AZED 2,340

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A typical Azed. Good clues and the necessity for Chambers to verify all the unusual words.

The Observer only seems to have made one mistake this week, at 26dn.

Across
1 CAFARD Blues record absorbing one very much (6)
C(a far)D
6 APPALTO Dismay before contract (7)
appal to — I’m never very comfortable with these short words. usually prepositions, which have some apparently quite other word that is said to be equivalent to it: here, to = before. No doubt in some sense they are equivalent, but I can’t think of one at the moment.
11 MORRION Helmet damaged on rim, or lining (7)
or in (on rim)*
13 ROSOLIO Sweet drink? Joey maybe imbibes singles (7)
ro(soli)o
14 JURA Laws? There’s a range (4)
2 defs, one of them the plural of jus [= law]
15 NOTT Polled number having taken the pledge (4)
no. TT
16 ATONIC Antico puzzles leaving one debilitated (6)
(Antico)* — the crossword setter who goes under the name Antico
17 BLING Baubles left in a heap (5)
b(L)ing
19 VAGAL Volume written by a young female that’s touching a nerve (5)
V a gal — touching a nerve in the sense of being to do with a nerve, in this case the vagus nerve
20 RELIGIOUSNESS Zeal maybe shown by soul singers, i.e. when stirred (13)
(soul singers i.e.)*
22 HODJA Madrassah teacher penning journal in hot part of harem (5)
(h od(j)a)
24 MORAT Sweet drink that’s ace, imbibed by woman (5)
mor(a)t — the second sweet drink in a short while
25 NURDLE Under ‘batting, holding line’ hard hitters won’t (6)
l in (Under)* — a cricket term
27 BEER Draught perhaps requiring cushion cover (4)
2 defs
29 DRIB Take a little girl that’s backward (4)
(bird)rev.
30 ROSETTE Plant disease that’s switched to trees (7)
(to trees)*
31 PETUNIA Flower, unit out of place amid veg (7)
pe((unit)*)a
32 GANGREL Endlessly furious having set about Scottish tramp (7)
g(angr{y})el
33 ATTENT Time under temporary cover gets the old concentrating (6)
at tent — the old means an old version of — but I’m really not sure of this parsing: how is ‘time under shelter’ the same as ‘at tent’?  No doubt I’m wrong here — it could be t [= time] in (a tent), but Azed doesn’t I think ever use ‘under’ as an inclusion indicator [but see AP @4 for the correct I think interpretation of this]
Down
1 CORNBRANDY Whisky marque, old-fashioned bottles (10)
corn(brand)y
2 ALOO One John Murphy and the like (4)
a loo
3 FUSTILARIAN Rail wildly in bombast producing old-style insult (11)
fust((rail)*)ian
4 ROLAG Go slow after run out? There’s something here for the spinners (5)
RO lag
5 DRIP Only a minimum of rain but enough for weed (4)
2 defs
6 AROBA Wind getting up, anonymous one trundles across the steppes (5)
(bora)rev. a
7 PIRAGUA Does it transport Guaraní, number going for peso? (7)
(Guarani – n + p)* — some sort of &lit, although not a full one
8 PORTAS Old service book left with bank of a kind (6)
port [= left] as [= bank of a kind ??? When I did the crossword there seemed to be no problem but now I can’t see this bit — surely it isn’t referring to this?] — Azed tells us that this word isn’t in the latest Chambers as an entry of its own; the entry only appears in earlier editions; I thought this was going to entail a whole lot of hunting back, but it’s much simpler than that since portas is there in the latest Chambers.
9 LAUNDERETTE Coinop place offering coffee with less than minimum of extras included (11)
la(under e{xtras})tte
10 THRIMSA Bit of old gold a smith fashioned to circle king (7)
(a smith)* round R
12 BACKSTREET Support setter struggling in unfashionable address! (10)
back (setter)* — why the exclam?
18 LEMURIA Rum I mixed with ale for ancient festival (7)
(rum I ale)*
19 VIDETTE Sentry (mounted) was checking endlessly about identity (7)
v(ID)ette{d}
21 GOLFER He regularly negotiates traps – foreleg damaged, energy lost (6)
(foreleg – e)*
23 JARUL Indian tree local government raised, centre of cult (5)
(raj)rev. {c}ul{t} — local in the sense that it’s Indian
24 MUSIT I’ll be gripped by frenzy through which animal passed (5)
mus(I)t
26 MONA Monkey God, God finally deposed (5)
mona{d}, the d being {Go}d — the only slip I can see this week: it says (5) when it should say (4)
28 ETON Do well though denied good first school (4)
{g}et on

*anagram

5 comments on “AZED 2,340”

  1. I think the AS in PORTAS is the Scandinavian word meaning a kame or esker, which in turn means a sandbank. Chambers gives it with a little O above the A.

  3. I made heavy weather of this, though half my mind was on an Easter Egg at the time. Felt that I had to check an unusually large number of entries in the big red book.

  5. Yes I’m sure yours is the correct interpretation AP@4. Blog amended.

    Whenever I think there’s some sort of dodginess in an Azed clue it always turns out that I’m wrong.

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