Azed 1995
Posted by bridgesong on August 29th, 2010
I managed to solve about three-quarters of this puzzle without any assistance from Chambers or the internet. It’s surprising what being on holiday in remote places can do for the brain. However, I made somewhat heavy weather of the remainder on my return home. Fewer anagrams than usual, I thought, but with a couple of easy hidden clues to help get one started. As is often the case, it’s the shortest words that can be the hardest to solve.
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | DABS | Hidden in “road, absorbent”; it’s a term supposedly used by police officers to mean fingerprints, hence the refernce to “whorls” in the clue. |
| 4 | COCKNIFY | COCK + IF in NY. “Reverse Prof. Higgins’s treatment” (of Eliza Dolittle) is the definition; presumably what he did was to decocknify. |
| 10 | OMOPHORION | MOP in OH + ORION (the “belted one”). |
| 11 | COLEUS | COLE + US. |
| 13 | ENIGMA | E + (AM GIN) (all rev.). |
| 14 | CADDOAN | C + A in ADD-ON. |
| 15 | SEDUM | Hidden in “naturalised umbellifers”. |
| 17 | SETT | SET + T(in). |
| 19 | ONE-LINER | NIL (rev.) in O + NE’ER. |
| 22 | BARRATRY | RA in BAR + TRY. I was pleased with myself for remembering this word; it’s possible that it features in the novels of Patrick O’Brian. |
| 24 | PEIN | PINE with the middle letters removed to the end. |
| 26 | DROIL | I in LORD (rev.). |
| 27 | SAND-BED | S AND BED. |
| 29 | PRE-NUP | REN in PUP. I’m not sure how REN equates to “most of revenue”. |
| 30 | CITESS | CITES + S. A word that was new to me. |
| 31 | ANTIOCHENE | * ATHENE and COIN. An easy enough anagram, but the first so far. |
| 32 | CHRISTIE | *STIR in CH + IE. A double reference: not just Agatha but also the murderer John Christie. |
| 33 | ASPS | *PASS. Another easy anagram. |
| Down | ||
| 1 | DOCUSOAP | DO + CU + SOAP. I didn’t realise that “soap” can be US slang for money. |
| 2 | BOLIDE | B + OLID + (fir)E. |
| 3 | SPECULA | *CAPSULE. |
| 4 | CHUG | C(otton) + HUG. Here “bolt” is used to mean to swallow quickly, which is at a stretch one of the subsidiary meanings of the word clued. |
| 5 | CREAMERY | REAME in CRY. Reame is a Spenserian word for realm. |
| 6 | KINDA | KIND + A(dvance). |
| 7 | INGOES | *SOIGNE. |
| 8 | FUMATORIES | FUM + A(fternoon) + TORIES. |
| 9 | YUAN | (platea)U in NAY (rev.). |
| 12 | OPEN-HEARTH | *PHONE + EARTH. |
| 16 | SNAKEPIT | NAKE(d) in SPIT. |
| 18 | THYLOSES | THY + E in LOSS. |
| 20 | PARATHA | A R(ecipe) in PATHA(n). I wasted a lot of time looking for a partial anagram of “Afghan”. |
| 21 | LINEAR | LI + NEAR. |
| 23 | TOPEES | TOP + SEE (rev.). I’m not sure that the clue adequately indicates that only half of its components are to be reversed. |
| 25 | ABUTS | BUT in AS. |
| 27 | SPIC | P in SIC. |
| 28 | BICE | B(rown) + ICE. |
August 29th, 2010 at 6:50 am
I failed on 17a. I had?ETT, and running through the alphabet, came across NETT (completed). Should have pushed on through ‘C’ first.
I agree, AZED’s clues for four letter words are often the most difficult.
August 29th, 2010 at 7:01 am
29A REN(T) in PUP
August 29th, 2010 at 7:09 am
23D I have (SEE + POT)(rev)
August 29th, 2010 at 7:18 am
You are right about the short words, Bridgesong. 28D must be BRICE, but B=brown? I think that must be a slip on Azed’s part. I remember CITES=townswoman from earlier Azed puzzles.
August 29th, 2010 at 7:26 am
Correction – My remark @4 above should read ’28D must be BICE’ etc
August 29th, 2010 at 10:20 am
Hi bridgesong
Regarding 23dn, I agree with Bob @3. Under ‘pot’ Chambers has “an important person (usu big pot; informal)”.
August 29th, 2010 at 11:10 am
4 dn. Where do you find “swallow hastily” as a subsidiary meaning of “chug”. It’s not in my 2003 Chambers. Perhaps in the 2008 edition?
August 29th, 2010 at 11:30 am
2008 edition gives ‘a quick or large swallow, esp of an alcoholic drink (sl)’
August 29th, 2010 at 11:33 am
In addition, it gives ‘vt(sl) to drink in quick gulps [Imit}’
August 29th, 2010 at 11:46 am
My 1999 Oxford Concise gives ‘chug(2) v. (chugged,chugging) N Amer. informal consume (a drink) in large gulps without pausing. – ORIGIN 1980s: imitative’
August 29th, 2010 at 11:53 am
Looks like I’ll have to buy the new edition of Chambers. Curses!
August 29th, 2010 at 3:40 pm
Thanks Bridgesong.
Like yourself, I was on holiday last week without access to Chambers etc. and surprised myself by being able to complete so much. I had begun to think I’m normally perhaps too quick to resort to aids and resolved to tackle this week’s puzzle unaided.
Ah well – back to the dictionary.
August 30th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
Thanks, Bridgesong, for your excellent blog. Also, thanks to Bob Sharkey for the interesting Oxford citation on chug which indicates a North American origin in the 1980′s. My buddies and I were chugging beer in college in Bellingham, WA in the early 60′s. Little did we know how far ahead of the curve we were!
August 30th, 2010 at 7:23 pm
Thanks, all, for your comments. I agree with Bob Sharkey and Gaufrid about 29A and 23D. On reflection I was perhaps a bit harsh in my comments about stretching the meaning of CHUG. Anyway, time to finish 1996!
August 31st, 2010 at 1:53 pm
My problem with 4D was not CHUG, which I have met in American fiction, but BOLT. I am sure I have never come across it being used to mean “to drink quickly”, only “to eat quickly” – and that is how it is explicitly defined in Collins, Penguin and the on-line Oxford dictionary.
Anyway, the grandchildren have gone home so, as you say, let’s get on with 1996
August 31st, 2010 at 6:49 pm
Thanks for that bolt from the blue. I agree entirely. Do you know a chug from a pink?