Guardian Cryptic 28,705 by Nutmeg

108 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,705 by Nutmeg”

1. Not the easiest of puzzles, but no complaints. This was one where I started fast then ground to a crawl. Didn’t know the Fungus guy, and when I looked up MANNINGTREE to check I found that it claimed to be the smallest town in England – who knew? In fact, I liked all the M answers.

2. Generally I enjoy the wit and cleverness of Nutmeg but I found this crossword a joyless slog for the most part. My lack of GK — KINGCUP, RECCE, WAKES WEEKS, Fungus, knock, and ludo — was the main culprit. I did like MANNINGTREE, CLASSIFIER, and BLISS. Thanks to both.

3. thanks petero and N! went down the rabbit-hole of reading the wiki pages about both MANNINGTREE and WAKES WEEKS. I think the E in RECCE is the cardinal compass point.

4. Quite hard work with KINGCUP, WAKES WEEKS and the ‘Bogeyman in book’ all unknown. Thanks to Ilan Caron @3 for the explanation of how E = ‘cardinal’ at 4d. I missed that sense of ‘cardinal’ only a few weeks ago, which is a bit of a worry!

   Favourite was the misleading ‘fell’ as a transitive verb in the present tense at 5d.

   Thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO

5. Loved KINGCUP and MODULUS: I do like reversed envelopes. I too struggled with what I didn’t know: KINGCUP, SEDUM, WAKES WEEKS, and who knew that the stick in lacrosse was a CROSSE? Nevertheless, a delightful puzzle.

   Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO

6. Most of this was fine, with great clues like MONTAGE, MODULUS, KNOCK OVER (what the Aussies are doing to Pakistan at the moment), RECCE, SILICA and especially BLISS. But to expect even Pommy solvers (essexboy apart, no doubt) to know about a town that claims – falsely, apparently – to be the smallest in England (as noted by DrWO @1)… And I can find no support for the idea that the lacrosse stick is called a CROSSE – everything I consulted called it… a lacrosse stick! Fancy that! WAKES WEEKS was another NHO, though I was pretty sure it must be right before I searched for it – nothing else vaguely plausible would fit those crossers. Thanks, Nutmeg and PeterO.

7. I can see why this might have been tricky for solvers outside of the UK – this one in the UK has never encountered MANNINGTREE, though it had to be that! I’m only vaguely aware of the Bogeyman from the book title and I don’t know whether WAKES WEEKS are still a Thing. My own shameful lack of GK came with CROSSE; that a crosse is used in lacrosse is news to me. I was also thrown for a while by trying to use ‘Tink’ – the abbreviated Tinkerbell as my fairy in KINGCUP.

   That said, typically accurate clueing from Nutmeg and a nice variety of devices across the puzzle. Like Dr W I enjoyed KNOCK OVER, along with the anagrams for EMPORIUM and IMPLANTED and the novel – and very clever – clueing of the oft-appearing ORAL. COTD for its simplicity and vision is MONTAGE with such a lovely surface.

   Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO

8. TassieTim @6: I had to look it up but it’s there in my online Chambers:

   crosse /kros/
   noun
   The stick with which the game of lacrosse is played, having at its top end a network of leather thongs enclosed in a triangular frame
   ORIGIN: Fr

9. I was a somewhat surprised to see the comments about difficulty. I am perhaps fortunate to be a French speaker from Norfolk. PATISSERIES, CHANSONS, CROSSE and MONTAGE all went in quite quickly, and I knew WAKES WEEKS from working in the holiday industry as a lad. MANNINGTREE is a stop on our main line to London. Thanks to ISIHAC I know PIE CRUST as what you get if you don’t polish your pike!
   Thanks to Petero, and Nutmeg

10. PM @8. In Chambers. I might have known – but I never look in Chambers. If the lengthy Wikipedia article, which quotes extensively from the rules, doesn’t use it, I doubt many others do.

11. I think the definition for PATISSERIE should include the ‘s – the confectioner’s (shop). The confectioner is a PATISSIER.

