The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/29079.
It’s been a few months since we have been treated to a Nutmeg. I’m feeling a little dozy at the moment, and my progress was slow, but all was well in the end.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | THRILL |
Delight in birdsong when crossing height (6)
|
| An envelope (‘when crossing’) of H (‘height’) in TRILL (‘birdsong’). | ||
| 5 | BACKSLID |
Second small cap went astray again (8)
|
| A charade of BACK (‘second’) plus S (‘small’) plus LID (‘cap’). | ||
| 9 | QUOTIENT |
Solution obtained by division not quite working (8)
|
| An anagram (‘working’) of ‘not quite’. | ||
| 10 | MOULDY |
Blighted cast close to mutiny (6)
|
| A charade of MOULD (‘cast’) plus Y (‘close to mutinY‘). | ||
| 11 | STAINED GLASS |
Spotted girl going round grand cathedral’s colourful display? (7,5)
|
| An envelope (‘going round’) of G (‘grand’) in STAINED (‘spotted’) plus LASS (‘girl’). | ||
| 13 | DIVA |
Leading lady starts to dominate in vaudeville act (4)
|
| First letters (‘starts’) of ‘Dominate In Vaudeville Act’. | ||
| 14 | CLAMBERS |
Moves awkwardly and clears off, hampering doctor (8)
|
| An envelope (‘hampers’) of MB (‘doctor’) in CLAERS, an anagram (‘off’) of ‘clears’. | ||
| 17 | VERY WELL |
Thriving, or just OK? (4,4)
|
| Double definition. | ||
| 18 | OWED |
Outstanding poetry recital (4)
|
| Sounds like (‘recital’) ODE (‘poetry’). | ||
| 20 | RAMIFICATION |
Consequence of sheep’s sex change procedure? (12)
|
| Definition and daffynition. | ||
| 23 | FEWEST |
Minimal payments covering women’s toilets at first (6)
|
| A charade of FEWES, an envelope (‘covering’) of W (‘women’) in FEES (‘payments’); plus T (‘Toilets at first’). | ||
| 24 | DECREPIT |
Doddering engineers on retiring list after last month (8)
|
| A charade of DEC (ember, ‘last month’) plus RE (Royal ‘Engineers’) plus PIT, a reversal (‘on retiring’) pf TIP (‘list’ as lean over). | ||
| 25 | PANTHEON |
Temple of Greek god, old parts in addition (8)
|
| A charade of PAN (‘Greek god’) plus THEON, an envelope (‘parts’) of O (‘old’) in THEN (‘in addition’). | ||
| 26 | NARKED |
Annoyed when raven’s last aboard Noah’s craft (6)
|
| A charade of N (‘raveN‘s last’) plus ARKED (‘aboard Noah’s craft’). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | HAUL |
Takings from assembly room picked up (4)
|
| Sounds like (‘picked up’) HALL (‘assembly room’). | ||
| 3 | INTESTACY |
Undergoing trial with a company’s banks when will’s lacking (9)
|
| A charade of IN TEST (‘undergoing trial’) plus ‘a’ plus CY (‘CompanY‘s banks’). | ||
| 4 | LEEWAY |
Spooner’s small Scottish song room (6)
|
| A Spoonerism of WEE (‘small Scottish’) plus LAY (‘song’). | ||
| 5 | BOTANICAL GARDEN |
Bone and short cartilage injured where beds arranged for visitors (9,6)
|
| An anagram (‘injured’) of ‘bone and’ plus ‘cartilag[e]’ minus its last letter (‘short’). | ||
| 6 | COMEDIAN |
Entertainer‘s trick taking in reporters etc (8)
|
| An envelope (‘taking in’) of MEDIA (‘reporters etc’) in CON (‘trick’). | ||
| 7 | SKULL |
Head‘s row overheard (5)
|
| Sounds like SCULL (‘row’ if you rhyme it with go). | ||
| 8 | INDISCREET |
Reckless trendy individual turning tail (10)
|
| A charade of IN (‘trendy’) plus DISCREET, which is DISCRETE (‘individual’) withe the last two letters reversed (‘turning tail’). | ||
| 12 | CINE CAMERA |
