AZED 2,346

by

A nice comparatively easy Azed today — the last one I did was his P.D. at the start of May, and that took ages. This one didn’t, although it was less fun. But very enjoyable, though. 8dn?

As always I haven’t bothered to explain the difficult words.

Definitions underlined and in maroon.

Across
2 SPRIT Spar, tip fixed with one pa cleared (5)
Is this a comp. anag., where [spar tip] … [sprit pa]? I have my doubts, because there is an anagram indicator (fixed) for the first bit and another anagram indicator (cleared) for the second bit. I once submitted a comp. anag. clue which was I thought rather good, but it had two anagram indicators like this possibly, and Azed in his slip took the trouble to condemn it because of the two a.i.’s. However, Azed is well-known for his changes of opinion about comp. anags and he might have changed his view. On the other hand this clue might be simply (spar tip – pa)*, which is perhaps more likely, but if so then I can’t see where the other pa is. [Neither.  As Richard Heald @3 points out (thanks), it’s (tip s{pa}r)*]
7 MASKER One at special ball is briefly entertained by old poet (6)
ma(‘s)ker — a masked ball
12 SCREE It’s gathered at base of mountain to shelter, setting off north (5)
scree{n}
13 ARISTATE Bearded condition after ’air grows wild (8)
(‘air)* state
14 TRICKLE-CHARGE Renew power in alternative to stealth tax? (13)
A fanciful alternative to a stealth tax might be a trickle charge
15 ROMAIKA Mum’s among threesome (not first time) in Greek dance (7)
{t}ro(ma)ika — by ‘first time’ is meant ‘the t which appears as the first letter’ rather than ‘the first of two t’s’
18 ADENITIC I can’t die after treatment of glandular inflammation (8)
(I can’t die)* — I never even checked on the internet, because this is obviously the right answer, adenitia being in Chambers
19 CULLY Chum in select year (5)
cull y
21 TITCH Small child attached to nipple, a tiddler (5)
tit ch.
23 OLD FRUIT Mucker messed about in foul dirt (8, 2 words)
(foul dirt)*
28 NAVARIN Stew inn cooked limits more than half greed (7)
avar{ice} in (inn)*
29 EQUIPONDERANT Fit, Ron and Ted mostly wrestled at the same weight (13)
equip (Ron and Te{d})*
30 RENDERED Get rupture, return of old injury, being plastered (8)
rend (dere)rev. — not totally happy with ‘get’, which seems to play no real part in the wordplay
31 CONGÉ Take leave to scan old holiday house once it’s vacated (5)
con g{it}e — the old goes with scan rather than holiday home
32 MAKE-DO Had old pain strapped by doctor as a temporary measure (6)
M(aked)O
33 AKKAS Redealt two pairs of top cards, spades, making dough (5)
A,K, then K,A then S — alternative spelling of ackers
Down
1 OSTRACODERM Fish caught are storm tossed – here’s a bony old one (11)
cod in (are storm)*
2 SCROFULA To wit, a foul suffering stopped by touch of ruler? (8)
(sc (r{uler}) (a foul)*), &lit. — this tells us what’s going on
3 PRIMAL Chief place occupied by prince from the south (6)
(amir)rev. in pl.
4 RECAP One walking slowly up to give a summary (5)
(pacer)rev. — but this surprises me because I had always thought that Azed was so meticulous in these cases: the answer could equally well be pacer and we can’t find out until we have some checkers
5 TALK AT Lecture, mostly bombastic, on stimulant leaves (6, 2 words)
tal{l} kat
6 BREADWINNER I provide the wherewithal and pass round wad I cobbled together (11)
(wad I)* in Brenner
7 MICK Small Canadian bottle from among ceramic kinds (4)
Hidden in ceraMIC Kinds
8 ASHANTI Old spear, certainly not for some Ghanaians (7)
I’m a bit bewildered here: the Ashanti are some Ghanaians, and ‘shan’t’ is in ai or replaces something (ssega in assegai??) — neither of these seems likely so help needed please [An ash was a spear and if you’re anti you’re certainly not for — thanks Sidey@1]
9 STAY Delay visit (4)
2 defs
10 KARST Limestone country, well drained, ruggedly stark (5)
(stark)*
11 RE-ENCHANTED Centre NE had redeveloped, given fresh allure (11)
(centre NE had)*
16 PICKINGS Photo royalty? They’re often slim (8)
pic kings — slim pickings
17 SYRUPED Sweetly coated queen thoroughly enveloped in mixture of dyes (7)
(r up) in (dyes)*
20 STADDA Saw tot with adult at bottom of street (6)
st. add A
22 TORANA Looped garland in honour of Indian prince (6)
to Rana
24 DRUNK Dip, when entering river, well oiled (5)
D(r)unk
25 TAROK Deck where you may see sailor all right (5)
tar OK
26 HIDE Obscure area of land in old England (4)
2 defs
27 MORO They’re first of Malaysian origin, resident overseas (4)
M{alaysian} o{rigin} r{esident} o{verseas} — &lit.

*anagram

6 comments on “AZED 2,346”

  2. Like John I failed to parse ASHANTI – thanks to sidey @1 for neat explanation – perhaps he can oblige likewise wIth 1ac SPRIT? I share John’s dislike (thanks to him too) for either-way possibilities, as raised under 4d, but had written in RECAP confidently and wonder if (m)any others wrote PACER initially, or waited to get crossers – though the technical point does seem valid when you think about it.

  3. In 1ac the ‘one’ refers to ‘spar’. Azed in his wordplay does occasionally refer back to (part of) the definition, using words like ‘such’ or ‘that’, or in this case ‘one’.

Comments are closed.