12. I enjoyed this, but I guess I have the unfair advantage that MANNINGTREE is one of the many places the train from Norwich stops at before eventually staggering into London Liverpool Street; and I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect most people from outside the East of England, let alone outside the UK, to be aware of it.
    I’d been wondering about cardinal numbers – thank you Ilan Caron @3 for pointing us in the right direction (see what I did there?)
    Dimly remembered about WAKES WEEKS and SEDUM (the latter helped by it being a “hidden in” clue, with a clever bit of misdirection) and guessed CROSSE. As to which, sometimes the old ways are the best, TassieTim @10 – the article in Britannica, first paragraph, tells us that lacrosse is a game “in which two teams of players use long-handled, racketlike implements (crosses)…”
    Particularly liked KINGCUP and UNGULATES but there was a lot to enjoy, I thought.
    Thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO

13. Norbrewer@9. Lucky you for your multicultural/linguistic awareness. I looked up Wiki about Norfolk accent and found ‘foot–strut split’ and ‘you-dropping’ !
    LOL for PIE CRUST. I get that!

14. Unlike Dr.WhatsOn@1, I started very slowly (nothing until TSAR and not much afterwards on my first pass) but they all gradually appeared and were worth waiting for. Luckily I knew all the GK except the CROSSE (who knew there was a special word for the thing?) – and I expect Roz will be appalled to hear that I don’t know what a MODULUS is, though I recognise the word.

    I liked the triple def for SHARPER, and STRAWS, once I had stopped trying to shoehorn PEARLS into it.

15. Am I the only one who did not know knock is an innings?

16. I echo NeilH @ 12. Many thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO for a suitably challenging but very doable crossword, with lots to like.
    My favs were 12a and 28a for the wordplay, and 15d.

17. Agree gladys@11. include the ‘s’. I thought that clue was one of the easier ones as the fodder looked too much like the answer but saw the ‘s’ and thought it had to be, and it was.

18. I don’t need to add much here as I agree with so much of the commentary so far. Luckily I had heard of Wakes weeks and Manningtree but not Kingcup, Crosse or ungulates. Thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO.

19. NeilH @12 I too am an occasional user of the mainline trains between East Anglia and London (and have never seen anyone get on or off at MANNINGTREE – have you?). However, the place name was known to me long before I came to live in these parts from the scene in Henry IV, part 1, where Prince Hal, playing the role of his father, berates Falstaff with a bravura series of insults about his size and habits:

    ” …that bolting-hutch of beastliness, that swollen parcel of dropsies, that huge bombard of sack, that stuffed cloak-bag of guts, that roasted Manningtree ox with the pudding in his belly, that reverend vice, that grey iniquity …”

20. This started fast but took a while to finish. Held up longest by SEDUM, taking forever to see it was a hidden word. Once the penny dropped MONTAGE (LOI) was a wrote-in and a d’oh why didn’t I see that earlier. I did not find the obscure GK a problem given the cluing and the crossers, ie WAKES WEEKS, MANNINGTREE, CROSSE, the only one of which I checked was Wakes weeks. A good work out, thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO.

21. David Ellison@15. I don’t know much but I did know that. I usually get stumped by sporting references in cryptics but not this time. Maybe because it’s late summer here and it’s on the teev ( with a very thin door between).

22. Two unfortunate years trying to play lacrosse at school 60 years ago means I had no trouble with CROSSE. MANNINGTREE came to mind from somewhere once I had a few crossers in. The definition of SHARPER as criminal was new to me though, so didn’t go in immediately. WAKES WEEKS went in quickly, however, as someone hailing from Lancashire originally. Enjoyed the crossword. Thanks to Nutmeg and to PeterO for the blog.

23. Pike rust, walk with a lisp (lymph) … those blokes were such a hoot, just adored Humphry L, RIP. Anyway, yes, same NHOs as others, which made this a more obscure than the usual Nutmeg, but no real complaints. Thanks both.

24. Before I moved North I imagined Hindle Wakes was a play about a man called Hindle who is enlightened, rather than holidays in the town of Hindle. I’d like to think that Manningtree was familiar to me from HenryIV pt 1, but it’s probably from The Manningtree Witches.

