Azed 2007

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I note that I totally skipped Azed 2000 — I should probably take a look at it (I’ve been slightly busy).  This one was done over a few days while waiting for long builds.
Across

1 PETTY BAG – couldn’t find this in Chambers 2003. But wiktionary is happy: “a former department of the Court of Chancery…”
7 AMIS[s] – aka amice by our friend Spenser, a cloak.
10 WOOLLY,BUTT – yes it’s a kind of eucaplytus
11 WRIT,HE
12 THYRSI – shirty*. Yes they are brandished by maenads, who are followers of Bacchus. Latter-day ladettes?
14 KONK – rev(kno[c]k) – US spelling of conk which is bad for trees.
17 OMNIRANGE – (airmen go, n)*
18 O(VERB)Y – a v. Scots clue: OVERBY is Scots “step too far” and OY is a Scots grandchild thus bairn.
19 REP,EAT – EAT is the IVR for Tanzania.
20 PERM,IT – What am I going to say about this clue? Groan.
23 ASS,ORT – rot*
25 STEGNOTIC – (gins etc to)*, stegnosis is in Chambers = constipation
27 PRO,A – a Malay boat with an outrigger on one side. broad=PRO in the oldest occupation in the world sense.
29 C(E)RUSE – CRUSE is a pot and CERUSE is a pigment so it holds together magically.
30 MEDI,US – dime*. Your middle finger
31 LEI,SHMAN(I)A – I in shaman*. And it’s a protozoan.
32 EM,MA – not sure about this — looks like EMMA as in the Austen novel (is it fodder for textual critics?) – and it’s how MA, the higher degree, is pronounced — but I wonder if there’s something else going on? Indeed there is as the comments below indicate: it’s EG,MA (bowdlerized engima)
33 GENTILES – (other) nations. (the English – hh)* –

Down

1 PAW,K – Scots trick
2 EPROUVETTE – (to vet puree)* – it’s a device for testing the strength of gunpowder and saucisse is a fuse (though you’d think it’d be something to eat. Oh well).
3 TWIN(G)E
4 YOHIMBINE – (I’m, b, in honey)* it’s a bark extract and bee=b
5 B,LENNY – it’s a fish. But I’m at a lost as to why LENNY is “carried by Henry”. Brit pop culture? Brit history? Yep — Brit pop culture.  Ref. Lenny Henry.  Thanks!
6 A,L(T)AIR – a star in the constellation Aquila=Eagle
7 A,BYE – archaic (“as before”) endure and a BYE as in the result of a wicketkeeper’s fumble.
8 M,URINE – ah, toilet humour — wee=URINE. And MURINE is a Scots mouse.
9 S(TIL)ET,TO – rev(lit) in SET TO and a poniard is a sharp dagger.
13 SUGARHO(US)E – US = unserviceable in (a hog sure)*
15 P,RESI(DEN)T
16 POP,SICLE – slice* and it’s a US lollipop.
21 RET,RIM – RET is standard crosswordese for soak.
22 TO,NEM,E – rev(men) and I suppose Chinese is well-known for being dependent on intonation.
23 A(TA)MAN – MAN=soldier, TA= Territorial Army (more soldiers – this time, volunteeers) and ATAMAN is Cossack headman.
24 OORIAL – headman. A skinny Himalayan type of sheep.
26 M,USA – “land of the free”?? hmm… “land of the full body scans” more like it. Anyway, MUSA are bananas which come in “hands”.
29 AS(K)S

6 comments on “Azed 2007”

  1. Thanks for the blog Ilancaron. I had EGMA at 32A – what do you think? Had entered PARTIT instead of PERMIT at 20A until 2D fell into place. Assume K,USA at 26D is a typo?

    Cheers…

  3. 32ac is definitely “egma”. Incidentally it is misfiled in Chambers 2003 before “EGM”, first time I’ve come across that.

  5. Thanks for the corrections and clarifications: especially EGMA. I felt something was fishy. Also, surprised that I didn’t find PETTY BAG in C. Oh well… must buy finer-toothed comb.

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