Guardian 26529 Nutmeg

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An enjoyable one from Nutmeg, and a pangram no less.  Thanks to Nutmeg.  Definitions are underlined in the clues.

Across

1    Model soldier briefly lost (7)

PARAGON : PARA(short for “paratrooper”;a soldier) + “gone”(lost) minus its last letter(briefly …).

5    Potentially compliant graduate admitted to board (7)

TAMABLE : MA(abbrev. for a graduate with a Master of Arts degree) contained in(admitted to) TABLE(one for eating and set with food;a board).

Answer:  … or tameable.

9    I don’t understand this strike in desperate times (2,5,2)

IT BEATS ME : BEAT(to strike) contained in(in) anagram of(desperate) TIMES.

10    Run down blind constituent at end of vote (5)

SLATE : SLAT(a narrow strip that is part of a Venetian blind) plus(at) the last letter of(end of) “vote“.

Defn:  To criticise harshly.

11    Ran into unknown city on the Moselle (4)

METZ : MET(ran into;encountered) + Z(symbol for an unknown quantity, in maths).

Defn:  … river, in France.

12    Start again and again in the event (6,4)

TRIPLE JUMP : TRIPLE(thrice; … again and again) JUMP(to start, as when surprised or frightened).

Defn: … that’s also called the hop, step and jump.

14,15    Aid for match reviewers producing analytic prose? (6,7)

ACTION REPLAYS : Anagram of(producing) ANALYTIC PROSE.

Defn: … asking a question such as “Was he offside or not when he netted the ball?”.

16,18    Aged adviser from Indian city introducing power boat (7,6)

DELPHIC ORACLE : DELHI(the Indian city) containing(introducing) P(symbol for “power”, in physics) + CORACLE(a small roundish boat).

20    Youngsters bound to get along with them (4,6)

POGO STICKS : Cryptic defn: What youngsters might use to bounce along.

21    Might nicotine addicts chew this dough? (4)

QUID : Double defn: 1st: A piece of chewing tobacco; and 2nd: A pound sterling, British money;dough, in slang.

24    Opening – cat appears in it (5)

STOMA : TOM(a male cat) contained in(appears in) S.A.(abbrev. for “sex appeal”;it, in slang).

Defn: … in a membrane.

25    Extremely warm ground is linked with temperature (9)

KINDLIEST : Anagram of(ground) IS LINKED plus(with) T(abbrev. for “temperature”).

26    Beginner taken off shift, fuelling fellow’s resentment (7)

DUDGEON : “budge”(to shift;move even very slightly) minus its 1st letter(Beginner taken off …) contained in(fuelling;filling, as in fuelling your car) DON(a fellow or lecturer in a university, say).

27    Singular form of dismissal restricting run score (7)

SCRATCH : S(abbrev. for “singular”) + CATCH(one of the ways that a batsman in cricket can be dismissed, and bat no more, at least for that innings) containing(restricting) R(abbrev. for “run” in cricket scores).

Down

1    Teacher turning up during autopsy’s a possible shedder of light (5)

PRISM : Reversal of(turning up, in a down clue) SIR(term of address for a school teacher) contained in(during) P.M.(an autopsy, from the abbrev. for “post-mortem”).

Defn: … or a refractor of light.

2    Automatic rifle or two in collection, originally (7)

ROBOTIC : ROB(to rifle;to ransack and loot) + the first letters, respectively, of(…, originally) “or two in collection “.

3    Eat like a rodent and not audibly (4)

GNAW : Homophone of(… audibly) “nor”(and not, as in “Water, water, everywhere, Nor any drop to drink”).

4    Stylised drama? Well, Coward’s getting past it (2,6,7)

NO SPRING CHICKEN : NO(or Noh, the Japanese classical drama with music and dance performed in a highly stylised manner) + SPRING(a well;a source) + CHICKEN(informal term for a cowardly person).

5    Racing poster of knights in action (3,5,2,5)

THE SPORT OF KINGS : Anagram of(… in action) POSTER OF KNIGHTS.

Defn: Horse racing.

