With my cruciverbal workload having increased recently, I have to make this my final Azed blog for the foreseeable future. It was a good one to go out on, with some clever and varied wordplay. I solved most of it pretty quickly, but needed to check in Chambers quite a lot of what I had provisionally worked out. I was held up for a while working out the wordplay at 29a.
Thanks to all of you Azed solvers who have commented on my blogs.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BLACK SKIPJACK | Pontoon containing large container for tuna BLACKJACK = pontoon (card game); SKIP = large container. Black skipjack |
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| 10 | ROXANE | One tragically loved from afar, near distraught about love kiss *(near); O = love; X = kiss. The inamorata of Cyrano de Bergerac |
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| 12 | NERVURE | Rib from Edward the Fifth found in damaged urn, English ERV = Edward the Fifth; *(urn); E = English. A leaf-vein; a chitinous strut or rib supporting and strengthening an insect’s wing; a rib of a groined vault |
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| 13 | OGAM | Early inscription carved in log, amorous Hidden in ‘log amorous’. An ancient alphabet used in Celtic and Pictish inscriptions, its letters consisting of sets of parallel lines meeting or crossing a base line (the corner of the stone monument often serving as the base line); any of its twenty characters; an inscription in this alphabet |
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| 14 | SEVEN-DAY | Home counties sale, always for a week SE = Home counties; VEND = sale; AY = always. Definition: for a week |
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| 15 | SKIPPER | Sleep rough, being in charge of vessel Double definition — to sleep rough in barns, etc; a ship’s captain |
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| 17 | DAIS | Spoke with outsiders in exchange? It gives orator a lift ‘SAID’ with the outside letters swapped over. |
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| 19 | HARTEN | The old encourage painting etc in one who’s timid ART = painting etc; in HEN = one who’s timid. Spenserian form of ‘hearten’ |
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| 20 | PARNASSUS | Ran wild? It’s captured by section of poem in anthology *(ran); in PASSUS = a section of a poem or story, a canto or fit. A mountain in Greece, sacred to Apollo and the Muses; a collection of poems |
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| 22 | HAIDUK | Brigand controlled this kingdom round heart of China HAD = controlled; UK = this kingdom; I = heart of China. Haiduk |
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| 25 | CLOU | Garment tenor finally removed, becoming focus of attention CLOU[t] (as in ‘ne’er cast a clout’. The main point of interest, the centre of attraction; a dominant idea. |
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| 26 | SPECIES | Eucharistic element that is kept in glasses IE = that is; in SPECS |
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| 28 | RINGTAIL | Trailing at sea? Light sail raised abaft *(Trailing) |
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| 29 | BAST | What makes bed dry (when spread)? Fibre matting B as T transforms ‘bed’ into ‘ted’, to spread (new-mown grass) for drying. Bast fibre |
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| 30 | CRUBEEN | Pig’s trotter, raw (as the French have it) with e.g. haricot, we hear? CRU = raw, in French; BEEN = “bean”. An Irish food made of boiled pigs’ feet, traditionally eaten using one’s fingers. No thanks! |
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| 31 | KILTER | Regardless of care, claret in vat that’s in good condition LT = ‘claret’ minus ‘care’; KIER = a bleaching vat. |
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| 32 | HETEROGENEITY | Not exactly eighteen yet, or … being in different parts *(eighteen yet), with ‘Not exactly’ as the anagram indicator |
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| Down | |||
| 1 | BROAD-CHURCH | Liberally non-exclusive statesman loses badly in pursuit of crumpet? CHURCH[ill]; after BROAD = crumpet (both slightly off-colour terms for an attractive woman). |
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| 2 | LOG-SAW | Buzzing centre of Innisfree aglow — essential for cabinbuilder *(S aglow), S being the centre of Innisfree |
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| 3 | CAMISADE | Night raid in dark reached environs Quite tricky wordplay here — I got the answer because I knew the word from crosswords over the years, and worked backwards. I = in; SAD = dark; in CAME = reached. ‘Environ’ can be used as a verb, meaning ‘surround’. Camisade |
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| 4 | KNOP | Loop in thread? There’s work replacing it in weave OP = work, replacing the IT in KNIT |
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| 5 | KNEECAPPING | Monarch accepts wretched p-penance (not new), form of torture KING = monarch; surrounding (accepting) *(p-peance) |
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| 6 | PRE-WASH | Line from Spenser retained in head once — early part of a cycle? REW = Spenserian ‘row’; PASH = head (in Shakespeare). Part of a cycle in a washing machine. |
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| 7 | AUDITS | Examinations I sat, worried about university degree *(I sat); U = university; D = degree |
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| 8 | CRAKE | Raven, its head stuck in cattle food? R = head of ‘raven’; in CAKE = cattle food. ‘A crow, raven; a corncrake; a croak; the cry of the corncrake’ |
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| 9 | KEY INDUSTRY | Lock (old) on major river put to the test — it’s important for nation’s economy KEY = to lock or fasten with a key (obsolete); INDUS = major river; TRY = put to the test |
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| 11 | ESPY | Stumble on, eyes partly losing what’s central to each EyeS PartlY — each word loses its central letters. Another bit of wordplay that might take a bit of working out. |
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| 16 | CRUCIBLE | Miller’s work, grinding rice with club *(rice club). Wonderful play by Arthur Miller |
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| 18 | GRUNTER | Sow maybe protecting her smallest offspring in tent of skins RUNT = smallest piglet in the litter; GER = in Mongolia, another name for a yurt |
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| 20 | PIGNUT | Woodland umbellifer, place to put disguised gin in PUT = place; *(gin). Conopodium_majus |
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| 21 | COSSET | Take special care of lettuce plant COS = type of lettuce; SET = plant |
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| 23 | AFIRE | What’s inflamed anti-Gaddafi revolution in part? Hidden in ‘anti-Gaddafi revolution |
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| 24 | YELK | Line coming up, catwalk’s last — it was enveloped in white YEL = Ley [line], reversed; K = last letter of ‘catwalk’. An old word for the yolk of an egg. |
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| 27 | CAIN | Farm produce as rent I kept in tin I in CAN. In Scotland and Ireland, rent paid in kind, esp in produce from a tenanted farm; tribute. |
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I found this one tough (as the non-comp plains seem to be), failing on HARTEN (which I couldn’t find in Chambers) and CAMISADE.
Thanks for the informative blog.
Thank you for for all your blogs (I do wish there was a better word for them) jetdoc.
Despite getting CAMISADE and BAST I needed your explanations.
Thanks all
Azed is never easy (thankfully) and this wasn’t.
I didn’t parse BAST although bed and ted were familiar.
Last letter in (several days after the rest) was the’E’ in ‘camisade’.
There is an alternative, ‘camisado’ with the same meaning and until I managed to parse the clue I didn’t know which was correct.
Just a bit of pedantry, jetdoc,you have a superfluity of t in 25ac.
I liked 18d.
AZED 2038 was titled “The broad is leaving the church” and its your last blog, a nice coincidence.
Thank you jetdoc
Iqbal