We have a plain Azed this week.
I got a very long way into this puzzle before reaching for my copy of Chambers. I don’t think I have ever got so far into an Azed puzzle without use of a dictionary before. When I came to the blog, I did check the dictionary for definition for a few I’d written in from the wordplay, but overall the wordplay was very clear such that the entry had to be right.
I got a good foothold early on in the North East corner and built up the grid from there.
As usual there were some excellent deceptive surfaces, starting with 1 across and it’s pet theme but really referring to printing terminology.
I liked the compound anagram leading to BRAST at 28 down.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
|
1
|
Bad pets stray? Possibly, but these have no need for lead (12, 2 words)
|
Anagram of (possibly) BAD PETS STRAY BASTARD TYPES* |
BASTARD TYPES ((a printing term for types cast with an extra deep bevel to avoid the use of leads, such as longprimer face on pica body)
|
|
9
|
Bit of Israeli money, gold, pocketed by commander (5)
|
OR (gold) contained in (pocketed by) AGA (Turkish commander) AG (OR) A |
AGORA (Israeli monetary unit, 1/100 of a shekel)
|
|
11
|
I tucked into gastro cooking – I love riotous living (7)
|
I contained in (tucked into) an anagram of (cooking) GASTRO ORG (I) AST* |
ORGIAST (someone who takes part in frantic unrestrained celebrations)
|
|
12
|
To be given a thrashing was taxing, we admitted (8)
|
TOLLED (was taxing) containing (admitted) WE TO (WE) LLED |
TOWELLED (given a thrashing)
|
|
14
|
Make heavy progress, first in race having broken finishing line (5)
|
R (first letter of [first in] RACE) contained in (having broken) TAPE (finishing line) T (R) APE |
TRAPE (traipse; trudge, make heavy progress)
|
|
15
|
Group camped in Lakelands – or leader thereof (5) |
AKELA (hidden word in (in) LAKELANDS) AKELA |
AKELA (adult leader of a group, or pack, of Cub Scouts who could well be camped in LAKELANDS)
|
|
17
|
Stewed topside put aside for later (7)
|
Anagram of (stewed) TOPSIDE DEPOSIT* |
DEPOSIT (set aside for later use)
|
|
19
|
One assisting group on tour, or backing one to stop working (6)
|
OR reversed (backing) + A (one) + DIE (stop) RO< A DIE |
ROADIE (member of the crew who transport, set up and dismantle equipment for musicians, especially a rock group, on tour)
|
|
21
|
Shifting sands, Arabian say (4)
|
AR (Arabian) + E.G. (for example; say) AR EG |
AREG (Saharan area of shifting sand dunes)
|
|
22
|
Last in Latin and algebra? Notice returning vacuity (4)
|
NA (final letters [last in] of each of LATIN and ALGEBRA) + AD (advertisement; notice) reversed (returning) N A DA< |
NADA (nothingness; vacuity)
|
|
24
|
Dad’s heading for the wine, generally accessible (6)
|
PA (father; dad) + TENT (deep-red Spanish wine) PA TENT |
PATENT (generally accessible)
|
|
26
|
In winter’s apparel, sun almost over, I shivered (7)
|
Anagram of (shivered) SUN and OVER excluding the final letter (almost) R and I NIVEOUS* |
NIVEOUS (snowy, white; in winter’s apparel)
|
|
29
|
What march is a form of, accompanied by a bagpipe (5)
|
GAIT (a way of walking, as is MARCH [walk in a markedly rhythmical military manner, or in a grave, stately or resolute manner]) + A GAIT A |
GAITA (a Spanish bagpipe)
|
|
31
|
Femme fatale, Welsh ‘lady’ but retrogressive (5)
|
NERYS (a Welsh ladies first name) reversed (but retrogressive) SYREN< |
SYREN (variant spelling of SIREN [one of certain sea nymphs, part woman, part bird, whose seductive songs lured sailors to their deaths on rocks ; femme fatale)
|
|
32
|
Backrow lift – foul (8)
|
REAR (raise; lift up) + RANK (repulsive; foul) REAR RANK |
REAR-RANK (back row)
|
|
33
|
One administering grazing rights, oddly gratis around Spain (7)
|
Anagram of (oddly) GRATIS containing (around) E (International Vehicle Registration for Spain) AGIST (E) R* |
AGISTER (a person who administers grazing rights)
|
|
34
|
Whack with cane causing start of tingle in bottom (5)
|
T (first letter of [start of] TANGLE) contained in (in) BASE (bottom) BAS (T) E |
BASTE (beat with a stick)
|
|
35
|
I keep tally of soldiers etc – chief points round to designate a bloomer (12)
|
SUM (chief points) reversed (round) + TERM (designate) + ASTER (flower; bloomer) MUS< TER M ASTER |
MUSTER-MASTER (person in charge of the assembly roll, usually relating to the troops present at a gathering; I count soldiers)
|
| Down | |||
|
1
|
Cricketer, once ignorant, means to gain entry by force (12)
|
BATTER (cricketer) + INGRAM (obsolete [once] word for ignorant) BATTER ING-RAM |
BATTERING-RAM (large beam used for gaining entry by force).
