Well, I learnt quite a bit. So definitely an opsimathic experience. For me. I think this was in the easy to medium range for Azed. Though I might have left a wordplay or two behind.
| Across | ||
| 1 | OPSIMATHY | Stuff for older students? Atom physics (more than half of it) possibly (9) |
| (atom physi[cs])* – learning obtained late in life. Like solving Azed. | ||
| 12 | FRAB | Worry locally following barristers around (4) |
| F,RAB – dialect worry. bar=abbrev(barrister) but… I guess bar=court=collection of barristers. | ||
| 13 | HUGEOUS | Enormous old skirt, English or half American (7) |
| HUG,E,O[r],US – archaic huge. | ||
| 14 | LOLITA | All old confused about seductive charm – mine? (6) |
| LOL(IT)A – (all, o=old)* – probably qualifies as an an &lit. Ref. you know who by Nabakov. And of course the very familiar IT=sexual allure. | ||
| 15 | ALLIS | Small island provides refuge for this fish (5) |
| hidden. Shad. | ||
| 16 | EORL | Tricky role, one of many in Shakespeare’s historical plays? (4) |
| role* | ||
| 17 | DREARY | Boring bit of rubbish swallowed by ducks? (6) |
| D(R)EARY – deary=ducks=darling etc. | ||
| 18 | PAPERCASE | Dad’s catching river fishes with end of line – pens etc go here (9) |
| PA,PERCAS,[lin]E – perca = perch genus. | ||
| 20 | SNOT | Slimeball knocking back large quantity (4) |
| rev(tons=large quantity) | ||
| 21 | CHAY | Carriage always behind a couple of chargers (4) |
| CH[argers],AY – chaise=type of carriage. AY=popular crosswordese for always. | ||
| 23 | SIDA | Fibrous plant I had planted where Adelaide’s found (4) |
| S,I’D,A – Australian hemp! | ||
| 25 | TRAY | Something for tele-supper requiring a scoop of extra yoghurt? (4) |
| hidden – my last clue since (for me) very nicely secreted. | ||
| 27 | CYTOPLASM | Cot’s amply fitted as cell component (9) |
| (cot’s amply)* | ||
| 29 | CAUSEN | Excuse, once? In this has dispelled nuisance possibly (6) |
| Spenserian to give excuses. (nuisance – in)* | ||
| 32 | GROG | Stuff endlessly recycled? In brickyard, yes (4) |
| rev(gorg[e]) – “bricks or waste from a clayworks broken down and added to clay to be used for brick manufacture (building)” – so let’s call this an &lit. | ||
| 33 | HINNY | Jock’s darling, cross (5) |
| Scots honey and horse/donkey hybrid – so two definitions. | ||
| 34 | PISTON | Iron peg securing special valve mechanism (6) |
| PI(S)TON | ||
| 35 | ENCAMPS | Men with caps rolling pitches (7) |
| (men, caps)* | ||
| 36 | BORT | Abrasive possibly paid for, we hear (4) |
| “a coarse diamond or crystalline form of carbon, used industrially for cutting or as an abrasive” – sounds like “bought” (possibly, unless you’re American 🙂 | ||
| 37 | CAPOTASTO | Toast drunk on completing California river bridge (9) |
| CA,PO,TASTO* – a movable bridge on a fingerboard. Ref. the River Po (very popular in crosswords). | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | PROZAC | Something to dispel gloom like some Richmond voters formerly? (6) |
| PRO,ZAC – ref. Zac Goldsmith – ex. Richmond MP (does it work? to dispel gloom?? you see, ever since Nov 8…) | ||
| 3 | SALOP | Liquid spilt includes a hot drink (5) |
| S(A)LOP – saloop – hot drink | ||
| 4 | MOTORY | Way of working with politician maybe getting one moving (6) |
| MO,TORY – MO=modus operandi | ||
| 5 | ANARCHY | Complete disorder created by some gripping spanner (7) |
| AN(ARCH)Y – arch is our “spanner” (since it spans) | ||
