Guardian Cryptic 28,193 by Nutmeg

by

A fun puzzle and some really lovely clues – my favourites were 1ac, 12ac, 21ac, 24ac, 5dn, 7dn, and especially 3dn. Thanks to Nutmeg

 

ACROSS
1 BROAD HINT Meaningful nudge from flam­boyant bird with hat on (5,4)
(bird hat on)*
6 WHIP Party organiser needing wife’s help in public at first (4)
definition: a political party official
first letters of W[ife’s] H[elp] I[n] P[ublic]
10 LYRIC Particularly rich passage from 26? (5)
referring to 26=POET
hidden in [Particular]LY RIC[h]
11 SOUP BOWLS Dishes made from very high game (4,5)
SO=”very” + UP=”high” + BOWLS=”game”
12 PAS SEUL Old-fashioned, essentially dull dance (3,4)
definition: a dance for one person
PASSE=passé=”Old-fashioned”; plus the core/essentials of [d]UL[l]
13 HITCHED Henry longed to get married (7)
H (Henry, unit of electrical inductance) + ITCHED=”longed”
14 RESTAURANT CAR Long-distance supplier of Meals on Wheels? (10,3)
cryptic definition, referring to a carriage serving meals on a [long-distance] train journey
could be broken down into RESTAURANT=”supplier of Meals” + CAR=”Wheels”
17 BESIDE ONESELF Very much affected, as are one’s neighbours (6,7)
one’s neighbours are also beside (next door to) oneself
21 SKILLED Able seaman’s leader knocked off (7)
leading letter of S[eaman] + KILLED=”knocked off”
22 AGOUTIS A painful affliction regularly hits rodents (7)
an agouti is a rodent [wiki]
A + GOUT=”painful affliction” + regular letters from [h]I[t]S
24 SAINTLIER More artful hosts aren’t com­monly of better character (9)
SLIER=more sly=”More artful”; hosting/going around AIN’T=”aren’t” when speaking “commonly”
25 RASTA Believer cheers after god succeeded (5)
TA=thankyou=”cheers”; after RA=Egyptian “god” + S (succeeded)
26 POET Writer‘s moggy perhaps given nothing to eat (4)
PET=”moggy perhaps”, around/eating O=”nothing”
27 TAX REBATE Playing extra beat, a consequence of overassessment? (3,6)
a consequence of being asked to pay too much tax i.e. “overassessment”
(extra beat)*
DOWN
1 BALLPARK Rough hop over grassland (8)
BALL=dance party=”hop” + PARK=”grassland”
2 OGRES Brutes turn up on brief vacation (5)
GO=”turn” reversed/up; plus RES[t]=”brief vacation”
3 DECREE ABSOLUTE Could it make duos celebrate end of alliance? (6,8)
definition: a legal document that ends a marriage
(duos celebrate)*, plus [allianc]E - edit thanks to Dr. WhatsOn and Dave Ellison
4 INSULAR Provincial half of army behind endless abuse (7)
the first half of AR[my]; behind INSUL[t]=”endless abuse”
5 TOUCH ON Mention not getting a rise, masking pained expression (5,2)
NOT reversed upwards/”getting a rise”; around OUCH=”pained expression”
7 HAWTHORNE US author may finally retire (9)
US author Nathaniel Hawthorne [wiki]
the “may” flower is a name for the HAWTHORN flower; plus the final letter of [retir]E
8 POSADA Where Pedro gets drinks bill when work’s over? (6)
definition: an inn in Spanish-speaking countries
AD=”bill” + AS=”when” + OP=”work”; all reversed/”over”
9 OBSTACLE COURSE Bluecoat scores badly in showjumping event, say (8,6)
(Bluecoat scores)*
15 SUBSIDISE Decline to accept one shilling for fund (9)
SUBSIDE=”Decline” around both: I=”one” + S (shilling)
16 OFFSTAGE Unseemly male exploit’s begin­ning behind the scenes (8)
OFF=”Unseemly” + STAG=”male” + E[xploit’s] beginning letter
18 DADAIST Artist’s father a good person, I admitted (7)
DAD=”father” + A + ST (saint, good person); going around I
19 ORATRIX A great talker, Irish sailor recalled boring old times (7)
IR (Irish) + TAR=”sailor”; both reversed/”recalled”, and going inside/”boring” into: O (old) + X (times, as in 2×4 is ‘two times four’)
20 USES UP Squanders benefit on drink (4,2)
USE=”benefit” + SUP=”drink”
23 TESTA Coverage of seed trial, part one? (5)
definition: the outer coating of a seed
TEST A could be the first part of a trial, followed by tests B, C, etc

