Nick: Fairly easy Azed this week,
which I give 4/10 on the Azedian hardness scale, as I completed this puzzle before I left for work Sunday morning at 10:00, in about 80 minutes between a shower and cups of tea/fags.
Ref 23dn – any examples that fit the bill? (update: when tweaking this blog – I found a list on the Internet (the list is at the bottom), and am still none the wiser 😀 )
| Across | |||
| 1. | Short poem, second one beloved lassie returned? (4) | ||
| SIJO | S+I+JO the clue seems to indicate a reversal here, but in fact the ‘returned’ infers what the wordplay delivered or ‘returned’ |
||
| 4. | Knotted tense round bow of fine material (8) | ||
| SARCENET | (TENSE*) around ARC | ||
| 11. | Much ale led, when drunk… to such an end for Marlowe? (10) | ||
| CHAUD-MELLÉ | (MUCH LED ALE)* Marlowe reportedly was stabbed to death in a drunken brawl |
||
| 12. | Ray: unpretentious name (7) | ||
| HOMELYN | HOMELY+N | ||
| 13. | Fifty members of flock somewhere in E. Sussex (5) | ||
| LEWES | L+EWES | ||
| 15. | Ringing factory about info (8) | ||
| PLANGENT | PLANT around GEN | ||
| 16. | Texan’s necktie made with new Scottish woolstuff? (5) | ||
| NOOSE | N+OOSE the definition doesn’t seem to appear in C, but I do vaguely remember this slang term from somewhere |
||
| 17. | Daughter (not the first)? A girl (5) | ||
| HILDA | (c)HILD+A | ||
| 18. | Words of old song hold up e.g. Guebre (8) | ||
| DITHEIST | DIT+HEIST GUEBRE is the earlier name of Zoroastrianism (still current in Iran), it’s followers believe that there is one universal god, Ahura Mazda, with two attributes |
||
| 22. | Does it describe end of line for angler at being taken in by an ignoramus? (8) | ||
| ADUNCATE | AT in A+DUNCE | ||
| 24. | Bit of old Chinese money pocketed by Mongolian gent (5) | ||
| LIANG | hidden: mongoLIAN Gent | ||
| 26. | Top points? In wrestling tots this perhaps (5) | ||
| IPPON | composite anagram: TOP POINTS minus TOTS = (PPOIN*) shame IPPON isn’t a score in wrestling… |
||
| 28. | E.g. Cava from Spain, only quite good, half filled with air inside? (8) | ||
| ESPUMOSO | E+(PUM(ped) in SO SO) I have a lot of trouble convincing myself that ‘PUMPED’ = ‘filled with air’ |
||
| 29. | Some Finns settled in USA (Americanized) (5) | ||
| SAAME | hidden: uSA (AMEricanized) | ||
| 30. | Irritating experience with purgative, looking back – the young often get it (7) | ||
| RUBEOLA | RUB+(ALOE<) | ||
| 31. | Rail superintendent getting refurbished trams ready (10) | ||
| YARD-MASTER | (TRAMS READY)* | ||
| 32. | Ball’s headed by Bowles maybe showing some of the old poetry (8) | ||
| STANZOES | STAN(bowles, brilliant wayward footballer many years ago)+ZOE’S (ref. Zoe Ball, DJ et al) | ||
| 33. | The old venerate former king (name lost) (4) | ||
| HERY | HE(n)RY | ||
| … Down |
|||
| 1. | Articulation she’s damaged with disc inly (12) | ||
| SCHINDYLESIS | (SHE’S+DISC INLY)* I don’t know what the surface reading of this clue means |
||
| 2. | Clerical collar to choke dignitary? (6) | ||
| JAMPOT | JAM(choke)+POT(as in big pot = VIP) | ||
| 3. | E.g. Springboks, profligate, ditching leader before new series (5) | ||
| OUENS | (r)OUE+N+S see under OU in C |
||
| 5. | Gosh, look! Help has restricted that starchy deposit (7) | ||
| AMYLOID | (MY+LO) in AID | ||
| 6. | The old abjure measure dividing abandoned apparel (5) | ||
| RENAY | EN in RAY4 | ||
| 7. | Suitable for a funeral, as one in embroidered lace (7) | ||
