Azed 2265

1

Cocksfoot or leaf beet? Tell (12)

OR + CHARD (edible leafstalk of a variety of white beet) + GRASS (inform; tell)

ORCHARD-GRASS (cock’s-foot grass)

11

Priest leading High Requiem Mass leaving pungent smoke (7)

P (priest) + (an anagram of [high] REQUIEM excluding [leaving] M [mass])

P ERIQUE*

PERIQUE (strongly-flavoured tobacco from Louisiana; pungent smoke)

12

Bird e.g. once famously in tow, left dull fatty? (4)

I can’t see the wordplay here

LUMP (dull, good-natured or fair-sized person; dull fatty)

14

Liquor, hard, imbibed by Bastien when squiffy? (8)

H (hard) contained in (imbibed by) an anagram of (squiffy) BASTIEN

ABSINT (H) E*

ABSINTHE (a bitter, green, aniseed-flavoured liqueur)

15

Scrap metal – measure length (5)

SIZE (measure) + L (length)

SIZEL (variant spelling of SCISSEL [scrap metal left when blanks have been cut out])

16

Small weight, something that helps to get wheel turning round (4)

LEAT (trench for bringing water to a millwheel; something that helps to get wheel turning) reversed (round)

TAEL<

TAEL (Chinese liang or ounce, about 38g (1.3oz); small weight)

17

Old vegetables, when fed to farm worker (6)

AS (when) contained in (fed to) PEON (farm worker)

PE (AS) ON

PEASON (old plural of PEASE itself an archaic word for pea; old vegetables)

18

Displaced person from unstable regime (6)

Anagram of (unstable) REGIME

ÉMIGRÉ*

ÉMIGRÉ (emigrant, specially political; displaced person)

19

Crudity displayed by e.g. Cossack, a little hollow inside (8)

DENE (small valley; little hollow) contained in (displayed by) RUSS (native or citizen of Russia, a Cossack for example)

RU (DENE) SS

RUDENESS (crudity)

23

Vehicle for aristos guillotined, the French in gingham? (8)

TUMBREL (the name given to the carts that conveyed victims to the guillotine during the French Revolution; vehicle for aristos) excluding the first letter ([head] guillotined) T + LA (one of the French forms of ‘the’)

UMBRELLA (one of the definitions of ‘gingham’ is UMBRELLA)

26

Maddened by heat in the outback?  It’s too much (6)

TROPPO (Australian [outback] colloquial term meaning driven insane by exposure to tropical heat.)

TROPPO (musical term meaning too much)  double definition

27

A dandy item (6, 2 words)

A + SWELL (dandy)

AS WELL (also; in addition; equally well, suitably, happily, etc.).  I am struggling to find the definition in this clue.  I can only conclude that it is an &Lit where the closest definition is ‘equally happily'[smart; fine; dandy)

30

What audience might take to be ring for old opponents? (4)

FONE (sounds like [what audience might take to be] PHONE (call; ring])

FONE (literary and archaic [old] foes [opponents])

32

Queen dressed in black or pink (5)

R (Regina; queen) contained in (dressed in) COAL (black)

CO (R) AL

CORAL (orange-pink colour)

33

Unfashionable repro confused old auctioneer (8)

OUT (unfashionable) + an anagram of (confused) REPRO

OUT ROPER*

OUTROPER (variant spelling of OUTROOPER [obsolete {old} word for auctioneer])

34

Dessert wines aren’t that essential for these courses (4)

SECO (hidden word in [essential for] THESE COURSES)

SECO (dry; dessert wines are very sweet so they certainly aren’t SECO)

35

Tots are knocked back – it facilitates student mobility (7)

(SUMS [tots] + ARE) all reversed (knocked back)

(ERA SMUS)<

ERASMUS (acronym for European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students)

36

Something like textspeak, form of e.g. parley endlessly accepted by this lot (12)

Anagram of (form of) (EG and PARLEY excluding the final letter [endlessly] Y) contained in (accepted by) THESE (this lot)

T (ELEGRAP*) HESE

TELEGRAPHESE ( jargon or contracted style of language something like textspeak) used in telegrams)

2

Government department responsible for mountain climbing (5)

EIGER (reference the EIGER mountain in Switzerland) reversed (climbing; down clue)