 

63 comments on “Guardian Cryptic 28,193 by Nutmeg”

  1. Smooth as ever from Nutmeg, perhaps not at her toughest, but still plenty to chew on. My last two in were the vaguely remembered AGOUTIS and the unfamiliar TESTA. Also didn’t know PAS SEUL, but all clearly clued. My one quibblet is with RESTAURANT CAR with its cryptic definition that I didn’t think was up to Nutmeg’s usual standard. Otherwise no particular favourites, but solid and entertaining cluing throughout, so thanks to the setter. Thanks also to manehi for the parsing of BALLPARK. (I thought maybe ballpark = grassland, but then couldn’t make the rest work.)

  2. This was hard work. I am amazed that I could finish it.

    Liked SOUP BOWLS, SAINTLIER

    New: TESTA, ORATRIX, POSADA

    Thanks B+S

  3. Nice puzzle, no surprise there, but a bug in the blog for 3d DECREE ABSOLUTE.  Need to include an extra E in the anagram (end of alliance).

  4. Thanks manehi and Nutmeg, a delight as ever.

     

    DECREE ABSOLUTE doesn’t quite work as you have given it – there is an E missing in the fodder. I took the extra one to come from the end of alliancE. Isn’t it also, in addition to the definition you have given, an &lit. A splendid clue.

  5. Despite failing in the NE corner, I found this crossword to be mostly joyful. HITCHED, SKILLED, AGOUTIS, SAINTLIER, TOUCH ON, and ORATRIX are reasons I’ll always attempt an offering from Nutmeg even though my chances of completing one of her puzzles are not great. Thanks Manehi for all the explanations.

  6. A very enjoyable puzzle.  Two new (to me) words .. 12A & 8D … but readily deduced, and in general very well constructed clues of the type that are solved and parsed simultaneously. One of the most satisfying mid-week puzzles in recent times.

  7. A hop is more like what the servants had in the barn while the masters quadrilled in the ballroom, but not to worry. Yep, a smooth Nutmeg as DaveinNC says. A few nice quirky ones at the finish, oratrix, dadaist and testa, and the Spanish bar was a dnk, but all very clear. Thanks both.

  8. I found this challenging but pleased to have finished it without any reveals. One to print off and annotate. My first was WHIP and last was OGRES. The NE quadrant was my erm ‘easiest’ and the NW my last. Did not know about may flowers, but forced by the crossers. New: PAS SEUL, POSADA , ORATRIX, TESTA.

    Many likeable clues but missed a couple of anagrams and hiddens. Parsing a bit of an obstacle course and must do better.

    Thanks to Nutmeg and manehi.

  10. I just love Nutmeg’s puzzles. I won’t repeat all the appreciative comments I have made previously, but please keep the puzzles coming.

  11. I really liked this one too and found it a fine balance of challenges and delights. I agree with many of the goodies already mentioned but another favourite for me was 17a BESIDE ONESELF. Meanwhile, HAWTHORNE at 7d took a bit of thinking to untangle until I remembered the reference to the hawthorn, the may bush, in “The Surfer” by the wonderful Aussie POET Judith Wright

    He thrust his joy against the weight of the sea;
    climbed through, slid under those long banks of
    foam–
    (hawthorn hedges in spring, thorns in the face stinging).

    I shot myself in the foot a bit for a while by rashly entering a partially parsed TAX RETURN at 27a, but had a re-think when the rest of the SE wouldn’t yield.

    Satisfaction guaranteed by Nutmeg, so thank you very much to her and of course to manehi as well for the blog.

     

  12. What George Clements@10 said! I particularly enjoyed SAINTLIER, ORATRIX and the wonderful DECREE ABSOLUTE. Many thanks to Nutmeg and manehi.

