A typical Nutmeg offering this morning.
When you see that the setter is Nutmeg, you know what you're going to get – clever clues, neat surfaces and a mental stretching exercise that won't leave you hurting too much.
This was what we got this morning – everything from the very straightforward double definition at 1 across to the very clever "reverse clue" at 11 across. I also liked the long anagram at 20 across, even if it did take me longer than I'd like to admit to see it. Nutmeg also avoids "difficult" words, with EOLITH being the only word that I would envisage some solvers meetinf gor the first time today.
Thanks Nutmeg.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | OBJECT | End protest (6) |
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Double definition |
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| 5 | BATMAN | Military aide to call back shortly after flyer (6) |
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<=NAM(e) ("to call" back, shortly) after BAT ("flyer") |
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| 8 | GAMBLER | Better finish for limping walker (7) |
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[finish for] (limpin)G + AMBLER ("walker") |
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| 9 | TIME LAG | Girl reflected on porridge served in interval (4,3) |
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<=GAL ("girl", reflected) on TIME ("porridge" as in "a spell in prison") |
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| 11 | IVAN THE TERRIBLE | Ruler I haven’t clued cryptically? (4,3,8) |
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*(i haven't) becomes IVAN THE with TERRIBLE as an anagrind, so the setter is in effect getting us to create the cryptic clue. |
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| 12 | GIST | Troops abroad finally intercept import (4) |
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GIs ("troops" in the US, so "abroad") + [finally] (intercep)T |
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| 13 | FOLKLORIST | Culture expert to call back conclusively, nurseryman claims (10) |
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(t)O (cal)L (bac)K [conclusively] claimed by FLORIST ("nurseryman") |
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| 17 | OFF-PUTTING | Postponed green activity on course is discouraging (3-7) |
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OFF ("postponed") + PUTTING ("activity" on the "green on" (a golf ) "course") |
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| 18 | STYE | Eyesore you once found on street (4) |
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YE ("you once") found on St, (street) |
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| 20 | FOR ALL ONE'S WORTH | Penniless lord of North Wales worked with maximum effort (3,3,4,5) |
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*(lor of north wales) [anag:worked] where LOR is LOR(d) without the D (a penny in old money, so "penniless") |
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| 23 | RETREAD | Priest regularly scrutinised renovated car part (7) |
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(p)R(i)E(s)T [regularly] + READ ("scrutinised") |
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| 24 | LIES LOW | Story lacking pace remains in cover (4,3) |
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LIE ("story") + SLOW ("lacking pace") |
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| 25 | OYSTER | Energy-packed story adapted for silent type in bed? (6) |
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E (energy) packed into *(story) [anag:adapted} As well as being the creature found in an (oyster) bed, "oyster" is also a word used to describe a tight-lipped person you can rely on to keep a secret, hence a "silent type". |
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| 26 | DISBAR | Throw out of an inn, perhaps detective’s watering hole (6) |
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DI'S ("Detective (Inspector)'s") BAR ("watering hole") |
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| DOWN | ||
| 2 | BYMEANSOF | Using implication that prepositions are synonymous? (2,5,2) |
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If you said that "BY" MEANS "OF" you'd be implying that the two "prepositions are synonymous". |
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| 3 | EOLITH | Old stone tool, one for garden holding most of work up (6) |
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<=(HOE ("tool, for garden") holding [most of] TIL(l) ("work")) up |
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| 4 | TURNED OUT | Put in an appearance, clothed (6,3) |
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Double definition |
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| 5 | BATHE | Immerse oneself in article by graduate (5) |
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THE ("article") by BA (Bachelor of Arts, so "graduate") |
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| 6 | TOMORROW | Withdraw apt word, or exchange words 24 hours hence (8) |
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[withdraw] <=MOT ("apt word") + OR + ROW ("exchange words") |
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| 7 | AD LIB | Made-up address politician chasing promotion might give? (2,3) |
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LIB (Liberal, so "politician") chasing AD ("promotion") |
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| 8 | GOINGTOOFAR | Current airmen picked up after also crossing the boundary (5,3,3) |
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GOING ("current", as in "going concern") with <=RAF ("airmen", picked up) after TOO ("also") |
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| 10 | GREAT-NEPHEW | Kinsman skirting Tyneside with huge sigh of relief (5-6) |
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GREAT ("huge") + PHEW ("sigh of relief") skirting NE (North East, so "Tyneside") |
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| 14 | KENNELLED | Like a setter in the doghouse? (9) |
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Cryptic definition |
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| 15 | INTER ALIA | Among other things mishandled at airline? (5,4) |
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*(at airline) [anag:mishandled] |
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| 16 | FULL PELT | At which sprinters run, holding as much as possible, and hide (4,4) |
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FULL ("holding as much as possible") and PELT ("hide") |
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| 19 | TWEEDS | Precious case for duchess’s customary country wear (6) |
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TWEE ("precious") + [case for] D(uches)S |
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| 21 | RATTY | Impatient tourist on vacation tucking into fish (5) |
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T(ouris)T (having been vacated, or on vacation) tucking into RAY ("fish") |
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| 22 | OLDER | Proprietor in Bow further over the hill? (5) |
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(h)OLDER ("proprietor") but spelled as a Cockney (in Bow) would say it, with a dropped H |
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Insomnia forced an early assault on this excellent puzzle, leaving only FOLKLORIST & KENNELLED for the morning tea.
