Azed 2375

by

This was a puzzle where I got about half-way through without too much trouble, and then ground to a halt and took much longer to do the rest. Looking back I see that there seems to be quite a high proportion of unfamiliar words, which is usually what tends to make Azeds harder for me. There’s a slightly unfortunate repetition of a wordplay element, but otherwise the puzzle is of the usual high standard. Thanks to Azed, and Merry Christmas to all as we look forward to Sunday’s special.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
2. SPODOMANCY Divination of a kind – look around, mood can change (10)
(MOOD CAN)* in SPY
10. FORÇAT One condemned to hard labour, notwithstanding the lash? (6)
FOR CAT – a French word, presumably related to “force”, hence the cedilla to make the C sound as S
12. ABELIA Flowering plant, a devil to prune? (6)
A + BELIA[L]
13. FLONG From which printer prepares moulds, strong and extended (5)
F[orte] + LONG
14. SWEPT Women in clan did part of housework (5)
W in SEPT (Irish clan)
15. PATAGIUM Wing membrane: see one flap in a fly that bites (8)
A TAG (flap) in PIUM (Brazilian biting fly)
17. SINCERE Pure greed maybe – breakfast dish almost all polished off (7)
SIN (of which greed is an example) + CEREAL less AL[L]
18. TIMIST One following conductor closely, cheerful type regardless of op (6)
[OP]TIMIST
19. STARER Penultimate in over landing in long grass – one has a long hard look (6)
[ov]E[r] in STARR – starr, or starr grass, is the kind of grass found in sand dunes
21. TASLET Bit of old armour battles damaged (not the first) (6)
Anagram of [B]ATTLES – a variant of “tasse”. Not SALLET, also a piece of armour, which I carelessly entered first after miscounting the letters of the anagram
24. POSTIL Gloss cast light on standard operating procedure retrospectively (6)
Reverse of LIT S.O.P.
26. IMPERIA Beard left trimmed indicating areas of sovereignty (7)
IMPERIAL (kind of beard) less L
29. DYNATRON Fancy valve? You could make do with tranny (8)
(DO TRANNY)*
30. GRICE Flight of steps formerly for one in litter? (5)
Double definition – a small pig, and one of many variants of “grece”, meaning a flight of steps (related to “grade” and “degree”)
31. SPULE Rebuffed Scot is shown cold one left in vomit? (5)
L in SPUE, and SPULE is a Scots word for shoulder, a cold one of which is a rebuff
32. LUCERN Fodder for cattle from Cumbria initially, R. Lune swirling round (6)
C in (R LUNE)* – there is indeed a River Lune in Cumbria
33. MATLOS Sailors lost at sea, master going first (6)
MA + LOST*
34. BERGSONIAN Creative evolutionist shifted bearings on being drawn in (10)
ON in BEARINGS
Down
1. OFF‑PUTTINGLY What winds toff up like a thrill in a way that’s disconcerting (12)
(TOFF UP)* + TINGLY (like a thrill)
2. SOLATIA Compensations in law, very tardy mostly, reverse of ideal (7)
SO LAT[E] + reverse of A1
3. PRO TEM Just for now, introduction has limited time (6, 2 words)
T in PROEM (introduction)
4. DAGGA Love drug creating dudgeon, we hear? (5)
Homophone (subject to the usual caveats…) of “dagger”, dudgeon being an archaic word for a small dagger. Nothing (I think) to do with “looking daggers”, which was my initial assumption
5. MAQUIS Rearing water parsnips takes in half of water for Chilean shrubs (6)
AQ[ua] in reverse of SIUM (water parsnip). Maqui is from an indigenous South American language, and seems to be unrelated to Maquis, meaning shrubland, as used to describe French Resistance guerillas
6. NEWSCAST Bulletin we scan nervously on street (8)
(WE SCAN)* + ST
7. CLEVER First in class, getting prize? (6)
C[lass] + LEVER (to prise or prize), &lit
8. YIPS Spot runs up, circling one, barks briefly – not what golfer wants (4)
I in reverse of SPY (a bit of a blemish that SPY is also used in the wordplay of 2a, which intersects with this), and two definitions: short cries or barks, and “a nervous twitching caused by tension before making a shot”
9. FATHERLINESS Fast shift to get round what careless actress loses – being protective? (12)
HER LINES (what the careless actress loses) in FAST*
11. TWIST Mixed drink? Idiot imbibes second (5)
S in TWIT
16. SILENCER It’s nicer, mostly less windy – yet muffler’s required (8)
Anagram of NICER + LES[S]
20. EIDOLON As Caesar might say, ‘I don’t want to end up a ghost’ (7)
Reverse (“up”) of NOLO (Latin “I don’t want” – the negative form of VOLO, as some may remember from school Latin) + DIE (end)
22. SPLICE A bit of a bat, making 50 mid season? (6)
L in SPICE (season) – part of a cricket bat
23. TIYINS Some foreign cash is tiny change (6)
(IS TINY)* – currency units in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. The Izbek version is the least valuable coin in current circulation, so the wordplay is apt. (In fact it has dropped in value since that article was written, and is now about 10,800 to the UK penny)
24. PANIM Heathen, as of old, I am following heathen deity (5)
PAN + I’M
25. TORULA A plain yogurt? One’s paying outrageously with this yeast (6)
Composite anagram: (A PLAIN YOGURT)* = PAYING + TORULA
27. BASAN Fleece, essential for Arab as a nightshirt (5)
Hidden in araB AS A Nightshirt
28. DRUB Had short massage? Pummel, more like (4)
‘D (short for had, as in I’d) + RUB (massage)

3 comments on “Azed 2375”

  1. I had a similar experience to yours, Andrew, and even began to wonder if this was to be the first Azed to defeat me in many years. I’m afraid I had forgotten NOLO so the parsing of EIDOLON was a mystery to me!

    Thanks for the (as usual) immaculate blog.

  2. Yes to both Andrew and bridgesong. Chambers got a good pummelling to see whether there was such a word. Also some unusual variant definitions (e.g. dagga). Azed always entertains and keeps us on our toes.

Comments are closed.