Azed No 2182

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The usual eclectic mix from Azed.

I found this on the easy side for an Azed, although I can’t adequately explain 31 across.  In fact, although there are plenty of obscure words, it took me less time to solve than Paul’s puzzle the previous day in the Guardian.  Of course, I needed lots of help from Chambers, but  the wordplay is usually so clear that it’s just a matter of checking the meaning of a word.

Across
2 SCAFF-RAFF Gorbals scum, namely associated with endless brawl, very noisy (9)
SC, AFFR(ay), FF.  A Scottish version of riff-raff.
10 BOHO Arty type in theatreland (book not succeeded) (4)
SOHO, with B for S.
12 ROUE Rotten ordure? Take dead leaves – rake required (4)
*ORDURE less R(take) and D(ead).  Azed often uses the misleading abbreviation R(ecipe) (Latin for take), nowadays only used (if at all) by doctors on prescriptions.
13 SPADIX Flowery spike, special, delivered to Flat 9? (6)
SP AD IX.  I can’t quite explain the “Flat”, unless it’s just to enhance the surface reading (which might explain the question mark).
14 LLANOS Plains taking devoted follower completely aback (6)
SON ALL (rev).  Sure enough, one of the definitions in Chambers for “son” is “disciple”.
15 COMPLIN Night prayer, afternoon receding? Quail about that (7)
PM (rev) in COLIN (a type of quail).  Perhaps more familiar with a final “e”.
17 LUNULATED A dull tune played in sort of moony fashion? (9)
*(A DULL TUNE).  It means “shaped like a small crescent”, so the definition in the clue is a little loose, hence the question mark.
19 RULING No longer secure about love returned, requiring decision from judge (6)
NIL (rev) in RUG, which is apparently an old slang word for secure.
21 SERINE One fishing with net swallows his last protein constituent (6)
SEINER with the last letter moved forward (swallowed).
22 ANETIC Little energy put into prank is soothing (6)
E in ANTIC.
24 SAMPAN Money invested in hard wood for oriental vessel (6)
M in SAPAN.
25 NAVARATRA Ravana’s trounced, guile repelled, in Hindu festival (9)
*RAVANA, ART(rev).
28 REMBLAI Berm transformed, mostly deposited as earthwork material (7)
*BERM, LAI(d).  As BERM is a word associated with earthworks, the surface reading is more than usually appropriate.
30 IMMANE Formerly cruel, male inside returned as a friend (6)
M in EN AMI (rev).  Nothing in the clue warns you of the French usage.
31 VOMICA Purulent lung cavity? Most of voice is interrupted by me (6)
MI in VOCA(l)?  I’m struggling with this one, so your suggestions please.
32 SEJM Polish house, some of them Jesuits in retreat (4)
Hidden and reversed in “them Jesuits”.
33 SNAR Behave like old growlers? (Right answer is ‘backwards’) (4)
R ANS (rev).
34 RED ENSIGN Flag from onset of nervousness during make-over? (9, 2 words)
N in REDESIGN.  Nicely misleading use of “flag” here.
Down
1 OBSCURANTIST One opposing reforms organized station curbs (12)
*(STATION CURBS).
2 SOPOR Does it occur when nothing takes place in endless play? (5)
0 in SPOR(t).  A very nice surface, which I think qualifies as an & lit.
3 CHAMPLEVE Church, spacious, before Italian city’s deprived of nice enamel work (9)
CH AMPLE VE(nice).
4 FOIL Incomplete fall following smear? (4)
F OIL.  One definition of FOIL is “an incomplete fall in wrestling”.
5 FAXING Drudgery, holding nothing up in sort of communication (6)
NIX (rev) in FAG.
6 ALL-CLEAR One’s left cellar nervously … when it’s given? (8)
A L *CELLAR.  Another & lit clue.
7 FRAG Zap with pineapple or halved strawberries (4)
FRAG(aria) (the strawberry genus).  Pineapple here refers to a slang term for a fragmentation grenade.
8 DUODENA Portions within poem penned by Auden, English cut and moved around (7)
ODE in *AUD(e)N.  As a definition, “portions” is somewhat cryptic, the full definition of the singular form being “the first portion of the small intestine”.
9 RESIDENTIARY E.g. canon from Derry is worried about attributes? The opposite (7)
ENTIA in *(DERRY IS).  One of the definitions of “canon” is “a clerical dignitary belonging esp to a cathedral … obliged to reside there part of the year”.
11 ALNUS Some trees light up with a luminance at the top (5)
A L, SUN(rev).
16 STIPPLING Seurat’s head leaning round edge of easel, demonstrating pointillism? (9)
S, (ease)L in TIPPING.
18 UNIRONED Rule in marriage: married wife’s quit without pressing (8)
R in UNION, (w)ED.
20 UNARMED Lacking defence, like Venus famously? (7)
This  statue is indeed famous for having no arms.  I confidently, and wrongly, wrote in “ARMLESS”!
23 CAREX Caught a rabbit in lakeside genus? (5)
C A REX.
24 STEVEN Dialect voice from Hertfordshire location, long time lost (6)
STEVEN(age).  I have never come across this usage: Chambers doesn’t say which dialect it is to be found in.
26 TACAN Ground-to-air pilot’s guide in Alberta (Canada) (5)
Hidden in Alberta Canada.
27 KAME Without artillery, day to surrender Scottish fort? (4)
KAME(RA D) (German for a shout of surrender).
29 MOSS Highland fog heads for mountains of southern Scotland (4)
First letters of “mountains of southern Scotland”.

*anagram

3 comments on “Azed No 2182”

  1. Thanks, Bridgesong. I shared your puzzlement about 31, briefly. I think it turns on how the ‘of’ is read. I think your parsing is correct, and it’s how I saw it.

  2. Thanks for the blog, bridgesong. I was a bit unsure about 32a too, but I think you’re right on the structure: MI = ME in tonic sol-fa; for VOCA I can’t decide between “most” (=almost) VOCAL (of voice), or “most of” VOCAL (= voice, as in “backing vocals” etc).

    In 13a I think “special” is just S, leaving PAD IX for “flat 9”.

    You’ve removed a bit too much of the AFFRAY in 2a.

    I also put in ARMLESS!

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