25. I’m not one to usually post about a good clue, but when I got MONTAGE I actually applauded (even though there was no-one else there).

    I knew MANNINGTREE, and guessed CROSSE once I had all the, ahem, crossers. Once guessed I googled it, and sure enough it came up as a lacrosse stick. I think my youthful extensive reading of Enid Blyton’s Malory Towers et al put the game in my head to begin with.

26. I enjoyed this, as I always do when Nutmeg is responsible, although I must admit I was a bit surprised to see the inclusion of MANNINGTREE which had me searching for some kind of thematic justification (without success). I wonder whether N is preparing the ground for when Andrew Rosindell & Jacob Rees-Mogg surf their post-Brexit wave and reintroduce pre-decimal currency by using shillings in a clue?
    many thanks to S&B

27. As usual, I really enjoyed tackling another Nutmeg puzzle. It took a while to get in tune, but then I worked steadily through, pausing for ‘crosse’ , which was unknown to me but I inferred that it must be the term for the weapon used in lacrosse.

28. Thanks to Nutmeg and PeterO.

    I was for a long time resident in Blackpool and the wakes weeks brought a different clientele to the resort depending on which town in England or Scotland was celebrating that week. The annual invasion by Glaswegians was always something to look forward to (!), but from memory the periods that were the liveliest were the Young Farmers weekends – definitely a time to lock up your daughters! Other, quite different, highlights were the annual visit by the pigeon fanciers, and the special showings of the Sound of Music, with the tradition of dressing up as characters from the film – everything from nuns to stormtroopers. Happy Days!

29. Thanks to PeterO for the blog. Like him and others above, I was unfamiliar with some – 11a WAKES WEEKS, 18a MANNINGTREE and 23d SEDUM so I had to check those solutions which I only derived from wordplay and crossers. Good learning experience, but I often pride myself on completing Nutmeg’s puzzles without having to look anything up, so I just felt I had let myself down a bit. Fortunately I managed 15d UNGULATES, as I did recall the rather dark “Fungus the Bogeman” picture book which was in my son’s picture collection (about 25 years ago now).
    Moth@25 et al, I loved MONTAGE at 28a too. I can’t believe now that it was my LOI, just as it was for you ngaio@20 (in fact our posts are somewhat similar). It was also great to spot our beloved setter PUCK in the reversal in KINGCUP at 5a. [I do miss Puck from our setting stable and continue to send positive thoughts.]
    Many thanks to Nutmeg.

30. BOGEYMAN!

31. Frustrated by a lot of this. I did wonder about MODULUS’ definition but no doubt a better mathematician than me will disabuse me. Cardinal for E in RECCE? Surely only if followed by point. I did think of cardinal = His Eminence except that would be HE not just E.
    Patisserie as an anagram of pastries plus two other letters was a bit obvious.
    Never heard off Fungus the Bogeyman but got UNGULATES and it couldn’t be anything else. Each = all in HALL.
    I had to resort to maps to find MANNINGTREE. When does a village become a town? From the sound of the above commentary, Manningtree train station sounds like Denistone train station on the Sydney network. It only got built because the head honcho in charge of the development of the Northern line had his house there.

    It wasn’t as bad as the above probably reads. Maybe it was just a bad day for me.

    Guessed that CROSSE would be the stick in Lacrosse (the crosse) which my sister played at school.
    WAKESWEEKS was my favourite for nostalgia reasons and a pretty good surface. The young kiddies these days wouldn’t have a clue. 😉

32. Yes TassieTim @6, MANNINGTREE was close to home 🙂 . Like Petert I thought some might know it from its Matthew Hopkins connections. The Manningtree Witches came out last year and got some positive reviews, though I haven’t read it myself.

    As PM @8 says, CROSSE is from French, in which language it can mean a hockey stick, a bishop’s crosier, a rifle butt, even rarely a golf club, as well as the implement in lacrosse.

    MONTAGUE without the U was my LOI/COD too, thanks N & P.

