Azed 2,184

by

Owing to a very busy week I’ve hardly had time to solve this puzzle – which I think was of above average difficulty, thanks to a high proportion of unfamiliar words – let alone write a blog on it, so apologies for this rather minimalist effort, and also for any errors. And of course thanks to Azed for yet another high-quality piece of work.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
2. FLAMBOYANTE Following former whim, lad gets stake for tropical tree (11)
FLAM (archaic word for whim) + BOY + ANTE (stake in poker etc)
10. SLUMP Depression about closing of theatrical flop (5)
[theatrica]L in SUMP
11. ZABIAN Semi-Christian sectarian from South Africa, one curbed by taboo (6)
ZA + I in BAN
13. SUMPIT Tot given mine delivers devastating darts (6)
SUM (add, tot) + PIT (mine)
14. OPPO One’s mate, very low before and after love (4)
O + PP (very quite) + O: the clue seems to indicate POOP, but needs to be read as “very low: [with,] before and after[,] love”
16. KIPPAS Snooze before action requiring special headgear (6)
KIP + PAS (action, from French pas=step)
17. STYLOLITE Sort of stone boundary to till? Yes, laboriously (9)
(TO TILL YES)*
18. BEZEL Elizabeth may make a hit with this oblique stone’s face (5)
Composite anagram: ELIZABETH* = A HIT + BEZEL
19. ELYTRON Plate of worms appearing in Cambs. city market (7)
ELY + TRON. It’s a plate found in a worm’s body, not a tasty dish
21. REPULSE Check up showing relapse – reels shakily about that (7)
Reverse of UP in REELS*
23. YEZDI One must give the Devil his due – even features of Azed likely to appear contorted! (5)
Anagram of even letters of aZeD lIkElY
27. CASSAREEP Ingredient of WI cuisine like it is used to stuff toad (9)
AS S.A in CREEP – it’s a West Indian food, with the surface reading perhaps suggesting the Women’s Institute
30. DREDGE Sprinkle a bit of demerara, a form of greed (6)
D[emerara] + GREED*
31. GEDS River fish caught in ringed seines (4)
Hidden
32. ITALIE Palm tree situation? It has its place in Paris (6)
ITA (a palm tree) + LIE (situtation). The Place D’Italie is a square in Paris
33. EGOIST I’m not interested in what others think or say on ‘eight of sail (6)
EG (say) + [h]OIST (height of a sail)
34. STEER Guide more obdurate when avoiding lie (5)
STEELIER less LIE
35. BOG STANDARD Dirk e.g. (not English) edging suit of armour, basic (11, 2 words)
STAND (a suit of armour) in [Dirk] BOGARD[E]
Down
1. ASSES’ BRIDGE Rigs shifting with sea-beds? It blocks progress completely (11, 2 words, apostrophe)
(RIGS SEA BEDS)* – English version of the Latin Pons Asinorum, originally applied to one of Euclid’s theorems (about isosceles triangles), possibly because of the shape of the diagram used to prove it, and also metaphorically to a problem that blocks progress
2. FLUATE Former compound one put into wineglass (6)
A in FLUTE – obsolete version of fluoride
3. LUMMY Excellent Dickensian upper class, deprived of power initially (5)
[P]LUMMY
4. AMPULE Drug container from Panama secreted by a smuggler thereof? (6)
P in A MULE
5. BOTTLES Earns by busking what’ll often end in banks (7)
Double definition – bottle banks as in recycling
6. OZEKI Heavyweight champ? Little weight put on as turning up with loss of pounds (5)
OZ (ounce) + reverse of [L]IKE
7. YAKITY-YAK Gossip? It’s variable with pair tended by Tibetan milkmaids around? (9)
IT + Y (variable) in a pair of YAKs (as tended in Tibet..)
8. NIPPER Cracked pipe splitting near wire? (6)
PIPE* in NR – nipper and wire can both mean a pickpocket
9. TAPAS Pieces of Italian staple exchanged as appetizers (5)
PASTA with its “pieces” interchanged
12. NOSE-NIPPERS No drinkers will imbibe small measure in these glasses (11)
EN in NO SIPPERS – a literal translation of the more familiar French pince-nez. Interesting that this appears so near NIPPER in 8d
15. COLLAGIST ‘Scrap merchant’? I irritate when going up in price (9)
(I GALL) reversed in COST
20. LESBIAN Selina, mad about baron? Probably not (7)
B in SELINA* – i.e. if she’s mad about a baron, she’s probably not a lesbian
22. PIE-DOG Pedigree? No – wild one ne’er displays that (6)
Composite anagream & lit – (PEDIGREE + ONE)* = (PIE-DOG NE’ER)
24. ERRATA Slips revealing solver ratability to some extent (6)
Hidden
25. DEFIED Was daring exploit interrupted by rising uncertainty? (6)
(The clues for 25 and 26 down were transposed in the PDF – and perhaps the printed version? – though correctly numbered.)
26. GREGO More than half of calendar calls for such an overcoat? (5)
GREGO[rian]
28. SEPTA Dividers, a pest when broken (5)
(A PEST)* – plural of septum
29. EULER Mathematician requiring rubber in middle of numerals (5)
ULE (rubber) in [num]ER[als] – Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (1707-1783), after whom the fundamental constant e is named

4 comments on “Azed 2,184”

  2. I’ve seen “tron” clued as “market” a few times recently, but having searched for it, all I can find is an area of Glasgow: Trongate, Tron Kirk, etc., apparently derived from a Scots word of Norman origin meaning “weighing scales”.

    Is anyone in a position to explain this? Having progressed from a bewilderment that barred my progress to a crossword cliche in the course of a month or two, I wonder about the accuracy of this — unless “tron” specifically refers to the market area of Glasgow.

Comments are closed.