Thought the latter a tad weak in an otherwise fine crozzie.
Unfamiliar with EOLITH but accessible from the tidy cluing.
Many thanks both
A very fine crossword, as ever from Nutmeg; her puzzles are always a masterclass in fairness and concision. IVAN THE TERRIBLE was my favourite (the clue I mean, not the Tsar!)
By the way, there’s a lovely cryptic clue in today’s Guardian Quick, at 1ac.
Thanks Nutmeg and Loonapick.
Summed up perfectly loonapick. Another midnight effort which went in reasonably quickly, until held up by FOLKLORIST until the penny eventually dropped. EOLITH was new but gettable. I liked GREAT NEPHEW, GOING TOO FAR and OLDER but what a fabulous clue with IVAN THE TERRIBLE. Lovely puzzle. Thanks both
Well that’s thus morning’s earworm sorted out:
You’ve got to know when to hold ’em (when to hold ’em)
Know when to fold ’em (when to fold ’em).
EOLITH and FOLKLORIST were my last ones and IVAN THE TERRIBLE was my favourite too.
When you find an ancient stone tool, how do you know it’s a eolith and not a neolith with the end bit broken off?
Thanks to Nutmeg and Loonapick
Enjoyable offering today. Favourites were IVAN THE TERRIBLE and FOLKLORIST. Did not know EOLITH but got it through parsing – incorrectly! – toil rather than till, thought it was very odd to take out a middle letter.
Thanks Nutmeg and Loonapick.
Yep always neat, is Nutmeg. Sure we’ve had eolith, maybe more than once, and maybe not an aeon ago. The terrible ‘I haven’t’ reminds me of Vlad, and of all the other strongman kleptocrats we desperately don’t need at this planetary juncture! [When Joe won, my sister in N8 texted “..and there’s fireworks at Ally Pally”. I said Good, now we just need to get rid of a dozen more kleptos.. She said Shush, you sound like Dad, I just want a moment’s joy, ok? Sorry Sis]. Like solving a Nutmeg … one of life’s joys. Thanks to her and to Loonapick.
Easier than Monday!
Spent a while thinking of microbiological culture-ists.
Thanks to Nutmeg and loonapick.
Sweetly clued – really enjoyable work out. Thanks for the impeccable blog, too – just one small “pec”: 26ac “disbar” contains a ref to the Inns of Court. As for COTD I think, for me, 13ac for “folklorist” has it. (I spent ages thinking of bio cultures). Also loved 2d
For 3D, your underlining of two rather than three words makes the definition correct, but the grammar of the clue suggests the setter mistakenly intended otherwise. See Wikipedia “eolith”.
A lovely puzzle though I needed some help with some of the parsing. Eolith was new to me and one I could not parse, and I did not work out the long anagram. Many thanks for the blog, loonapick, and to Nutmeg for the elegant puzzle.
I agree with Loonapick’s assessment of Nutmeg, today and generally. Other setters please note!! Thanks both.
Thank you for this as it was one where I couldn’t parse a few and then had a ‘doh’ moment when I read your explanation. I’m still nonplussed by 6 down though, specifically the MOT =apt word.
Much fun this morning with a superbly clued puzzle – EOLITH was the only DNK but was so well clued that it fell it with an “of course it is” moment.
Thanks Numeg, loonapick and all bloggers!