33. Ah yes dantheman@28. Glasgow week in Blackpool was a time I remember being told to avoid.

34. [Paddymelon@13 yes, lots of ‘you droppings’ in Norfolk – that’s why we wear wellies!]

35. Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO
    Slow start but rapid finish. Favourites UNGULATES and SILICA.
    SC @19: I once had to change trains at Manningtree! I was going from Harwich to…can’t remember, probably Cambridge.
    TimC @31: the MODULUS ignores the sign; hence the modulus of 5 and -5 is 5 in each case.

36. With CHANSONS, PATISSERIE and MONTAGE this was right up my allée. Merci, Muscade. Although I’ll second (third?) gladys@11 and paddymelon@17 on the definition of patisserie needing to include the ‘s, as I wasted a couple of minutes counting the letters and wondering whether I’d always misspelled patissier.
    Thanks also to Ilan Caron @3 for the plausible explanation for E as cardinal, the one letter that I couldn’t justify.
    [By the way, although I’ve never though of sedum as being umbelliferous, I forgot to deadhead mine last year and I noticed just the other day that the configuration of the dried-up flower stalks conforms pretty well to the definition.]

37. Enjoyable crossword with a fair sprinkling of unusual terms – all of which I happened to know, fortunately, but are likely to be mystifying to non-UK solvers.

    Favourites were MONTAGE and MODULUS. KNOCK DOWN puzzled me because I didn’t grasp the transitive usage of ‘fell’ – that’s clever. And like blaise @36 I said to myself ‘but SEDUMs aren’t umbellifers!’ – and then realised it was a container clue….

    Thanks to S&B

38. I didn’t help myself by writing blue riband in 13d, which I remember being the trerm for fastest for liners across the Atlantic. Montage favourite.

39. …correction – hidden clue.

40. revbob @38
    I did the same until it didn’t work. Surely it’s the more used term?

41. Yes muffin@35, I know all that stuff, but I didn’t find it a really good definition of modulus. Chambers doesn’t really give that meaning.

42. As soon as I saw “test” in 21a I thought “it’s a crossword, answer is probably ORAL”, and then worked out the wordplay; similarly “deer” in 15d (together with the letter count) made me think of UNGULATES. Many good clues, including MODULUS, EMPORIUM, PIE CRUST. I’m old enough to have picked up all the GK required, except the fairly obvious CROSSE.
    SEDUM is not in the Umbelliferae family, but some types are umbelliferous, i.e. bear flowers in umbels (random example) – but as others have noted, that’s not really relevant to the clue.
    Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO

43. I liked UNGULATES, BLISS, MONTAGE, CHANSONS among others, but was put off by three of my least favourite topics: cricket, botany and the geography of the Home Counties. Enough said.

44. I’m genuinely surprised about all the comments about Manningtree and especially those which suggest that the town is remote and obscure. As has been pointed out, the station (actually in Lawford parish, I think) is on the main Liverpool Street to Norwich line and dozens of trains stop there every day. It is ludicrous to suggest that no-one gets on or off there. Apart from the important link with Harwich and continental Europe, it is popular with tourists, including those who want to walk to Dedham or Flatford. For those who consider the east of England to be off the map, those two places are in Constable Country.

45. Tough workout with obscure words already listed by others. I had pretty much the same reaction as Moth @25 regarding MONTAGE. Thought there was a bit of an MP theme going on with STRAW(S) SHARP(ER), KING(CUP), CROSS(E), HALL, BLISS and MANNING(TREE), but they’re probably like bands, with one lurking in every clue!

    Ta Nutmeg & PeterO

46. CROSSE was familiar to me, the northeastern US (and eastern Canada) being the sport’s home turf. I wss surprised to see it in a British crossword, since I gather that lacrosse is more of a niche sport outside North America. The sport is Iroquois in origin; the French, on observing the game, named the stick a crosse because it reminded them of a bishop’s crozier. Thus the sport is named after the stick and not the other way round.

    I did not, however, know WAKES WEEKS, KINGCUP, or Fungus the Bogeyman. And I did my usual troll of the relevant Wikipedia list for MANNINGTREE, as I always do when asked to know a small British town.

