An Azed plain competition puzzle is this week’s offering
This puzzle was the usual mix of everyday words and obscure words with some Scottish words thrown in for good measure. You know what you are going to get with Azed plain puzzles. They almost always comprise 36 clues with smooth surfaces and you can also tell whether you have parsed the clue properly or not as there are no redundant words.
The only clue I had some difficulty parsing today was what I think is a triple definition (or two distinct wordplays and a definition or two distinct definitions and a wordplay) for MIGHTY at 6 down.
The clue for the antelope at 12 raised a smile once I had sussed it out properly. I also liked the clues for RALLENTANDOS and AROMATHERAPY because of their many constituent parts.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
|
1
|
Priest tucked into Scottish kipper for e.g. breakfast (6)
|
P (priest) contained in (tucked into) REAST (smoke dried; A kipper is a whole herring, a small, oily fish, that has been split into a butterfly fashion from tail to head along the dorsal ridge, gutted, salted or pickled, and cold-smoked over smouldering woodchips) |
REPAST (meal, e.g. breakfast)
|
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6
|
Mosque: it’s leader is a DJ alternatively (6)
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Anagram of (alternatively) M (first letter of [leader] MOSQUE) and IS A DJ MASJID* |
MASJID (mosque)
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11
|
One in prison, odd character, steps up and down (9)
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(A [one] contained in [in] STIR [prison]) + CASE (odd or humorous character) ST (A) IR CASE |
STAIRCASE (steps up and down)
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12
|
Antelope that we have just swallowed back? (4)
|
IN US (what we have just swallowed is IN US) reversed (back) SUNI< |
SUNI (small South African antelope)
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13
|
Necklace, grand, with gold catch (6)
|
G (grand, $1000) + OR (gold tincture) + GET (catch)
|
GORGET (neck ornament)
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14
|
Triumvir heads for total rule, independent cunning (7)
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TRI (first letters of [heads for] each of TOTAL, RULE and INDEPENDENT) + ARCH (cunning) TRI ARCH |
TRIARCH (a state divided into three parts each having its own ruler; one of three such parts. A TRIUMVIR is each of three men in the same office or government; each of three sharing supreme power.)
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15
|
Artist secure about fast time and likewise reverse – in these? (12)
|
RA (Royal Academician; artist) + (LAND [secure] containing [about] LENT [time of fasting]) + SO (likewise) reversed (reverse) RA L (LENT) AND OS< |
RALLENTANDOS (musical passages played becoming slower; the definition refers to an artist secure [confident] about playing both fast passages and these RALLENTANDOS)
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17
|
Traced back, observation about the writer’s original root (6)
|
(NOTE [observation] containing (about) MY [the writer’s]) all reversed (traced back) (ET (YM) ON)< |
ETYMON (true origin of a word; original root)
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19
|
Jock’s lost colour (4)
|
TINT (Scottish [Jock] word for ‘lost’)
|
TINT (colour) double definition
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20
|
Deer from Pakistan heading westwards (4)
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SIKA (reversed [heading westwards] hidden word in [from] PAKISTAN) SIKA< |
SIKA (any animal of the Cervidae, a family of even-toed hoofed animals characterized by the possession of antlers by the males at least, including red deer)
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22
|
Gentle youth of yore, one abandoned by wayward lady in deception, at being lost (6)
|
Anagram of (wayward) LADY excluding (abandoned) A (one) contained in (in) CHEAT (deception) excluding (being lost) AT CH (YLD*) E |
CHYLDE (youth of gentle birth)
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25
|
Like shellfish on course chef (not English) concocted and I consumed (12)
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Anagram of (concocted) ON COURSE CHEF excluding (not) E (English) containing (consumed) I CONCH (I) FEROUS* |
CONCHIFEROUS (having a shell; like shellfish)
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*27
|
Complete
|
No wordplay as this is the competition clue where entrants have to submit their own clue.
|
PERFECT (complete)
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29
|
Tropical plants in sauce (sugo) Sue cut and blended (6)
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Anagram of (blended) SAUCE SUGO excluding (cut) SUE GUACOS* |
GUACOS (any of several tropical American plants reputedly antidotal against snakebite)
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30
|
Where one feels specially at home? Therein I go (4)
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I contained in (therein) BRO (a place for which one feels great affinity because of birth, upbringing, long residence etc) BR (I) O |
BRIO (vivacity; go)
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31
|
Publicity item recalled in hall misused lexical variant (9)
|
PROMO (promotion; publicity item) reversed (recalled) and contained in (in) an anagram of (misused) ALL (OMORP<) H* |
ALLOMORPH ( one of two or more forms of the same morpheme [simple linguistic unit that has meaning, and cannot be divided into smaller units]; lexical variant)
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32
|
Wordless sounds, backing music-making time (heartless) (6)
|
SESSION (period of time spent making music) NOISES< |
NOISES (wordless sounds)
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33
|
Secondary schools, liberal certainly about Common Entrance (6)
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L (liberal) + (YES [certainly] containing [about] CE [Common Entrance]) L Y (CE) ES |
LYCEES (state secondary schools in France)
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| Down | |||
|
1
|
Polo-style lozenge, sort of red? Mostly that (6)
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RUST (a reddish brown colour; sort of red) + RED (that) excluding the last letter (mostly) D
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RUSTRE (lozenge pierced with a circular opening. Polo is famously known as the mint with the hole)
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2
|
Purging process that may cause a poet ruin (9)
|
Anagram of (may cause) A POET RUIN EPURATION* |
EPURATION (purging or purification)
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3
|
Zip inside volcanic feature in far from robust fashion (6)
|
NIL (nothing; zero; zip) contained in (inside) PUY (small volcanic cone) PU (NIL) Y |
PUNILY (feebly; in far from robust fashion)
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4
|
Type of mural somehow cheers the vacated room (12)
|
Anagram of (somehow) CHEERS TE (the letters of THE remaining after the central letter H is removed [vacated]) and ROOM STEREOCHROME* |
STEREOCHROME (a form of mural painting fixed with water glass)
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5
|
Demoisturizer packed in metal cans (4)
|
TALC (hidden word in (packed in) METAL CANS)
|
TALC (a powder applied to the skin as a demoisturiser)
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6
|
May, in the past hot, in gym it boiled – very (6)
|
I think there are two additional definitions or a mix of an additional definition of wordplay here. Firstly MAY is an archaic word for various forms of MIGHT although I couldn’t see the exact form MIGHTY listed in Chambers under the headword MAY1 Anagram of (boiled) H (hot) and IT GYM MIGHTY* |
MIGHTY (informal word, used with a touch of irony to mean ‘very’)
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7
|
Mum damaged heart in a bad treatment including massage (12)
|
(MA [mum] + an anagram of [damaged] HEART) contained in (in) (A + ROPY [bad of its kind]) A RO (MA THERA*) PY |
AROMATHERAPY (method of treating bodily ailments using essential plant oils, esp in combination with massage.)
