Fairly straightforward Azed with perhaps a little over-reliance on archaic terms.
I couldn’t find any fault with puzzle, and as usual with an Azed, it was an excuse to trawl through Chambers and Google, always a pleasant way of spending some downtime on a Sunday.
Apologies that some of the definitions have not formatted properly, but I finished off the last few clues on my Chromebook which seems to struggle with highlighting text using the keyboard. I won’t make that mistake again. Hopefully the definition is clear in those five or six entries.
| Across | ||
| 1 | BLIST | Formerly glorified, like second-class celebs? (5) |
| B-LIST (“second-class celebs”)
According to Chambers, blist is an archaic version of “blessed”. |
||
| 5 | ABRAIDS | As of old rouses support among auxiliaries (7) |
| BRA (“support”) among AIDS (“auxiliaries”) | ||
| 11 | LACTARIAN | Sort of veggie left minutes before I ran out (9) |
| L(eft) + ACTA (“minutes” of a meeting) +*(i ran)
A lactarian or lactovegetarian is a vegetarian who eats dairy products. |
||
| 12 | UNBURY | Dig up Algernon’s useful invention (not the first) (6) |
| (b)UNBURY, Algernon’s imaginary friend in Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, used as a ruse to get out of unpleasant social engagements. | ||
| 14 | STAPLE | Regular food past its best, soft inside (6) |
| STALE (“past its best”) with P (“soft”) inside. | ||
| 15 | OCHREAE | Plant sheaths: gold, with tips of magenta and blue (7) |
| OCHRE (“gold”) + (magent)A and (blu)E | ||
| 16 | PROMO | Video to stimulate sales for a bit (5) |
| PRO (“for”) + MO (“a bit”) | ||
| 18 | IDYL | Description of US pastoral simplicity in tidy landscapes (4) |
| Hidden in “tIDY Landscapes” | ||
| 19 | CONACREISM | Old land subletting scheme revealing acorns mice crunched (10) |
| *(acorns mice)
Conacreism was a system in Ireland for letting out farmland for a season or for most of a year. |
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| 21 | PLAINCHANT | Unison singing of a kind? Factory accepts a measure (10) |
| PLANT (“factory”) accepts A INCH (“a measure”) | ||
| 24 | PASH | Snog, hot after dance (4) |
| H(ot) after PAS (“dance”)
“Pash” is an Antipodean term for “kiss and cuddle”. |
||
| 26 | BAIRN | Wee one, born one of a set in Carnoustie? (5) |
| B(orn) + A IRN (an iron in Scots (think Irn Bru), so “one of a set” (of golf clubs)). For an alternative parsing, see comment 2 below. | ||
| 27 | ANATTOS | Soak brown one turned over in dyes (7) |
| <=SOT TAN A (“soak brown one”, turned over) | ||
| 30 | DORCAS | Do-gooder returning bag and stick (6) |
| <=SAC ROD (“back” and “stick” returning) | ||
| 31 | MAKE-DO | Old hurt doctor binds as a temporary measure (6) |
| AKED (old “hurt”) bound by M.O. (medical officer, so “doctor”) | ||
| 32 | UNSOURCED | Round écus in a poor state, of unknown origin (9) |
| *(round ecus) | ||
| 33 | MEAT TEA | Early supper, dull one, including bit of both beef and veal? (7) |
| MATTE A (“dull one”) including E (letter that both “beef” and “veal” have in common) | ||
| 34 | TAWSE | What’ll damage seat, with cutting in? (5) |
| *(seat) with W(ith) cutting in and &lit.