| ELEGIAC | (E.G.+I) in (LACE*) | ||
| 8. | Former novelty, not old clearly (6) | ||
| NEWELL | NE+WELL | ||
| 9. | I’ll have read tome with note added, ‘for correction’? (9) | ||
| EMENDATOR | (READ TOME+N)* | ||
| 10. | Irritable about art, name obscured, forming part of bequest (12) | ||
| TESTAMENTARY | TESTY around (ART+NAME*) | ||
| 14. | Self-styled idiots staggering round old nursing home (9) | ||
| SOI-DISANT | (IDIOTS*) around SAN | ||
| 19. | Monkey before being eclipsed by Homo sapiens? (7) | ||
| HANUMAN | AN in HUMAN | ||
| 20. | Take into something larger amount kept in by cork mostly (7) | ||
| SUBSUME | SUM in SUBE(r) | ||
| 21. | Fruit to satisfy once fed to the old man (6) | ||
| PAPAYA | APAY in PA | ||
| 23. | Primate packing little drink: ‘I’ve only one case’ (6) | ||
| APTOTE | TOT in APE C defines this as an indeclinable noun and indeclinable as not varied by inflection, and looking up inflection complicates it even more, so I haven’t a clue what it all means, and if given the word cold I doubt I could have defined it, so dunno if the definition Azed used is correct or not – see list below |
||
| 25. | Car going over second of potholes lost exhaust (5) | ||
| FORDO | FORD+(p)O(otholes) | ||
| 27. | Phelps heading off for training in pool? Not these days (5) | ||
| PLESH | ((p)HELPS*) | ||
| … | |||
Indeclinable nouns
Indeclinable nouns are neuter nouns which occur only in the nominative and the accusative singular. There are only six such nouns:
fãs — fate, divine law
ĩnstar — likeness
mãne — in the morning (arguably this occurs only in the ablative singular; also arguably it is an adverb rather than a noun) It is notable because it occurs in modern medical prescriptions.
nefãs — sin, abomination
nihil / nil — nothing, none
secus – sex, coitus
…
Nick, thanks for the blog. Isn’t 27 across a reference to the diver Brian Phelps – the Tom Daley of his day?
As for NOOSE, if you look in Chambers under NECKTIE, you will find that it defines it as a noose in American usage.
bridgesong,
I thought 27 was reference to Michael Phelps, US swimmmer, so didn’t mention it as I thought it was obvious.
I see now reference noose. I looked everywhere except under ‘necktie’ – thanks.
Nick
Thanks, Nick
23d: cases are what you decline nouns in – nominative case, accusative, genitive, dative, ablative, vocative in Latin, plenty others in Finnish and other languages. Foreign grammar is wonderful, especially once the exams are over 🙂
Thanks for the blog. That ‘returned’ in 1A mystified me too but I think your explanation is correct. Can’t offhand recall seeing such a usage before.
I think Azed has used makes/made or produces/produced in a similar fashion to returned in 1a, devious I reckon but fair.
Agreed, Sidey. Unlike the other examples you quote, ‘returned’ could also indicate reversal but that does not mean it cannot be used in another context.
NormanLinFrance #3
Sorry, but I am still none the wiser 🙂 I never done any foreign languages at school (in fact, the school I attended in Pompey, we was lucky to even do English! In fact, the school was so rough, in my last year we had 9 different maths teachers over the terms as they all kept leaving!).
Nick
The indeclinable nouns here are Latin. Only I’m inflected languages, in which the function of a noun in a sentence alters its ending, is the concept of aptote relevant. Almost no modern European languages now decline nouns apart from Russian, as far as I am aware