Guardian 28,718 / Nutmeg

104 comments on “Guardian 28,718 / Nutmeg”

1. Thanks Nutmeg and Eileen
   I found this unusually difficult for a Nutmeg. FOI was FIRST WORLD, followed by ORION at 26a – O from MourinhO, then IRON as the club, though I admit I was hoping for a clever explanation of why the I and R swap places!
   Favourite was BOSOM.
   Of course I don’t like BLACK WIDOW to mean black widow SPIDER.

2. Many thanks to Nutmeg for today’s excellent puzzle. I especially liked the neat juxtaposition of 6d BUST and 24d BEAT, both relevant to the police. Like Eileen, I also really enjoyed the proximity of BOOM and BUST which led me to smile at the solve for BOSOM at 6a (I see you cited the latter too, muffin@1). In fact, I have ticked so many solutions that I’d almost be better to list the ones I didn’t tick, but I actually liked most of those too. So I’ll just say that I thought the clues with the most bite were 25a SNAKEBITE (cf Eileen’s blog) and 13d BLACK WIDOW. As I have said before, I do appreciate a good Nutmeg because I really find her clue surfaces appealing, and this was one of those. Sincere thanks also to Eileen for her usual meticulous blog.

3. Oh no, more double duty at 1ac! At least it’s not terrible like last Saturday 😉

   And at 22ac Nutmeg appears to have caught Everyman’s wet nose (see 4dn).

   I bow to the chemists here, of which I know there are many, but isn’t defining STEAM as a ‘water source’ a bit like saying liquid nitrogen is a ‘nitrogen source’?

   But lots of great clues to outweigh the quibbles – CROW’S NEST, FRETSAW, JEFFERSON, the tricky CORNETTIST and the revolting MUTINEERS. Thanks Nutmeg and Eileen.

4. Where is everyone this morning? I was 24-en by 26. Feeling a bit smug about some and dis-14-ed by others, especially 1a.

5. Slowish start, but then it all unravelled very pleasingly. I particularly liked the BUST/BOOM/BOSOM combo. GRIN made me smile, and many more really good ones.

   No quibbles.

   Thank you, Nutmeg and Eileen.

6. Quite hard work for me today. Had VARICES (= veins) instead of VISCERA, which seemed possible, until I got the crossing SNAKEBITE. Lots to enjoy. Many thanks to Nutmeg and to Eileen.

7. Very pleasant couple hours pottering through this one, ta Nutmeg and Eileen, but had no idea about parsing cornettist, and Draco too was a bung’n’shrug, as was whiting, wing as in like-minded being nicely oblique.

8. I was another ORION, until it was EXTIRPATEd.

   Thanks for the blog, Eileen. I have just seen SEA = no fresh water, and agree it is not Nutmeg’s finest. The rest, especially EXPO, were good. I found her easier than usual.

   Thanks Nutmeg

9. I found job sharing a bit of a loose definition for joint.
   I had to come here for the explanation for EXPO. I was left wondering whether all the Post Offices had closed down in the Old Dart for some reason. So ashamed I didn’t get the Paulism. I also spent too much time trying to parse WHITING as Whig (like-minded party people) and Tin as “battered”.
   Favourite was VACATES for the clever use of Dons.

10. All very smooth. I liked the clue for SPOONER – nice to see him as a definition for once, And BLACK WIDOW, followed by JEFFERSON, as they are in the puzzle, were favourites. Along with surfeit of BOSOMs in the NE which was cutely done and the anagram for MISCELLANY. I hope someone will come along and explain SEASCAPES for me.

    The only think that felt slightly odd when entering solutions – and it only felt that way because it was a down clue – was ‘on ice’ in CORNETTIST. Before everyone leaps upon me, I’m not criticising or complaining; perfectly valid construction and, written out in the blog, it raises no questions. Always feels odd to put something on underneath. (I know, fly on ceiling …)

    Thanks Nutmeg and Eileen

11. Tim C @9: I wondered about job-sharing but rationalised it by looking at the whole phrase rather than equating the elements with their synonyms. A cryptic def/def combo rather than a charade. Job-sharing = JOINT and journalist = ED didn’t seem so convincing but a JOINT-ED does seem a perfectly decent description of one of, say, two folks doing the job of editor between them. Which would be a job-sharing journalist.

