Azed 2268

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Mostly fairly easy on the Azed scale, though I struggled with the intersecting 4-letter words at 27d and 32a, which had rather unhelpful checked letters (?OA? and ?A?E), and quite tricky clues. Thanks as ever to Azed for a quality puzzle.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
1. BISK Unglazed pottery, —— tea dish? This is baked possibly (4)
A composite anagram: (THIS IS BAKED)* = BISK + (TEA DISH)* – BISK is an alternative spelling of “bisque”, and both are related to “biscuit”
4. ENS PER SE Measure (formerly) to diffuse substance (8, 3 words)
EN (measure) + SPERSE (Spenserian word for disperse, or diffuse)
10. ORTANIQUE Hybrid fruit, quaint when cooked in seaweed (9)
QUAINT* in ORE (dialect word for seaweed)
11. SHAKOS Plumed caps tremble endlessly – likewise back to front (6)
SHAK[E] + SO<
13. UROPOD Abdominal appendage getting screwed up with door (6)
(UP DOOR)*
15. DULY Old, you’ll lose love twice, sadly, at the proper time (4)
(OLD YOU)* minus the two Os
16. HAULIER Henry and Laurie in transport? Lorry’s more his thing! (7)
H + LAURIE*
17. UGRIC Language type presenting imperial monarch in capitals (5)
GRI (Georgius Rex Imperator) in UC (upper case, capitals). The Ugric family includes Hungarian, and a few other rather obscure languages
19. BLANK VERSE Loss of concentration spoilt serve – it’s lacking in terminal matches (10, 2 words)
BLANK (loss of concentration) + SERVE*. The “terminal matches” are rhymes
21. MONETARIST Economic theorist, one set on penetrating dimness (10)
ONE + TAR (“to set on”, in the third headword in Chambers) in MIST
23. KOINE Dialect spreading more widely, nothing accepted by lowing herd (5)
O in KINE – often used in the name “Koine Greek” (the language of the New Testament), but also more generally “any dialect that has spread and become the common language of a larger area”
24. POLONIA Nothing in ruins of Napoli revealing part of old Roman empire (7)
O in NAPOLI*
26. APAY The old compensate for fruit pa peeled (4)
PAPAYA with the outer P and A “peeled” off
28. SAMOSA Savoury snack – Oz maybe tucks into it (6)
AMOS (Oz: writer etc) in S.A.
29. SHOUTY Impatient to be heard when published, but chary about it (6)
OUT in SHY
30. BETHRALLS Elizabeth, queen, completely succeeded for subjects of old (9)
BETH + R + ALL + S
31. FEASTERS Celebrants, set nervously beset by religious awe repeatedly? (8)
SET* in FEARS (as in “the fear of God”)
32. DACE Stand? By the sound of it one may be at the end of the line (4)
Homophone of “dais” (a kind of stand), and a dace may be on the end of a fishing line
Down
1. BOSCHBOK School book with something to read about antelope (8)
SCH + B in BOOK. Strange that “book” appears in the clue and also as part of the wordplay, but it’s perfectly sound
2. STATUA Antique bronze, perhaps, with gold touches, put up (6)
(AU TATS)<
3. KAKA Two jackdaws and a parrot (4)
KA (Scots word for a jackdaw, also spelt “kae”). When I had one of the Ks I though the answer might be KIKI, the name of the parrot in Enid Blyton’s “Adventure” books.. anyone else remember those?
4. ENOKI Edible fungus, all right in wine (not weak) coming up (5)
OK in WINE< minus W
5. SQUARE-TOES Former standards having to kick in for very old-fashioned fusspot (10)
TOE (kick) in SQUARES (Shakespearian standards)
6. PURPURA A couple of knaves getting on top of one in nasty spots (7)
Twice PUR (a jack, in cards) + A
7. REPURE Completely clean rupee, one of them crumpled (6)
Anagram of RUPEE + R[upee]
8. SCOLIOSIS What makes it impossible to straighten coils is so awkward (9)
(COILS IS SO)*
9. EDDY Well imbued, after exchange of parts (4)
DYED with its two halves swapped
12. SIEVE PLATE Elpees bursting with ‘vita’, showing what enables conductor to connect (10, 2 words)
(ELPEES VITA)*
14. GALLOPADE Girl with work among ladies is missing lively dance (9)
GAP + OP in LADIES less IS
18. CATALYSE Calcium modified salty earth, influence in chemical make-up (8)
CA + SALTY* + E
20. KNESSET Parliament head in woolly tangle in Holyrood ? (7)
NESS in KET (Scots for metted wool)
21. MIA-MIA Dwelling hut, place going up to house friend overseas (6)
AMI in reverse of AIM (to place, says Chambers)
22. INFULA Appendage to mitre one’s donned almost without cuts (6)
IN FUL[L] + A
25. LEHRS Relish cooking cuts briefly in ovens (5)
RELISH* less I’
26. AS IF Letters regularly delivered by mastiff? I don’t believe it! (4, 2 words)
Letters found “regularly” in mAStIFf
27. GOAD Drive away with van (4)
GO (away, as an imperative) + AD (both “ad” and “van” are short for “advantage” in tennis)