Movie-maker‘s constant echo penetrating behind closed doors (4,6)
|
| A charade of C (‘constant’) plus INECAMERA, an envelope (‘penetrating’) of E (‘echo’, NATO alphabet) in IN CAMERA (‘behind closed doors’). | ||
| 15 | BROWN BEAR |
Ex-PM put up with fearsome Eurasian (5,4)
|
| A charade of BROWN (Gordon, ‘ex-PM’) plus BEAR (‘put up with’) | ||
| 16 | BELITTLE |
Underrate French peach, one dry inside (8)
|
| An envelope (‘inside’) of I (‘one’) plus TT (teetotal, ‘dry’) in BELLE (‘French peach’ – a beautiful woman). | ||
| 19 | ZIRCON |
Jewish people accepting Roman Catholic gem (6)
|
| An envelope (‘acceppting’) of RC (‘Roman Catholic’) in ZION (‘Jewish people’). | ||
| 21 | INEPT |
Bumbling in record time (5)
|
| A charade of ‘in’ plus EP (‘record’) plus T (‘time’). | ||
| 22 | LIVE |
Foul lifts not recorded (4)
|
| A reversal (‘lifts’ in a down light) of EVIL (‘foul’). |
Very enjoyable, thanks Nutmeg, and thanks PeterO for the blog. PANTHEON was the only one I couldn’t parse. Chuckled at RAMIFICATION.
Thanks, Nutmeg and PeterO!
Liked RAMIFICATION. Loved the ‘definition and daffynition’ comment of PeterO.
Lots of fine clues, including INDISCREET which took a while to see, and the fun RAMIFICATION.
Not sure if “again” is right in the clue for BACKSLID. You can achieve some height or progress, then lose some of those gains in which case you have backslid, but only once. Or am I totally misunderstanding what’s going on?
Thanks N&P
Thanks Nutmeg, it was a joy to see your name on a crossword again. So many clues were top-notch including my favourites STAINED GLASS, DECREPIT, BELITTLE, ZIRCON, and INEPT. I also enjoyed INDISCREET and PANTHEON once I twigged their parsing. Thanks PeterO for the blog.
Dr. WhatsOn @ 3: The myth of Sisyphus comes to mind when I think of someone who “backslid” again and again.
Top quality
Dr.WhatsOn@3
BACKSLID
My understanding of ‘backslide’:
Even when the backslide happens the first time around, a relapse (into an earlier poor condition/habit) is implied.
VERY WELL
Are both these sentences conveying the same meaning: ‘I can just go for it’ and ‘I can very well go for it’?
I mean…can ‘just’ be another definition (Thriving, just and OK)?
If it can be shipped I guess it can be arked, bit funky tho. Nice Nutmeg, and ta PO.
re 7 @KVa Very well – a naval officer’s (and others?) expression on receiving information = OK
KVa@7I am VERY WELL thank you, VERY WELL if I must.
Another spicy little Nutmeg puzzle, with plenty to like, especially RAMIFICATION. I had O PEN instead of OWED, I had been thinking of ode, but failed to recognise the homophone indicator.
Thanks both
Russtoo@9 and NICBACH@10
Thanks. I get the two meanings ‘thriving’ and ‘OK’ very well!
Can ‘very well’ also mean ‘just’?
What I posted @7 was in this context. Can it be a triple def?
KVa@11 Sorry, I see what you mean. I think “very well” in your example implies some enthusiasm. “Just” seems, to me anyway, to imply either a) going for it without deep thought on outcomes, or b) reluctance. I agree it’s a bit open.
Thanks, Russtoo@12.
I’m with KVa: I might very well do that/I might just do that …
Very enjoyable, thanks, Nutmeg and PeterO. MOULDY stood out as the the clear favourite for me – neat and cleverly misleading surface. The definition for QUOTIENT is unfamiliar to me but it’s clued clearly enough.
KVa – Occam’s razor applies – no need to look for a triple when it works fine as a double.