6    Mother catching son on aircraft cut short grand scheme (6,4)

MASTER PLAN : MATER(mother, from the Latin) containing(catching) S(abbrev. for “son”) placed above(on, in a down clue) “plane”(aircraft) minus its last letter(cut short).

7    Daring supporter raised bible, holding game up (7)

BRAVURA : BRA(short for “brassiere”;a supporter of the feminine chest) + reversal of(raised, in a down clue) A.V.(abbrev. for “Authorised Version” of the bible) containing(holding) reversal of(… up, in a down clue) R.U.(abbrev. for “Rugby Union”, the game).

Defn: As a noun.

8    Discharges old partners tackling M. Poirot’s case (7)

EXEMPTS : EX-ES(former partners) containing(tackling) M + the 2 outermost letters of(…’s case) “Poirot“.

13    The dashing criminal’s source of poison? (10)

NIGHTSHADE : Anagram of(… criminal) THE DASHING.

Answer: A species of toxic plants.

16    Testified, like Saddam on (sic) Gadafi? (7)

DEPOSED : Double defn: 1st: Gave testimony, especially by affidavit or deposition. That “on” is a typo for “or”.

17    See wife cutting suitable Caribbean tree (7)

LOGWOOD : LO(see, as in “lo and behold”) + [ W(abbrev. for “wife”) containing(cutting) GOOD(suitable) ].

19    Most garish dress regularly adopted by yob (7)

LOUDEST : The 1st, 3rd and 5th letters of(… regularly) “dress ” contained in(adopted by) LOUT(a yob).

22    National trouble and strife (5)

DUTCH : Double defn: 1. … from the Netherlands; and 2nd: A term of endearment for what, in Cockney rhyming slang, is “trouble and strife”.

23    Dim colour that’s right for earl (4)

BLUR : “blue”(a colour) with “R”(abbrev. for “right”) replacing(that’s … for…) “e”(abbrev. for “earl”).

44 comments on “Guardian 26529 Nutmeg”

  1. Thanks scchua. I frowned at 16D a good while (having done time in the relevant places when those leaders were there), deciding it had to be a typo. It then with STOMA fell into place,those the last two. I expect Mr Penney will frown at 3D. Otherwise all quite nice, thanks Nutmeg.

  2. Not just Mr Penney, molonglo; that’s the third such London-centric “homophone” we have had in the last few days.

    Thanks scchua and Nutmeg. I thought this easier and a tad less exciting than recent Nutmegs.

  3. Didn’t quite understand TRIPLE as ‘again and again’, and couldn’t parse BLUR, but all good stuff. Favourites were POGO STICKS, THE SPORT OF KINGS and DELPHIC ORACLE. Thanks to Nutmeg and scchua.

  5. [Brendan(nto) I have not read the blog, keeping my eyes down, but I have just found Z, X and J in the upper half of the crossword, so think it may be another pangram, now I have Q in mind…]

  6. Thanks Judy Bentley for pointing it out. Blog corrected. That makes the score 1 for the Guardian and 1 for me, in the typo department.

  7. I think things like 22d are put in to annoy the sceptics. You may wish to expand your explanation in that “my old Dutch” (Duchess of Fife) and “trouble and strife” are both rhyming slang for wife.

  9. After the troubles I inflicted on myself yesterday, this was a breeze, with an early start and a short single sitting seeing it through. And that was despite dumping in BRAVADO too quickly at 7d.

    Two pangrams in two days? When has that happened before? Spotted neither, yesterday would really have helped, today it didn’t matter.

  10. Thanks Nutmeg & sschua – fine blog and puzzle alike. No picture puzzle, today?

    Dave Ellison @2 fair point, but aren’t many homophones something-centric?

    Nice misdirects with automatic rifle in ROBOTIC, and power boat in DELPHIC ORACLE. Also enjoyed EXEMPTS.

    Yet again failed to parse SA for “it” in STOMA…one day I’ll learn it I suppose.

    Nice week, all.