Jenniecomelately@12: French phrase bon mot meaning witty/clever therefore apt remark I think
Jinniecomelately@12 I’m puzzled by that, too. I think it must be from BON MOT (which can mean a well chosen word),and you take, reversed, the word part?
grantinfreo@6 The last outing for eolith was Maskerade on 1 March 2019.
Thanks Nutmeg and Loonapick.
Thanks, loonapick. As others have said, great preamble! (and blog).
And Nutmeg on top form. I had about a dozen ticks but will discipline myself and just mention FOLKLORIST, FOR ALL ONE’S WORTH, GREAT NEPHEW and the sublime IVAN THE TERRIBLE, which I shall add to my classics.
Many thanks, as ever, Nutmeg, for brightening up another dull morning.
Quite delicious! I was on Nutmeg’s wavelength today and just luxuriated in the experience that loonapick describes so well in his opening remarks. I’m another who enjoyed IVAN and the other long anagram too. DISBAR (with its sly reference to Inns of Court as noted by TerriBlislow), GAMBLER, RETREAD, OYSTER, BY MEANS OF (really made me grin), GREAT NEPHEW (likewise) and GOING TOO FAR were my other ticks. FOLKLORIST resisted til last – I couldn’t get BOOK out of my mind for the first four letters. My only slight grumblet is that I think of a florist as the retailer of flowers whilst the nurseryman is the grower but that might be me justifying why it took so long to crack. Not that I was complaining – the longer this puzzle lasted, the happier I was.
Thanks Nutmeg and loonapick
Jenniecomelately@12 (and others) from “le mot juste” seems more apt
Only managed to get loi FOLKLORIST after deliberating for a while over whether KENNELLING fitted the bill for 14d. But a satisfying solve throughout.
I have once or twice been on Nutmeg’s wavelength – but not today. Several I could just write in but not parse, others I did not really know where to start. Definitely an off day.
Thanks to Nutmeg and to loonapick for the blog – much needed today.
Generally a nicely difficult but doable crossword. Not sure about 21D, though. I have “ratty” as “irritable”, rather than “impatient”, although I can see that being irritable might result from being impatient.
roughtrade@18: yep that works best
It’s Nutmeg. It’s superb. Nuff said.
Thanks Nutmeg and loonapick
I didn’t think this was one of Nutmeg’s best. KENNELLED is weak, as someone said above. I wouldn’t equate nurseryman with florist – the former grows flowers, the latter sells them. “Holder” for proprietor was loose (although that was FOI, as the puzzle was printing off, I felt the need to check it).
My favoruite was GAMBLER. IVAN was very good, but this type of reverse clue has been overdone a bit recently.
I’m sure Nutmeg meant “old stone tool” for EOLITH, or the “one” becomes reundant. I didn’t follow it up on Wiki, but presumably it points out that the theory of their creation and use as tools has been discredited.
Thanks loonapick, as I suspected there were some clues that were too clever for me.
I read “stone tool” so never thought of HOE , MOT escaped me as well , the penny never dropped for me so did not spot the anagram and had to get interesecting down clues to solve it! OLK was another miss, but saw FLORIST and FOLKLORE so got there eventually with a few checks.
Last but definitely not least ” by means of ” really irritated me until I saw your solution, I think it was genius now.
Thanks to both Nutmeg and loonapick, I leant a lot from this one, and I am happy to have there with no reveals, my mission for the time being.
Great crossword today. Thanks Nutmeg.
Thought 20ac was my favourite clue till I solved 11ac. Lovely. 12ac was great too.
Needed help parsing 13ac so thank you too loonapick
Enjoyable as ever. I struggled to pick a stand-out clue at first until I came around to remembering that ALL Nutmeg clues are great. Perhaps GIST in particular, wins today’s prize for understated brilliance.
Thanks Nutmeg and Loonapick.
Agree with Mark Pettigrew about RATTY, but it’s a tiny quibble in a sea of excellence. I did know EOLITH (when I first met it, I was told it means “dawn stone”) but had trouble parsing it along with TOMORROW and FOLKLORIST – I had the “K in FLORIST”, but didn’t spot the ends of the other words… Also had FULL TILT instead of PELT for a while.
Nutmeg a pleasure to solve as always: loved IVAN THE TERRIBLE.
Jinniecomelately @12…1960s hit, but with a ‘g’?
I found this more straightforward than most Nutmeg offerings – the multiple word solutions were easily gettable from the enumerations, though the parsings were a bit more recalcitrant. Highly enjoyable though.
