A plain puzzle for the December competition, although no doubt the Christmas special will be rather more complex.
I thought that this was definitely on the easy side for an Azed puzzle, with no fewer than four hidden clues and, for once, no obscure Scottish words. However, I can’t adequately explain the wordplay at 28 down, so suggestions are welcome.
| Across | ||
| 3 | SPACEPORT |
Wager rarely about speed where rockets are launched (9)
PACE in SPORT.
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| 10 | BLUECAP |
Old Scot? A clue to be solved in birthplace (7)
*(A CLUE) in BP.
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| 12 | SUEDE |
Petitioned for termination of crocodile leather (5)
SUED (crocodil)E.
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| 13 | SPANISH |
Barking shins, dad restrained language (7)
PA in *SHINS.
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| 14 | SEBUM |
Fatty stuff: whole amount has sink almost stuffed (5)
EB(b) in SUM.
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| 15 | TEBETH |
About now in Israel, note, Bethlehem holds this (6)
Hidden in NOTE BETHLEHEM. It’s the tenth month of the Jewish calendar, covering parts of December and January.
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| 17 | BACKSTOP |
Rounders fielder supports spinner (8)
BACKS TOP. When I saw that this clue ended …OP, I first guessed ATTERCOP (an old word for a spider or spinner), but the answer proved to be this simple charade.
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| 18 | CHEAT |
Cold, then high temperature? It’s deceptive (5)
C HEAT. Another very straightforward clue to a common word.
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| 19 | ANCORA |
Demand from appreciative audience welcomed by musician (cor anglais) (6)
Hidden in MUSICIAN COR ANGLAIS. An Italian version of the more familiar encore.
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| 21 | LOANEE |
Borrower, person alternating with ale drunk (6)
*ALE alternating with the letters of ONE.
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| 25 | CAPER |
Dido, see, on a pyre lit with toyboy finally leaving? (5)
C (homophone of see) *A P(y)RE.
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| 27 | ERYSIMUM |
Reverse of old-fashioned on holding one crucifer (8)
1 in MUMSY RE (all rev).
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| 30 | SKEGGS |
Hide that’s dropped in for clutch stabilizers? (6)
SK(in) EGGS. A skegg is a keel or fin.
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| 31 | AFARA |
A physicist giving up day to identify source of exotic timber (5)
A FARA(day). Michael Faraday (1791 – 1867) has given his name to the SI unit, the farad, as well as to a constant.
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| 32 | AMORINI |
Westward travellers in Italy for putti (7)
IN I(taly) ROMA (all rev).
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| 33 | CORAL |
Teething aid, child’s first relating to the mouth (5)
C(hild) ORAL.
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| 34 | REMANET |
P.Cezanne’s friend follows rules in postponed case (7)
R(ules) E. MANET. I have to say that in over 40 years of legal practice I have never come across this term in either a legal or a parliamentary context, although Chambers does not label it as obsolete. The OED gives nothing more recent than 1920 for it in a legal context, and describes it as rare in a parliamentary one.
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| 35 | BATTENING |
Reassembled tent in bag requiring wooden support structure (9)
*TENT IN in BAG.
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| Down | ||
| 1 | OBSTACLE RACE |
Love couple shown round ruined castle – it presents various challenges (12, 2 words)
*CASTLE in 0 BRACE.
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| 2 | ALPENHORN |
One left phone off before service – it produces high blasts (9)
A L *PHONE RN.
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| 3 | SUABLE |
Like toffs in fur, open to prosecution (6)
U in SABLE.
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| 4 | PENEIAN |
Endlessly soft around evening, like river in idyllic setting (7)
ENE (a variant of e’en) in PIAN(o).
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| 5 | CASHAW |
Pumpkin when brought in to munch US-style (6)
AS in CHAW.
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| 6 | PSST |
Some chap’s stentorian, attention-seeking utterance (4)
Hidden in CHAP’S STENTORIAN.
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| 7 | OUENS |
Blokes from Cape Town in French town run off south (5)
(R)OUEN S. This is in Chambers, under OU.
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| 8 | REBATO |
Oldie’s stiff collar and jaunty boater (6)
*BOATER.
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| 9 | SEMIPARASITE |
E.g. mistletoe, making naughty pastime arise (12)
*PASTIME ARISE. At first I put in hemiparasite, before realising that the anagram didn’t work. I’m not sure if there is a difference in meaning.
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| 11 | PHOCA |
Dad’s trapped this seal (5)
HOC in PA.
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| 16 | FOREIGNER |
Alien (9)
The competition word.
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| 20 | CATERAN |
It’s essential to indicate ransackers…or one of them? (7)
Hidden in INDICATE RANSACKERS.
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| 22 | AYMARA |
S. American people certainly got on top of local rodent (6)
AY MARA.
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| 23 | EMBAR |
Boarding conceals king once shut in (5)
EMBAR(k).
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| 24 | BUSMEN |
Numbers ruined in absence of right conductors (6)
*NUMBE(r)S.
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| 26 | PAGING |
Guest paying to imbibe a strong drink, gauging extent? (6)
A GIN in PG. I’m not sure about the accuracy of the definition here: Chambers has “the marking or numbering of the pages of a book” which doesn’t seem to convey the sense which the clue gives.
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| 28 | SURAT |
Shoddy, old, in places it is covered in rust, maltreated (5)
A in *RUST. I can’t explain why “in places it is” equates to “a”.
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| 29 | SALT |
Cross, but without anger or heat of old (4)
SALT(ire).
|
*anagram
For 29d: Chambers says that “a” is dialect for “he, she or it”, hence “in places, it”
Thanks for that clarification, Andrew. I should have worked that out for myself.
Unusually, Azed has included no less than three clues which require the solver to remove more than one letter from a longer word referenced in the clue:
31ac is A + FARA(DAY)
23dn is EMBAR(KING)
29dn is SALT(IRE)
I should have pointed out that 23dn is EMBAR(KING), not EMBAR(K), because ‘Boarding’ is ’embarking’ not ’embark’
Why in 34ac does he say ‘rules’ not ‘rule’? r is in Chambers as an abbreviation only of the singular word.
Further to Norman#3, two of these subtractions of whole words are subtractions of words that are often abbreviated to a single letter, which made the clues that much harder to solve.