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I finished today's cryptic and was very pleased with myself until I read "Fifteen Squared" to check that I'd parsed it all correctly.
Only to find I'd missed what all the bloggers were calling a "nina" ! What on earth is that? someone said it started in the SW corner of the grid??
Anyone out there who can explain, please?

read the letters (clockwise) around the outside of the grid, they form a sentence. don't know if it's a quote or not.
clue 8,19 down, makes a reference to it.

btw. a nina doesn't have to be on the outside of the grid, see here,
http://www.crosswordunclued.com/2009/10/what-is-nina.html
sometimes i've seen them there for reason at all, sometimes amusing or have somebody's name on an anniversary but aren't mentioned by the setter and have no bearing on the quiz.
other times they can be a help in solving clues by giving additional letters.

Got it, Trevor! " Disguise creates men like them" I read that sentence in the blog but hadn't any idea what the guy was talking about!!

but how would I know to look for a "nina" in the first instance? and do they occur regularly - have I been missing this all along?

our post crossed - thank you, Trevor , you've basically asnswered my question already

P. S. what do you mean by they can help by giving additional letters?

for instance, i guessed that the word disguised was going to be part of the nina before i had solved 25a. it gave me the D as the first letter.

i've since realised it's not a quote, it's the clue for 8,19 down.
8,19 Dark forces clued around this grid (6,6)
Disguise creates men like them.

very clever yes... no?


btw. have you ever tried the FT, can vary from easy to very hard but usually about the same as the gaurdian (i think they share some setters using different names). you can't fill them in online tho.

http://www.ft.com/life-arts/crossword

Hi elle
Usually a nina is just a bit of added cleverness by the compiler that some (but not most!) solvers spot after finishing. In this case, however, the clue to 8,19 pretty much said "look for a nina around the edges of the grid".

This grid (or similar) lends itself to making a nina.

Yes, I see what you mean, but I doubt I'll ever realise that there IS a "nina" there! - not whilst still doing the crossword, as you obviously did - I might get it if I look for it afterwards! I guess all that comes with more experience!
Thanks for the reference for the FT crossword- will certainly try it - I'm getting hooked!!!
And thanks again for all your help

See para on Nina-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Hirschfeld