*(haven’t I) for IVAN THE TERRIBLE is a beautiful device that has been used several times before (see 15×15 archive) but I’m sure this is Nutmeg’s rediscovery rather than plagiarism
I took 25a to be an oblique reference to Lewis Carroll’s The Walrus and the Carpenter:
‘O Oysters’, said the Carpenter, ‘You’ve had a pleasant run.
Shall we be trotting home again?’ But answer came there none —
And this was scarcely odd, because They’d eaten every one.
Yes so much to enjoy from one of my favourite setters. But, I agree with Mark Pettigrew @21 that RATTY means irritable, grumpy rather than impatient, at least as it’s used in this part of the world. And I aslo agree with Muffin@24 that KENNELLED was a weak clue. I parsed EOLITH as holding most of toil rather than till, although the convention of ‘most of’ does seem to usually mean losing an end letter. Fav clue today OYSTER. Thanks to Nutmeg and Loonapick
Very enjoyable. I particularly liked GIST and BY MEANS OF among several fine clues. I share others slight niggles about RATTY and TOMORROW. (It isn’t the ‘MOT’ I struggle-with; it’s the use of ‘withdraw’ to indicate it’s reversal. Unless I have completely misunderstood – which is entirely possible.) All in all, great fun though. Thanks to Nutmeg and Loonapick.
[Anyone else amazed by Larry @57 in yesterday’s Matilda pointing out that Imogen and Vulcan are the same setter? Couldn’t be more different]
[gif @34: yes, indeed. A real surprise. Especially given how often we laud the first and our tendency to dismiss the second as Mondayish. Many comments on Vulcan over the months (mine included) have been based on the assumption this was a new setter finding his/her feet. Needing encouragement and praise for the better clues and receiving some carping when it’s a bit too straightforward. ]
I had one of rodshaw’s deja vu moments with GIST, as I’m sure I remember trying to fit the same word into a light in the same part of the grid one day last week. I was wrong that time, but today the clue almost solved itself.
This was one of my more enjoyable Nutmeg solves – I sometimes start off well before grinding to an ignominious halt with a dozen still to go, but today it was a slow start, then picking up speed as I got onto the setter’s wavelength, finally going at FULL PELT!
grantinfreo @34 – I couldn’t agree more. 😉
[hatter @36: with that sign off at the end of your post, I now have an image of you solving styled a la Fred Flintstone. I guess Full Pelt is the Paleolithic opposite to Full Monty.]
[Penfold @4: a different earworm for me, today. Once I’d got Tomorrow from Annie out of my mind (my eldest played Daddy Warbucks in a school play many years ago!), Blue OYSTER Cult was next in line and (Don’t Fear) The Reaper and Godzilla are jostling for position.]
[PostMark @38. Too cold in Sheffield at this time of year for the Full Monty, though as a vegetarian I’m not sure I should be wearing a PELT either.]
I thought 11A was a terribly good clue, and I grinned at DISBAR, OLDER and GAMBLER.
Like brojo at 5, I tried parsing EOLITH as “toil” rather than “till“ – and I’m another who was thinking of Lewis Carroll’s silent oysters. (I was unaware of oyster being used to describe silent folk – I thought that was clam. Hey ho)
Thanks to Nutmeg for a thoroughly enjoyable puzzle, and Loonapick for a thoroughgoing blog
Usually when penny=d there’s an indication that it’s the old one. I was trying to do something with (p)EER and getting nowhere, so I biffed the answer in.
What a difference a rhythm makes. I was reading 2d with the same rhythm as “no means no,” and it meant nothing. Now I see what the right rhythm is.
In GOING TOO FAR “picked up” doesn’t mean “overheard” for once.
[11a reminds me of a friend who used to refer to her then boyfriend’s grandmother as “Serafina the Terrible.”]
I thought 13a was going to be some sort of “ologist” word — and then a K got into it! I was totally flummoxed, and could only resolve my flummoxitude by trying random letters and the check button till I hit F and the tea tray fell.
Where are my manners? Thank you, Nutmeg, for a delightful puzzle, and loonapick for a very helpful and needed blog. And thank you from the Nutmeg State!
Postmark@38, have you heard Fu Manchu’s raunchy version of Godzilla?
Wellbeck @40: oysters are more tightlipped than clams. I imagine they have more mussel but would whelkome other explanations … whilst I get my coat…
Another Walrus here – although it should be borne in mind that the Oysters were not entirely silent:
‘Now if you’re ready, Oysters dear,
We can begin to feed.’
