AZED No 2,267 Misprints

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The instructions for this excellent puzzle state:

Each of the across clues contains a misprint of one letter, always occurring in the definition part. Answers should be entered correctly spelt. Down clues are normal but their answers are to be entered with a misprint of one letter only in each, always in a checked position. These misprints correspond to the misprints in the across clues, in clue order, i.e. 1 Across/1 Down, 6 Across/2 Down … 33 Across/28 Down. No more than one letter in any across answer forms the misprint in a down entry.

The correspondence metioned works as follows: the corrections to the across clues are written as misprints in the down solutions. For example : the correction to the misprint in the first across clue is the letter C.  Hence the solution to the first down clue contains the letter C as a misprint.

I cannot explain the final sentence in the instructions.  In my grid two solutions, 17 across and 28 across, contain two misprinted letters.   I cannot see how else to fill in the grid to avoid this.

As usual plenty of thumbing through the dictionary required to solve and blog this one.  All-in-all a very satifying afternoon’s work.   Thank you Azed.

completed grid
Across
1 KLATSCH
Follow game, backing children? That’s what people meet here for (7)

misprint C (that->chat) : STALK (follow game) reversed then CH (children)
6 SPRAG
Special paper: here’s prep in mine (5)

misprint O (prep->prop) : SP (special) RAG (paper)
10 CARTOPHILE
My hubby’s collecting cards, daft Charlie sticking best in (10)

misprint O (hubby->hobby) : CHARLIE* anagram=daft containing TOP (best)
11 HOBJOB
Minor chose feeding object to ferret (6)

misprint R (chose->chore) : OBJ (object) inside HOB (a male ferret)
13 SCAM
Don loves Cambridge? Only part of it (4)

misprint C (don->con) : part of loveS CAMbridge
14 ASMODEUS
Spirit in the bar category, since fashion’s allowing universal admittance (8)

misprint D (bar->bad) : AS (since) MODE’S (fashion’s) containing U (universal) – an evil sprit or demon
17 ECHINUS
Lacking piano, fixed up niches – don’t touch my spinet! (7)

misprint S (spinet->spines) : anagram (fixed) of UP NICHES missing P (piano)
18 CRONET
It sprouts on hag’s feet, hag having it cut short (6)

misprint N (hag->nag) : CRONE (hag) with T (it, abbrev, cut short) – hair over a horse’s hoof
19 DECAD
Inactive, about 100? One of many you’ve seen if abed (5)

misprint G (abed->aged) : DEAD (inactive) containing C (100)
21 MEBOS
Besom pickled fruit preserved in silt (5)

misprint A (silt->salt) : BESOM* anagram=pickled
23 OBLATE
One brought in to convene maybe departed twice? (6)

misprint T (convene->convent) : OB (obit, departed) and LATE (dead, departed)
25 FANTAIL
Endless line round pilaster – it displays firs in pairs (7)

misprint N (firs->fins) : FILe (line, endless) containing ANTA (pilaster) – a fancy goldfish
28 LAURASIA
Distinctive character in lias cracked to make mess of land now lost (8)

misprint A (mess->mass) : AURA (distinctive character) in LIAS* anagram=cracked
29 LOIR
Cousin of Alice’s friend enjoying parts, some Mario Lanza turns? (4)

misprint Y (parts->party) : some of maRIO Lanza reversed (turns) – a relative (cousin) of the doormouse, attendee at the Hatter’s tea party from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
30 SILICA
Sort of rook I see in a heraldic flower facing backwards (6)

misprint C (rook->rock) : I C (see) in A LIS (heraldic flower) reversed (facing backwards)
31 CASEMENTED
Having window bases strewn with bearings, sloping outside (10)

misprint C (bases->cases) : SEME (strewn with bearings, heraldry) in CANTED (sloping)
32 JETTY
Somewhat brackish water surrounds this structure (5)

misprint L (brackish->blackish) : double definition – ‘jetty’ is like jet, black-ish
33 RECOYLE
Bashful when entering wild reel? Result of old arm being fixed (7)

misprint R (fixed->fired) : COY (bashful) inside REEL* anagram=wild – old spelling of recoil
Down
1 KOHANIM
Novel about Noah upset priestly Jews (7)

KIM (novel) containing NOAH* anagram=upset
2 LAPSTREAK
Clinker-built boat, parts damaged in what could sink it? (9)

PARTS* anagram=damaged in LEAK (what could sink it)
3 TAJIK
Iranian people placing crown on one king (5)

TAJ (crown) on I (one) K (king)
4 STODGE
It’s filling, say, small spots up (6)

