A 13 by 11 grid this week for the competition puzzle.
I thought this was definitely on the easy side for an Azed, although having a knowledge of French was a distinct advantage. Having said that, it took me ages to come up with a clue for the competition word. 22 down was the clue which gave me most difficulty; I am sure someone will parse it correctly for me.
| Across | ||
| 1 | SPONDULIX | Pounds distributed: 59? Could be (9) |
| *POUNDS, LIX. An & lit clue for this alternative spelliing of what is perhaps more familiar as spondulicks. | ||
| 11 | CRIERS | News broadcasters en—— were of use to French writers once? (6) |
| ENCRIERS were what you might use for “la plume de ma tante“. Tricky if you don’t know much French. | ||
| 13 | ONBOARD | Installed in car, say, a boon possibly on road (7) |
| *(A BOON), RD. | ||
| 14 | ROMCOM | Light-hearted film from Monaco, set in space (6) |
| MC (International Vehicle Registration for Monaco) in ROOM. | ||
| 15 | UMBRAE | Bird returns, clutching part of her underwear – and shades (6) |
| BRA in EMU (rev). | ||
| 16 | MOURNINGS | Twinkling gays? They’re often in evidence at kirk funerals (9) |
| MO (a moment, or twinkling) URNINGS (an obscure term meaning a homosexual). | ||
| 17 | TORTOISEPLANT | Plates set out with tortoni, something Khoikhoi relish (13, 2 words) |
| *(PLATES TORTONI). The tortoise plant is also known as elephant’s-foot, and Chambers tells us that the root-stock is eaten by the Khoikhoi. | ||
| 23 | HYPERSTHENITE | Rock publicity stunt, right? Later featured in web location (13) |
| HYPE R, THEN in SITE. | ||
| 24 | STEAMHAUL | Tug (using old-fashioned power) a US hamlet reconditioned (9) |
| *(A US HAMLET). | ||
| 27 | CORBEL | Eye’s caught by small room missing last wall bracket (6) |
| ORB in CEL(L). | ||
| 28 | CLEEVE | Local hillside circled by vehicle eventually (6) |
| Hidden in “vehicle eventuallly”. | ||
| 29 | UNLINED | Shorebird, English, first to last showing no sign of age? (7) |
| E in DUNLIN (with first letter moved to the end). | ||
| 30 | READER | Head of showbiz gang? That’s you, right now (6) |
| A rare cryptic definition in an Azed puzzle. The Reader in question is Ralph Reader of Boy Scout Gang Show fame. | ||
| 31 | DRIFTNETS | They move with tides (tend first going astray) (9) |
| *(TEND FIRST). Chambers unequivocally gives this as two words, so the enumeration is wrong. | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | SCRITCH | Owlish cry, making short work of literature exercise in school (7) |
| CRIT in SCH. | ||
| 2 | PROG | Bulldog accompanies one to forage for food locally (4) |
| Another cryptic definition; perhaps they’re not so rare! At Oxford a proctor (also known as a prog) is a University disciplinary officer, and his assistant is known as a bulldog. | ||
| 3 | NECKTIE | Not old, dodgy ticker stopped early? Feature of lynching (7) |
| NE *TICKE. | ||
| 4 | DROMOS | Entry passage deserted, room’s cluttered (6) |
| D *ROOMS. | ||
| 5 | LOCUS STANDI | Group, myself included, about to swear, showing right to be in court (11, 2 words) |
| CUSS inside LOT AND I. | ||
| 6 | INURED | Place for students brought up revolutionary, hardened (6) |
| UNI (rev) RED. | ||
| 7 | LOBI | Anatomical parts? There’s a lump on one (4) |
| LOB I. | ||
| 8 | CARNALISED | Rendered lustful, I learn with cads, dissolute (10) |
| (I LEARN CADS). | ||
| 9 | DRAGNET | Deploying this initially, police range in it? (7) |
| RANGE in D(eploying) T(his); another & lit clue. | ||
| 10 | ODES | Love of the French yields such lyrical efforts (4) |
| O DES. | ||
| *12 | IMPROPERLY | In an indecent manner (10) |
| The competition word; an adverb, which is pretty unusual. | ||
| 18 | OXYTONE | Strong creature that, but old one, stressed finally (7) |
| OX YT (an old form of that) ONE. | ||
| 19 | LINNEAN | Local? Slope round – it’s to do with classification system (7) |
| INN in LEAN. | ||
| 20 | TEETERS | Nice summer drawn in, cut short, is wavering (7) |
| ETE in TERS(E). The third French word in the puzzle (or in the clues, strictly speaking). | ||
| 21 | ASHLER | Hals represented current monarch to give a stony face (6) |
| *HALS, ER. A variant of the more familiar ashlar. | ||
| 22 | PELLET | One’s shot small part with actor/model in it (6) |
| ELLE in PT. I confess to a complete blank here: why should “Elle” be an actor/model? It’s a fashion/lifestyle magazine brand, but there must be something I’m missing. | ||
| 24 | SCUM | Sea ——-free? It makes surface seem tidied up (4) |
| A compound anagram (and & lit clue); take the letters of “surface seem”, tidy them up and you will get SCUM SEA FREE. | ||
| 25 | ABIB | What a baby needs in one of the later months (not now) (4) |
| A BIB. All right, it’s another cryptic definition, referring to an old name for the month of Nisan in the Jewish calendar. | ||
| 26 | EVET | What happens when name’s forgotten? Ask! (4) |
| EVE(N)T. ASK is an old word for a newt, and EVET is a variant of EFT, which also means a newt. | ||
*anagram
maybe just ref. ELLE Macpherson who is both.
Macpherson was how I read it, too.
The one I couldn’t parse was 16ac; didn’t know “urnings”.
Isn’t 30a more a double definition? Reader the Gang Show chap + the literal second bit, you are a reader of the clue, not much of a cd as far as I can see.
Agree with Sidey that 30ac is more a DD than a CD; indeed I can’t see that it has anything in common with a CD, and anyway CDs are things that Azed eschews. (Lovely word.)
Wil and sidey: on reflection, you’re right. 30a is a double definition, as is 2 down. 25d is in fact a charade. I should have known better, although in my defence a double definition can look remarkably similar to a definition plus a cryptic definition.