surface and anagram. A lovely way to begin Christmas Eve. Best wishes to all.

    Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO

  15. [One for Roz. Looked up James Webb and some say he has clouds over his name.
    Should have been Nancy Grace Noman, they say, but she does the Roman Space Telescope named after her.]

  16. Nice one for Christmas Eve.

    Favourites were OCHRE and EPICUREAN, but a special mention for the four-letter solutions, which were all well clued to give meaningful surfaces – I especially liked SEXT and ONCE.

    [Like Roz I have my fingers crossed for the space telescope launch]

    Greetings to all.

    Special thanks to Nutmeg (very seasonally apposite appellation) and PeterO.

  17. [PDM @15 I never use the name, it should be Jocelyn Bell, just use JWST. Could be 10 years of the best ever data or all come to nothing in one snag. I dare not even watch the launch. ]

  18. Great puzzle, particularly TRANSLATE, INFANTRY and DISHEARTEN. Season’s greetings to all, and thanks to the ever-entertaining Nutmeg and PeterO.

  19. [Roz@17. Thank you for putting me on to Jocelyn Bell. Should have got a Nobel prize for her work on pulsars, but she was so gracious in more recent times, saying that it was simply that she was a PhD student then and not because of her gender.
    I’ll be holding my breath down here in the Antipodes tonight as well.}

  20. Delightful with UNFINISHED BUSINESS, SUPPORTING CAST and EPICUREANS standing out for me. Agree with Trovatore @1, I immediately thought set=tv=BOX. Happy festive season to those who celebrate.

    Ta Nutmeg & PeterO

  21. Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO
    Unusually for Nutmeg, I had to enter several not fully parsed – the same as William above, plus UNFINISHED BUSINESS. I also found the NE very tricky to fill in.
    My favourite was OCHRE too.

  23. This was fun for a festive Friday! I took rather too long over RUCKSACK because ‘backs’ and a ‘pack’ are rugger players, and the US ‘packsack’ worked for a bit. I really like the attention to surfaces in this offering from Nutmeg: none of them seem at all cumbersome or tortured. ONCE was my favourite for its precision and concision.

    [BTW – I was unfair in my criticism of yesterday’s cryptic MAPMAKER: Gervase@40 and gladys@41: OK — yes, you’re right in both your points. The “often shows” wouldn’t be apt for Mercator and, on reflection, I agree that an ambiguous answer is only really a sin if all the crossers allow it. At the point of solve, I was full of indignation that Mercator was not the correct solution! Apologies to Brendan, too, of course.]

  24. Paddymelon @11, I think you’re right. Fornicators aren’t necessarily cheating on anyone; they’re fornicating unless they are married to each other, even if they are both single.

  25. [ PDM@19 , she is far too gracious , she and Lise Meitner and Chieng-Shuing Wu are the most outrageous out of many examples. ]

  26. [Roz @25
    I received some supervisions from Anthony Hewish, her supervisor, who was a Fellow of the college I went to. He did get the Nobel.
    I’m pleased that you didn’t resurrect the non-story of Rosalind Franklin not getting the Nobel.]

  27. Thanks to PeterO for parsing TRANSLATE and UNFINISHED BUSINESS, both of which escaped me; and to Nutmeg, of course, for the crossword. But now what do I do tomorrow, when things get dull? I suppose it’s a case of trawling through the archives for a forgotten or overlooked crossword. Seasons greetings to all.

  28. Big ticks for GENERAL STORE, COPES, EPICUREANS, OCHRE, and Clue of the Day for me INFANTRY. Not so sure about the precision of clueing with WRITING PAPER and SUPPORTING CAST. Couldn’t parse TRANSLATE either. Struggled with the last clues of the resisting NE corner – ONCE, PRISED and DISHEARTENED. Lots to admire as usual with Nutmeg doing the setting…and seasons greetings to all on here, too. Really enjoy and appreciate your brief company each day, however much disagreement (good natured and friendly, nearly always!) takes place from time to time..
    Strange too that I always prefer to see RUCKSACK written as Rucsac, though I know it’s not strictly correct…

  29. [ muffin@26 Hewish did deserve a Nobel prize but Jocelyn Bell did find and investigate the pulsar anomaly.
    Yes , poor Rosalind died far too young ( I wonder if it was the x-rays ? ) well before the Nobel , but she probably would have been overlooked . Some people are named in her honour ]

  30. Missed SCOPE for “room” and ON for “possible.” Parsing of PIECES OF EIGHT was beyond me, so thanks, PeterO.

    Was there a Rolling Stone named HOBO? Can someone explain that clue?

    pserve@23 What US packsack? I’ve never heard of it. The word over here is “backpack.”

  32. Oh — and thanks to Nutmeg for providing this diversion, which I finished this morning.

    And happy holidays to all who celebrate them, and a joyful time to all.

  33. Valentine @30
    The capital letters are misleading; a HOBO is a rolling stone – one who moves from place to place.
    BillB @31
    SEXT is one of the canonical hours. To be honest, I didn’t know which one, but it’s presumably noon.

  36. Another smooth puzzle from Nutmeg, who’s possibly my favourite compiler. I must admit I wasn’t familiar with SEXT as a church service; all I thought of was the dodgy modern meaning (though I hasten to add I’ve never done it). What does that say about me as a sexuagenarian?

    Here’s a simple clue for you all: “Many a sad heart can whisper my prayer, circulating seasonal message” (8 words)

  37. Tough puzzle. Solved NE corner last.
    Liked PIECES OF EIGHT.

    New: Twickers stadium for rugby matches (for 6d); churchwarden = a long-stemmed clay pipe.

