My first Azed blog since I returned to blogging, and thankfully it wasn’t too challenging.
I solved the puzzle fairly quickly (with occasional reference to the Big Red Book), with only one clue that I couldn’t parse completely (see 24dn).
| Across | ||
| *1 | COMPOST HEAP | Pile of plant refuse, etc (11, 2 words) |
| This is a straight clue, for which competition entrants were asked to create a cryptic alternative, such as
“Write incomplete article on American power – a pile of rubbish!” |
||
| 11 | CLART | Mud left in farm vehicle? (5) |
| L(eft) in CART (“farm vehicle”) | ||
| 12 | ULNAE | Two French articles interwoven in parts of skeleton (5) |
| UNE and LA (“two French articles”) interwoven, so U(L)N(A)E | ||
| 13 | MAMMATUS | Clouds suggesting her sagginess, mama must get upset (8) |
| *(mama must)
Mammatus clouds are shaped like breasts, so the clue is not terribly flattering! |
||
| 14 | PINNET | Sulks in pub? The opposite – it’s high point for Walter (6) |
| INN (“pub”) in PET (“sulk”), so the sulk’s not in the pub, but “the opposite”.
A “pinnet” is a word used by Wlater Scott for a pinnacle (ie a “high point”) |
||
| 15 | PENULT | Property initially unlet, rickety? House lacks one (flat too) (6) |
| P(roperty) + *(unlet)
“Penult” is a word meaning “the last but one syllable”. The words “house” and “flat” only have one syllable, so therefore can’t have a penult. |
||
| 16 | PEANUT | A bit of a snack? Exercise freak swallows one (6) |
| P.E. (“exercise”) + NUT (“freak”) swallows A (“one”) | ||
| 19 | E-BAY | Cumbrian location, not the first for multinational (4) |
| (t)EBAY (“Cumbrian location”, without its “first” letter) | ||
| 20 | LEONTINE | Female name, one changing tons in fashion (8) |
| *(one) + T(ons) in LINE (“fashion”) | ||
| 21 | LISTERIA | Disease realist treated with injection of iodine (8) |
| *(realist) with injection of I(iodine)
I’m no doctor, but isn’t listeria the bacteria responsible for listeriosis (the disease)? |
||
| 24 | ANON | Excerpt from piano nocturne coming shortly (4) |
| Hidden in “piANO Nocturne” | ||
| 26 | NUDIST | One fully exposed and lacking a suit possibly? Clearly! (6) |
| Cryptic definition | ||
| 28 | EURO-MP | Brussels regular had Parisian frolic (6) |
| EU (“had” in French, so “had Parisian”) + ROMP (“frolic”) | ||
| 30 | GAMMER | Very old woman limping more grips end of them (6) |
| GAMER (“limping more”) grips (the)M | ||
| 31 | TRAVERSE | Obstruction translator encountered with bit of a poem? (8) |
| Tr.(anslator) encountered with A VERSE (“bit of a poem”) | ||
| 32 | TIMES | Periods I’m kept in class, backward (5) |
| I’M kept in <=SET (“class”, backward) | ||
| 33 | ESNES | Servants as of old feeling taken aback (5) |
| <=SENSE (“feeling”, taken aback) | ||
| 34 | DISHONESTLY | Meal just about set, wobbling crookedly (11) |
| DISH (“meal”) + ONLY (“just”) about *(set) | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | OLLIE | Dog released from lead, see, performing jump in snow (5) |
| (c)OLLIE (“dog”, with no lead)
An ollie is a type of jump in smowboarding or skateboarding. |
||
| 3 | MANNA-ASH | Tree yielding sugary stuff girl put in food mixture (8) |
| ANNA (“girl”) in MASH (“food mixture”, eg corned beef hash) | ||
| 4 | PRINNY | King got in kitchen garment for king-in-waiting (6) |
| R (“King”) got in PINNY (“kitchen garment”) | ||
| 5 | SCATTERY | Special accommodation for pets, sparse (8) |
| S(pecial) + CATTERY (“accommodation for pets”) | ||
| 6 | TUMP | Mound set up, millions interred (4) |
| <=PUT (“set”, up) with M(illions) interred | ||
| 7 | HUMEAN | German captivates this writer, a philosopher’s disciple (6) |
| HUN (“German”) captivates ME (“this writer) + A
A disciple of David Hume (1711-76) would be a Humean |
||
| 8 | ELANET | Kite in fanciful film circling small street (6) |
| E.T. (“fanciful film”) circling LANE (“small street”)
An elanet is a bird of prey of the genus Elanus. |
||
| 9 | PAULS | Catches from famous song writer cutting I’m on (5) |
| PAUL S(I’m on)
“Paul” is alternative spelling of “pawl”, a ratchet or “catch” |
||
| 10 | REST CENTRES | Street in fresh research offering emergency shelters (11, 2 words) |
| St.(reet) in RECENT RES(earch) | ||
| 11 | CAPPELLETTI | Pasta, soft little ball fed to moggy, half of it (11) |
| P (“soft”) + PELLET (“little ball”) fed to CAT (“moggy”) + I(t), so CA(P-PELLET)T-I | ||
| 17 | GOINGS-ON | Enter song off-key, behaviour worthy of censure? (8) |
| GO IN (“enter”) + *(song) | ||
| 18 | LINIMENT | Embrocation, one chaps wrapped in cotton fibre (8) |
| I (“one”) + MEN (“chaps”) wrapped in LINT (“cotton fibre”) | ||
| 22 | TROVES | Toiled first to last for lots of valuable things (6) |
| STROVE (“toiled”) with its first letter put last becomes TROVES | ||
| 23 | ENMESH | What about wild men’s snarl? (6) |
| EH (“what?”) about *(mens) | ||
| 24 | ADMASS | Mark idiot led by a target for promotion as a whole (6) |
| M(ark) + ASS (“idiot”) led by A D (“target”?)
