AZED No. 2,087 Plain COMPETITION PUZZLE
Posted by The Trafites on June 10th, 2012
Nick 7/10 for me today, due to the second/third definitions of certain words given in Chambers.
I expected some sort of Royal theme with trickery today, so was a bit surprised just to see a normal Azed competition.
I have a few small queries at 10ac, 34ac and 10dn.
Good luck with your clueing!
| Across | |||
| 1. | A — … can spy a lot? Wrong (at times, anyway) (9) | ||
| NYCTALOPS | composite anagram: A+NYCTALOPS=(CAN SPY A LOT*) | ||
| 7. | Cheer? It’d go round in US town (4) | ||
| GRUB | (BURG<) | ||
| 10. | Quid – put a hundred on Horse Laughs (4) | ||
| CHAW | C+HAW not sure why horse and laughs are capitalised – nor why it is two words? |
||
| 11. | Do in rodents producing bacterium (7) | ||
| MICROBE | ROB in MICE | ||
| 12. | Banger abandoned in rift valley (6) | ||
| GRABEN | (BANGER)* | ||
| 15. | Like old governors, ergo contra changes, involuntary response (13) | ||
| GERONTOCRATIC | (ERGO CONTRA*)+TIC | ||
| 16. | Non-standard expression of derision once found in burlesque plays (4) | ||
| QUEP | hidden: burlesQUE Plays | ||
| 17. | Composer producing repeated note and one below it in sound? (5) | ||
| BIZET | homophone: B’s A | ||
| 18. | Culmination of shortened sport (4) | ||
| SUMO | SUM+O(f) | ||
| 20. | Once favoured putting shilling in a jar (7) | ||
| AGRASTE | S in (A GRATE) | ||
| 23. | Potentate, one leaving region in carriage (4) | ||
| CZAR | Z(one) in CAR | ||
| 24. | Source of sugar? That’s yellow and green (5) | ||
| SORGO | S(ugar)+OR(yellow tincture)+GO(green!) | ||
| 26. | Pickle? Hardly a smack (4) | ||
| PECK | dd | ||
| 27. | Sharp (e.g.) ear UK deployed installing electronic radar system (13) | ||
| REBECCA-EUREKA | REBECCA(sharp)+(E in (EAR UK*)) | ||
| 30. | No loveless Romeo, wandering? Yes and no (6) | ||
| MOONER | (NO R(o)MEO)* | ||
| 31. | Doughboy, from North America, liked being ordered around (7) | ||
| KNAIDEL | (LIKED*) around NA | ||
| 32. | E.g. sodalite specified as ‘retrograde’ in density (4) | ||
| FOID | (OF<)+’I(n)+D | ||
| 33. | Pond creature unknown in European river (4) | ||
| EMYS | Y in (the river)EMS | ||
| 34. | Herd, ill, fell sated – those farmers fatten thus? (9) | ||
| STALL-FEED | (FELL SATED)* not sure what role ‘HERD’ plays here – maybe another definition? |
||
| Down | |||
| 1. | Peg that’s good as ‘chaser’ for strong old ale (4) | ||
| NOGG | NOG+G | ||
| 2. | Poet’s vehicle with reference to being included in conversation (6) | ||
| CHARET | RE in CHAT | ||
| 3. | Flexing abs, a riposte that’s effect of STD on the nerves? (11) | ||
| TABOPARESIS | (ABS< A RIPOSTE)* found in Chambers under the headword ‘TABES’ |
||
| 4. | Freckles go away? They don’t go quickly (5) | ||
| LENTI | LENTI(go) the plural of LENTO |
||
| 5. | These guns may be taken on board (6) | ||
| PIECES | cd ref. chess pieces | ||
| 6. | Minor lesion for Scot? What forms over wound dispels issue (5) | ||
| SCART | SCAR T(issue) | ||
| 7. | Fool holding puree of pea errs – impermeable in the kitchen needed! (11) | ||
| GREASEPROOF | (PEA ERRS*) in GOOF | ||
| 8. | Line ending in bait: grub (4) | ||
| ROWT | ROW+(bai)T | ||
| 9. | Speck round front or back of eye? Danger signal (6) | ||
| BEACON | BACON around E(either end of ‘EYE’) | ||
| 10. | See news vendor circling character in centre of fanzine for old copper (8) | ||
| CREUTZER | C(see)+(REUTER around [fan]Z[ine]) Reuters, surely? |
||
| 13. | Queen’s granddaughter among commoners, as privileged Christian in old Spain (7) | ||
| MOZARAB | ZARA in MOB | ||
| 14. | Wearing amplifiers, including one that’s taken off (8) | ||
| MIMICKED | MIC in MIKED self referential type clue |
||
| 19. | Cry shrilly, sicker after treatment (6) | ||
| SCRIKE | (SICKER)* | ||
| *21. | Salad plant (6) | ||
| ROCKET | The competition word to clue | ||
| 22. | Sausage, very small and nearly forgotten? (6) | ||
| WEENIE | WEE+NIE | ||
| 24. | Fish – lots – died in pouches hauled up (5) | ||
| SCADS | D in (SACS<) two defintions here, FISH, LOTS |
||
| 25. | Two bars close together? Set about them (5) | ||
| GEMEL | (th)’EM in GEL | ||
| 28. | Bass was still a small fish (4) | ||
| BLAY | B+LAY(was still) | ||
| 29. | A potter’s first aim, once explained (4 | ||
| ARED | A RED ref. snooker | ||
| … | |||
June 10th, 2012 at 7:14 am
Morning Nick.
10a I think the capitalization is simply to suggest that there is a runner called Horse Laughs.
34a ‘Herd’ is out of place for the surface, it would be those farmers fatten herd /i> thus? but then it wouldn’t read well.
10d Reuters was founded by Mr Reuter so it’s fine for me https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Reuter
June 10th, 2012 at 7:16 am
Sorry about the formatting fail, only herd should be in italics.
June 10th, 2012 at 9:35 am
Re 34Ac: in the cryptic reading, ‘herd’ is an imperative verb and ‘ill’ is an adverb. (In the surface reading, of course, they’re noun and adjective respectively.)
June 10th, 2012 at 4:47 pm
Thanks all
Little to comment on here.
34ac Isn’t the significant word ‘those’ to which one responds ‘which’?
Could be ‘fell’(double usage) ie farmers on the fells.
Could be ‘herd’, farmers who have a herd (arable farmers wouldn’t ‘stallfeed’ !).
June 10th, 2012 at 4:58 pm
10 ac
I understand the bloggers query here.I would understand Sidey’s comment if there is a real horse called Horse Laughs.Is there?
June 10th, 2012 at 5:43 pm
Why would there have to be a real horse?
June 10th, 2012 at 5:51 pm
Well, ‘haw’= ‘horselaughs’ (lower case,one word.
So I thought you were explaining the upper case two words by quoting a real horse called Horse Laughs. If there isn’t one then I think the blogger’s (and my) query stands.
June 16th, 2012 at 5:00 pm
I am catching up and have only just tackled this puzzle. I was expecting a fiendish “special” for the double public holiday, but was quite happy with the plain puzzle that we got. Thanks Azed, and Nick for the blog.
Just one quibble on the parsing of 30ac: I think this is better taken as (N(o) ROMEO)*, so that “loveless” means remove the only O from NO, rather than remove one of two Os from ROMEO.
June 16th, 2012 at 5:06 pm
Thanks, Azed and the Trafites. Yes, I saw 30A as PB does at #8. Esp liked PIECES, ARED and CREUTZER.