12. I didn’t mind SEASCAPES much as a cryptic definition although it seems to have a couple of detractors so far. I guess Fresh watercolours? would be Riverscapes, although currently here in Synney it could be Landscapes.

13. Postmark@10 Seascapes – salt water not fresh water… As Eileen said, usual elegance, pith and wit in today’s great offering.

14. I liked the intersecting 15A and 16D RELIEVE and EXTIRPATE.

15. PostMark@11 that makes a lot of sense. I need to remove the blinkers sometimes when reading clues.

16. I didn’t mind 22 across, but 1 across is an awful clue. Otherwise excellent.

17. Can I add 1 across as my other favourite please? 😉

18. Another one here for whig in WHITING.

19. PostMark @11 – re 14ac: that’s what I hoped to convey. Thanks for spelling it out.

20. Love Nutmeg, but 1A didn’t work for me either. Got ‘no fresh water’ = sea. And sea scapes, water colours?
    Oh, I got it! It’s really quite nutmegly amusing.

21. I’m with Eileen and Postmark @11 on JOINTED.

22. Exactly what Eileen said in her intro and agree that 1a doesn’t really work. The rest is just lovely Nutmeg as ever.
    Thanks all

23. I don’t get 24 down. I get “beat” meaning “top” but what is the significance of “course”?

24. I usually find Nutmeg’s puzzles difficult and today was no exception.

    On first pass got only one of the across clues but thankfully a few of the down ones which got me started. Managed to get most of the right side but couldn’t make much progress on the left so revealed 1ac – stared at it for ages and just couldn’t get it at all – seems I am not alone in that.

    Anyway that helped me get a few more answers and I finally finished with help from a word finder. Annoyingly I found I had missed some quite obvious anagrams……

    I am beginning to find Nutmeg more difficult than Vlad who used to be my beta noire.

    Thanks to Nutmeg and Eileen

25. nnw@23
    The route a bobby (policeman) follows is his “beat”.

26. Oh! I’ve got it now!

27. northnorthwest – Chambers: ‘beat: a round or course, such as a policeman’s’ (bobby’s).

28. PS why is DRACO = stars please?

    Thanks in advance to anyone who answers

29. NNW@23. I’m not a Brit, but course for bobby is where the policeman (bobby) goes on his walkabout (Aussie term)

30. Sorry folks. I’ve got the same dumb head on that couldn’t get around the anagram on Saturday. I get the SEA bit but how is everyone else getting SCAPES? How does colours, which appears to be all that’s left, translate to SCAPES? I’ve looked up the word; three defs: escapades – fair enough; biological structures and the cry of the snipe! SCAPE in landscape, seascape etc is the view, not the media or the colouring so I am still all at sea. I appreciate the efforts already put in to enlighten me – but I need it in even simpler language today, I’m afraid.

31. It’s a constellation, Fiona Anne.

32. Ah, NNW, so many helpful people to give you the drum. 🙂

33. Fiona Anne
    Draco is a constellation, like Orion!

34. Fiona Anne @28 – more information here

35. PostMark@30. As I’ve been firmly told previously, (cellomaniac might be listening), just have to lighten up and sea/see the humour.

36. Last one in was WHITING, which I simply couldn’t parse, and I also needed Eileen to clarify the parsing of VACATES and JEFFERSON. Had dashed in Reserve instead of RELIEVE for 15ac, so that meant the SE section was delayed a while. Apart from all that, the usual enjoyable Nutmeg journey. Very much liked the BUST/BOSOM couplet…

37. PM @30 – ‘water’ is doing double duty. It works as a whole-clue definition if you expand it to ‘No fresh water watercolours?’

    Re the ‘on’ in CORNETTIST – flies on ceilings, verrucas on feet, apples on branches, pictures on rails, coats on hooks, tassels on mortarboards, on curtains, or on hems (which are on dresses) … and Aussies sitting on Bondi beach? 😉

38. essexboy @37 – that’s the only way I could make 1ac work but I still don’t like it, I’m afraid: the surface is not typically Nutmeg!