Not sure why D = “target”? |
||
| 25 | LURID | Ghastly sheatfish etc released from sea I set free (5) |
| (si)LURID(ae)
Siluridae is a fish genus which includes sheatfish and catfish. |
||
| 27 | SEWEL | Sort of gally-bagger you may spot in cerise wellies (5) |
| Hidden in “ceriSE WELlies”
Gally-bagger and sewel (or shewel) are other words for a scarecrow. |
||
| 29 | PROO | It may bring hunter to a standstill, favouring fox at heart (4) |
| PRO (“favouring”) + (f)O(x)
“Proo” is another word for “whoa”. |
||
*anagram
Welcome to the Azed blog, Loonapick.
I think 24down is DM (Deutschmark, or mark) led by A, followed by mass, with the definition being “target for promotion as a whole”.
11ac was my FOI, and it brought back memories of my school days. I was born in London but my family moved north when I was young but I kept my London accent. “Clart” and “clarty” are common words in the north-east and when I said them with my long southern vowels, it caused hilarity in the class.
I couldn’t parse 19ac and 25dn (although I guessed there must be a place in Cumbria ending -EBAY), so thanks for those. And I agree with bridgesong about 24dn.
Thank you for this blog. I’m a total beginner in terms of AZED so your blog is very helpful. I still get confused as to how specific the definition clue needs to be. For example, in defining ‘compost heap,’ does there need to be some reference to rotting/decaying to differentiate it from, say, a pile of rubbish on a bonfire?
Thank you Azed and loonapick.
I thought Azed was being most kind after the difficulties of the week before: 1ac went in straight away and this of course help0ed with many down clues.
I parsed 26 across as an anagram of and without the “a” and suit, plus the cryptic definitions.
re TEBAY
Tebay was well known to trainspotters (like myself) because it had a railway station (now closed) on the West Coast mainline and an engine shed which provided banking engines for the climb up to Shap Fell.
re#3 (Christine)
Azed’s definitions (within ‘normal’ clues) often use the exact wording used in the Chambers Dictionary – though these are often definitions relating to obscure meanings low down in the list of definitions for the word.
Chambers Dictionary is essential to beginners and I think AZED intends even experienced puzzlers to use it. He tells you if he uses a word that is not in the edition he recommends (which is currently the 2014 edition), though I’m sure he will change it soon as he likes to use ‘new’ words. He doesn’t always warn you about proper names that are not in the dictionary, or about multiple word phrases that are not in.
Bradford’s Crossword Solver’s Dictionary (Anne R. Bradford) is also very helpful to beginners, but AZED knows far far more words than Anne does!
Norman @5 -Tebay is also the best service station on the entire motorway network.
That explains it. I am neither a trainspotter nor a driver.
I agree with Marienkaefer @4 about 26ac. That’s how I parsed it.
I do hope that Chambers bring out a new edition as my 2014 edition is falling to bits, but I fear paper dictionaries are becoming obsolete.
PRINNY got me for a bit as it isn’t in any of my dictionaries – only a google search found me that it was George IV’s nickname.
Other than the clue could only be that, was it fair?
Nick
Christine, you can browse through thousands of successful clues at the @lit.org.uk website. You’ll see many non-C definitions amongst them.
Christine @3: the other essential tool for tackling Azed puzzles is the &lit website (see Links above). Every month Azed publishes a slip with the full text of all prize-winning clues and those which he deems worthy of a VHC mark. There are also comments on various issues which crop up from time to time. Every slip from the inception of the Azed series can be found on the site.
In answer to your question, I would answer yes, you do need to add something to make it clear it’s not just a pile of any old rubbish. As Norman says, Azed often uses one of the obscurer definitions in Chambers, but if you look at prize-winning and VHC clues, the definitions are often much more inventive.
An enjoyable outing from Azed, definitely on the easier side. I had no idea what the Cumbrian location might be at 19ac, but the multinational could have been little else. 20ac I managed to guess correctly. 30ac I quite confidently thought must be LAMMER, but well, that made a mess of the rest of that corner.
Further to birdsong @11: The Azedslip website goes back before Azed to Ximenes in the 1950s. A few of us still remember that far back.
Also anent Marienkaefer @7: all visitors to the Lake District should agree that Tebay is the best service station anywhere with its local ownership and food, with a shop selling local produce. Would there were more such.