This was the final Azed puzzle of 2013 and was a standard plain puzzle comprising elegant cluing for a range of well known and obscure words, all of which can be found in Chambers dictionary.
I have struggled with the parsing of 8 down [ERST] though where the Italian reference in the clue escapes me. I could understand Paris or some other location in France rather than Rome as it seems to me that EST meaning ‘lives’ is French rather than Italian. It may be, of course, that I have missed something in the clue that is obvious to other solvers, and I will be interested to see a parsing involving an Italian allusion. Afternote: Oh dear! It really is the blindingly obvious this time. Thanks to Andrew at comment 1 for pointing out that EST is Latin for ‘is; lives’.
Otherwise, I solved this as fast or as slow as any other plain Azed puzzle.
Although all the entries are in Chambers, there was certainly a need for a basic knowledge of foreign languages in this puzzle with ÉPERDU, VEREIN and FRIMAIRE. If you add in Scots words, then the number of ‘foreign’ entries increases.
As usual, there were some good clue surfaces. Clues I liked today included those for CHEAP (2a), RAIN (16a), HOAGIE (3d) and UNINTEGRATED (11d).
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
|
2
|
Fellow bagging early bit of earthenware, antique bargain (5)
|
CHAP (fellow) containing (bagging) E (first letter of [early bit of] EARTHENWARE) CH (E) AP |
CHEAP (obsolete [antique] word for ‘bargain’) |
|
6
|
First hint of exposure shocked prude, un peu distrait (6)
|
E (first letter of [first hint of] EXPOSURE) + an anagram of (shocked) PRUDE E PERDU* |
ÉPERDU (French word for ‘distracted’; en peu distrait)
|
|
12
|
Bikini concealing nothing? It’s highly prized by Maoris (6)
|
TANGA (a brief string-like bikini) containing (concealing) O (nothing) TA (O) NGA |
TAONGA (in Maori culture, anything highly prized)
|
|
13
|
German association to control after Allied victory (6)
|
VE (reference VE Day, Victory in Europe Day) + REIN (control)
|
VEREIN (German word for ‘union’ or ‘association’)
|
|
14
|
Cook in a way restricting cost for convent (7)
|
FRY (way of cooking) containing (restricting) RATE (cost) F (RATE) RY |
FRATERY (a convent of friars)
|
|
15
|
Amateur featured in record can amuse (9)
|
A (amateur) contained in (ENTER [record] + TIN [can]) ENTER T (A) IN |
ENTERTAIN (amuse)
|
|
16
|
Fruit that’s dried is lacking … this? (4)
|
RAISIN (dried grape) excluding (lacking) IS
|
RAIN (lack of RAIN may contribute to fruit in general being dry)
|
|
19
|
Chest in oak is Tudor (4)
|
KIST (hidden word in [in] OAK IS TUDOR)
|
KIST (chest)
|
|
20
|
What’ll detect smells wafting in gents (or can) (10, 2 words)
|
Anagram of (wafting in) GENTS OR CAN
|
SCENT ORGAN (what’ll detect smells)
|
|
22
|
Passenger plane secure? It’s often ‘for life’ these days (10, 2 words)
|
CARRIER (passenger aircraft) + BAG (secure)
|
CARRIER BAG (reference ‘bag for life’ offers in Supermarkets where you buy a re-usable bag and [sometimes] have it replaced it free of charge whenever it or subsequent replacements wear[s] out)
|
|
24
|
First in border shifted twice to the right – bull’s eye for Jock? (4)
|
ABUT (border) with the first letter [first in] A moved two places to the right [shifted twice to the right] to form BUAT
|
BUAT (a Scottish [Jock] word for ‘lantern’. A BULL’S-EYE can also be defined as a ‘lantern’).
