Azed 2107

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As always with Azed, thoroughly sound clues and much wading through Chambers in a chase for words that one has never heard, frequently finding variant spellings and having to wade further still. As I say below, there seem to be several words here that have a connection with France. Not sure if this was deliberate.

Across
1 PUDDING F ACE D
10 OF YORE — 0 [= nothing] then fore [= in front] around y{arn}
12 Hurt If Left Untreated Medically
13 B(R)ATTLES
14 E LOIN — ‘take away disused’ means an archaic or obsolete word for ‘take away’
15 MAIRE — a French word for mayor, and a hotel de ville is French for town hall
16 SIDECAR — (cider as)*
18 KEYPAL — a comp. anag., where [to keypals] … [Skype (a lot)], also an &lit. — I’d never heard of a keypal but to my surprise there it was in Chambers, also the 2008 edition
20 INGOES — (gone)* in is
21 NILOTS — (on silt)* — a Nilot is defined in Chambers with no reference to the fact that they are agricultural (and so may be ploughing on silt, to make this clue another &lit.), although it mentions the Upper Nile region so silt is no doubt a feature
24 {in}STANCE — one of the meanings of ‘instance’ is ‘lawsuit’
27 POY-BIRD — (boy)* in (drip)rev.
29 GLA(U)M — referring to the music glam rock
30 pastEL FINery — butterfly as an adjective
31 HAR(R{ant} I{nvective})D AN
32 whiCH A SEam
33 NIECES — (incense – n)* — referring to a Pope’s daughters
34 SEALED ORDERS — (ale do) in (dresser)* — the anagram indicated by ‘bolted’ — I’m not sure if the minimal connection of the normal word ‘bolt’ with some kind of disruption is being used here, or if it’s the variant of ‘boult’, which is to sift
 
Down
1 POPE’S KNIGHTS — op in pesk{y} nights
2 DY(SOD Y{ellow} L{iard})E
3 DO VIE — do = make, la vie is French for the life
4 NERVAL — ref Gérard de Nerval, one of the few French poets I had heard of, as a result of Flanders and Swann
5 GHARRI — another comp. anag. where [Hiring a cart] … [gharri It can]
6 FIT MEN T
7 A L{ettuce} TAR — to tar is to egg on
8 schEMERS Eventually — but according to Chambers to emerse is to stick out above the surface, not to rise to the surface, so …?
9 DI(SEAS)ED NESS
11 F.O. LIE
17 BONIFACE — (fino b)rev. ace
19 ATOMISE — (to me is)* following a, Doctor a verb
22 INLACE — i.e. enveloping (clan)*
23 SPA DE{e}D
24 SOL({cl}A{ri}N{et})O
25 C RISE — yet another French word — a very French theme to this crossword
26 FUR(A)L
28 BLEE D — my last one in and this took a long time to see — the word ‘lost’ refers to the fact that blee is a lost/archaic sense of ‘complexion’

3 comments on “Azed 2107”

  1. Thanks Azed for the puzzle and John for the blog.

    15ac: Thanks for explaining the definition. I think the wordplay is A in MIRE, but it could be I in MARE, taking mare³ = nightmare = very awkward situation.

    33ac: I am not happy with “nameless” as an indicator to remove one of two Ns.

    34ac/8dn: I share John’s concerns with these.

  2. Thanks all
    A satisfactory Sunday entertainment.
    I would have thought that ‘bolted’ was nowhere near the dubious end of the spectrum for anagram indicators.
    Re: 8d I think the problem lies with the Chambers definition.
    I am not a botanist, so what does it mean. If the leaf is rising, where does it start? Under the water? In which case it must rise to the surface before being above. Is it a dead leaf or a living one? Is above the surface floating in air?
    It seems a fair description for a cryptic crossword.
    33ac Presumably namefree would mean both Ns gone. Nameless indicates a N less.

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