39. essexboy@37. Yes, that’s how I read 1ac. I just accepted it as a v clever cryptic definition. I often overthink clues. Maybe I didn’t thunk enough on this one seeing as so many are quibbling about it? Any road up I thoroughly enjoyed Nutmeg’s splendid work, as per.

40. Perhaps it should have been ‘No fresh water²colours?’

41. essexboy @ 37, I want whatever you’re having. Aussies sitting on Bondi Beach? (inter alia)

42. Thanks Nutmeg and Eileen – I enjoyed that a lot.
    I liked the ‘flurry of snow’, the ‘transport strike’ and the boom/bust combo.
    And there was some neat grid symmetry in: 2 venues (ring/EXPO), BUST/BEAT, STEAM/(D)ROLL and er… pickled viscera.
    Having SNAKEBITE, I happily threw in ‘black mamba’ before seeing the light (through the window).

43. aussies on bondi beach 🙂

44. Nuh, I don’t get it. If Aussies were having an icecream on Bondi Beach it would all have melted in a nanosecond.

45. Thank you Nutmeg.

46. [ pdm @44 …and dripped into those sunny Australian skies ]

47. SEASCAPES was my last one in too, with a bit of a wince as, yes, seascapes are water colours, (even when in oils and acrylics). I also struggled with CORNETTIST although the parsing there is clear, it’s just not a player that comes to mind first, second, or any time soon. Loved the BUST/BOSOM/BOOM trio, and the anagrams for SNAKEBITE and MISCELLANY.

    I’m another finding Nutmeg slower than other setters, but worth it when the penny drops. I found the right hand side went in first, with one across clue and rather more down on the first pass. Then the bottom left, and finally the top left.

48. essexboy@37 and paddymelon@41… at Bondi Beach at the moment you wouldn’t even have to enter the Seascape to get wet. You could paint a fresh watercolour.

49. This is not a complaint, as 19ac is straightforward enough, but is the word “vacs” ever used? I remember hearing “vac” when I was at university, but never the plural form.

50. Doesn’t really work, does it, ‘No fresh water/ colours?’. Maybe just ‘Watercolours?’ would have been better, as seascapes often are, and the double-duty would have been avoided in a full CD.

    Nice puzzle though. Nutmeg is really good.

51. vicktim @49
    Decades ago, I spent all three of my summer vacs working as a waitress in Great Yarmouth – works for me. 😉

52. I was a tad disappointed with the clue for SPOONER as it is an anagram of PRONE + SO. I thought with the indicators “doctor” and “slips” Nutmeg was working towards a kind of &lit in that part.

53. Loved it! Thanks Nutmeg, Eileen, and fellow (but erudite) bloggers!

54. I found this very hard today, and am pleased to have completed it! No quibbles – and l think it’s the best offering for some while. Thanks to Nutmeg and Eileen! A well- deserved break now.

55. eb @37: thanks for the explanation(s). ‘water’ is doing double duty. I’m sure I’ve read comments here in the past where people have complained about things doing double duty but it’s all a bit above me …

    … like CORNET is above TIST which, as I said, I had no complaints about. Just felt odd writing it. (For some reason, it reminded me of the comment made in Lord of the Rings by the Ent, Treebeard, “I always like going South; somehow it feels like downhill”.) Having been ticked off for writing essays on here, I kept my DBE to just the one but did appreciate your little list. Worth it for Bondi 😀

56. A lot of typical Nutmeg elegance here (plus a bit of spice with BOSOM and EXPO). Some nice misdirections (at least for me): ‘recalled’ in 9ac had me looking for a reversed hidden word, and ‘battered fish’ looked like an anagram.

    Favourites were CROWS NEST, SNAKEBITE and BLACK WIDOW, and I liked the ‘bustling terminus’ and the ‘job-sharing journalist’. ‘First Lady’ for EVE is a bit of a chestnut, but combined with ‘Republican’ it makes a good surface for a well constructed clue.