  13. JinA and GIF, I can’t imagine hawthorn is commonly called may in Australia. More likely to be November.

  14. Thanks Nutmeg and manehi

    I took a long time to get into this one – for ages I just had two entries, and one of those spelled incorrectly (SAINTLYER – surely “more artful” is SLYER?). After a few more went in it fell out more easily. Favourite HAWTHORNE.

    USES UP isn’t the same as “squanders” – the latter means “wastes”.

  15. Like muffin @14 took a while to get going. Needed google to check PAS SEUL and hadn’t heard of Mr Hawthorne. DECREE ABSOLUTE was very slick.

  16. I had to google pas seul and posada to be certain. I was going to comment that yesterday I didn’t like Roger=R which could work with any name, and today we had H=Henry, but I had missed that Henry is an SI unit.

  19. Muffin@14 – I also thought “slier” could not be right – but I checked and it is legit.  Of course.   Re 19d – I love the way she often throws the male hegemony into disarray by introducing the feminine.  Good for you, Nutmeg.  I rejoice.  Thanks Manehi.

  20. Challenging – for me. I kept coming back to it throughout the day, and a few more would fall each time. The last were two DNKs – PAS SEUL (which I did eventually construct, but had to check such a thing was a dance) and POSADA – I had POS_D_ and – despite having learned enough Spanish to get food, drink and accommodation, or at least I had thought I had – then had to use a word fill because an alphabet troll didn’t throw up a word I knew. I had CATO for the moggy writer for a while, but was uneasy as the O hadn’t been eaten. Lots to like when the clues finally yielded. Thanks, manehi and Nutmeg.

  21. What copmus said – but I must add another cheer for 3dn and 19dn.

    Many thanks to Nutmeg and manehi.

     

  22. I’ve realised that I neglected to say that I really enjoyed the puzzle. Nutmeg is in my top three setters.

  23. copmus @18:  Nuff said.

    Among fine company, perhaps RESTAURANT CAR was the back marker.

    This lady has edged into my “Top Setter” spot.

    Thank you, both.

  24. Loved it – especially SAINTLIER and DECREE ABSOLUTE once the extra E penny dropped 🙂 I was intrigued by the difference between the two I couldn’t fully parse; PAS SEUL and HAWTHORNE. The first can be constructed from the wordplay but the second requires two bits of OGK + the E which personally I find a bit disappointing. Also, I didn’t know I knew the word ORATRIX but it popped up from somewhere. Slim pickings on the musical front today but you could do worse than check out Bobby Womack’s The POET album

    Cheers all

  25. Thanks Nutmeg for the challenge, some unknown words in there but we parsed them out for the most part.

    Had not parsed POSADA or OGRE so thanks to manehi for the explanations.

    Favourites were SOUP BOWLS and ORATRIX. Agree with others above that DECREE ABSOLUTE was a wonderful clue.

     

  26. Muffin @14  Chambers and Collins give both slyer and slier etc with the y versions in the lead. I notice my spell checker does not like slier.

    The New Fowler’s Modern English Usage by R W Burchfield, the definitive guide to English grammar, gives only slyer etc and rejects slier etc.

  27. Like others, didn’t know POSADA, but sometimes knowing the names of famous racehorses sometimes helps. PAS SEUL winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1960. Nothing to do with this clue, but at least I knew what might fit in at 12ac. before I discovered it to be a dance as well. I’m also another who couldn’t parse OGRES, so thanks, Manehi, for shining the light.

  28. DECREE ABSOLUTE .  &lit. ? Whole clue underlined?

    Love Nutmeg. This one was a goodie. A few TILTS today, but fair, gettable from wordplay. A sense of fun for both setter and solver.

    Brilliant surfaces – she writes a great story, does Nutmeg. Lots of ticks. Enjoyed the cryptic defs. Of  the ‘straight’ clues particularly liked BALLPARK and ORATRIX.

  31. Like TassieTim this gradually fell over a few sessions. Highly satisfying. As is deriving new words from the wordplay (AGOUTIS, ORATRIX, PAS SEUL and TESTA). And lovely surfaces as always. Thanks Nutmeg.