    Thanks, both.

  40. Quizzy_Bob@36: just be thankful you’re a sexagenarian and not a sextagenarian! Mind you, it does put a different perspective on the observation of sext in the canonical day! It is, for the record, the sixth hour of the day after dawn – equated, therefore, with noon.

  41. [PostMark @40
    Wouldn’t that depend on the time of year; or was it a more southern innovation, which, like fasting during daylight for Ramadan, is wildly inappropriate in latitudes where daylength varies so much?]

  42. Thanks Nutmeg, it’s always a treat. I found this trickier than usual and threw in the towel on SEXT and PRISED but managed to solve the rest though not all fully parsed. Favourites were GENERAL STORE, TRANSLATE, the oft mentioned INFANTRY, PIECES OF EIGHT, TIGER WOODS, and UNFINISHED BUSINESS. Thanks PeterO for the blog and happy holidays to all.

  43. Thank you Nutmeg for a very pleasurable easing into Christmas. And seasons greetings and thanks to all the setters, bloggers and partners in crime who contribute to the fun through the year.

  44. Re: set/box
    Round these parts it’s a bit archaic to refer to the TV as a set or as a box BUT the phrase ‘what’s on the box tonight?’ remains in very current rude health.

  45. Thanks PeterO and contributors from the floor for another clear and educational blog, a new pipe and term for lunchtime and some parsing that I missed – still not entirely happy about “Ruck” for rugby players but it doesn’t consist of anything else (except maybe the ball) so not sure why. Brigster@44 don’t know about you but “Gogglebox” is a regular on our fairly flat screen, keeps us up to date with pop culture without having to spend hours watching it ourselves. And muffin, when our excellent special relativity lecturer was away one week he got his mate Hewish to step in, and all I will say is that I wouldn’t nominate him for a Nobel prize in undergrad lecturing, hope your supervisions were better. Many thanks to Nutmeg for a great puzzle which entertained me in and beyond the queue for a covid test and Merry Christmas everybody.

  46. [Gazzh @45
    When I did first year physics, we did relativity in the second term. The physics lecturer had the main lecture theatre, but a mathematician gave the lectures in a seminar room. He was so much better, so more and more students joined us “not really physicists” (I was basically a chemist); after a few weeks, we had to swap venues!]

  47. My first one in was INNS, which together with the lack of room (kind of) at 11a made me think we might be in for something Christmassy, but apart from the wise men possibly coming from PERSIA it wasn’t to be.

    Never mind, this was smooth and enjoyable as usual from Nutmeg. Many thanks to her and PeterO, and to all the setters and bloggers for their work throughout the year, to Gaufrid of course, and to contributors from around the world for their entertaining and stimulating company. Happy Christmas everyone 🎄

  48. Very slow today. Lots to do for tomorrow as well. I initially had packsack for 6dn which didn’t help. Hadn’t heard of Sext other than in relation to teenagers and their phones so failed with that one.
    Happy Christmas one and all. It’s been a pleasure sharing your online company this year.

  49. Surprised nobody queried L as licentiate… bit rare I thought. A “box set” is quite a thing now isn’t it where the box is a box and tv related. Forgot SEXT prayer.
    Great one Nutmeg and thanks both.

    Happy Christmas to you all out there in 225 land.

  50. Using “box” for a TV dates back quite far. I believe the term “idiot box” was first used to describe television in the 1950’s. It still seems applicable now.

  51. At one point, I said to myself, “It would be funny if that was fornicator” and lo and behold…

    I actually didn’t know that the second meaning, from the Bible according to Chambers, is adultery. It’s such a strange word; you don’t hear it much. It’s got a disapproving/Victorian ring about it – a bit like “liquor” said (in the UK) with an American accent. I, for one, would get some puerile amusement if tabloids started including the word in headlines like “Fornicator Rooney is at it again” (although, of course, I hope he’s not at it).

    Thank you all the setters and bloggers and everyone on 225 for your entertaining company.

    Wishing you a safe, peaceful and happy Winterval 😉

  52. We babyboomers can appreciate the extra cleverness of 26A by remembering The Hollies’ hit about the “legendary king’s return”: He’s King Midas In Reverse

  54. [muffin@46 I forget my original lecturer’s namebut he would have been from DAMTP and looked a bit like Dickie Attenborough and really did an excellent job of communicating the wow of relativity. But I was rude to Prof Hewish who after all was only helping out a friend in need. May his pulsars always pulsate or his quasars never quaver (I forget which).]

  55. pserve@39 Well, I’ve never heard anyone say it. Oddly enough, the reference gives it “in British English” and then in the definition says it’s used in the US and Canada.

    paddymelon@15 I hadn’t heard of Nancy Grace Roman, so I looked her up and found that she went to Swarthmore College, where I went some years later. Her advisor, the head of the astronomy department, was Peter van de Kamp, who was still there when I went. He had a collection of old Chaplin movies, and he used to show them as “Chaplin seminars.”

    muffin@41 In the Middle Ages people saw hours as of variable length, with twelve from sunrise to sunset and twelve through the night, so that the hours varied in length throughout the year. When mechanical clocks came in, you had to adjust the length of the pendulum slightly each day to change the amount of time over, say, 43,000 long ticks in the day and then 43,000 short ticks overnight, if it’s summertime.

    Happiest of holidays to all, and thanks as well to setters, bloggers and ll the members of this quirky community.

  56. Valentine @55 – the things you learn on this site!!!! One of the joys. Merry Christmas (which has arrived here) everyone (I am not one for the modern trend to bowdlerise “Christmas”, even though I am not of the said religious persuasion).

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