Just loved Nutmeg’s finely crafted and entertaining puzzle. Another here tickled by the daffynition of RAMIFICATION and the misdirection in PANTHEON.
Thankyou PeterO for your beautifully laid out explications.
I got the NW corner in pretty quickly, then got stuck until the solution to 5d got me going again.
Thanks Nutmeg for a great puzzle, and PeterO for the blog. Feeling a bit dumb for not getting quotient – completely overlooked the anagrind.
Re 17, I took the second definition to be ‘just ok’ = ‘very well ‘
This needed some effort which is no bad thing. I enjoyed the three long clues ( especially 20ac as others have noted) which gave me a toehold into the rest. Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO.
Thanks Nutmeg (long time no see) and PeterO. A much welcome puzzle.
I couldn’t quite think what word RAMIFICATION might parallel, but I guess ossification (process of bone formation) would do (process of ram formation).
Enjoyed this, but for the second day running I delayed myself by hastily entering something imprecise (in this case INTESTATE instead of INTESTACY) and then had to backtrack.
KVa@7. I took the second definition to be “just ok” in its entirety. In my world, to respond to a proposal with VERY WELL implies reluctant acquiescence, as in “that’ll do, but I’m not keen”.
Widdersbel@15
Occam’s razor doesn’t cut enough in our area. Thinking of multiple possible explanations is fun. 🙂
Yes, it does seem a while since we’ve had a Nutmeg to enjoy. Somewhat of a puzzle of two halves – having completed the top half, I found myself with precious few leads into the bottom. However, patience won the day and everything solved, though I didn’t really have a parse for NARKED and wasn’t sure about the ‘again’ in BACKSLID or whether I should read more into the ‘just’ in VERY WELL.
RAMIFICATION, my favourite for the laugh. I also enjoyed the elegance of QUOTIENT, the surface image of DECREPIT and the switching device in INDISCREET.
Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO
Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO
Nice puzzle, I didn’t parse INDISCREET.
With just 12d and 23a unfilled, I tried hard to work in a J and an X, but it wasn’t to be1
Very good puzzle. My favourites same as PM@23.
I thought the weakest clue was for NARKED – yes it works, but ‘arked’ a slight stretch. Of course RAMIFICATION=sex change is also a stretch, but an amusing one.
To me BACKSLID implies a return to bad habits i.e. going astray, after a temporary improvement, so the clue seems fine.
Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO.
It’s Nutmeg, it’s very good, it’s fun. I’ve run out of different ways to say how much I enjoy her puzzles.
Enjoyable puzzle. Favourites: LEEWAY, RAMIFICATION
New for me: NARKED = annoyed.
I could not parse 8d.
Thanks, both.
I think backsliding is subtly different to sliding back (the delights of the English phrasal verbs) and fits Nutmeg’s definition very well. Thanks for the daffynitions. [ is there a reason why it’s sometimes “ification” and sometimes “faction” as in “solidification” and “liquefaction”?]
Lovely puzzle but had to reveal a couple, including the super RAMIFICATION-doh! Also love the ducky Daffynition.
Ta Nutmeg & PeterO.
I agree with all the praise for RAMIFICATION which raised a huge smile. And I liked the ARKED in 26a (echoes of our discussion the other day as to whether “shied” could mean “in a (coconut) shy”).
Many thanks Nutmeg and PeterO.
I thought we might be in for a pangram here, but failed to spot a J so stopped counting.
I was held up in the NE by a mental block on CLAMBERS and entering CRAMBLES, which both parsed and matched the definition.
Otherwise good fun and a slower than it should have been finish, loved RAMIFICATION!
Thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO
Welcome back to Nutmeg, always a joy to solve. And thanks PeterO for the blog, and especially the pointer to daffynition.
Great puzzle, hard as always with Nutmeg, but very well clued. Took me forever but I didn’t give up, and was justly rewarded. Thanks both.
Excellent puzzle. Liked INDISCREET and QUOTIENT.
Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO
Giggled at RAMIFICATION as others did.
I liked the arked gag but felt a ‘?’ was probably called for.
Ran out of time so had to reveal LIVE. Good clue.