47. Dantheman @28. I was one of those Young Farmers – but I behaved.
    Revbob @38 & Muffin@40. Agreed; since when did ‘riband’ become ‘ribbon’?
    Thanks, as always, to Nutmeg & PeterO

48. I was comfortable with the rather iffy definition for MODULUS – it was close enough for me, but we await Roz’s comment for a definitive ruling. As Tim C notes, that definition is not in Chambers, but general dictionaries are notorious for giving vague or obsolete definitions for specialised terminology. Some time ago we had an animal with more than eight legs referred to as an insect in a Guardian puzzle. This was justified by dictionary entries which give the original meaning of any old arthropod. However only the very ignorant would still use this term for anything other than a six-footer.

    Beaulieu @42 refers to the Umbelliferae – this name is still used by laymen for the carrot family, but botanists now use the term Apiaceae 🙂

49. Gervase@48: one of the definitions of MODULUS is “the absolute value of a complex number”. Even though I have a Maths degree I had forgotten this (the word has multiple meanings) but it’s legitimate.

50. Gervase@48: botanists are notorious for the frequency with which they find it necessary to divide, combine and rename familiar groups of plants, dislocating gardeners’ vocabulary and nurserymen’s catalogues as they go.

51. Nutmeg is one of my favourite setters but I found this puzzle harder to both solve and parse than I usually do. I guess I was not on her/his wavelength today.

    Failed to solve 17d, 23d and 27ac.

    Did not parse 1ac; 24d; 15d LATE in ?UNGUS – I did not know who the fictional bogeyman is; 11ac.

    Liked CHANSONS, MONTAGE.

    New FOR ME: Manningtree (Essex town); WAKES WEEK, KINGCUP, CROSSE (although I have heard of the game, lacrosse)

    Thanks, both.

    I agree with Glady’s about PATISSERIE/PATISSIER.

52. Thanks Nutmeg & PeterO – I really enjoyed it.
    I too led myself up the taxonomical garden path with umbelliferous thoughts.
    I liked KINGCUP, not least for its reference to the much missed Puck.
    And RECCE is neat (cardinal is such a bountiful word, pivotal even).

53. Just up my street. First in knock over and then Manningtree as am a cricket nut and frequently use the ferry out of Harwich having changed at Manningtree. The station also has a super bar/cafe with excellent beers and nosh! Thanks Nutmeg and for the blog

54. “Absolute value” for MODULUS is absolutely fine.
    |-5| stands for the modulus of -5, which is 5. Not so esoteric.
    Disappointed to see SUM clued by “problem” yet again. I recall primary-school arithmetic being boring when we had to do sums, but more interesting when we had to do problems.

55. Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO

    re ribbon / riband, the top award for French cookery (pre Michelin et al) was ‘cordon bleu’, which translates as ‘blue ribbon’.

56. [Glad to see vicktim’s and Cedric’s spirited defence of Manningtree. Clearly though the brand lacks global reach, and could do with some decent PR. A TV series maybe… The Only Way is Manningtree? Made in Manningtree? (with film spin-off starring Jennifer Lopez) For a more highbrow audience: Manningtree and Supermanningtree. Or a good old-fashioned travelogue: ‘Manningtree – Gateway to the East!’]

57. Good, enjoyable crossword, although Nutmeg seems to be getting trickier these days – I blame Roz.

    Thanks to Gervase @37 for explaining ‘fell’ – I was convinced it should have been ‘fall’ until I came here, doh! I liked KINGCUP (where I have to admit I looked up ‘fairy rings’ in Wiki); MODULUS, where I was desperately trying to fit in Go; and PATISSERIE for the lovely link to pastries.

    Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO (I hadn’t realised SHARPER was a criminal).

58. Too tough for me in the time and energy available. Was pleased to get MANNINGTREE (nho) and UNGULATES (Fungus – who he?) but the best was KINGCUP which was the one I most enjoyed teasing out.

    Thanks both.