9 comments on “Azed 2268”

  1. Thanks Andrew. I didn’t know the GRI bit of Ugric.

    The GOAD/DACE pair took some head-scratching until I remembered Clive James trying to be clever by slagging off a commentator correctly pronouncing dais.

  2. Chambers gives two ways of pronouncing DAIS and does not say that one is correct and the other incorrect…
    …though it might have been considered so in Fowler’s days.

    I had never come across the pronunciation that is a homophone of DACE before and had to look in Chambers to confirm that it existed.

  3. I too had trouble with the DACE/GOAD pairing. I thought of GOAD quite early on but couldn’t see how it related to the wordplay. These two took me almost as long to crack as all the rest of the puzzle. I didn’t know DAIS could rhyme with FACE and that didn’t help. Still, all perfectly fair, if sneaky. I’m glad it wasn’t just me who struggled!

  4. I suppose if you sang:

    Daisy, Daisy, give me your answer true
    I’m half crazy over the love of you
    It won’t be a stylish marriage
    I can’t afford a carriage
    But you’ll look sweet
    Upon the seat
    Of a bicycle built for two

    Then “DAIS” can be said as DACE(y).

    The trouble with homophones is that people talk different due to their location. To me in southern England, film is pronounced film – but to a northerner, they say filum.

    Nick

  5. “but to a northerner, they say filum”

    Really? I’ve only ever heard that used facetiously, commonly in my youth in Kent. Never now I’m in darkest Yorkshire.

  6. It was a guy from Durham – and I don’t mean it facetiously, that was how he spoke – “did you see that filum last night…”

    But I suppose the BRB is the guide, but sometimes homophone type clues trip people up as no one ever thinks to look up how a word in the ‘Queens English’ is supposed to be pronounced.

    Many years ago when working in Pompey Dockyard after coming out of my apprenticeship, the work started on the ‘ski ramps’ on the carriers for the Harrier VTOL aircraft. Due to the work load, a few people came down from Rosyth Dockyard, and as most where Glaswegians I didn’t understand a single word they said and couldn’t even have a conversation (Rab C Nesbitt type stuff!) – they may as when have been from Mars.

    Rab C. Nesbitt

    So homophone type clues are a bit dodgy really.

    Nick

  7. As Azed recommends Chambers (2011) we should compare the phonetic spellings in Chambers if we want to see if two words are homophones sensu Azed.

    Incidentally, isn’t Chambers (2011) the twelfth edition? I thought Azed had moved on to the thirteenth.

  8. It must be twenty years since I failed to complete Azed but DACE/GOAD remained blank till today. Glad to see I’m not alone. Cheers to all other Azed addicts.

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