  11. Thanks Scchua and Nutmeg
    A very enjoyable puzzle with some excellent anagrams and other clues. I ticked 10a, 14,15, 16,18, 4d, 5d, 22d and 23d.
    As a non-rhotic I don’t mind clues like 3d but I can see why they might irritate. Of course there is also a tendency for some rhotically minded speakers to over correct and put ‘R’s in when they shouldn’t. ????

  12. Ian SW3 and William, hope to resume the quiz after settling in a new tenant, and I can relax again.

    AndyK, got so used to Dutch meaning wife, I neglected to mention it. Re its etymology, it seems it’s not Cockney rhyming slang. In “my old Dutch”, the latter was a homophone for “Duchess” shortened, as a term of endearment for the wife. The rhyming slang association was retrofitted, since the Duchess of Fife came on to the scene after Dutch/wife was first used. Blog amended accordingly.

  14. Thanks Nutmeg and scchua, no walk in the garden today?

    I enjoyed this puzzle, especially after an argument with Brendan (nto) (the missing Q helped solve 21a).
    20a, first entered POOH STICKS, but of course it would not parse. I did like the CORACLE power boat.

  15. William @10: possibly many homophones are regional to a degree, but in the case of cryptic clues the region seems invariably to be London or the South-East. The ones that really irritate are specifically of this type, wherein a terminal R is simply ignored, thus GNAW=NOR. In most of the rest of the English-speaking world I don’t think these are homophones.

  16. This all went in eventually. (Yes, even “gnaw.” I knew a homophone was needed, but I thought first, for some idiotic reason, of “naw,” as in rural American slang for no. I realized that couldn’t be it, since “naw” doesn’t mean “not.” But by the time I found the right homophone, the answer was already in.)

    Thanks to both blogger and setter.

  17. poc @15 Yes, see what you mean entirely. I suppose the majority of setters must be non-rhotic. Perhaps we need to adopt a “content warning” approach similar to that sused by film makers…along the lines of, “Warning, homophones in this puzzle may be based on diverse regional accents.” Ha-ha.

  18. Another enjoyable Nutmeg puzzle IMHO, although I must have been on her wavelength this morning because I didn’t find it that much harder than her Quiptic on Monday. I don’t remember seeing LOGWOOD before but the wordplay was clear enough.

  21. Thanks Nutmeg, a delightful puzzle. Nothing too obscure here (and METZ was clearly clued.)

    Thanks scchua, I think your ‘budge’ needs its ‘b’ taken off.

    Like Cookie @14, I did enjoy the power boat, and the POGO STICKS.

  22. Valentine @19: the sport oF kings.

    Thanks Nutmeg and scchua – a very enjoyable crossword. I didn’t help myself by putting in POOH STICKS for 21, but I got there in the end.

  24. William @17: the solution would be to include the desired accent in the clue. They already do that when homophones are NOT in a London dialect. You’re told when you have to talk like a Scouser or a Scot, not to mention a Septic, right? So for these homophones that only work if you’re from the Home Counties (or Massachusetts), why not say that, too?

    And this is not even thinking about those of us from across the water: the Guardian is supposed to be a national newspaper, right? Why keep pretending like the London dialect is “normal” and everyone in the north and west of England (and in Scotland and Wales) is doing it wrong?

  25. The non-rhotic areas of England are not at all confined to the south-east.
    Wikipedia notes “The English dialects of Scotland, Ireland, and most of the United States and Canada preserve historical /r/, and are termed the rhotic varieties. The non-rhotic varieties, in which historical /r/ has been lost except before vowels, include all the dialects of modern England except the South West, the southern West Midlands, and parts of West Lancashire, as well as the dialects of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and some parts of the southern and eastern coastal United States”

  26. Not wacky enough for the usual suspects I will wager, but this is a finely-crafted puzzle. There are one or two things that annoy me personally, but they are used normally in Guardian stuff anyway. Very good.

  27. mrpenney @24 I couldn’t agree more.