59. gladys @11
    Your choice – confectioner can also be the shop.
    TassieTim @10
    Wikipedia does make passing reference to crosse – and even in the main article on lacrosse (under history, as the French word).
    nametab @47 et al
    13D: the earliest reference in the OED is “blew ribbon”; Collins gives ribbon (blue or of whatever colour) as the more common spelling.

    Among the less common words and phrases here, I knew of Wakes Week, but I cannot for the life of me recall where.

60. Went in very smoothly and pleasingly before I got rather snagged up with the last three interconnecting clues for WAKES WEEKS (needed PeterO to clarify), ALASKA and REACT. Too distracted by the racing at Prestbury Park today, and therefore late to the party…have often changed trains at Manningtree, so familiar with the place name.

61. Thanks to various posters for verifying the accuracy of the definition for MODULUS, which I ought to have remembered myself…

    It does confirm my point that general dictionaries tend to fall down when it comes to defining technical terms. I am always somewhat dubious about the defence “if it’s in Chambers it’s OK” and even more so about “if it’s not in Chambers it shouldn’t be in a crossword”.

62. Simons@55
    nametab@47
    Muffin@40

    I always thought that Cordon Bleu was a Swiss Schnitzel of veal, ham and cheese, deep fried and very tasty.
    Cordon Bleu translates as Blue Cord or Blue Sash and refers to the sash of the Legion d’honnour. Blue Ribbon translates as Ruban Bleu.
    Blue Ribbon is an american version of the English Riband, which originates from the Hales Trophy, (North Atlantic Blue Riband Challenge) awarded to the fastest crossing of the Atlantic by a passenger ferry, last won by Holyman/Condor (I was a Director) a high speed ferry subsequently used on the Ramsgate Dunkerque route and now somewhere in the Baltic. Richard Bransen was faster but the Virgin Challenger was not a passenger ship.
    Blue Riband is usually used in awards in the UK, Blue Ribbon in the US

63. I liked this a lot. Mostly not too tough but a handful of knottier problems (not sums) to solve.

    I doubted the use of “recurrent” as a reversal indicator until I saw the medical meaning. So fair enough.

    Favourites were PATISSERIE for the brilliant surface, UNGULATES for reminding me of lovely Fungus and EMPORIUM for its compact neatness.

    Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO

64. Apologies if I have missed the answer to this in my quick scan of all the comments above. But I have never met cross as a meaning for oblique before. To me oblique refers to something in one direction only, slanting or a slash etc. Chambers and my online dictionary are of no further help in enlightening me – can anyone out there?

65. Claret@64: If you cross something out you might use an oblique line. It’s a bit tenuous, but I had no problem equating the two.

66. Claret @64
    Chambers does give oblique as one definition of cross as an adjective.

67. Clive @ 62

    Members of the LdH also used to wear a blue ribbon, presumably when they weren’t in full regalia

    My translation of Cordon Bleu to Blue Ribbon is supported by numerous online sources

68. Manningtree is the start of the branch line to Harwich. Boat trains from both London and Cambridge via Ipswich did not stop there but otherwise it is an end-to-end shuttle so many passengers change there. Haven’t been for years but it certainly used to have a cracker of a real ale pub and I would often take the train one before the boat train to give me time to pop in for a pint … or more …

69. SImon S
    Apologies it refers to the sash of the Order of the Holy Spirit which was blue, Napoleon created the LdH with a red sash and the OHS was abolished after the Revolution

70. Sorry, missed the earlier comments on Manningtree station and it’s pub. Must go back.

71. Perhaps I should feel guilty, but I felt a swelling of local pride at dantheman@28’s memory of Glaswegians in Blackpool. In Glesga, we call WAKES WEEK the Glasgow Fair.

72. First met Wakes Week when my parents moved from Birmingham to Halifax in, I think, 1946. Remember being amazed to find that the town more or less closed down with the bulk of the population off to Blackpool or Scarborough, then mainly by rail of course.

73. Thanks for the blog , muffin@35 nails the term MODULUS for real numbers , quite enough for a crossword.
    For a complex number psi , it is psi x psi* and then take the positive square root, very important in quantum theory.
    I thought MANNINGTREE was a high-security prison , not a town.