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8
|
Wizened colt given bit of exercise in piggery (7)
|
(C [colt] + RUN [bit of exercise]) contained in (in) STY (piggery) S (C RUN) TY |
SCRUNTY (anything stunted; wizened)
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9
|
Loads cars or carts (4)
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JAGS (quantities; loads) JAGS (Jaguars; cars) |
JAGS (carts [as a verb]) triple definition
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10
|
Wobbly steed round midpoint of Aintree can’t stand (6)
|
Anagram of (wobbly) STEED containing (around) T (middle letter of [midpoint of] AINTREE) DE (T) EST* |
DETEST (hate intensely; can’t stand)
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15
|
Foreign prince enters frisky novice that’s leading (9)
|
DUC (Duke in a foreign language. Princes can hold the title of duke) contained in (enters) an anagram of (frisky) NOVICE There may be a language where PRINCE is a direct translation of DUC but foreign languages are not my strength. I’m much more at home with computer languages. CON (DUC) IVE* |
CONDUCIVE (leading, contributing or tending)
|
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18
|
Lemurs chewed cacao in Mauritius (7)
|
Anagram of (chewed) CACAO contained in (in) MS (International Vehicle Registration for Mauritius) M (ACACO*) S |
MACACOS (any of various kinds of lemur)
|
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20
|
Book of old jokes to beguile when in hospital (6)
|
COG (cheat or deceive; beguile) contained in (when in) SAN (sanitarium; hospital) S (COG) AN |
SCOGAN (popular 16th century jestbook said to be the work of John SCOGAN, reputed to be court fool to Edward IV)
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21
|
Alcoholics giving a hollow appeal for help (6)
|
DIP (hollow) + SOS (appeal for help)
|
DIPSOS (people with an intermittent pathological craving for alcoholic stimulants)
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23
|
Showy bird in garland interwoven with seaweed (6)
|
LEI (garland of flowers) forming letters 1, 3 and 5 and ORE (seaweed) forming letters 2, 4 and 6 to generate the interwoven word LOERIE LOERIE |
LOERIE (variant spelling of LOURIE, [turaco], any of various African arboreal birds of the family Musophagidae, of the genus Tauraco and related genera, with glossy, brightly-coloured plumage and short, stout bills)
|
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24
|
Posset drunk in bars in olden days (6) |
Anagram of (drunk) POSSET ESTOPS* |
ESTOPS (archaic [in olden days] word for ‘stops’ or ‘bars’)
|
|
26
|
As governor I’ll follow legislation up (4)
|
LAW (legislation) reversed (up; down clue) + I WAL< I |
WALI (variant spelling of VALI [governor, especially of a vilayet {Turkish province}])
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28
|
Soon cut short? Wild perhaps (4)
|
EARLY (soon) excluding the final letter (cut short) Y
|
EARL (reference EARL Wild [1915 – 2010], American pianist, renowned as a leading virtuoso of his generation)
|
I suspect the word ‘year’ is missing after ‘past’ in 6Dn.
I spent quite a while puzzling over 6 down and eventually came to the same conclusion as Richard. As far as I know Azed’s puzzles are unedited, so it’s impressive that clueing mistakes are so rare.
I couldn’t parse 6dn, either. The idea that there might have been a mistake in the clue didn’t enter my mind. No correction in the paper that I can see.
30ac defeated me. BRIO was an obvious possibility, but I couldn’t see how that related to the clue, and I wasn’t familiar with “bro”.
There’s no mistake in 6dn. ‘Might’ is the past tense of ‘may’. I think it’s a great clue.
Yes Duggie@4 I agree with you that the ‘in the past’ refers to the past tense rather than an archaism, but still the y has to be accounted for, and Richard’s guess@1 is surely correct. How otherwise do you account for the y?
You’re right of course. I didn’t spot that – why?
Cruciverbophile @ 2: I think Azed also still composes his crosswords manually on paper, and doesn’t use any software. Remarkable if so.