Azed 1924: A morass of Morays
Posted by jetdoc on April 19th, 2009
A pretty easy Azed for Easter. I didn’t time myself, but I reckon I got through this as quickly as I have ever completed an Azed.
No clue particularly stands out, but I think I’ll go for 14d as this week’s fave.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MORASS | RA = Royal Academician (‘one painting’); in MOSS = a shade of green and a type of rose. Romney, in SE England, is noted for its marsh. | |
| 4 | SUBMISS | ‘bus’ reversed; MISS = girl. An archaic word meaning ‘submissive; subdued, low-toned’. | |
| 11 | OBECHE | Hidden in wardrobe chest. A large W African tree or its whitish wood. | |
| 12 | PRE-ECHO | *(cheer); in PO = chamber [pot]. The unwanted effect of a faint sound anticipating the actual sound on a tape recording, caused by the transfer of material between surfaces of the wound tape. | |
| 13 | CITRONELLA OIL | *(lotion I’ll care). A plant-based insect repellent. | |
| 17 | SANITATE | SATE = stuff; A NIT = an insect’s egg. | |
| 18 | ABORT | ‘Tabor’ with its first letter moved to the end. | |
| 19 | PLUSH | ‘Wit plus H’ becomes ‘with’. Plush is rich material. | |
| 20 | CORSE | CORE = heart; S = a little strangeness. A poetic form of corpse. | |
| 22 | ABLOW | AB = sailor; LOW = humble. A sou’-wester is a wind as well as a form of headgear. | |
| 24 | HOT-BRAIN | H = husband; *(into bar). | |
| 28 | COUNTEROFFERS | *(ortune); in COFFERS. | |
| 29 | ARIETTA | *(a treat I). A little aria or air. | |
| 30 | SATEEN | SA = sex appeal, also known (in some crosswords but no longer by anyone else) as ‘it’; TEEN = teenage. Sateen is a glossy fabric. | |
| 31 | LEGROOM | Franglais companion to ‘la bride’. | |
| 32 | TRALEE | TR = transpose; A LEE = a sheltered place. The Rose of Tralee festival is an international competition which is celebrated among Irish communities all over the world. The festival takes its inspiration from a nineteenth century Irish ballad of the same name about a woman called Mary, who because of her beauty was called ‘The Rose of Tralee’. | |
| Down | |||
| 1 | MOCH | MOCH + A (this + one) is ‘mocha’, a dark brown. Misty and humid weather in Scotland. | |
| 2 | OBITAL | OB = old boy; I = in (presumably, because OB isn’t in anything). I’m not sure how ‘short column (single) written up‘ gives TAL. I can’t find a column beginning with ‘lat’. Thanks to Geoff for enlightening me. | |
| 3 | RETINULA | *(tenurial). A cell playing the part of a retina to an ommatidium (a compound eye). | |
| 4 | SHOG | SOG = soak; H = hydrant. Dialect term. | |
| 5 | SENNACHIE | IE = that is; after SENNAC = Cannes turned up. A Highland or Irish genealogist and transmitter of family lore (also seannachie or seannachy). | |
| 6 | SPECTROGRAM | R = take; *(great comp). | |
| 7 | BELT | Triple definition. | |
| 8 | MEAN-BORN | BO = guy (a familiar term of address for a man in the US); *(manner). | |
| 9 | SHIRR | RR = bishop (Right Reverend); following *(his). A puckering or gathering. | |
| 10 | SOLUTE | SO = provided; LUTE = clay, cement or other material used as a protective covering. | |
| 14 | LIE AT HOST | E = English; ATHOS = musketeer; in LIT = French bed. Shakespearean term. | |
| 15 | DISOWNER | IS in DOWNER. | |
| 16 | MORAY EEL | MOREL = fungus; wrapping AYE = one voting for. Moray eels are large cosmopolitan (?) eels of the family Muraenidae. | |
| 19 | PASCAL | A = one; in *(clasp). A derived SI unit, the unit of pressure (symbol Pa), equal to one newton per square metre. | |
| 21 | SIREE | Hidden backwards in ‘queer risotto’. | |
| 23 | BLORE | BORE = one going on tediously; L = reduced pound (Sterling). A violent gust of wind. | |
| 25 | OTTO | ‘Ottoman’ minus ‘man’. A very fragrant essential oil made in Bulgaria and elsewhere, chiefly from the damask rose (also attar). | |
| 26 | AFAR | Rafael Nadal, to his mates, reversed. | |
| 27 | ESNE | Hidden in ‘buckles new’. A domestic slave in Anglo-Saxon times. | |
April 19th, 2009 at 10:25 am
A first Azed for me, I managed all but three clues, though I had most of the letters. 8dn, 24ac, and the last letter of 4dn. I think I exercised my brain more on this puzzle that my entire college education.
I also thought these clues were rather normal, so it puzzled me even more when the answers were easy as I was looking for more obscure words. Oh well.
Great fun though.
April 19th, 2009 at 10:32 am
jetdoc
2d lat – in India, an isolated pillar (Chambers)
April 19th, 2009 at 10:36 am
Geoff, thanks also for that Indian info Lat, I managed the clue but couldn’t figure it out either.
April 19th, 2009 at 10:42 am
Jetdoc, sorry for not saying thanks for the blog and explaining the answers.
nice one. Ta.
April 19th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
Great blog – thanks.
20a, I had WORSE, don’t ask me why – it must have made sense at the time (perhaps stiff = ‘to cheat’, confused with worst = ‘get the better of’, but the wordplay doesn’t fit). Oh well, try harder next time (today, that is!).
April 19th, 2009 at 3:49 pm
Thanks for the blog. A confidence-booster for me, as I’ve only just started making real headway with Azed. I didn’t get the last letter of 4dn, or 6ac or 10dn. (I had OOLITE for 10dn.) 31ac made me laugh.
April 19th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
Thanks for the blog.
My only complaint about this puzzle is that the clue for 20a suggests the answer should be an old word rather than a poetic one.
April 20th, 2009 at 10:43 am
6 Coach recalled girl no longer low-toned (7)
Funny, I solved this as SUB-MISS, i.e. a team coach substituting a player. Though a reversed BUS is better.