74. [Fall/fell (to cause to fall) is one of a small number of English verbs where a vowel change converts an intransitive verb into a causative transitive one. Other examples are lie/lay and sit (originally only intransitive)/set. They are pairs common to all Germanic languages and the device is inherited from PIE]

75. Thanks to Nutmeg. Lots of clever and enjoyable stuff on show today with a couple of new words for me. Favourites: RECCE, EQUIVALENTS, EMPORIUM, BLISS and MONTAGE.
    Thx to PeterO for the blog.

76. Thanks Nutmeg and PeterO. Found this difficult due to the abundance of NHOs: MANNINGTREE, Fungus the Bogeyman, SEDUM, CROSSE, WAKES WEEKS, KINGCUP. Most were gettable from the crossers, thankfully, but needed Google or Wikipedia confirmation. I don’t understand why UNCAPPED = “Yet to participate in test.” Agree wholeheartedly with Gervase@61 re Chambers.

77. I think cricket players get a cap if they play in a test match.

78. Roz has that right, and international matches in other sports are sometimes referred to as “tests” as well – the rugby Lions Internationals for instance. Caps are also awarded for these.

79. Easy when you know how isn’t it. A fine puzzle.

80. Verbose/Roz/muffin: almost all international rugby matches, not just Lions. With the increase in the number of games played across the year – tours, Autumn internationals, occasional World Cups – plus the modern day practice of putting every one of eight substitutes onto the field at some point, it is now quite possible for players to amass 100 caps. Back in the day (I feel so old!) even such luminaries as Willie John McBride (63) and Gareth Edwards (53) got nowhere near that.

81. DNF for me, but I did find a glossary of cricket terms at cricker.com!
    Liked STRAWS and PIE CRUST (although in my limited experience, pies in the UK are almost always savoury).
    2D reminded me of the song “What did Delaware?” — at least one version has “Where has Oregon?…I don’t know, Alaska”

82. I never knew rugby matches were called tests , thought it was just cricket. I have put a post on General Discussion MrPostMark @ 80 concerning your latest creation.

83. PM @80
    Yes indeed, but the Six Nations games aren’t referred to as “tests”, are they? They are uppermost in mind at the moment.

84. Calgal… Why did Calaphonya? …

85. [Fair point muffin @83. I was commenting more on the cap awarding than the test element. It’s a bit of a personal grump, I’m afraid; the crazy numbers of caps that get awarded. Some poor fella at the weekend was sent onto the field with less than a minute remaining – and earned his cap. (Mind you, another left it after a minute too!)]

86. [Roz @82: noted and many thanks. I’ve responded on GD too.]

87. … and Dela wore her brand New Jersey …

88. [grantinfreo @84 How are ye down there?- is this a Perry Como quiz for the over-70s?]

89. muffin @ 83 I’ve certainly heard Six Nations commentators this year referring to them as Tests.

90. … S’s c, see #87 …

91. Gervase @61
    In defense of Chambers: it has become more common to dismiss Chambers as unreliable, on the basis of some (I would maintain, a few) errors, actual and perceived. Certainly it is not infallible – but what is? It achieved its position as the go-to dictionary for crosswords, by packing an astonishing number of words into a single reasonably manageable volume, and, for my money, it still serves that purpose admirably. Other dictionaries have their advantages and disadvantages: you pays your money and takes your choice. As an alternative “I do not know that, and so it should not be in the crossword” (and some comments have come perilously close to saying that) has all-too-obvious disadvantages.

92. From the sublime to the corblimey – where else would you find coupled the finer points of linguistics,, mathematics and Perry Como? Keep it up!

93. PeterO @ 91, I could not agree more, I love my Chambers 93, even though it is falling to bits. The sheer number of words is enough for Azed which says it all really.
    Dictionaries in general are poor for scientific definitions but not really an issue for crosswords where the everyday meaning of science words is quite enough.