    Thanks to Manhei too for the parsing of HAWTHORNE, SOUP BOWLS and POSADA. Can someone explain further why AD = bill?

  32. Thanks Nutmeg and manehi

    howard @ 16: yesterday’s R = Roger isn’t just from a name. It’s from the old RAF alphabet that started Able Baker Charlie and was used until they adopted the current international one.

  34. Generally a lot of good things here, but I frowned a bit at POSADA. The word properly refers to an inn, not to a drinking establishment. Certainly in English there are pubs which are also inns, but that’s not really the case in Spanish (though no doubt there are exceptions).

  36. bodycheetah @24 I can only think of Ballpark Incident by Wizzard and Radio Dada.

    In Yorkshire they say “Ne’er cast a clout ‘til May be out!”, meaning it would be wise not to put away your warm clothes until the hawthorn tree has blossomed.

  37. I got about 11 in on first pass in fairly short time thanks to the clear clueing.  14 popped up immediately.  Didn’t fully parse POSADA as I overlooked AD = bill but it was a word I was vaguely familiar with.  HAWTHORNE (of whom I have never heard as an author) took longer than it should as I stuck at the shorter HAW for MAY and was looking for a synonym for “retire” to add finally.  Actor (as in Nigel) might have been a better choice.

    12A was fairly clued for a term I wasn’t familiar with.  ORATRIX is probably non-PC nowadays in the way ACTRESS has gone.

    Thanks Nutmeg and Manehi

     

  38. What copmus and Eileen said.

    This was a bit of a workout for me, not quite on Nutmeg’s wavelength today, but fell steadily and was very satisfying.  TESTA was new and I did not know Hawthorn=May.  Favs ORATRIX and DECREE ABSOLUTE.

    Thanks to Nutmeg for the fun and manehi for the blog

  39. 1d BALLPARK For those who didn’t grow up in baseball culture, I’ll offer that a ballpark is specifically a baseball venue, not any other kind of game played with a ball, and that a “ballpark estimate” is not any estimate made there, but the mock-ironic remark, ‘Well, at least you’re in the right ballpark.”

  40. Penfold @36: Talking of Wizzard, I wish it could be Nutmeg every day. Smooth, clever clueing, a few attractive, non-everyday words; the whole process was akin to savouring a fine claret while listening to a Mozart divertimento. DECREE ABSOLUTE in particular gets a round of applause from me.

  41. Dave@1 You’d remember agoutis more than vaguely if you’d been climbed by one.  In Argentina at the Iguacu Falls Park (a magnificent experience, like a whole planet of waterfalls) there were agoutis everywhere, and one of them scaled me like a tree an grabbed my snack out of my hand.

    I think of “posadas” as a Mexican Christmas tradition in which Joseph and Mary travel from house to house asking for lodging, and the  householder repeatedly turns them away, then finally lets them in, both parties singing traditional posada songs.  So I guess that “posada” can be any old inn besides that one in Bethlehem.

  42. Valentine @41 – ouch! And losing your snack in the bargain, I suppose that would burn the word indelibly into your brain.

  43. Loved this.  Finished the whole thing last night, in bed with no google or check button — unusual for me.  Thanks both the Nutmeg and manehi for excellent work.

    Dave@1 You’d remember agoutis more than vaguely if you’d been climbed by one.  In Argentina at the Iguacu Falls Park (a magnificent experience, like a whole planet of waterfalls) there were agoutis everywhere, and one of them scaled me like a tree an grabbed my snack out of my hand.

    I think of “posadas” as a Mexican Christmas tradition in which Joseph and Mary travel from house to house asking for lodging, and the  householder repeatedly turns them away, then finally lets them in, both parties singing traditional posada songs.  So I guess that “posada” can be any old inn besides that one in Bethlehem.

    Howard @16 Not only is Roger “R” in the RAF alphabet, but it stands for “received,” and is what you say to acknowledge a message.  It came to stand in ordinary speech for “right, got  you, I’ll do that,” and so forth.

    I would guess that few of us have actually run across ORATRIX, but it’s easy enough to put together.

  44. Thanks both,
    A fine puzzle. ‘Oratrix’ wasn’t too hard once one had the x at the end. It’s plural ‘oratrices’ could be a lot harder.