REGIE<

REGIE (a system of government monopoly, esp in tobacco; the department concerned)

3

Vintage bustle shrouding Inez’s rear – it was current in Brazil (7)

(CRU [vintage] + ADO [bustle]) containing (shrouding) Z (last letter of [rear] INEZ)

CRU (Z) ADO

CRUZADO (a former unit of currency in Brazil)  I know CURRENCY relates to money, but I am less convinced that CURRENT does,

4

Charters shown in great detail (when there’s space within) (5)

HI RES – two words giving a space within the letters giving a phrase meaning HIGH RESOLUTION (of a computer monitor, TV screen, etc showing an image in great detail by using a large number of dots per unit area)

HIRES (charters)

5

Old stone, mostly broken, black inside (6)

B (black [describing pencil lead]) contained in (inside) (RUINED [broken] excluding the final letter [mostly]) D)

RU (B) INE

RUBINE (Spenserean [old]word for ruby [gem stone])

6

Start of staining inside is damaging once attractive property (6, 2 words)

S (first letter of [start of] STAINING) contained in (inside) DERES (obsolete [old] word for injures [is damaging])

DE (S) RES

DES RES (desirable residence; attractive property)

7

Peeper enthralled by inviting limbs (4)

GLIM (hidden word in [enthralled by] INVITING LIMBS)

GLIM (slang for an eye [peeper])

8

What’s left of Jock’s Apple, I mean without one requirement for program (7, 2 words)

RUNT (Scottish [Jock] word for apple core) + I + (MEAN excluding [without] AN [one])

RUN TIME (the time needed for the execution of a computer program.; requirement for program)

9

Round shape formed with both hands, briefly? (7)

Anagram of (formed with) (L [left] and R [right] which are abbreviations [shortly] of both hands and SHAPE)

SPHERAL*

SPHERAL (round [three dimensional shape])

10

Sleek? Wrong – tag as descriptive of extreme emaciation (10)

Anagram of (wrong) SLEEK + TALLY (tag)

SKELE* TALLY

SKELETALLY (descriptive of extreme emaciation)

13*

Freethinker (10, 2 words)

No wordplay as this is the Competition clue

ESPRIT FORT (freethinker)

20

Stir soup vigorously with rouille (oil left out) (7)

Anagram of (stir …vigorously with) SOUP and (ROUILLE excluding [out] [OIL + L {left}])

UPROUSE*

UPROUSE (stir)

Time going, rage over e.g. Osborne leaves one pink no longer (7)

TEMPER (rage) excluding (going) T + CE (Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne is the current example)

EMPERCE (Spenserean [old] word for pierce.  One meaning of ‘pink’ is stab or pierce)

22

Whence plant growth develops, cherry rises in jerks (7)

MOREL (variant spelling of MORELLO (type of dark red cherry) reversed (rising; down clue) contained in (in) PE (physical education; jerks)

P (LEROM<) E

PLEROME (the central part of the apical meristem, the part of the primary tissue from which growth takes place)

24

Char, work person given money up front (6)

M (money) + OP (work) + PER (person)

MOPPER (cleaner; char)

25

Flowering shrubs?  Arbour by the sound of it overshadows one (6)

BAUER (sounds like [by the sound of it] BOWER [arbour]) + A (one)

BAUERA (plant of the BAUERA genus of evergreen shrubs with pink flowers (family Saxifragaceae) found in Australia.

28

Swish woman with O so wayward husband (5)

Anagram of (wayward) (W [woman] and O and SO) + H

Could also be parsed as W + O + an anagram of SO + H

WOOS* H

WOOSH (swish)

29

Sea-gulls are possibly (not eagles, silly) (5)

Anagram of  (silly) SEA-GULLS ARE excluding (not) EAGLES

LARUS*

LARUS (the principal genus of the gull family)

31

Name of instrument producing low note (one below piano’s lowest) (4)

MOO (low, of cattle) + G (musical note)  I’m not sure about the reference to one below piano’s lowest.  Wikipedia tells me that the lowest note on a piano is usually an A.  As the piano keys cycle through ABCDEFG. I can only assume that the next lowest note be a G.

MOOG (reference MOOG synthesiser, an electronic musical instrument with a keyboard, that can produce a wide range of sounds)