Azed 2,345

My second Azed blog and this time I’m able to write it at leisure with no time constraints.

However, the extra time hasn’t meant that I am fully satisfied with this post because I still have reservations about my parsing of 16ac & 26dn and the clues to 34ac & 25dn. 4dn seems rather odd too. No doubt someone will come along to enlighten me.

Across
1 Old travelling salesman giving payment to church, padre changing rule (12, 2 words)
SCOTCH DRAPER – SCOT (payment) CH (church) plus an anagram (changing) of PADRE R (rule)

10 Dance in a ring almost continuing for 60 minutes (4)
HORA – HORA[l] (almost continuing for 60 minutes)

11 Like fleeces on sale, treated (6)
LANOSE – an anagram (treated) of ON SALE

13 Capo pockets silver, creating a rumpus (7)
BAGARRE – BARRE (capo) around (pockets) AG (silver)

14 On having mixed with Dustin drops names here? (6)
STUDIO – an anagram (mixed) of O[n] DUSTI[n]

15 Autocrat cedes potency, some on fringes falling away (6)
DESPOT – [ce]DES POT[ency] (cedes potency, some on fringes falling away)

16 They provide shade for Pradeep’s extremities? (6)
TOPEES – well, ‘Pradeep’s extremities’ are two Ps so are we to interpret the ? as a ‘sounds like’ indicator? I would have preferred to see ‘… extremities, we hear?’ or something similar.

17 Let out dog gets around – you may find my lot in the canteen (6)
CUTLER – CUR (dog) around an anagram of LET – I had not met this rare word before yesterday but now it’s been twice in two days.

19 Matter built up unhealthily, creating confusion in novel? (7)
EMPYEMA – PYE (confusion) in EMMA (novel)

21 I’ll follow chum entering suitable contracts (7)
APPALTI – PAL (chum) in (entering) APT (suitable) I

27 10 among 150 singing hymns etc (6)
CHORAL – HORA (10) in (among) CL (150)

29 Occasional Scotch, what one’s after in bolthole (6)
DAIMEN – AIM (what one’s after) in DEN (bolthole)

30 Well-dressed (if old-fashioned) in connection with spectators (6)
TOGATE – TO (in connection with) GATE (spectators)

31 Bar for poet king among drunken peers (6)
SPERRE – R (king) in (among) an anagram (drunken) of PEERS

32 Like eggs baked in a bit of old pottery, we hear? (7)
SHIRRED – sounds like (we hear) ‘sherd’ (a bit of old pottery)

33 Love grown sickly, milky-white in colour (6)
OPALED – O (love) PALED (grown sickly)

34 Law expert escapes from Lithuania for protection (4)
EGIS – [l]EGIS[t] (law expert escapes from Lithuania) – however I would have thought that it is Lithuania (LT) escaping from law expert (legist) rather than the other way round.

35 Hardy perennial fashioned pottery after date in Rome (12)
NONE-SO-PRETTY – an anagram (fashioned) of POTTERY after NONES (date in Rome)

Down
1 It’s on cart crashing with bus – removal now frowned on (12)
SUBSTRACTION – an anagram (crashing) of IT’S ON CART BUS

2 Talk about stone for setting in ring (6)
CHATON – CHAT (talk) ON (about)

3 Pictures of Russia maybe turning up in e.g. Indiaman (6)
TRADER – RED ART (pictures of Russia maybe) reversed (turning up)

4 Centre of decay – sign’s here (6)
CARIES – [de]C[ay] (centre of decay) ARIES (sign) – I don’t know how to describe this clue which seems to go against convention by having the definition in the middle rather than at one end. It’s not a true &lit nor exactly an extended def.

5 Passover food was swelling, kept within lid (7)
HAROSET – ROSE (was swelling) in (kept within) HAT (lid)

6 What’s cooked ‘en vapeur’ for terrific party? (6)
RAVE-UP – an anagram (cooked) of VAPEUR

7 Having jimjams in Penang style? (6)
ANGSTY – hidden in ‘penANG STYle’

8 Heaved irregularly? Champers given as an excuse (7)
POPPLED – POP (champers) PLED (given as an excuse)

9 Count circling square took exercise in controlled fashion (12)
RESTRAINEDLY – RELY (count) around (circling) S (square) TRAINED (took exercise)

12 Black spots leave one edgy – heads away from them (4)
SLOE – S[pots] L[eave] O[ne] E[dgy] (spots leave one edgy – heads away from them)

18 I’ll go up in a metal drum furthest from the planet (7)
APOGEAN – EGO (I) revesed (‘ll go up) in A PAN (a metal drum)

20 Like quarters for reefer once rolling him with dips (7)
MIDSHIP – an anagram (rolling) of HIM DIPS

22 Like Saudi before end of oil and energy, used to shares? (6)
ARABLE – ARAB (like Saudi) [oi]L (end of oil) E (energy)

23 They’ll fashion wood: two articles dividing in place of seal (6)
LATHES – A THE (two articles) in (dividing) LS (loco sigilli, in place of seal)

24 Tuck (as once) a support for bridge at bottom of river (6)
RAPIER – A PIER (a support for bridge) after (at bottom of) R (river)

25 It’s lit on the altar: janitor is against it? (6)
CIERGE – another one that is difficult to explain but if you add ‘con’ (against) to the entry you get ‘concierge’ (janitor)

26 Extremely slight, this one forms a boundary in some parts (6)
MEREST – MERE (a boundary in some parts, ie dialect) S[ligh]T (extremely slight) – or is it ST (street) or ST (stone)? – a merestone is a boundary marker.

28 Love entering dance round band (4)
HOOP – O (love) in (entering) HOP (dance)