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geeker, yes I was thinking about it, but I'm not sure if I'm compulsive enough! However, I do occasionally find myself browsing through my SOD just for fun. Perhaps I can persuade someone to put it on their Christmas list for me!

Let me ask one last question. Is 23D a fair clue? QuickSolve shows 150+ possiblities but I don't see one among them that fits?

I do think, and I know that this is considered heresy, that 7D, requiring a specific dictionary (without it being mentioned in the instructions as rare or obscure - as is often the case elsewhere, e.g. Harpers), is not a fair clue. I could make up a better clue for it myself quite easily.

the "ground" in 23d is a bit confusing, but without it the clue wouldn't be cryptic at all.

I think 'ground' is what happens to the membrane that covers the seed in 5

It isn't necessarily ground. The ground form is easy to find, but I have spent a couple of years fruitlessly trying to source the unground version; a few weeks ago a friend accidentally bought far more than she needed, and gave me enough to last for a year or two!

Yes, you can buy it whole Chris.. I can't think of any other reason for ground to be in the clue other than to mislead ?

Well, this is all very odd. The online Chambers for the word I'm thinking of (made from the 'covering' (outer shell) of 5A's real name doesn't have any more defs than SOD. I must be missing something. But no matter, I can wait. Somehow, I suspect I won't like it at all.

23d Wikipedia. So fair enough, I guess, just about.. Oh well.

A nice piece by Alan Connor (Everyman) in today’s Guardian crossword blog …

https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/crossword-blog/2023/jul/17/crossword-blog-goodbye-to-nutmeg

Geezer
When you say get Chambers, do you mean the general Chambers dictionary (being an old git, I have the 20th Century version) or do you mean the specific crossword dictionary?