|
|
26
|
Scottish gusset I let into garment from the back? (4)
|
I contained in (let into) (RAG [garment] reversed [from the back]) (GA (I) R)< |
GAIR (a Scottish word for GORE [a piece let into a garment to widen it; gusset])
|
|
27
|
Page retained by priest precise when holding a candelabrum (9)
|
(P [page] contained in [retained by] LAMA [Buddhist priest] in Tibet) + (DRY [precise] containing [when holding] A) LAM (P) A D (A) RY |
LAMPADARY (candelabrum)
|
|
30
|
Restriction about wing of building in the glare of publicity (7)
|
LIMIT (restriction) containing (about) EL (a wing giving a building the shape of a letter L) LIM (EL) IT |
LIMELIT (in the glare of publicity)
|
|
31
|
Some typists making special squiggly notes (6)
|
S (special) + an anagram of (squiggly) NOTES s
|
STENOS (stenographers; shorthand typists)
|
|
32
|
Mum put back in flower with side-growths (6)
|
(MA [mother] reversed [put back]) contained in (in) ROSE (flower) R (AM<) OSE |
RAMOSE (branched; with side growths)
|
|
33
|
Launching fuel,excellent feed by the sound of it (6)
|
HY (sounds like [by the sound of it] HIGH [excellent]) + DYNE (sounds like [by the sound of it] DINE [feed])
|
HYDYNE (an American rocket launching fuel)
|
|
34
|
Like old Goliath – terrible monster stone struck (5)
|
Anagram of (terrible) MONSTER excluding [struck) ST (stone)
|
ENORM (obsolete [old] word for enormous, huge, immense which could all have been applied to Goliath [Philistine giant in the Bible] in his time)
|
| Down | |||
| No. | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
|
1
|
Offhand blast hurts if misdirected (12, 3 words)
|
Anagram of (misdirected) BLAST HURTS IF
|
AT FIRST BLUSH (at first glance; offhand)
|
|
2
|
One deer or another, not British but sort of current (8)
|
CARIBOU (North American reindeer; another deer) with B (British) replaced by [not … but] AC (alternating current) to form CARIACOU
|
CARIACOU (any deer of the American genus or subgenus Cariacus, including the Virginian deer; one deer)
|
|
3
|
Greedy guts that is bolting a sandwich (6)
|
(HOG [greedy person] containing [bolting] A) + IE (id est; that is]) HO (A) G IE |
HOAGIE (another name for a submarine sandwich)
|
|
4
|
Mature, not old – one whitens less these days (5)
|
AGE (mature|) + NE (an obsolete [old] word for ‘not’)
|
AGENE (nitrogen trichloride, formerly [less these days] widely used as a whitening agent in flour)
|
|
5
|
Tract right pair penned, one of a series (8)
|
(R [right] + TWO [pair]) contained in [penned] PARK (tract of land) PA (R TWO) RK |
PARTWORK (one of a series of publications [especially magazines] issued at regular intervals, eventually forming a complete course or book)
|
|
7
|
Rank of noble always having attendant around (7)
|
E’ER (ever; always) contained in (having … around) PAGE (attendant) P (EER) AGE |
PEERAGE (rank of noble)
|
|
8
|
Lives in Rome, round Tiber’s end in past times (4)
|
EST (I can see why this might be ‘Lives in Paris/France’ where EST means ‘is; lives’, but I am currently defeated by the Italian/Roman connection. I note that EST in Italian means ‘East’, but that doesn’t seem to help. Afternote: Thanks Andrew at comment 1 for pointing out the that EST is the Latin for ‘is; lives’) containing R (last letter of [‘s end] TIBER) E (R) ST |
ERST (formerly; in past times)
|
|
9
|
Recovery? African river holds one up (6)
|
(NIGER [river in Africa] containing [holds] A) all reversed (up) REG (A) IN)< |
REGAIN (recovery where REGAIN is considered as a noun)
|
|
10
|
It comes from one making declaration in team after 501 (4)
|
DI (501 in Roman numerals) + XI (eleven; the number of players in a team in many sports
|
DIXI (Latin for ‘I have spoken’; it comes from one making a declaration)
|
|
11
|
Nguni treated badly, like victim of apartheid (12)
|
Anagram of (badly) NGUNI TREATED
|
UNINTEGRATED (segregated; like victim of apartheid)
|
|
17
|
Frosty month providing gap in heat (8)
|
RIMA (a chink; specifically the gap between vocal cords and arytaenoid cartilages) contained in FIRE (heat) F (RIMA) IRE |
FRIMAIRE (the third month of the French revolutionary calendar, about 21 November – 20 December, the frosty month)
|
|
19
|
What many Hindus embrace? I see lives taken in by hoax (8)
|
(I + V [vide; see] + IS [lives]) contained in SHAM (hoax) SHA (I V IS) M |
SHAIVISM (devotion to the Hindu God Shiva)
|
|
21
|
Textorial weaving somehow let free, number having several spindles? (7)
|
Anagram of (weaving somehow) TEXTORIAL excluding (free) LET + N (number) TRIAXO* N |
TRIAXON (having three axes; having several spindles)
|
|
22
|
Like famous crusader around start of millennium under canvas (6)
|
CAPED (reference Batman, sometimes known as the CAPED crusader) containing (around) M (first letter of [start of] MILLENNIUM CA (M) PED |
CAMPED (under canvas)
|
|
23
|
I deliver goods in trust, trouble when neighbour’s around (6)
|
AIL (trouble) contained in (when … around) BOR (neighbour, an East Anglian form of address to a man or a woman.) B (AIL) OR |
BAILOR (a person who BAILs [delivers [goods] in trust upon a contract to a BAILee)
|
|
25
|
Primitive hominid (might one assume?) in swampy forest (5)
|
UR (prefix meaning ‘primitive’) + MAN (hominid [an animal of the family Homin’idae, comprising MAN and his close, now extinct, bipedal ancestors)
|
URMAN (swampy pine forest)
|
|
28
|
Person, not soft-headed, knowledgeable about pictures etc (4)
|
PARTY (person) excluding (not) the first letter (-headed) P (piano; soft)
|
ARTY (knowledgeable about pictures etc)
|
|
29
|
Clinch, variable or weak (4)
|
PUN (clinch is a word that can mean ‘PUN‘) + Y (common letter used to describe a variable in mathematics)
|
PUNY (weak)
|
EST is Latin for “is”, so “lives in Rome”.
Andrew@1
Thanks – I really should have got that, especially as my Latin dictionary is sitting on the bookshelf next to the French and Italian ones. I’ve updated the blog.