AZED 2,248

by

The July competition puzzle, with perhaps a few more quibbles than usual in what I found to be a harder than usual test.

It may be that there were simply more obscure words (obscure to me, anyway) than normal.  For some reason the instructions in the printed version referred to the 2008 edition of Chambers, but this must be an error on the part of The Observer.

Unfortunately, domestic commitments mean that I shan’t be able to attend the lunch next Satuday; I’m sure that it will be a memorable occasion and I take this opportunity to offer my sincere congratulations to Azed on reaching the 2500  2250 milestone and hope that he will continue to entertain us for many years to come.

completed grid

 

Across
1 INTIMISTE
Sit oddly posed, captured by rhythmically precise French painter (9)

*SIT in IN TIME.  Apparently the Intimistes were a subset of the Impressionists.
11 BIRSE
Ribes growing wild in part of Jock’s stubble (5)

*RIBES.
12 SHUT-EYE
Sleep that’s rapid coming upon the old (7)

SHUTE YE.  Rapid in the clue is a noun, not an adjective.
13 STEAD
Not quite sober? Help as before needed (5)

STEAD(y).  Not quite sure what “needed” adds to the clue.
14 PERIDOT
Jeweller’s stone, unconcealed, I provide as inset (7)

I DO in PERT.
17 CAMA
Intrinsic part of erotica, mainly? (4)

Hidden in “erotica mainly”.  It means the god of love in Hindu mythology, or (uncapitalised) earthly desire.  In this second sense it qualifies as an & lit clue.
18 TROIKA
Skill backing with bloke on board horse-drawn vehicle (6)

OIK in ART(rev).
19 RIPRAP
Wretched nag having to carry away old foundation material (6)

RIP RAP.  One meaning of RIP is a worthless horse; one meaning of RAP is to carry away.
20 OIL PAINTS
A pointilliste may spatter tile with these (9)

Compound anagram: remove the letters of TILE from A POINTILLISTE and rearrange what is left.  Chambers is unequivocal that there is no hyphen between these two words, so the enumeration should have indicated two words.
23 OBSEQUIAL
Sob freely, fit when interring one – in such … (9)

*SOB, I in EQUAL.  The rest of the definition is to be found in the first two words of the next clue…
26 PROBIT
… Funeral rites, led by priest? Statistician’s unit (6)

PR(iest) OBIT.
29 SUTTLE
Sell stores to soldiers, crafty as of old (6)

Double definition.
30 RUSE
Druggie’s back to front dodge (4)

USER with the last letter moved to the front.
32 ELASTIN
Protein in e.g. tendons entails flexing (7)

*ENTAILS.
33 TIMON
Misanthrope making money in a jiffy? The opposite (5)

MO in TIN (as opposed to TIN in MO).
34 SEGMENT
Divide up FBI agents in group (7)

G-MEN in SET.  I presume that the G stands for Government.
35 CLINK
Nick, college joiner (5)

C LINK.
36 TREPHINER
Brain surgeon, maybe, reverse of brisk in cutting into this lady (9)

PERT(rev) IN in HER.  We had PERT in a slightly different sense at 14 across.
Down
2 NITERIE
Clip joint? Money raised before installing one (7)

TIN(rev), I in ERE.  And we had TIN (with the same meaning) at 33 across.  I had thought that this ghastly word had been used by Azed before, but it turns out that it was the competition word in puzzle 1290 and Azed has not recycled any of the prize-winning or VHC clues.
3 TREMOLO
Organ device tool adjusted, introducing rapid movement of a kind (7)

REM (rapid eye movement) in *TOOL.
4 I SAY
Lives for ever? That’s surprising (4, 2 words)

IS AY.
5 MEDAKA
Small freshwater fish, otherwise found under the sea (6)

AKA under MED.
6 SHEERNESS
Female eagles heading south for Medway location (9)

SHE-ERNES S.
7 TURBIT
Pigeon, disordered but not dead, on time (6)

TURBI(d) T.
8 CEDAR
Conifer coloured unfenced garden, variegated (5)

C(oloured) (g)*ARDE(n).
9 MYOMA
Tumour in part of anatomy (omasum) (5)

Hidden in “anatomy omasum”.
10 METAPELET
Foster-mother abroad, mobile, given rations permit (9)

M ETAPE LET.  It’s a Hebrew term, referring to a foster-mother on a kibbutz.
15 STOP-PRESS
What’ll attract attention and stifle news just breaking (9)

Cryptic definition, almost a double definition, only the second sense isn’t in the dictionary.  See Matthew’s rather better parsing @1 below.Unlike OIL PAINTS, Chambers does give this as a hyphenated variant.
*16 WAISTLINE
Body measurement (9)

The competition word.
21 VITAMIN
Nutritional component in wine cheers artery (7)

TA M1 in VIN.  Artery here is used as a metaphor for the motorway.
22 PALLONE
Partner, single, in Italian ball game (7)

P, ALL ONE.  Does ALL ONE mean “single“?  Again, Matthew @1 has parsed it more accurately.
24 BITTER
Sharp turn fastening cable (6)

Double definition.  The second, nautical, meaning is the origin of the phrase “the bitter end” although Chambers suggests that the matter is not beyond doubt.
25 QUATCH
The old move to crouch low removing cap before church (6)

(s)QUAT CH.  It’s a variant spelling of a Spenserian word, although the term “quatch-buttock” appears in Shakespeare.
27 RULER
What stationer stocks: rubber for use in centre of carrel (5)

ULE in (ca)RR(el).
28 OSAGE
Brave, perhaps, ignoring first bit of medicine? (5)

(d)OSAGE; the Osage are a Native American people from Oklahoma.
31 WILI
Ballet character, cunning, escaping home of fabled monster (4)

WILI(ness).  She’s a maiden (or rather her spirit) in the ballet Giselle.
*anagram

6 comments on “AZED 2,248”

  1. Thanks for the blog, bridgesong.

    In 15d I think What’ll attract attention=ST, stifle=OPPRESS and the definition is ‘news just breaking’.

    In 22d I think Partner=PAL and single=LONE.

  3. Thanks for the blog, bridgesong, and for clarifying one or two that I did not fully understand. I too thought this was harder than usual. BTW, the milestone is 2250 rather than 2500.

  4. Today’s puzzle:

    I note that “Click here for a printable version” is missing (yet again) from the preamble to Azed 2249.

    I know that the “Print Version” button is there, but this gives me a printout where I can barely distinguish the thick bars and thin bars in the grid.

    Does anyone know how to find to usual link?

  5. Norman @ 4: Bob Sharkey has kindly posted a link that works (for me, anyway) on the most recent thread on Derek Harrison’s Crossword Centre’s message board.

  6. The link I have given will be a help to those who don’t have (or risk having) Java installed on their computers. They won’t be able to use the interactive version but can access a page via the ‘print version’ button. This gives the message complained of on the CC message board. A Java-enabled machine can find the link to the page. I suspect that the normal links won’t be available until Monday when the techies get back from their weekend off!

Comments are closed.