Solving time: 59 minutes, with Chambers used after about 30.
Although I finished up with a slightly quicker time, I think I understand why last week’s commenter Ali said they were finding this a tougher puzzle. I’ve found more clues than last week with points that I think need explaining, and there were some traps that I managed to fall into as well as quite a few words and meanings that were new to me.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | WHEAR – old spelling of where = “dove in Rome” – as in “Dove il duomo, per favore?” |
| 11 | HEALTHCARE – L in heartache* – rather distressed to see Azed using L = tiro. L means learner driver – so I’ll buy {L=learner}, but for me, {L = student or tiro} is a bit sloppy. |
| 12 | FAR(FALL)E – fare = food, to be taken = fall – think of “fall ill” |
| 13 | P.E.,BRINE – a disease of silkworms |
| 14 | BE(TT)ER – I wasted time on FI(TT)ER until I started using the big red book and found that FIER is not a word. |
| 15 | GRATE(fully) |
| 17 | GERBE,R.A. – gerbe = a wheatsheaf, or a fountain or firework like one. |
| 18 | RE,SP(L)END – I should have thought of Re as well as Ra much more quickly. |
| 24 | FRIANDE – anag. & lit. – Fr. for “epicure” |
| 25 | MUNTU – S Afr. derogatory slang for a black African |
| 27 | TILT(h) |
| 29 | MAURIST – one of these monks |
| 31 | IN,T(IN)ACO – {pancake = taco} is probably worth remembering |
| 32 | CON(S)TRA,INS – {ins = politicans in office} is also worth remembering |
| 33 | GE(R)NE – another one to note: gêne = embarrassment (Fr.) |
| 34 | PLANT – 4 definitions – Police trap / to locate / factory / where loot is stashed – simple when you get it! Best clue in the puzzle, I think. |
| Down | |
| 1 | W(HIP,GR.)AFTING |
| 2 | HELE – hidden word – Spenserian word for “conceal” |
| 3 | E(ARBAS)H – arba/araba is the carriage this time – yak is a very neat definition. |
| 4 | ALERT = (T(R)ELA)<= – tela = web (Lat.) |
| 5 | C(HANG)E – {hang = plan} is there if you read the Chambers def. for “hang” carefully. |
| 7 | SAFE – 2 slang meanings – peter = safe, and johnny = condom = safe |
| 8 | C,RABBIT – bun = bunny = rabbit! |
| 10 | THERAPEUTIST – UTIS = clamour/din (Shak.) in anag. of “patter he” |
| 16 | REFRINGE – (ring = circle) in free* |
| 19 | PLA(TOO)N – time wasted here on {also = and} |
| 20 | CON(ID)IA – this week’s botany moment – conia is the hemlock extract, conidia are spores |
| 22 | A(D)MASS |
| 28 | ANNE=Enna<= Enna is a city and province of Sicily. Did anyone else hope to justify {ANTE = Frank}? |
| 30 | SUNN(y) – Sunn is indeed a subcontinental fibrous plant. |
I forgot to mention a new site: the Azed Slip Archive. When finished, this will have hugely comprehensive information about Azed slips and competition results. It already contains a lot of information, including complete slips from Feb 1996 to April 2006 as I write this – a pleasant coincidence for me, as Feb 1996 was a VHC for me. If you want to see some really good cryptic clues, old slips are well worth a look.
Yep, definitely a tougher workout this week. Fell short of the mark by 4 or 5 clues on this one (mainly in the SW corner) and couldn’t work out why 1A should be WHEAR, despite having WHEA_ to play with. Groaned quite a lot when I read the blog!
Ali