    I’m another for whom SEASCAPES doesn’t really work – ‘water’ has to be doing double duty, as essexboy @40 nicely illustrates. My only other quibblet is with the homophone for FIRST WORLD. The most generous of us allow a homophone as long as someone somewhere prounounces a word like that, but I’m not aware of anyone, except perhaps in very bad Mummerset, pronouncing ‘first’ with a vocalic s 🙂

    Many thanks to the Spice Girl and Eileen.

57. Slow start here, but gradually it fell. Isn’t the ice(cream) a Cornetto? And I didn’t think CORNETTIST would have a double T in the middle – so that was our LOI (just after the puzzling SEASCAPES). I liked the JOINT-ED, along with quite a few of the ones others have mentioned. Thanks, Nutmeg and Eileen.

58. TT @57
    The ice cream cornet long predated the Cornetto. It was a scoop of ice cream in a horn-shaped wafer. “Cornetto” was a nod to this.

59. I can’t see what the problem is with SEASCAPES. It rather amuses me.

    And thanks TassieTim @57. I now have an earworm. 😉 So I thought I’d spread the joy.

60. Mostly a great puzzle. SEASCAPES and STEAM a bit iffy for reasons given.

    I also had ORION for DRACO for a bit – there’s probably a good substitute for “retiring” that makes both wordplays work well, and provides a good surface, but I can’t think of one right now.

61. Crossbar @59 – I already had that earworm. muffin @58 – I see – never called that in Oz, as far as I know. It was an ice cream cone.

62. Thx to Nutmeg, one of my favourite setters for this excellent puzzle. Some lovely surfaces and typical Spice Girl ingenuity. Too many ticks to list. Thanks also to Eileen for her very helpful blog.

63. [muffin @58: I’ve been watching too many nature documentaries, because when I first read your post I had an image of a cornet preying on a Cornetto 🙂 . Incidentally, Cornettos are sold under this name in Italy, which is confusing, as ‘cornetto’ is the Italian name for a croissant]

64. [Gervase
    It’s also an early wind instrument – made mostly of wood, but technically a member of the brass family, I think.]

65. Had to take a break to go to the dentist so just finished this excellent puzzle. As someone said it’s nice to see Spooner as a solution for a change. I missed the Paulian parse for Expo reading it as a cryptic definition recognising that Expo’s are only around for a short time. Thanks Nutmeg for an excellent challenge and Eileen for the lovely blog.

66. Gervase @ #56: the FIRS isn’t part of the homophone, well, not for me at least. I have it as FIRS/ hom twirled (as does blogger Eileen, I see).

67. I don’t think 1a involves double duty. Double duty can surely only arise in clues that break down into separate elements, but as Eileen says 1a is a CD, that is, it’s just a jokey definition that works as a whole.

    6d reminded me of the scene in the Naked Gun film where Drebin and Ed pursue their enquiries to a sex shop. Curvy female shop assistant: “Is this some kind of bust?” Drebin: “Yes it’s very impressive miss, but we need to ask you a few questions”.

    Many thanks Nutmeg and Eileen.

68. Gradely!!

69. Failed 24d BEAT.
    Did not parse 3d, 1ac, 20ac.

    I liked BOSOM, BLACK WIDOW.

    Thanks, both.

70. Predictably elegantly clued with just enough challenge although 1a wasn’t the finest.

    Lots of great fun, though, with special mentions for JOINTED, JEFFERSON and FIRST WORLD.

    Thanks Nutmeg and Eileen

71. I don’t know of any dialect where the S’s are pronounced the same in FIRST and FIRST;

    Eileen — your parsing of 26a would give ODRAC. It needs “all reversed.” But thank you for a lovely blog, companionship over breakfast. And thanks as ever to Nutmeg from the Nutmeg State.

72. Nutmeg’s always a treat despite failing with EAGER (I was misled by “reverse”) and the clever GRIN. I solved SEASCAPES, VACATES, WHITING, and EXPO by definition alone so thanks Eileen for clarifying. My favourites included BOSOM, CROWS NEST, BUST, and JEFFERSON. Thanks Nutmeg once again for providing some of the most fluid surfaces in the cryptic business.

73. Valentine @71 – please see paul b’s comment @66.

    Re 26a – Thank you! How did I get away with that for so long! I’ll fix it now.