|
|
2
|
Indian soldier in conflict, well on top (5)
|
SO (well) + WAR (state of conflict) SO WAR |
SOWAR (Indian trooper)
|
|
3
|
Traveller in the mood for Scotch, rarely trembling (6)
|
REP (representative; travelling salesman; traveller) contained in (in) TID (Scottish word meaning mood) T (REP) ID |
TREPID (quaking)
|
|
4
|
Line penned by cross former partner in filing system (7)
|
(L [line] contained in [penned by] ROOD) + EX (former partner) RO (L) OD EX |
ROLODEX (cylindrical rotating desktop card index file)
|
| 5 | Extract from Booker debate sent up rubbish (4) |
DREK (hidden word in [extract from] reversed [sent up; down clue] BOOKER DEBATE) DREK< |
DREK (variant spelling of DRECK [rubbish])
|
|
6
|
Prayer for the departed Roy K after playing about one last character? (6)
|
Anagram of (playing) ROY K containing (about) (I [Roman numeral for one] + Z [last character of the alphabet]) Y (I Z) KOR* |
YIZKOR (memorial prayer for deceased relatives)
|
|
7
|
The sort of leaves that hold up trains? (5)
|
PAGES (leaves of a book) PAGES |
PAGES (boy attendants who are often asked to hold a bride’s train as she goes down the aisle) double definition
|
|
8
|
Refuelling plane adjusted task on terra – about time (12)
|
Anagram of (adjusted) TASK ON TERRA containing (about) T (time) STRATO (T) ANKER* Any of the Ts could be the one contained |
STRATOTANKER (type of aeroplane which refuels other planes at high altitudes)
|
| 10 | Monstrously ugly grand instrument – playing one inside (9) |
G (grand) + (ON [playing] + I [Roman numeral for 1]) contained in [inside] ORGAN [musical instrument]) G ORG (ON I) AN |
GORGONIAN (monstrously ugly) |
| 13 | Row? One’s lamenting falling out (9) |
Anagram of (falling out) LAMENTING ALIGNMENT* |
ALIGNMENT (row arranged in a line) |
|
16
|
Intelligence organization with nothing on Sicilian for so long? (4)
|
CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) + O (zero; nothing) CIA O |
CIAO (Italian [Sicilian] word for goodbye; Sicilian for ‘so long’)
|
|
18
|
Bit of alfalfa in vessel, a mild stimulant (4)
|
A (first letter of [ bit of] ALFALFA) contained in (in) PAN (vessel) PA (A) N Either of the As can be the one contained |
PAAN (betel leaf; mild stimulant)
|
|
20
|
Prosperous types, well to do, drive up in throng as before (7)
|
UPS (prosperous people) + WARM (comfortable, well-to-do) UPS WARM |
UPSWARM (Shakespearean [as before] word for ‘to drive UP in a SWARM [throng])
|
|
23
|
Can’t stand being housed in cadet establishment (6)
|
DETEST (hidden word in [being housed] CADET ESTABLISHMENT) DETEST |
DETEST (hate intensely; can’t stand)
|
|
25
|
Large mustelines resided up round Scots town (6)
|
SAT (resided) reversed (up; down clue) containing (round) AYR (town on the west coast of Scotland) T (AYR) AS< |
TAYRAS (large South American members of the weasel family. The subfamily Mustelinae includes weasels and martens)
|
|
27
|
Feature of grapery is moved to the end of sightseeing excursion (5)
|
VISIT (sightseeing excursion) with the letters IS moved to the end VIT IS |
VITIS (grapevine genus of woody climbing plants of the family Vitaceae)
|
|
28
|
Jock’s fly open? See man (Mr) troubled with this in embarrassment (5)
|
BRAST (EMBARRASSMENT is a compound anagram [troubled] of the clue element SEE MAN MR and [with] the entry BRAST) EMBARRASSMENT* ——–> BRAST |
BRAST (Scottish [Jock] word for BURST [fly open])
|
|
30
|
Appear noble (4)
|
PEER (appear) PEER |
PEER (a noble) double definition
|
Thank you duncanshiell for your customary very lucid and sympathetic tabular analysis. And thanks to Azed for another skilfully contrived ‘workout’: a nice term which now seems established on this site for the mental equivalent of a gym session., reassuring for those of us who are deterred by temperament and advancing years from going anywhere near a physical gym.