Thanks both.
Ark Lark @34: Are you proud to have a mention, today?
I’m in a hurry to go out and so I’ll just echo what George said @26.
Doofs@31 I thought I was the only one who put CRAMBLES instead of CLAMBERS! I’d never heard of it but wiktionary told me it exists. Luckily my husband had already twigged and set me straight.
Enjoyed the puzzle – thanks Nutmeg and PeterO.
Mostly very good (which I first tried instead of VERY WELL, and I think is equally plausible here), but I couldn’t parse NARKED and still don’t like it. I prefer setters to use words someone would actually say rather than just making them up (ARKED?).
Dave Ellison @20 personification, objectification, perhaps pontification.
Ramification was my favourite as well in a nice crossword, even though I failed in the last details top left. Partly, it turns out, because I can’t spell indiscreet. Reckless seems a bit of a stretch for the definition to me but I agree it does work.
Excellent puzzle with a good variety of clue types. I got held up in the NE quadrant, having been fixated on ‘second’ = B for 5ac, but it all turned out right in the end.
Favourites: QUOTIENT (beautifully unobtrusive anagrist), INDISCREET, NARKED (clever Biblical reference with the raven), VERY WELL (short and sweet) and of course RAMIFICATION.
[Petert @28: Verbs ending in -ify seem to give -ification and those ending in -efy just -faction, but I may be wrong, and in any case this just pushes the question further back. Ask the French – that’s where all these words originated:) ]
Thanks to S&B
Entertaining puzzle with some fine clues.
I liked QUOTIENT for the misleading solution, STAINED GLASS for the great cathedral that wasn’t Ely, FEWEST for the minimum payments, LEEWAY as a good Spoonerism, CINE CAMERA for the clever wordplay, and BELITTLE for the French peach (LOL). I didn’t think the ‘again’ was needed in BACKSLID, and to quibble slightly a sheep could of course be a ram, so maybe ewe would have been better (?)
Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO.
Thank you for the parsing of INDISCREET, which eluded me.
A very enjoyable Thursday.
PeterO, I was going to compliment you on ‘daffynition’ but I see Wiktionary got there first.
poc@39 – Chambers gives: transitive verb (obsolete), “to put in an ark”. Not a common word at all, but not made up!
A gentle and satisfying solve, the highlight of which was of course RAMIFICATION. Enjoyably silly.
Thanks Nutmeg & PeterO.
My favourite puzzles are those which on a first read through I think I will be completely stumped, but somehow it all falls into place. This very much fits the bill. Am pleased to see Nutmeg return. With her puzzles I am always on the look out for the odd reference to religion, and here we have: STAINED GLASS, ZIRCON, NARKED and PANTHEON. With thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO.
Petert: I can’t get no ramefaction.
I can see a EWE in FEWEST and a LAMB in CLAMBERS, as well as RAM of course – any more?
So nice to see Nutmeg back (again). Thanks to her and PeterO.
I got RAMIFICATION but still don’t get it. Please let me in on the secret!
Billb @48 – in the same way that to turn someone into a villain could be to ‘villify’ them, to turn a ewe into a ram could be to RAM-ify them, so the process is RAM-IFICATION. Does that make sense?!
Must admit that I gave up with several unsolved and on reveal had no trouble forgiving myself. My premise is that the definitions involved were somewhat watery: BELITTLE (underrate), FEWEST (minimal), BACKSLID (went astray again), INDISCREET (reckless), COMEDIAN (entertainer) and MOULDY (blighted). My bad perhaps – clairvoyance not up to snuff today.
But thanks both – much entertainment.
Since when is CINE a word? I’ve never met it.
Widdersbel@15 If the definition in the clue for QUOTIENT is unfamiliar to you, what is yours? As far as I know, sum, difference, product and quotient are respectively the results of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Product and difference have other, unrelated, meanings, but not quotient or sum. (“Sum” in the UK can mean an arithmetic problem, but that derives from the addition meaning.)
This was lots of fun. Couldn’t finish last night, but got all of it this morning without any buttons. Thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO for the daffy entertainment.
