Azed 1983
Posted by Andrew on June 6th, 2010
A relatively easy Azed this week – I managed to solve most of it without aids, with only the SW corner causing some difficulties. I can’t fully explain 18ac, and there seems to be a mistake in 24ac No, I was mistaken – see Bob Sharkey’s comment. However there does seem to be a mistake in 4dn
| Across | |
| 1. RUBBERSTAMP | (BEST RAB)* in RUMP. An easy clue to get this useful long answer in, but the surface reading is a bit strained. |
| 11. SMARM | Hidden in mechaniSM ARMature |
| 12. EPICIER | (RICE PIE)*. Chambers defines this just as “Grocer (Fr)” (presumably the original meaning is “spice merchant”) and “pepperer” as “a grocer (obs)”, which by slightly twisted logic explains why “these days” is in the clue. |
| 13. BLASTULA | Composite anagram – (A FULL-BREASTED less FREED)* – with a cheeky surface reading involving a misleading use of “cleavage” |
| 14. ENTIA | T (IT “reduced”, e.g. as used in Shakespeare) in AÎNÉ, reversed.The plural of Ens, which is a philosophical term referring to “an entity as opposed to an attribute”. |
| 15. CHUMMY | Double definition: slang for a criminal, and “sociable”. |
| 16. EDENIC | EN (space) in EDIC[t] |
| 18. PARSES | I don’t fully get this. It must be an &lit, as the whole clue is a definition. “Delciae meae puellae” comes from a poem by Catullus, and is preceded by the word “passer”, which is an anagram of PARSES, but I can’t make the clue work to justify that. |
| 19. RIGOUR | Homophone of “rigger” (a narrow drum “in machinery”). |
| 21. WHEECH | WHICH with the I replaced by two Es. |
| 24. THORNS | |
| 28. HAUNCH | A[ss] in HUNCH, with a nice reference to Nick Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, who is transformed into an Ass in the play. |
| 29. SAMIAN | SAMI + AN. A Samian is an inhabitant of Samos. |
| 30. STELA | ST + L in EA |
| 31. HUCKSTER | (TRUCK HE’S)* |
| 32. ENTÊTÉE | TE (note – or a drink with jam and bread) in EN TEE. The word is French for “opinionated” (in its feminine version, hence the reference to Simone de Beauvoir). |
| 33. METAL | META (Greek “with”) + L. “Intrinsic quality” is one of th definitions of METAL in Chambers – perhaps more commonly seen as “mettle”, which seems to be just a variant spelling. |
| 34. DESERPIDINE | PRIDE* in DESINE (Spenserian spelling of “design” = “plan”) |
| . | |
| Down | |
| 2. UM AND AH | “Huma” is an anagram of UM and AH |
| 3. BATTERED | TATER* in BED |
| 4. BRAINS | RA (sun) + IN (not out) in BS. I’m not sure “brains” is really the same as “common sense” – I think I fall into the category of those who have plenty of the former but not so much of the latter. Added:There may be a mistake here, as BS is the code for the Bahamas, not Barbados. |
| 5. RELICS | LIE* in RC + [wor]S[hip] |
| 6. SPACER | ACE in SPR |
| 7. TISHRI | Hidden in briTISH RIght. One of the months of the Jewish calendar. |
| 8. ACT UP | T in A CUP |
| 9. PELMA | ELM in PA. Not a botanical plant, but the sole of the foot (as in “plantigrade”) |
| 10. PRAYER SHAWL | (SHARP LAWYER)* – “goes on in the synagogue” in the sense of “is worn…”) |
| 11. SWEEP-WASHER | (WHERE WE PASS)* – a sweep-washer recovers gold or silver from the sweepings of refineries. |
| 17. CORNETTI | Anagram of both INTRO ETC and CONTRITE. The cornett is an early woodwind instrument, not related to the modern cornet, as used in brass bands. |
| 20. UNCLEAN | UNCLE + AN (old form of “if”) |
| 22. CHASTE | [talbo]T in CHASE |
| 23. HUNTER | Double definition – one who pursues, or a pocket-watch |
| 24. THREEP | “THREE P[ence]“ |
| 25. OUT-RED | ROUTED with the R “lowered”. |
| 26. MAUND | N in MAIUD and two definitions: “variable weight” and “basket that’s old”. |
| 27. PIKES | P + IKE (Eisenhower) + S (“has, reduced” – as in 14ac). Short for “turnpike”. |
June 6th, 2010 at 9:37 am
Re 18a, in the course of parsing the line one would be expected to link ‘passer’ and ‘deliciae’ as nouns in apposition, singular, vocative with the remainder singular genitive as qualification. ‘deliciae’, and thus ‘delicia meiae puellae’ stand in apposition to the missing noun ‘passer.’ Consequently this may be held as the object of the phrase indicating the anagram ‘in translation’. Azed makes frequent use of the question mark in his clues and it is surely needed here.
Re 24A I have this as (au)THOR + N + S.
Re 4D This may be read more simply as RAIN in BS, but your reading is better. Does anyone know how BS = Barbados? C. has it as Bahamas (IVR)
June 6th, 2010 at 9:57 am
Thanks Bob – your explanation of 24ac must be right: I was trying to be too clever with Thoreau. I’ll correct the blog.
I didn’t actually check BS = Barbados, and you’re right that it’s the code for Bahamas, so maybe there is a mistake there.
June 6th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Managed 3/4 of this with just reference to Chambers. I had left my Bradford at home. Some nice clues. Not off to a good start this week as yet!
June 6th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
Just one, cornettO – give it to me!
June 6th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
Poor Maud! One is in the mud – twice.
June 6th, 2010 at 3:13 pm
Thanks, Andrew, for the blog. I also found the south-east corner rather tricky, having solved much of the puzzle on the train. The only useful thing to add is that Chambers does give “common sense” as one of the meanings of “brains”, so the clue is fair.
June 6th, 2010 at 7:16 pm
i had trouble with parses too and if your explanations are correct i’m still mystified. mr. crowther we need some clarification
June 6th, 2010 at 7:19 pm
Thanks Andrew, I had exactly the same queries as yourself on the problem clues; and thanks to Bob Sharkey for 24ac, as I too could not work out the word play exactly.
Nick
June 7th, 2010 at 8:32 pm
Has anyone come up with a suitable description of the sort of clue at 2 down?
Reverse anagram? Indicated anagram? Clue that would be an anagram if it wasn’t backwards?
Azed’s getting a bit over-fond of them for my taste.
June 8th, 2010 at 7:13 am
Sidey, I’ve referred to this clue elsewhere as “one of those Azed specials where a word or words from a true parsing must be included in the solution”, – in the present case ‘and’. A snappy descriptor word would be a great help in writing up notes, perhaps ‘parson’? More tea, Vicar?