‘But not on us!’ the Oysters cried,
Turning a little blue.
‘After such kindness that would be
A dismal thing to do!’
‘The night is fine,’ the Walrus said.
‘Do you admire the view?’
Of course after being eaten they shut up. But to be fair, who among us would not go a bit quiet in such circumstances?
[PostMark 38: yes, I think we all need more cowbell 😉 ]
By the way, loved the puzzle. Thanks to Nutmeg and loonapick, and to Valentine @41 for introducing me to flummoxitude, which is now my candidate for Word of the Year.
[EOLITH reminded me. Is anyone else irritated by all these news stories about metal monoliths?]
[AlanC @43: listening to it as I type my reply. A new one on me. The guitars have an early Black Sabbath sound to them. Thanks for the suggestion.]
I had GRAND NEPHEW initially before IVAN THE TERRIBLE eliminated him. Not sure if that’s actually a term or not.
I came across MOT yesterday in a different connection, as a word in the Dubliners song “Monto”. It means (or used to mean?) girlfriend in Dublin slang apparently. Would have made a nice surface for TOMORROW – “Put up girlfriend in Dublin or exchange words 24 hours hence”.
Great puzzle. (I thought there was going to be a superhero theme after BATMAN, but no). Thanks, Nutmeg and Loonapick.
Much more enjoyable than yesterday. Didn’t know EOLITH and, yes, I agree with muffin @46. The first mention on the news had me looking at the rocks behind, I just dismissed the metal thing! Thanks Nutmeg and Loonapick for a couple of necessary parsings.
Not one of my best days, DNF for a lot of these. There were a couple that I got but couldn’t parse because of lacking local knowledge–this Yank doesn’t know which direction Tyneside is in, or the Bow accent! I’d seen “porridge” before but always forget it.
One thing–I think in 22d “further” is part of the definition.
Rather late today for two reasons.
(a) Christmas shopping.
(b) Entering ‘in place of’ at 2d rather early on. Did the NW no good at all.
The latter finally got sorted when I realised that 8a made no sense.
Thanks Nutmeg for a most satisfying crossword. The surfaces were very readable which is always a pleasure. My favourites were the sneaky GAMBLER, BY MEANS OF, and OFF-PUTTING. I failed at FOLKLORIST and TOMORROW and couldn’t parse TIME LAG (I forgot porridge = prison); I was unfamiliar with RATTY being impatient and FULL PELT as an expression of speed. In the US, clam is more commonly used as a tight-lipped person rather than OYSTER but the image is the same. Thanks Loonapick for the blog.
Late to the party today – our broadband was down, so I had to do the puzzle on my phone rather than print it out, which was a totally different experience. Greatly enjoyed it as I do with all Nutmegs. LOI was FOLKLORIST, which I got fairly quickly but took forever to parse. Many thanks to Nutmeg & loonapick.
muffin @26 My Shorter OED gives cultivator of flowers as the original sense of florist. I remember it being used especially for enthusiasts of a particular flower, like the people who produce Auricula theatres.
Sorry to be posting this is the wrong place, but could someone kindly post me a link to the thread discussing Brendan’s Saturday 5th Dec Guardian Crossword 28 309, I can’t find it and I need help with parsing one of the answers!
Kate@55 It won’t appear until Saturday, as Saturday puzzles used to be Prize Crosswords
Tony Santucci @52
Have you seen the suggestions @31 (Martin) and 45 (essexboy) re the silence of the oysters? Typical Nutmeg cleverness, I think (cf the ‘inn’ in 26ac).
Great puzzle! So much to like here, even tho a -3.5 XOO for me (on the bleary edge of sleep, guessed IF MEANS IF…doh!), and a few DNPs. Parsed EOLITH as blogged (2 words), and did know the term (fr/US xwords), but DNK some of the Britishisms (e.g. RATTY, BATMAN, FULL PELT).
OLDER: Think “further” part of defn?
Cheers to Nutmeg/Loonapick/commenters for the fine puzzle/blog/discussion!
[PostMark: BOC was my second live rock concert, back around ’82… have vivid memories of the drummer turning to hurl drumsticks into the giant Godzilla’s mouth toward the end of the song 🙂 ]
[scchua, if reading… thx again re the additional follow up yesterday (I added one last set of closing thoughts too).]
