Azed 2160

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I found this mostly pretty easy, finishing it (so I thought) without aids in about half an hour, greatly helped by getting the long answers at 1a and 1d early on. Writing up the blog took somewhat longer, especially as I had guessed wrong answers at 4d and 24d, and spent a long time unsuccessfully trying to justify them. Fortunately I saw the error of my ways and managed to sort them out eventually, but I wonder if either or both was intended as a trap for unwary or careless solvers.

 
 
 
 
 
Across
1. CONTRABASS Cat on brass, possibly, making bull fiddle (10)
(CAT ON BRASS)*. “Bull fiddle” is US slang for the double bass
10. HOOR Paddy finds him unpleasant, always lacking in cheer? (4)
HOORAY less (lacking) AY (always). “A Scots and Irish form of whore; a difficult or unpleasant thing or person” says Chambers. This doesn’t seem to me to imply that the second usage is specifically Scots/Irish.
11. ASEPTATE Pâté’s spread and then consumed, with nothing in between? (8)
PATES* + ATE – not to be confused with “aseptic”, this means lacking a septum
13. LAMENT Elegy gents inscribed in kazi (6)
MEN in LAT (short for latrine) Kazi is the first of several spellings given in Chambers – I would have assumed “khazi” was the main one, and that it was an Anglo-Indian word, but according to C it’s “said to be from Ital. casa, house or perh Ar[abic] kursi, chair”.
14. SEANED Sand eel left off wriggling caught in net (6)
(SAND EEL)* less L. “Sean” is an alternative of “seine”, as in the fishing net
16. RIGSDAG Former parliament suffering digs in paper jokily (7)
DIGS* in RAG – the name of the Norwegian parliament until 1953 (cf “Reichstag”)
17. RED GIANT Glittering star looking happy about endless advantage (8, 2 words)
EDG[e] in RIANT
18. ONCUS Clubs in charge, not good for the Aussies (5)
C in ONUS – also spelt “onkus”, an Australian word for “bad”
20. SCROW Parchment wherein you’ll find short name of county, going back (5)
WORCS (short for Worcestershire) reversed. Variant of “scroll”
22. FERES Former partners given shelter in safe residence (5)
Hidden in saFE RESidence
25. MASSA Slave owner maybe in the Deep South recalling land of plantations? (5)
Reverse of ASSAM, so the plantations are of tea, not cotton as the surface reading suggests. Massa is a form of “master”, as stereotypically used by slaves in the American South
27. JOINT-FIR One of the Gnetaceae from Japan cut into if beginning to rot (8)
J[apan] + (INTO IF)* + R
29. REOCCUR Love being in sports ground with dog – come again (7)
O in REC (recreation ground) + CUR
31. MADRAS Bright headscarf mother folded on head (6)
DAM< + RAS
32. EASSEL Stand around, sun going in, as cold wind blows in Glasgow? (6)
S in EASEL – Scots form of “Easterly”, as the cold wind might be
33. ENLUMINE The old brighten (?) their eyes taking in northern chimney (8)
N LUM in EINE. I don’t know what the parenthetical question mark is about, as there seems to be no doubt of the meaning
34. TINE What’s the point of Harrow? One gets into Eton for nothing, deviously (4)
ETON* with O replaced by I. A tine can be a spike on a harrow, so the capital H is a misleading one, but of the generally-permitted kind
35. EMMENTALER Always gobbling n-nutty cheese (10)
M-MENTAL in E’ER – one of several variants of the name of this Swiss cheese
Down
1. CHLOROFORMER Hospital left nothing right in care of erstwhile anaesthetist (12)
H L O R in C O + FORMER
2. NOMAD Vagrant died after ulceration from lack of food (5)
NOMA (an ulceration of the cheek in malnourished children) + D
3. TREAGUE Irishman of old welcoming end of war – and what followed it? (7)
[wa]R in TEAGUE (old nickname for an Irishman), and a treague is a truce
4. RAND Strip: riotous conduct with removal of article (4)
RAND[AN]. RAND is “a strip, esp. of flesh or of leather” from the Dutch for “border, which also, via the Witwatersrand goldfield, also gives the name of the South African currency. “Randan” is – as the clue says – “riotous conduct”. I originally guessed RANK for this, thinking that in its sense of a line it could be a strip, but (of course) couldn’t justify the wordplay.
5. BESING Hymn from the past begins off-key (6)
BEGINS*, with “hymn” used as a verb in the cryptic reading.
6. STASH Store stand becomes 4 inches with this (5)
“Stand” becomes “hand” (4 inches) with ST AS H
7. SANDERS Fragrant wood featured in Hans Andersen (7)
Hidden in hanS ANDERSon. Another name for Sandalwood
8. STEATOSIS Fatty degeneration set off with one in grip of a drink? (9)
SET* + I in A TOSS
9. HEDGE WARBLER Prunella, treated in bed, grew haler (12, 2 words)
(BED GREW HALER)*. I presume it’s just a coincidence that “Prunella” appears a day after the Golden Wedding anniversary of Prunella Scales and Timothy West, celebrated in last Saturday’s Biggles puzzle in the Guardian, but you never know..
12. STRAP Organ’s brought up for string band (5)
Reverse of PART’S, and two definitions
15. VENEREANS Sex addicts maddened Renee, in transport? (9)
RENEE* in VANS
19. CROODLE Cross left in Church making us sound like occupants of doocot (7)
ROOD L in CE
21. CATASTA Endless assault – had up – when inside gets the gibbet (7)
AS (when) in reverse of ATTAC[k]
23. MOUSIE Tim’rous beastie? Doctor’s practice taking one in (6)
MO + I in USE. Reference to the Burns poem To a Mouse, and its “wee, sleekit, cow’rin, tim’rous beastie”
24. VIREN Long-distance runner, not fully fresh as of old (5)
VIRENT (verdant, fresh) truncated; the runner is Lasse Virén, who won gold medals in the 5000m and 10000m at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics. Again I misguessed here, and spent ages trying to justify SIREN.
26. SCRUM Pack strong drinks, omitting pies (5)
SCRUM[pies]
28. FUSIL Old musket, not quite complete, is loaded upside down (5)
IS< in FUL[L]
30. HAET Hot meal over, here’s a wee bit of Scotch (4)
H + TEA<. Scots word for a whit, from “deil ha' it” – “the devil have it”

2 comments on “Azed 2160”

  1. Thanks Azed for an enjoyable puzzle and Andrew for the blog.

    I was not planning to comment on this, because I do not have much to say, but I did not want to leave Andrew with the feeling that no-one reads his blog.

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