‘To ark’ is to put into an ark, just as ‘to ship’ and ‘to boat’ are to go aboard or put into those vessels.
Essexboy@47 I like the sheep theme idea, all I can add is that PAN is the god of shepherds and their flocks, though I suspect these are happy coincidences!
Thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO
Valentine – from the OED: “With preceding word or phrase: the degree to which the specified quality or characteristic is present” (as in IQ, for example). Admittedly this definition is derived from the maths definition, which I probably learned at school but have long since forgotten.
This took me an absolute age to solve today, and it wasn’t until I’d spotted the excellent anagram and BOTANICAL GARDEN, that I was I to plant myself firmly in control. Probably because I was convinced that the Greek temple had to end in -US, with Plus for “addition” involved in the clueing. Had Scramble until I realised that CLAMBERS was required, and couldn’t parse INDISCREET, BELITTLE. Had Merest instead of FEWEST for a while, and a dnf as I had forced in Bicuspid instead of BACKSLID and wondered how that worked. Phew! Time for a cuppa tea…
CINE is in Collins.
Feminist hackles raised at French peach. Ho hum. Spent ages playing with pêche.
Ta both
The great John Wesley made many references in his diaries to backsliders…
Alastair @55: I was also a pêcheur for a while (does that make me a pécheur?).
Took me far longer than it should have. Loved RAMIFICATION.
Not in the list of daffynitions on that Wiki page is
CENOTAPH — a Welsh laxative.
Lovely to see a lady setter long time no appear and super as usual. Now perhaps after ages we might get our spider lady to grace the graunie cryptics.
Thanks both,
22d: I originally had ‘vile’ then thought ‘live’ but couldn’t see how to change one to the other. Eventually I saw ‘live’ is ‘evil in reverse, but I think ‘vile’ is a better synonym for ‘foul’.
Not sure why belle = peach. Also, a bit surprised no one has complained about ode and owed being homophones. Maybe they are with a cockney accent! Or are we not arguing about homophones any more!?
AuntRuth @62
I often complain about “homophones” but I’m baffled about how you would pronounce “ode” and “owed” not as homphones!
In some areas of the Hebrides perhaps.
Tyngewick@61. ‘Foul’ = VILE was in today’s quick crossword in the Guardian. I very seldom bother with it, so it was quite a coincidence and misled me in the same way as you describe.
I’m envious of those who enjoyed INDISCREET as I couldn’t get anywhere near this, despite all the crossers. I thought BACKSLID was good but – like Gervase,@41 – it took me ages to reject B or even BIS for ‘second’ before I could see it.
VERY WELL was a write in for me, as it’s the most often repeated sentence in the Hornblower books.
Thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO.
Thanks for the blog, I liked the turning tail for INDISCREET and PANTHEON flowed very nicely. BACKSLID is a nice word , as mentioned above I associate it with people breaking the pledge.
As I’ve never heard of it before I looked up ‘discrete/discreet’ and the definition states its “discreet” that means individual, whereas the ‘ete’ version that is the ‘reckless version- so is ‘individual’ the clue and ‘reckless’ part of the definition? not the way descibed above, or have I completely mistread it?
Priscilla @68
Where did you look that up? It seems almost completely the wrong way round. “Discrete” means “separate”, or, I suppose, “singular”, whereas “discreet” means careful/prudent/tactful.
@Muffin 69
Google top definition form ‘vocabulary.com
@muffin 69,
Tried to include a link but it didnt work?