74. paul b @66: Point taken and objection withdrawn – though it seems clumsy to me to split a syllable (FIRS-T) in order to create a homonym.

75. …correction – homophone!

76. I found this Nutmeg slow but rewarding going: took a while to realise that the venomous American wasn’t a snake, and that Alaska was AK not AL, and not really convinced that STEAM is a source, rather than a form, of water. But I liked the BO(S)OM and BUST, CROWS NEST, SNAKEBITE and lots of the surfaces.

77. Am I the only one who loved 1a and thought it really clever? Thanks Eileen and Nutmeg.

78. You’re not on your own Verbose@77. See me @59.

79. Enjoyable. I agree that a CD can’t be carved up for individual parsing of parts, so no quibbles from me with SEASCAPES.
    essexboy@3 et al,
    Technically, I’d say water is only liquid H2O or H2O (l). STEAM is H2O (g), the gaseous phase. So I agree with Nutmeg that steam can be a source of water. Specifically, after you’ve condensed it 🙂 .

80. As ever with Nutmeg, beyond my solving ability, but unusually, I did get quite far.
    Thanks both.

81. Verbose@77. No, I too thought SEASCAPES absolutely brilliant. On the grounds that you can spot a good clue, especially a cryptic definition, when (1) once you twig the answer it couldn’t be anything else, and (2) it makes you laugh yourself silly. Mind you, with S_A as crossers I wasted time strying to find an obscure word beginning with StAle. Thanks again Nutmeg. Hope to see you again soon.

82. Joint for job-sharing seemed okay (a joint position), but “jointed” meaning butchered seemed odd. Maybe it’s a UK usage. I can’t imagine a sentence where I’d be able to substitute one word for another.

83. Jointed is fine for butchered, pianola. You could do it to a chicken, for instance.

84. Thanks phitonelly @79 re water, I did wonder about that – I guess it’s fine if we also allow ‘glacier’ or ‘cloud’ as ‘source of water’.

    Gervase @74 – I agree it doesn’t seem quite right to split FIRS-T and only clue the T homophonically – especially as TWORLD isn’t a word in its own right, and therefore has no recognised pronunciation (unless we’re in Yorkshire, perhaps).

    How would we feel about –

    Strike from the East, we hear, will overshadow lunar event (7,7)

85. Think of the cooling towers of a traditional power station. Super-heated steam from the turbines is then turned back into water to extract further heat from the furnace or reactor core.

86. I did raise an eyebrow at STEAM as a “water source”. As a chemist, I would regard steam, liquid water, and ice, as being the same substance.

87. Gervase @74. The setter has not split a syllable, she has split the solution into FIRS TWORLD. The second part is a homophone, the first part is some trees.

    No one has put Dave Ellison @52 out of his misery, as far as I can see. There is no anagram in SPOONER, so mixing so+prone doesn’t come into it. It’s P in SOONER (=rather). In his defence, he’s not the only one to have criticised a clue without reading the blog first!

    I was slow getting SEASCAPES, which meant that 2d & 3d were last in for me. Nevertheless, I’m inclined to be on Nutmeg’s side, especially if she’s being accused of double duty. If the charge is a failed cryptic, I’d be limited to appearing as a character witness.

    Thanks to setter and blogger.

88. essexboy @84. I don’t see why the setter should be criticised for using a nonexistent word as a homophone. If the clue had been more difficult or the answer obscure, you might have had a point. But the definition was on the button, and the enumeration and a crosser or two would be helpful, if anyone was still unsure, so I don’t mind Nutmeg having a bit of fun with us!

89. pianola @82. “Haven’t you jointed the chicken yet? It should have been in the oven by now!” (And I’m a vegan. 🙂 )

90. Nearly gave up without solving a single clue! Slow going but very rewarding to complete. I’m not a literal fundamentalist so all clues absolutely fine in different ways, and they gave an old man much pleasure.

