AZED 2,314

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A 13 x 11 grid this week and a harder than usual puzzle, I thought.

Although some clues (e.g. 15 down) would not be out of place in a normal cryptic, many more used archaic or foreign words either in the answer or as part of the wordplay, making it impossible to solve without frequent reference to Chambers.  There were some very nice surfaces (e.g. 24 down) and some clunky ones (e.g. 6 down).  I do take issue with the enumeration of 10 down, which is clearly shown in Chambers as hyphenated, and according to Azed’s normal practice, should therefore be shown just as 11 letters.

completed grid
Across
1 APPESTAT What controls appetite? Nuisance having to cut a bit of butter (8)
PEST in A PAT.  It’s not an app for your phone, it’s a neural centre in the hypothalamus!
8 MUCH It’s pretty important leaving egg out of sponge (4)
M(O)UCH.  Mouch is a variant of mooch, and one of its many meanings is to sponge or cadge.
11 DREK What’s some trucker dumped after backing? (4)
Hidden and reversed in “trucker dumped”.
12 HUARACHE Sandal, one given to old hound, in colour (8)
A RACH in HUE.  A rach is an archaic term for a dog that hunts by scent.
13 CONURE Small parrot, an oddity, in addition to being caged (6)
ON in CURE.  One meaning of cure (characterised as slang in Chambers) is “an odd or queer person”.
14 TRACHEA Tube train not in? Long to get aboard (7)
ACHE in TRA(in).
16 TROTTER Foot rule taken in by scrap dealer (7)
R in TOTTER.
17 PEEPE Eye missing last speck of old (5)
PEEPE(R).
18 THRIST Wretched formerly about hard drought (past) (6)
H in TRIST.  The answer is a Spenserian spelling of thirst, the clue employs an archaic usage.
19 TABES DORSALIS A lab is puzzled with STD sore – one possible diagnosis? (13, 2 words)
*(A LAB IS STD SORE).  As the answer is a complication of syphilis, this is nearly an & lit.
22 AVERTS Turns aside from green landing in sandy feature? (6)
VERT in ÅS.
26 AT-BAT Turn for baseball player, having breadth in a matting (5)
B in A TAT.  As usual, Azed does not indicate that the answer is hyphenated.
27 GAUDIER Wild ox, long confined, not so drab-looking (7)
DIE in GAUR.
29 DEXTRAL Departs unusually left or right (7)
D (eparts) EXTRA L.
30 A SALTI A sailor heading for island jerkily (6, 2 words)
A SALT I(sland).
31 UNREPAIR Pune worried about rupee leads publicity for poor state (8)
R in *PUNE, AIR.
32 NAIK Corporal overseas, one in victory (not the last) (4)
A in NIK(E).
33 MAND This S is a store staffed as before (4)
Another Spenserian term; the clue refers to Marks and Spencer, or M and S, as it is often known.
34 PASTANCE Recreation scrapped? The old man’s point of view (8)
PA STANCE.  This clue doesn’t quite work for me, as it would require the answer to be spelled PASSTANCE.
Down
1 AD CAPTANDUM Aide, suitable one, not totally stupid, aimed at pleasing crowd (11, 2 words)
ADC APT AN DUM(B).
2 PROTEA Decay penetrating vegetable plant (6)
ROT in PEA.
3 PENK Pocket blade cutting half what’s caught in pond? (4)
PENK(nife).  It means a minnow, which might be caught in a pond.
4 SYRTES Treacherous sands: some raise trysail up (6)
Hidden and reversed in “raise trysail”.
5 THERM What radiator puts out, giving a bit of heat in the end (5)
H in TERM.
6 AUTOMOBILIA Bout with limo I exercised in car club? Such things appeal to them (11)
*(BOUT LIMO I) in AA.
7 WRATH Rotter coming between woman and husband causes this? (5)
RAT in between W and H.
8 MACERATE Soak tea ? There’s one rule to be comprehended (8)
ACE R(ule) in MATÉ.
9 CHEWS Toffees maybe making you plump (so it’s said) (5)
Sounds like “choose”.
10 HEART-STRIKE Club with cycle for the young to dismay veteran? (11, 2 words)
A charade of Hearts (the Scottish football club) and trike. “Veteran” in the clue serves to show that this is (yet another) archaic usage but I question whether the grammar is fair.  The surface meaning is clearly a noun, but presumably Azed is using it as an adjective to qualify the preceding verb, which can’t be right.
15 OPERATED Worked a long time having made choice for container (8)
ERA in OPTED.
20 SARSAT It helped ships in trouble, tars at sea ringing it (6)
SA (sex appeal, or “it”) in *TARS.  This is the answer (an acronym) which Chambers gives as an abbreviation.
21 IASTIC In the style of old Greek musicians I see full of wine (6)
ASTI in I C.
23 VEENA What’s played in eastern vein? Or vice versa (5)
E in VENA (a vein).  It’s an Indian stringed instrument.
24 TURPS Thinner rams making way for their leader (5)
R(ams) in TUPS.
25 GEARS Rocky ranges leaving north? One goes through them driving (5)
*RA(N)GES.
28 FLAN Tart on the side king dispensed with (4)
FLAN(king).

*anagram

5 comments on “AZED 2,314”

  1. Thanks to Bridgesong and Azed

    re 23d

    Why vice versa?
    It’s not Eastern in played vein

    Is the clue an &lit if you remove the vice versa?

  2. Norman @1: I struggled with this as well, but I think my explanation is correct. It’s “eastern in vein” as opposed to “in eastern vein”. I don’t think the clue works as an & lit if you remove the last few words, as there would then be no adequate explanation of the wordplay.

  3. Bridgesong @2

    Thank you,I see it now.

    The reverse is “What’s played Eastern in vein”

    … and the definition seems to have changed during the reversal to ‘What’s played’ (since it’s not an anagram).

  4. Thanks bridgesong. Re PASTANCE, I thought much the same as you to start with but I think it works if it is “The old man has point of view” rather than the posessive the surface implies.

    I’ve found a scan of today’s puzzle for anyone else who can’t get the Graun to behave http://www.thefrogman.net/Azed2315.pdf

  5. I had to consult Chambers earlier than usual so perhaps on the harder side, though nothing I didn’t understand at the end, which isn’t always the case…

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