Crossword Genius

Nothing fixed without a carpenter's tool (4,3)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

nail set

'carpenter's tool' is the definition.
(nail set is a type of tool)

'nothing fixed without a' is the wordplay.
'nothing' becomes 'nil' (eg nil is zero in football).
'fixed' becomes 'set' (both can mean decided or determined).
'without' means one lot of letters goes inside another ('without' can be similar in meaning to 'outside').
'nil'+'set'='nilset'
'nilset' going around 'a' is 'NAIL SET'.

(Another definition for nail set that I've seen is " punch".)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.
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