    I find the presumption of a London/SE pronunciation a bit galling, too. Here in my little part of Wales, folk routinely drop whole syllables, such that “normally” rhymes with “Gormley” and so on. Having said all that, provided it is done fairly, there’s a certain charm to working out how a word might be pronounced in different parts of the English-speaking world, and it would be a shame to lose that from crosswords.

  28. I found this tougher than Tuesday’s Picaroon, and equally enjoyable – Nutmeg has become another in my growing list of favourite setters. Needed to use some guess and check to finish this in the time I’d allowed for it – last in was SLATE, and I also found the SE corner a bit of a struggle. Liked DELPHIC ORACLE and NIGHTSHADE.

    Thanks to Nutmeg and scchua

  29. Yes this was OK. Perhaps not as good as some other Nutmeg puzzles. I couldn’t parse BLUR and I didn’t know the second meaning of QUID. However I thought DUTCH had quite a good clue. DELPHIC ORACLE was rather good too. Didn’t spot the anagram of course but there-
    Thanks Nutmeg

  30. Thanks Nutmeg and scchua

    Needed some parsing help with 8d and 22d, fave was 16a,18a.

    Just a couple of quibbles: isn’t ‘unknown’ for x,y or z getting a bit old, (I liked para for soldier in 1a). And NOR in logic is ‘nor or,’ rather than ‘not and,’ n’est-ce pas?

  31. Freddy @ 30

    I think NOR is the usual speech form, ie ‘neither one thing nor the other’ equating to ‘not one thing and not the other’.

  32. Thanks Nutmeg and scchua
    I really enjoyed this – not difficult, but very entertaining. Biggest problem was persuading myself that the “on” in 16d really did mean “or”.

  34. Lovely smooth surfaces and a couple of cracking anagrams. Thoroughly enjoyed this! Like others, I was nervous at 16d for a while, before deciding it was indeed a case of a mipsprint….

  35. I omitted to say that I had doubts about BLUR = DIM. To me, “to blur” means “to make fuzzy, out of focus”, whereas “to dim” is to lower the light level.

  36. Thanks scchua and Nutmeg. I enjoyed this one, though I had SHAME for 10a – my “theory” being that a sham was a kind of blind (as in deceit). Anyone else go there?

  37. My first instructor in classic Greek was a Bostonian.

    He instructed us that ‘the alpher is pronounced like the “a” in fatha.’ I guess that made perfect sense to him.

    Good one, Nutmeg! And thanks scchua, I needed your help with some of the parsings.

  39. What a lovely, lovely crossword!

    The subtlety of some of the parsings escaped me until accessing this site. Many thanks to S & B.

    Having said that, I find it very difficult to accept TAMABLE as a word and don’t care what various lexicographers have to say.

    Last in was LOGWOOD. I had never heard of it but I see it is the source of haematoxylin which together with eosin – that might be fun to clue – is the basis of the standard histological stain.

  40. I enjoyed this although it was rather easier than the last two puzzles and certainly easier than recent Nutmegs.

    DELPHIC ORACLE was amusing.

    Thanks to scchua and Nutmeg

  41. Very enjoyable. Thanks Nutmeg and scchua.
    I couldn’t parse “blur”.
    Got stuck on SW corner: not knowing “stoma” or “dogwood” – and find the parsing on “dudgeon” a bit obscure.

  42. A very satisfying solve – and nice to be able to complete after a period when I seem to have been too busy to give my daily fix the attention it deserves.

    Enjoyed DUDGEON – a splendid word which is one of those which only ever appear with a particular qualifying adjective (high).

  43. Apologies for the late posting. My attention has been required elsewhere.

    Molonglo @1 As an Aussie (as I suspect you are) the subtleties of the pronunciation of gnaw in regions of the UK go over my head despite three trips to the UK over the years.

    Thanks to Nutmeg and scchua

    [[Further apologies for comments about the picture quiz on this site but there does not seem to be a link and I do enjoy scchua’s picture quizzes. Have the quizzes been discontinued?]]

  44. didn’t like blur @23; I think it has more common definitions than ‘dim’ and you could have a very bright blur. Don’t see the problem with gnaw @3. How else can you pronounce ‘nor’? I liked this clue.

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