| 6 | THE LAST GASP | Disturbed at e.g. S. Plath’s final moment (11, 3 words) |
| (at e.g. S. Plath’s)* | ||
| 7 | HUED | Having a tint? Dye much from below, with regular trims (4) |
| rev alt. letters of “Dye much” | ||
| 8 | VELE | Head covering, medieval? Maid’s concealed with it (4) |
| comp. anag. &lit since vele+maid=medieval* (I initially guessed helm=head covering) | ||
| 9 | ROLAND | Worthy opponent and replacing tail-ender in part (6) |
| worthy match. rol[e]=part -> rol[and] – ref. “allusion to a drawn contest between Roland and his comrade-in-arms, Oliver” | ||
| 10 | GUIRO | Gourd with notches, only a little unusual in banking system (5) |
| G(U)IRO – notched gourd, ref. giro, a Brit banking system. | ||
| 11 | ASSYTHMENT | Legal reparation exploding myth in agreement (10) |
| ASS(YTHM*)ENT – “(Scots law; now hist) n indemnification, or reparation, by someone who has caused a death, etc.” | ||
| 12 | FLY,PITCHER | Illegal stallholder offering stylish jug, American (10) |
| FLY=fashionable and PITCHER=jug – both are N. Am. terms. | ||
| 19 | SCORPIO | Riot cut short, cops dealt with sign (7) |
| (rio[t], cops)* | ||
| 22 | HAUNCH | Large joint – dines without letting bits of slimming lecture intervene? (6) |
| dines=has lunch – so remove s[limming] l[ecture] to obtain HA[s][l]UNCH. I tried my best to mutilate “lunches” at first. | ||
| 23 | SPOILT | Stripped pistol reassembled (6) |
| pistol* | ||
| 24 | ASPORT | Snaffle that’s rarely seen in e.g. horse racing (6) |
| A,SPORT – an example of which is horseracing. Definition is “carry away, exp. wrongfully” but it’s rare so I guess snaffle fits since also means “purloin”. | ||
| 26 | RAINY | What’s causing stoppage in play? Batting in a bit of sunlight needed (5) |
| RA(IN)Y – one of my last clues — it’s actually quite simple once you stop thinking about Shakespeare and Co. Batting=IN | ||
| 28 | ALTOS | Part of choir split up in rehearsal to sing (5) |
| well hidden in “rehearsal to sing” | ||
| 29 | SNAB | Scots shoemaker making shoe initially pinch (4) |
| S,NAB – Scots cobbler. nab=pinch | ||
| 31 | NIPA | Palm tree? One’ll need a leg up (4) |
| NIP,A – rev(pin=leg) – a familiar crossword palm. | ||
*anagram
Thank you ilancaron, needed your parsing of grog, trouble for me was I knew the actual recycling process so failed to see the gorge bit.
Isn’t Bar, for barristers simply a reference to them having to pass the bar which distinguishes them from the lesser solicitors?
Can you explain how RAINY is “what’s causing stoppage in play”? The wordplay is clear enough, but doesn’t the definition require a noun?
bridgesong@2: “causing stoppage in play” is the definition, so the adjective fits. “What’s…?” is asking a question of the solver.
Goujeers@3: thanks, but I don’t think that works. What causes a stoppage in play is rainy weather, and “causing stoppage in play” is surely a noun phrase, not an adjectival one.
I agree with bridgesong – unless it is a transcription error, no way does that clue work. Maybe it should have been “Weather that is causing stoppage of play…”
Nick
26d looked good to me, I think the question mark covers it off nicely. A good, solid, pretty straightforward Azed I thought.
Bar is a very well-known term for barristers collectively, although, as a solicitor, I’m not sure I’d agree with being described as “lesser”…it’s a different exam, not an additional one, that trainee Barristers take.