https://www.google.com/search?q=discreet+is+individual&newwindow=1&rlz=1C1ONGR_enGB1019GB1019&ei=yJpvZMzRBcqDgQbQiIHACw&ved=0ahUKEwjM1Z6c_5D_AhXKQcAKHVBEALgQ4dUDCA8&oq=discreet+is+individual&gs_lcp=Cgxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAQDDIGCAAQFhAeMggIABCKBRCGAzIICAAQigUQhgM6CggAEEcQ1gQQsAM6CggAEIoFELADEEM6DwgAEIoFELEDEEMQRhD5AToNCAAQigUQsQMQgwEQQzoFCAAQgAQ6BwgAEIoFEEM6CwguEIAEEMcBEK8BOggIABCKBRCRAjoHCAAQgAQQCjoJCAAQFhAeEPEEOggIABAWEB4QDzoHCAAQDRCABDoGCAAQHhANOggIABAeEA0QDzoICAAQFhAeEAo6DAgAEA0QgAQQRhD_AToKCAAQCBAeEA0QDzoICAAQCBAeEA06CggAEAgQHhANEApKBAhBGABQ9gpYxnRg7KkBaAFwAXgAgAGHAYgB7AuSAQM1LjmYAQCgAQHAAQHIAQo&sclient=gws-wiz-serp
RAMIFICATION was excellent and the best of an outstanding set of clues.
I have taken the decision to instantly reveal all Spooner clues as I still don’t know how they work until I see the answer.
Thanks both.
Ronald@54 I saw bicuspid, too, but had to abandon it also.
Often mix up DISCRETE and DISCREET….think I’ve got it now. Like Ron I also threw SCRAMBLE in before CLAMBERS.
THANKS Nutmeg and PeterO
Priscilla @70/71 – it’s odd, because vocabulary.com (the top Google result in your link) has got it the right way round:
Discreet means on the down low, under the radar, careful; but discrete means “individual” or “detached.”
But you’re right that ‘reckless’ is the definition of INDISCREET, and ‘individual’ (= discrete) is part of the wordplay in the clue – as per PeterO’s parsing.
Bumper sticker seen a long time ago on a car belonging to one of my more scientific (?) friends: “Physicists do it discretely, but mathematicians do it continuously”.
Stuck for a long time because I was convinced 10a was “BOUNTY”. Think that would have been a funny solution
Welcome back. Sorely missed. Such a light touch.
Very late to the party today, as I had saved this for the morning commute, but the train was so crowded I never got a seat…and then my workday was so hectic I couldn’t get to this until my post-work pint. Anyway, a delight for the end of a pretty bad day.
I was held up on MOULDY for the longest time because for a good while my only crosser was the U, the one letter that word doesn’t have this side of the Atlantic. And I needed the blog to parse INDISCREET, which is pretty feeble of me really. Guess the long day caught up with me.
[But I did laugh when I got it. Back in the day of my single-hood when I posted and responded to online personal ads–this was also back in the day when it wasn’t okay everywhere to be gay–an instant deal-breaker was someone who said they were looking for someone discrete. As opposed to fuzzy around the edges? If you can’t spell, I can’t date you. That’s even a bigger problem than the fact you’re not out.]
Thanks PeterO for the daffynition and Nutmeg for a very enjoyable crossword. When our number theory lecturer first wrote “Discrete mathematics” on the board, probably in ref to a textbook, I really thought he had made a spelling mistake as I had never seen that word before. Luckily I was far too shy to speak out and correct him.
Lovely crossword, thank you Nutmeg. So much to like, the light touch, the daffy definition, the well- disguised anagrams, the (slightly) misleading Temple of Greek god, et al. Thank you, PeterO, for your lucid explanations. All most enjoyable.
[mrpenny @78, if you should read this, your last sentence reminded me of a Seinfeld episode in which Elaine broke up with an almost perfect boyfriend because he didn’t put an exclamation mark at the end of a phone message. We all have our deal-breaker! ]
Late getting here, but I thought I’d add that I’m another who confidently put in CRAMBLES, after checking that it shows up in at least some dictionaries.
By the way, not all brown bears are Eurasian: we have them in North America too (where they’re more commonly known as grizzlies).
I thought this was classic Nutmeg, with a good variety of clues and a number of laughs when I saw how they worked. I particularly liked the anagram for QUOTIENT, the definition for BOTANICAL GARDEN, and of course RAMIFICATION (leading to the addition of “daffynition” to my vocabulary).
This is a very late comment. No more quick scanning to see if there’s another delightful puzzle to savour. Popped back here to see if I’d missed any subtle hints à l’Araucaria at the time, unless 3Dn counts, but that seems most unlikely.