Azed 1932

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A difficult enough puzzle anyway, made more so by the fact that the clues for 23 and 24 down were transposed in the version printed in The Observer (and of course in the pdf). Thanks to Peter Biddlecombe for pointing this out and for his help with 8 down, which had defeated me. In the circumstances I don’t propose to mention my solving time.

Across
1 SPINDLESHANKS HINDLE(g)S* in SPANKS. Although the word appears to be plural in form, Chambers makes it clear that it can refer to an individual.
10 CONI CON, which can mean “study”, followed by 1.
11 PAPULA UP in A LAP (all rev), which can mean a lobe.
14 HUON PINE ON + PIN in HUE. PIN can mean pitch. The Huon pine is found in Tasmania.
15 URDEE It means pointed. However, I have been unable to work out the wordplay. No doubt someone will come up with the answer.
16 DIOPTASE OPT AS in DIE.
17 SPITTLE A very subtle double definition. A spittle is an old term for a hospital or lazar-house; a lazaretto can mean a hospital or a place to keep stores on board ship. Here the word “slaver” is used to refer to the other meaning of spittle: it has nothing to do with a slave-ship!
19 EROSE EROS + E. The word is found under “erode” in Chambers.
20 TOPOLOGIC 0 LOG in TOPIC.
23 TREFA Hidden in huitre farcie; it’s a Hebrew term for non-kosher food. As shellfish, oysters would come into this category.
24 CROAKER CR + OAKER. Oaker is a Spenserian spelling of ochre, which can mean money.
25 ALBICORE BOIL + CARE*. It’s a type of tuna.
27 STOAI 0 in STAI(r). One of three possible plural forms of stoa.
28 RESCINDS ESC in RINDS. Esc is the key at the top left of your keyboard.
29 ORGEAT EG OAT* including R.
30 OGEE EGO (rev) + E.
31 SHARK’S MANNERS (m)ARKSMAN in H(a)RNESS*. As the footnote indicates, this is found under “manner” in Chambers. I have to admit that the phrase was new to me, although self-explanatory.
Down
1 SCHUSS SC + HUSS. It’s a skiing term. The words “on the menu” in the clue are included to make it clear that this meaning of “huss” is a culinary one.
2 POURPARLER PARL(iament) in POURER. Usually found in the plural, it refers to preliminary informal discussions.
3 NINETOFIVE The word to be clued in the competition.
4 DOPE Double definition. I’m not sure that the word “excellent” in the clue can be justified.
5 LAID LOW IDOL* in LAW.
6 ERNIE Hidden in Tavernier. A nice easy clue which got me started.
7 HATPEG THE GAP*. A beautifully crafted clue, with a misleading surface reading relating to cricket, using “spinning” as the anagrind.
8 NUMA NU(n) + MA(n). Numa Pompilius was a very early ruler of Rome, but I must admit that I had never heard of him, and of course he’s not to be found in Chambers.
9 SAREE ERAS (rev) including E.
12 PATRIATION ATRIA in POINT*. It means the transfer of sovereignty from the British parliament to the Canadian parliament.
13 LOSSLEADER LESS* in LOADER. The reference is to Peter Loader; the somewhat contrived anagrind is “bowling”.
18 MORESCA ROMES* + CA. It’s referred to in the entry for Moresco.
21 PACHAK PACHA + K. Pacha is an alternative spelling of pasha.
22 CRISES RISE in C(ivil) S(ervice).
23 TAROS ROAST*.
24 CREAM E in CRAM.
26 BIGA A GIB (rev). A gib is an old word for a tom-cat; a biga is a Roman chariot (so a very old car indeed!)
27 SCAN SCAN(ties).

5 comments on “Azed 1932”

  1. Thanks for the blog.
    The transposition of the two clues was a little annoying. I had written TAROS at 24dn before I realised what was wrong.

    15ac: URD + (s)EE(d)

    4dn: “excellent” is another definition

  2. I found the top left corner tough in this and resorted to help on three answers.
    Very clever cluing here, I liked 17ac, 16ac and others…..

    Thanks for the blog, and explanation of 10ac, and 3dn. the two I didn’t manage to fill.

    On to this weeks….

  3. 8d: Numa Pompilius does not have his own entry in the OED either (although his name crops up in quotations for other entries).

  4. 8dn: Numa Pompilius is mentioned in Collins concise 2008 (7th ed).

    Numa Pompilius-
    The Legendary second king of Rome (715-673 BC) said to have instituted religious rites.

    The concise dictionary has come in handy quite a few times, if anyone was interested. Sits beside my Chambers, and is used nearly just as much depending on what xword I’m on.

  5. Thanks for your comments. I too had entered TAROS in the wrong place, which held me up for some time. I don’t know how I missed urd + (s)ee(d); I didn’t find “excellent” as a definition of dope, as it doesn’t appear in earlier editions of Chambers. Memo to self: always use the up to date edition (and invest in the Collins concise)!

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