EG (say) DOTS (small spots) reversed (up)
5 HOLUS-BOLUS
Altogether old-fashioned, blush awkwardly about love with giddy soul (10)

BLUSH* anagram=awkwardly contains O (love) then SOUL* anagram=giddy
6 SPOSHY
Like melting snow in NY , anything but common in Seychelles (6)

POSH (anything but common) in SY (Seychelles) – slushy in American English
7 PHUT
Starts to put hanky under troublesome conk (4)

starting letters of Put Hanky Under Troublesome
8 RICERCAR
Elaborate fugue, something that grates on e.g. diner (8)

RICER (something that grates) on CAR (eg diner, carriage on a train)
9 DEMOS
Any day will see these people rising (5)

what you get when you see SOME (any) D (any) reversed (rising) – an unusual construction with the definition in the middle of the clue
12 BEET-MISTER
Help when it’s needed for Walter, gent going after nutritious root (10)

MISTER (gent) following BEET (nutritious root) – beet-mister is ‘help when needed’, Northern English and Scottish (for Walter Scott).  Incidentally, when Walter Scott used the word himself in Tales of my Landlord he spelled it beet-master.
15 QUANTICAL
Describing mathematical function, just misses first, caper intervening (9)

eQUAL (just, missing  first letter) containing ANTIC (caper)
16 NOBELIST
Toff topping English register as prize-winner (8)

NOB (toff) on (topping) E (English) LIST (register)
20 DESCALE
Scrape clean key pocketed by dean? (7)

ESC (key, on computer) inside DALE (dean, a small valley)
22 SALAMI
Is this last in deli after strike closes one? (7)

delI (last letter of) following (after) SLAM (strike) contains (closes) A (one) – definition is semi &lit “Is this…”
24 BURITI
One difficulty climbing Pacific tree, a palm (6)

I (one) RUB (difficulty) reversed (climbing) then TI (Pacific tree)
25 FALAJ
West country river with a joint irrigation channel (5)

FAL (West Country river) with A J (joint)
26 PASEO
Promenade? OAP’s shattered around end of one (5)

anagram (shattered) of OAP’S containing onE (end of)
28 BLET
Become sleepy from pill? No ta (4)

taBLET (pill) missing TA
*anagram
definitions underlined

9 comments on “AZED No 2,267 Misprints”

  1. Thank you PeeDee. I think the last sentence in the rubric is there because it is from a previous puzzle which needed it for some reason.

    As you say, an excellent puzzle. Misprints is one of Azed’s harder specials I find, but well worth the effort.

    9d seems to be not only DEMOS, the common people, but also DEMO[nstration]S, or possibly not.

  2. Thanks for the blog, PeeDee. Glad you were able to include a grid – I couldn’t manage that last week.

    I was seriously inconvenienced by the misleading instructions, which is a pity because it detracts from the remarkable achievement that the construction of such a complex puzzle represents. I think the reference to Walter Scott in 12 down is simply an error: Chambers makes his alternative spelling perfectly clear.

  3. Azed might have made it clearer that the correspondence between the ‘misprints’ in the cross clues and the down answers was between the letters that have been misprinted in each case, rather than the misprints themselves – but this soon became obvious.

    Telling us incorrectly that “No more than one letter in any across answer forms the misprint in a down answer” was also unhelpful…

    …but having overcome those hurdles it became one of the most interesting and entertaining puzzles I’ve done recently.

    My thanks to Azed.

  4. I tried to access this blog on the Fifteen Squared website this morning.

    It is not in the Azed section as usual, but has to be reached through the list of recent posts on the home page.

  5. Thanks Norman – the runaway post is now back in AZED section where it belongs.

    sidey @1 re 9dn – a good idea I had not thought of. But ins’t ‘people rising’ singular and demos plural? I have been thinking about this for a while and have got myself really confused.

    I have two questions for someone educated in such matters:

    1) would ‘people rising’ be a concrete noun (nounal phrase) or an abstract noun? (ie is it about the people or the rising)
    2) do all nouns have to be either singular or plural or can some be neither?

  7. is there a way in this puzzle of knowing which letter in the down clues you are supposed to replace with the misprint from the across clues? I worked out that (for instance) I had to replace one of the letters of KOHANIM with a C, but I had no idea which. This left me unable to put in any down answers, and therefore trying to solve an entire barred grid puzzle without any checking letters, which seemed a bit much. What did i miss?

  8. keriothe – my approach was to write the down solutions in lightly and whenever there was a clash overwrite the cell with the across solution. Knowing that most of the crossing letters would be correct gave me a lot of help. Towards the end it was possible to deduce the misprint position by a process of elimination, but by this time the puzzle was almost over anyway so it was not much help. It was certainly not easy, that’s for sure!

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