Shell solid, elongate, fusiform to cylindrical. Protoconch dome-shaped and broad, smooth, consisting of 2,5 whorls. Spire height slightly less than half the total shell height. Teleoconch consisting of 5 axially plicate whorls including the body whorl, plicae on first teleoconch whorl too indistinct to be counted, 14 plicae on second teleoconch whorl, 18 on the third, 19 on the fourth and 12 plus on the body whorl; axial plicae on the ventral and left sides of the body whorl strong and extend as far anteriorly as the columellar callus, those on the right side near the lip are weak and indistinct; body whorl with numerous axial plicae on the ventral and left sides extending as far anteriorly as the columellar callus, plicae much reduced on the right side near the lip. Whorls slightly convex, lacking shoulders. Aperture elongate, broad anteriorly, narrowing to an acute angle posteriorly; lip sharp-edged, slightly patulate anteriorly. Anterior canal rather deep, broad and obliquely U-shaped; anterior fasciole moderately broad and strong. Columella almost straight, bearing 4 thick and high oblique plaits of which the first (most anterior) is the smallest and the third and fourth the largest, an additional thin oblique spiral cord present on the parietal wall may represent a fifth plait. Exterior cream with a few small and faint orange-brown spots in the sutures, a spiral band of large orange-brown squarish blotches around the sutural ramps of all the teleoconch whorls, a spiral band of similar blotches around the anterior part of the body whorl, and a spiral band of small irregular orange-brown blotches around the centre of the body whorl; interior white. Variations: The single paratype is a broken specimen lacking most of the body whorl. The axial plicae on the first teleoconch whorl are too indistinct to be counted, there are 15 on the second teleoconch whorl, 16 on the third, 15 on the fourth, 12 plus on the body whorl. Colour pattern like that of the holotype. Columellar plaits like those of the holotype, except for the parietal cord which is much stronger. Holotype Height:63.9 mm;Width:22.9 mm

The shell is rather more solid than that of N. pseudolirata, the sides of the whorls are straighter, the columellar plaits thicker, the anterior fasciole much stronger, and the axial costae are longer and less nodulose, especially on the body whorl. The axial costae are less numerous on the first and second teleoconch whorls of N. baconi than in N. pseudolirata, but more numerous on the third and fourth whorls, and on the ventral and right sides of the body whorl. In the two specimens available for study there is no trace of reticulate patterns on the external surface. The spiral bands of large squarish blotches on the sutural ramp and around the anterior part of the body whorl, and the central band of spots, also serve to distinguish this species from N. pseudolirata. The only other Recent species which resembles N. baconi is the south coast N. occidua. That species is much narrower and has a small protoconch. Although it has strong and long axial costae they are less numerous than in N. baconi.

Type locality Holotype: 128-146 m west of Wedge Island, Western Australia (approx. lat. 30°50'S, long. 114°55'E).
Paratype: A single broken paratype dredged by the Hawaiian-W.A. Expedition, 146 m, 10 miles N.W. Zeewyck Channel, Houtman Abrolhos [Islands], Western Australia, May 12, 1960; WAM.41-60.