A tawse, as I can testify from personal experience, was a leather belt used by teachers to punish schoolchildren in Scotland when corporal punishment was still allowed, although I don’t remember my seat being whacked – it was always my hand as far as I can remember. |
||
| Down | ||
| 1 | BLUB | Light up to demonstrate greeting? (4) |
| <=BULB (“light”, up)
In Scotland, “to greet” is “to weep”. |
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| 2 | LANGREL | It was shot from man-of-war or galleon at sea (two rounds loosed) (7) |
| *(r gallen) (“or galleon” with two Os loosed)
A langrel (or langrage or langridge) was shot used in naval warfare. |
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| 3 | STUM | What revives stale wine? A dash of tonic in substance (4) |
| T(onic) in SUM (“substance”) | ||
| 4 | TARPON | Sailor close to big fish (6) |
| TAR (“sailor”) + ‘PON (“close to”) | ||
| 6 | BISCACHA | Burrower twice shortened hidey-hole with one (8) |
| BIS (“twice”) + CACH(e) (“hidey-hole”, shortened) + A (“one”)
A viscacha or biscacha is a South American chichilla-like rodent. |
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| 7 | RATHER | I’ll say part in opera (The Rheingold) (6) |
| Hidden in “opeRA THE Rheingold” | ||
| 8 | IMPEDITIVE | I’m on exercise plunge having to get round it as hindrance (10) |
| I’M + P.E. (“exercise”) + DIVE (“plunge”) getting round IT | ||
| 9 | DELAY | Pause and lock up, day over (5) |
| <=YALE (“lock” up) with D(ay) over (ie. above) | ||
| 10 | STEELMAN | Metalworker worked eastern metal, tin-coated (8) |
| *(e metal) coated in Sn. (chemical symbol of “tin”) | ||
| 13 | BROCA’S AREA | Cerebral ‘speech-maker’, Oscar off form in poor one (10) |
| *(oscar) in BARE (“poor”) + A (“one”)
Broca’s Area is the part of the brain responsible for speech. |
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| 16 | POPPADUM | One often accompanies Indian dad with reverse of abuse (8) |
| POPPA (“dad”) + <=MUD (reverse of “abuse”) | ||
| 17 | LACROSSE | It often involves cradling from side to side in extremes of love (8) |
| ACROSS (“from side to side”) in L(ov)E
In lacrosse, “cradling” is the term for running with the ball in the net. |
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| 20 | STRIDES | Pants once tested on board ship (7) |
| TRIDE (once “tested”) in SS (“on board ship”) | ||
| 22 | NATANT | Swimming gives you that tan repeatedly (6) |
| *(tan) twice (I think!) | ||
| 23 | ABLAUT | Gradation, look, in part of brass backing (6) |
| LA! (look!) in <=TUBA (“part of brass” (section), backing) | ||
| 25 | ANOLE | Lizard that a Cockney’s found in his old sock? (5) |
| AN ‘OLE (Cockney version of “an hole”) | ||
| 28 | OKRA | Pods cooked all right with radish – take away meal (4) |
| OK (“all right”) + RA(dish) | ||
| 29 | NODE | Knot or bow on end of lace (4) |
| NOD (“bow”) + (lac)E | ||
*anagram
A fairly nice grid I found – although I heavily needed to consult the Chambers.
I spent a good 10 minutes or so trying to remember the name Algernon used in ‘Earnest’ for his name alternate name – and for the life of me I could not recall it. What a waste of a university semester :p
Thanks for the blog, loonapick.
I think the definition in 16a is ‘Video to stimulate sales’ and for=PRO, a bit=MO.
For 26a, Chambers gives AIRN as a Scots form of iron.
I think your explanation for 4d works, but I had a sailor=TARP, close to=ON.
For 13d to work you need poor=BARE rather than BASE.
Matthew @2, thanks for clarifying PROMO. Like Loonapick, I presumed it was Promote short of two letters, and remember thinking it was a bit iffy. I should have spent more time thinking about it.
I think this was the most enjoyable Plain for a while. I laughed at TAWSE, a very neat &lit, and was particularly relieved to find out Pants in 20d was the definition, and not my least favourite anagram indicator for once.
A few clues not fully understood, a fair amount of time spent with the big red book, but overall on the easyish side for Azed. A Sunday evening well spent.
Matthew @2
Thanks for the PROMO and BARE comments, the second of which was simply a misprint.
I think you may be right with B-AIRN, but I think mine works too.
I’m fairly sure I’m right with TARPON.