91. [sh – As a matter of interest, would you be OK with my partial eclipse @84? (And don’t say no, you’d prefer me to be totally eclipsed 😉 )]

92. muffin@86 – to paraphrase phitonelly@79: water is being using in the everyday sense. So even though STEAM is water-as-gas/vapour, Nutmeg is referring to STEAM turning into water-as-liquid, ie the stuff that comes out of the tap or, if you live in a tine hice, a bottle 😉

    Re FIRST WORLD – one way of looking at clues in general is that setters break down answers into sub-units then provide wordplay to get those sub-units eg RELEIVE has three sub-units: R, EVE and LIE. FIRST WORLD has two sub-units: FIRS and TWORLD. The sub-units don’t have to be words in themselves. They just need to be clueable. The wordplay used to clue the sub-unit, as we all know, varies from acronyms, abbreviations, synonyms, antonyms, reversals,… and … homophones 🙂

93. [eb@91 – our messages crossed. I think you’re asking the solver (at least me) to do a bit too much work in your clue. It might be just about acceptable if PARTIAL were spelt PARTYAL. Nutmeg splits the answer and the wordplay is straightforward for both parts.]

94. [eb @91. Nice try, but I don’t hear (par)TIAL as “shall”, because it’s an unstressed syllable. Even in Yorkshire.]

95. sheffield hatter @ 87 I assure you I am, as ever, in no misery, but thanks for your concern, anyway 🙂 I saw the wordplay (P in SOONER) when I solved the clue, and I assure you I always read the blog and others’ comments before making a remark myself. Perhaps I did not put my point clearly enough: Nutmeg had the word PRONE in her clue and all its letters are in SPOONER, only missing SO – I thought it a pity she could not capitalise on that too.

96. Dave @95. Thanks for responding. I had doubts about you having misled yourself so badly soon after I had posted mine, but decided to let sleeping dogs lie. Re-reading yours @52 in the light of your latest sheds a different light on “disappointed”!

97. sh @ 94

    re (par)TIAL

    I hear it as “I sh’ll do it soon”, so works for me.

98. muffin@1 and others: I was very confident in my FOI ORION–O for Mourinho’s last followed by retiring NOIR as in ‘rouge et noir.’ Though looking up the rules for rouge et noir it doesn’t seem as though the noirs are actually spades and clubs? Ah well.

    EXTIRPATE was next and liberal use of the check button thereafter.

99. MrEssexboy@84 I somehow missed this , was late and I was tired. Very imaginative clue, not quite fair but I think that is your intended point.
    Water, ice and steam are of course three states of the same compound. They have only acquired different names because they are so familiar and useful to humans. They are all SOURCES of each other.
    Water in the freezer is a source of ice cubes , ice in the Arctic can be melted as a source of water.
    Water is the source in a steam-iron. In power station cooling towers , STEAM is the SOURCE of WATER.

100. essexboy@84, in the unlikely event you read this — can you explain your partial eclipse? It’s quite beyond me.

101. PAR </ hom shall/ ECLIPSE (he's not bothering with cryptic for ECLIPSE for some reason).

     And anyhow why doesn't it 'seem quite right' to split FIRS from TWORLD and do a homophone for the second bit? I'm sure I'd be delighted to hear how there's some sort of cryptic bad form in that.

102. [paul b – thanks for elucidating, and to others for their feedback – and yes, I should have thought harder about how to do ‘eclipse’. Just to elaborate – I was relying on the equivalence of ‘rap’ and ‘strike’ as nouns, and on the /ʃəl/ pronunciation of ‘shall’ in an unstressed position (and also of course on the equivalence of will = shall, on which Eileen may have a view 😉 ).

     My discomfort with the TWORLD homophone, and it really is just discomfort rather than a beef, is that a letter sequence is just a letter sequence, and has no phonetic value – it’s words that have a recognised pronunciation, and therefore homophonic equivalents, not letter sequences.

     But of course it does have a phonetic value once it’s part of FIRST WORLD. If that’s OK that’s fine – but it also means it should be OK to clue the letter sequence TIAL by means of a homophone of ‘shall’.]

103. VACATES was the least satisfying clue. It’s never good when the fodder in the wordplay (VACS, short for vacations) are just words that are derived from the same roots as the answer. Expected better from Nutmeg!

104. As many others, I struggled with seascapes and as it was 1ac it made some of the top left corner slow.

     Also struggled with first world but mainly because I decided (probably on a gut feeling) that the Guardian would not use/approve of this terminoloogy.

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