Aha, thank you Petert, that explains it! Will wait with bated breath 🙂
[Eileen @57: Yes, I read those those comments but was not familiar with those wonderful citations. Oysters, one of my favourite foods, seem to be making multiple appearances in crosswords lately.]
The definition for 22D needs to be FURTHER OVER THE HILL, I think:
OVER THE HILL = old
FURTHER OVER THE HILL = older
Shafar @61 – see comments 50 and 58.
Sorry to be thick but I really don’t understand how the IVAN THE TERRIBLE clue works. If someone could explain it to me in simple terms I would be really grateful
Hi Noel
It’s a sort of “backwards”clue. An anagram of “I haven’t” indicator could be “terrible”, and it gives IVAN THE. It’s very clever, but I’m not a fan, really.
Can someone explain KENNELLED please? It might be ‘weak’ but I don’t understand it.
Jane @65
The “setter” is a dog. If it’s in the doghouse, it might be KENNELLED.
Just about the worst clue I’ve ever seen Nutmeg write!
That’s really bad! I got the answer and knew it was a dog but it seemed too obvious.
Hi Jane and muffin
For me the humorous dig at crossword critics (perhaps even some on this forum?) makes up for the easiness.
The ‘surface’ (obvious way of reading the clue) makes us think of one of Nutmeg’s less appreciated colleagues – Mr Browne perhaps in his Vulcan manifestation – who has often come under fire on 15² and is thus ‘in the doghouse’.
However, the solution lies in reading ‘doghouse’ in its literal sense of a house for a dog, which is paradoxically the less common meaning.
The clue may be a bit… um, how shall I put it… ‘Vulcan-ish’? – but that’s OK by me. 😉
[Advice to pub quiz addicts: file away Margaret Keenan, alongside Louise Brown and Louis Washkansky/Christiaan Barnard.]
essexboy @68. I applaud you for reading something into the clue for KENNELLED and for your forgiveness of Nutmeg being “Vulcan-ish”, but if you are correct, isn’t it all rather aimed at insiders, and excluding those not in the know? I’d be more inclined to forgive a rather clunky cryptic definition, to be honest.
[Eileen – I gave up pub quizzes long ago, because I can’t take an interest in trying to store in my already overstocked memory the names of people associated with news events. It didn’t used to be that way. Yuri Gagarin, Valentina Tereschkova, Louis Washkansy and Christiaan Barnard still trip off my tongue after more than half a century. But May Parsons was just doing her job when she provided the first injection for Margaret Keenan, and Margaret was no doubt glad to receive a vaccine that she could have every confidence was both safe and effective; my thoughts are with the 43,000 volunteers who had the vaccine injected into their arms when they didn’t even know if it was safe or not, never mind effective.]
[Louis WashkansKy, of course. Their names may trip off my tongue, but getting them into my computer via a keyboard is another matter!]
sh @70
If the ‘insider’ element made the clue unsolvable for ‘outsiders’ I’d agree. But if it just adds a little spice I don’t mind – like the Inns of Court ref at 26a or the Carroll-esque ‘silence of the oysters’.
After all there are plenty of reasons why a crossword setter could be in the doghouse, aside from provoking the ire of 15²-ers: maybe he/she spends so much time sitting peacefully, looking out over gardens and trees, in that reverie which is so conducive to good clue-writing… and never quite gets round to doing the dishes 😉
Nearly tomorrow but did nobody go for AD HOC rather than AD LIB? HoC as politician’s (may they all get their just desserts) address… FOI but sadly wrong
Muffin, if you’re awake… My great grandfather was a florist in Denbury census and that was a gardener at the big house
essexboy@73. I agree with you totally about the clue for DISBAR, which has a superb twist in it that is there for those with the patience to work out the whole clue. For those* impatient to get on to the next one, there’s a slight feeling of let down, with ‘inn’ in the definition, ‘wateringhole’ in the wordplay and BAR in the answer. But on closer examination, a really splendid clue.
*Yeah, that would be me, in this instance. Sorry, Nutmeg.
phitonelly @48 Elizabethan slang had mott for woman, which may be related to your monto, and cove for man, which survives to now if barely.
essexboy @45 Glad you enjoyed flummoxitude, at least the word if not the experience, but I don’t need thanks — a winkle do.
mrpenney — see note to you at the end of the Quiptic blog.
I agree the clue for KENNELLED a barely cryptic definition.
@roughtrade – thank you, that makes sense now.
I too found KENNELLED a bit weak, but I just LOVE Essexboy’s take on it! Thanks for that…