…cryptic crosswords surprise you with an unexpected meaning of the word.
Here's a container clue that uses "none" in a different way.
Times Jumbo 816: Coolness of church man caught breaking into church office (11) NONCHALANCE
CH (church) ALAN (man) C (caught), in NONE (church office)
NONE = church office?
That's right. None (sometimes nones) is a church service/office held at 3pm.
Chambers lists the church service as nones only but none, singular, is in Collins.
It is usual to find none/nones in this sense represented by the word "service" on the clue's surface.
Times 24313: Excellent thing, having service in front of university church (8) NONESUCH
NONES (service) U (university) CH (church)
If you solve made-in-UK crosswords, it is useful to remember the names of the daily cycle of services: matins, lauds, terce, sext, nones, vespers and compline. You'll come across them sometime or the other in the course of solving.
Nones as Date
In the ancient Roman calendar, nones = the ninth day before the ides. Cryptic clues often define this as "date" or "date in Rome".
Times 23937: West left behind on this date? (5) NONES
W left behind => No N E S
The Controversial NONE~nun Homophone
NONE, when it means religious service, is not pronounced as "nun", as I learnt when blogging about this clue:
FT 13143 (Bradman): Broadcast of religious service at 3pm (4) NONE
homophone of nun (religious, as noun); definition: service at 3pm
Eileen's comment pointed out that the pronunciation of NONE in this sense is "known".
What's more, NONE in its regular "no one" sense isn't universally pronounced as "nun" either. Non-RP speakers pronounce "none" to rhyme with "gone", as the discussion on T4tT about the next clue suggests.
Times 24814: Prioress's assistant reportedly without equal? (6,2,4) SECOND TO NONE
sounds like SECOND TO NUN (prioress's assistant)
Solve These
Enjoy solving. Answers on Monday 30th April.
Times 25089: To hand over service, make fresh poster (2,4,8)
Times Jumbo 783: Note to service workers: take no action (3,2,4,5)
Guardian Genius (Puck): In one sense offers a service (5)
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