I share the DS strategy of getting as far as possible (30 minutes minimum), before reaching for Chambers. And shared the experience, this week, of making relatively fast progress and only needing it at the end, to check some unfamiliar words most of which had been written in, pen not pencil, because they had to be right from the wordplay and the crossers, and sounded plausible. Stage 1: get on with it. Stage 2: Chambers. Stage 3, avoidable if possible (as this week): https://www.onelook.com/.
There may well be better aids to teasing out recalcitrant answers than the onelook site, and its bias is American, but I got used to it during time spent working in the US and try to use it anyway as only a last resort.
Having checked online that today brings another Plain, I look forward to collecting the paper from my corner shop when it opens and to another therapeutic workout. Long may the routine continue. Thanks again to DS (+ AZ) for stimulating these reflections.
Having been upbeat earlier @1, I might have known that things would go wrong again in the hard-copy Observer today, on a bigger scale than usual. Two entire columns are missing on the far right of the grid, so that clues appear for 9 and 10 and 26 down with nowhere to put the answers, and nine of the across answers have nowhere to put their last one or two letters. In a perverse way it added to the pleasure of the ‘workout’ to work out what had happened and to adjust and finish, before checking that the same had not happened online; but how many paper solutions will be sent in? Perhaps one can complete the grid with a strip of glued-on paper. We can await a leisurely half-apology next Sunday, perhaps with a full grid and an extended deadline. Or not.
Also, the print version does not tell us that two of the answers are not in Chambers.
Thanks for the warning, quenbarrow. I’d looked at a few of the clues but hadn’t looked at the grid yet. I’ve just printed off the online version to save having to draw my own grid.
Anyone else noticed that the AZED front page on-line still has the bit about Chambers not giceing two compunds, that referred to a puzzle of some weeks ago>
Goujeers is clearly right… I don’t think it’s breaking the site rules to say that the warning doesn’t seem relevant to this week’s puzzle.
Goujeers, as I’m down to blog today’s puzzle, many thanks for the warning about the grid. Does anyone else who takes the paper share my view that it would be better with the day’s puzzle on the right hand side, and the answer to the puzzle from three weeks ago on the left? It would certainly make it easier to cut out the puzzle before sending it in to the paper.
Sorry, that should be quenbarrow, not gougers, who pointed out the error in the grid.
The cavalier way in which the paper appears to treat Azed is so irritating.
I’d email The Observer’s crossword editor if I thought there was more than a 2% chance of a reply.
bridgesong @6: I completely agree about the layout of the page, and I know others who feel the same. Typical of the editorial disregard (cf Nila Palin @8) for this component of the paper. Just don’t stretch our loyalty too far!
I would have preferred to see the definition at 35ac using a past tense (eg ‘I kept tally of soldiers etc’) as MUSTER-MASTER is shown as ‘historical’ by both Chambers and OED, the latter also giving the rather fine MUSTERMASTERSHIP.
12ac was relatively unusual in that the ‘link’ (‘To be’) between the definition (‘given a thrashing’) and the wordplay (‘was taxing, we admitted’) appeared at the start of the clue. I’m not sure that the construction stands up to close scrutiny as I feel that the wordplay requires a verb in the active voice (eg ‘To be given a thrashing was taxing admits we’), but the clue certainly doesn’t seem unfair.
Amen to all comments about today’s diagram. I made the mistake of drawing extra grid-lines and writing in the two columns missing and can’t now read the clues to the earlier acrosses! At least it doesn’t quite match the Left/Right renumbering a while ago. I suppose the editors have a lot to do but it’s a shame for setter and solvers alike. Thanks to birdsong for the 2384 blog. Thought it a masterwork in precise cluing.
Sorry duncanshiell, I hadn’t my glasses on! Thanks for blog. on February 25th,
I found most of this pretty straightforward but then ground to a halt in the SE corner and made a right mess of 35ac to boot. Oh well.
On the Crossword Centre message board I have suggested that disaffected solvers bombard the Readers Editor at observer.readers@observer.co.uk. The online version is correct but we are suffering from production slip-ups at the newspaper (not Azed’s errors – he passes final proofs). Take an opportunity too to moan about the miserable space allocation and small print
totally agree with the frustration of the posts above… and have followed the suggestion of emailing the readers editor. The i inquisitor treats its solvers much better with a large and clear grid and i cant see why the Observer with the extra space isn’t willing to do the same! Solved a good part of this then gave up due to the frustration of having to create my own grid. Did just finish the Inquisitor to compensate for the disappointment ( but it was an easy one this week).