Container indicator

nurse

“nurse” is a container indicator in cryptic crosswords.

One piece of wordplay is wrapped around or inserted into another. Containers use the imagery of holding, enclosing, or swallowing.

Clue types: Container
Forms: nurses, nursing
Subtlety: subtle
Part of speech: verb, participle
Themes: containment

Worked example

“Spirit nursing a riff — a beast of legend (7)”

Answer: GRIFFIN

Definition: "a beast of legend". "Spirit" gives a three-letter drink, GIN. "riff" supplies its own letters, RIFF. "nursing" tells you to wrap GIN around RIFF. GIN holding RIFF makes G(RIFF)IN = GRIFFIN.

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