  45. Lucky manehi to have this brilliant puzzle to blog. I echo rodshaw’s comment about solving and parsing at the same time – a hallmark of a top class setter imo. 27a got my double tick because it took me ages to see it as an anagram – another hallmark. Thanks to Nutmeg and manehi.

  46. For those to whom PAS SEUL was new: you might have heard of PASO DOBLE – well, translate from Spanish to French, then divide by two!

  47. Didn’t start to lunchtime and got stuck in the NW so had to go away and do other stuff. I then theorised that the second half of 1a could be HINT, and thus got INSULAR, and that was enough to sort it. I don’t find Nutmeg easy, so I was pleased to get there. Very many very good clues, with DECREE ABSOLUTE and ORATRIX tops for me.

    I knew hawthorn = may, though that only helped with the parsing not the solving. But it always makes me sad; these days, at least down here in Essex, hawthorn would be better named after March.

  48. First one in was WHIP, which led to a US author of 9 letters beginning with H. I wasted time trying to get HEMINGWAY to work, until I thought of the less well-known Nathaniel. Nutmeg was being a bit Pasquale-ish with POSADA, PAS SEUL, ORATRIX, TESTA… Enjoyable, especially as those lesser spotted answers were made obvious by the lucid wordplay.

  50. Sheer class, as copmus said.
    I didn’t know PAS SEUL or POSADA, but I do now. RESTAURANT CAR and OBSTACLE COURSE were among my first few in, and the rest flowed from there. I liked SAINTLIER and thought SLIER (in the build-up to that word) was ok. I thought the gridfill was impressive, with a generous helping of longer words/phrases.
    Thanks Nutmeg and manehi.

  51. Few unknowns in there this morning but a diversion from the woes of today (a Chinese hacker, to be precise).   RESTURANT CAR was FOI.  Thanks Nutmeg and manehi!

  52. Another goodie from Nutmeg. I had trouble getting started but then TOUCH ON and HITCHED went in and the puzzle gradually opened up..I wondered about SLIER,too: it certainly looks wrong but SAINTLYER looked even worse. Didn’t know POSADA or TESTA but they went in alright.
    Thanks Nutmeg.

  53. brilliant nutmeg many thanks. loads to like, decree absolute, sip bowls, beside oneself, etc.

    lovely simple flow in all the clues

  55. Like grantinfreo @7, I question whether a ball and a hop can be equated. Yes, they’re both dance parties, but they’re very different. An orange and a banana are both fruits, but one couldn’t be used to clue the other. But that’s a minor quibble in a delightful puzzle. I got stuck for a while in the NW, but getting unstuck was very satisfying.

     

  56. The sheer precision of the cluing meant I could fill in PAS SEUL and POSADA even though I was only dimly aware of the words. Have to confess to being beaten by the RASTA/TESTA pair in the corner but there were many delights, including SOUP BOWLS, ORATRIX and the delightful DECREE ABSOLUTE. Indeed, DECREE ABSOLUTE, HITCHED and BROAD HINT were my first three in which made me wonder what sort of theme Nutmeg was aiming for!

    Nutmeg remains my favourite setter. And manehi remains my joint-favourite blog writer (along with the other four or five :p)

  60. Guess I’m in the minority here – I usually enjoy Nutmeg’s puzzles but this was definitely NOT one of them (although LYRIC was brilliant) – too many obscure clues for my liking, I’m afraid…

  61. Valentine @41/43 – the pesky animals I remember from the picnic area at Iguacu were coatis as opposed to agoutis, equally helpful when it comes to crosswords!

  62. I thought there were some gems here, Nutmeg is one of the most artful of setters for me. I always seem to struggle with her much more than others on this blog, compared to my relative experience with other setters

    I messed this one right up in my rush by scribbling in WHOLESALES MEN @14a. Clearly didn’t stand up to close scrutiny but perfect anagram first Meals on Wheels so in it went!

  63. Nobby @62 You’re dead right.  Mine were coatis too, not agoutis.  That’s why I wrote “They looked like raccoons,” (they are both procyonidae) and then took that out when I googled agoutis, which don’t.  They have raccoon personalities, too, inquisitive and grabby.

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