94. Started slowly, then got slower and finally ground to a halt.
    Nutmeg’s clues are a stretch too far for me, confirmed by the parsing.
    Thanks Nutmeg and Peter…

95. @3 Ilan Caron: I had E in 4D as the abbreviation for His Eminence. Also, concerning cricket, was anyone else surprised that the play with the KNOCK that was OVER was a “batsman”? It seems that the gender-neutral “batter” is nowadays ubiquitous.

96. Dantheman@28 reminds me as a Blackpudlian of seeing a row of Glaswegians with their arms over each other’s shoulders weaving their way past North Station. The ones on the end were holding up the ones in the middle and the ones in the middle were holding up the ones on the end.

97. AT @ 95

    ‘batter’ is now the official term. Seems fair when considered against ‘fielder’.

98. PeterO @91: Actually, I am a fan of Chambers, which as you say packs more into a relatively small space than other dictionaries. And for barred puzzles, where a large proportion of the vocabulary is extremely recondite, a single reference point is clearly warranted. But for crosswords of the type which the Guardian publishes I find this too constrictive, particularly for long technical words – barrred puzzles tend to have a lot of short ones.

    One general niiggle for me is the use of ‘obscure’ to mean ‘I didn’t know this word’ 🙂

99. Is that you Paul?

100. I found time to do this in one sitting. Thanks to Nutmeg & PeterO.
     Re WAKES WEEKS: in Manchester in the 1950s Trinity Sunday week was the CofE & Nonconformists’ week and the RCs held their processions in Whit week. These processions were already very much pared down from my in-laws experiences in pre WWI times. Now the liturgical calendar only occasionally, as this year, does it match the secular one.

101. Claret @64: how about “cross-tides”?
     Nutmeg always a pleasure, thanks both

102. I reckon Nutmeg may have made a NY res to up the ante especially while Arachne is otherwise engaged
     Great stuff!

103. vicktim @44

     It may be familiar to patrons of that train line but, rest assured, MANNINGTREE is very obscure GK to people who live outside the UK. Same with WAKE’S WEEKS.

104. WAKES WEEKS very well known up here in Pennines. MANNINGTREE I had heard of I think from brother who lived in Essex. He would also have known SEDUM and KINGCUP but not me.
     Thanks both
     Ps (did know mudulus = |x| …ah those were the days

105. Thank you PeterO for pointing out the SEDUM that escaped my eyes entirely (cunningly hidden across two lines on my printout, I got there somehow by googling “umbelliferous” and had no idea what was going on otherwise. I did parse CROSSE and WAKES WEEKS despite these being new to me and have enjoyed reading about the latter which I only ever knew as “factory fortnight”. Never heard of Kingcup but know its alias the marsh marigold which will soon be a fine sight. MANNINGTREE was my first in and i can only assume it is from the Lovejoy books! My solve progressed as per DrWhatsOn all the way back at the first post (was a very late finish last night), and as one in the RIBAND camp I have enjoyed the debate on that, but not as much as I enjoy a nice Cordon Bleu, thanks CliveinFrance@62 for the extra flavour. Most of all though thanks Nutmeg.

106. I concur with an earlier comment… a “joyless slog” for me, I’m afraid…. and I do take issue with words like “recce” (and “bumf” recently), which may well be in Chambers but are not “proper words”. Personally I think the crosswords would be improved if such words were omitted.

107. When I have a hard time solving a crossword, I am reluctant to blame the setter. I failed to finish this yesterday, due to lack of time impairing my concentration, but polished off the half dozen in the NW corner over a sip of coffee this morning. I’ve never been to MANNINGTREE, but the shape of the word with three crossers was enough for me to write it in and parse later. [Note to self: the pub on the station looks like it might be worth a visit. (Thanks to Tim Phillips @68 for the suggestion.]

     Gervase @98: “the use of ‘obscure’ to mean ‘I didn’t know this word’ ” – I think you’ll find it’s in Chambers. 🙂

     Thanks to Nutmeg for an enjoyable solve, and to PeterO for the usual thorough blog, and your comment @91 re “not in my vocabulary”.

     [Greetings to Sheffield Dormouse @96. Can we expect an appearance from Sheffield March Hare before the month is out?]

108. Thanks Roz@77, muffin@78, PostMark@80.

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