A straightforward Azed offering…
…which nonetheless took two or three sittings to complete and parse satisfactorily.
It took me a while to see the parsing of NABS and OOSE in particular, although most of the longer clues were immediately obvious. I had one query – see 16dn.
I also wonder if the Len Hutton – Cyril Washbrook partnership at 23ac is a bit niche for general solving?
Thanks, Azed.
| Across | ||
| 1 | BULLSHOT | Cocktail, strong, host mixed (8) |
| BULL (“strong”) + *(host) | ||
| 7 | CALP | Limestone and carbon found on mountain pasture (4) |
| C(arbon) found on ALP (“mountain pasture”) | ||
| 10 | ANTIPHONER | Book of anthems: intone with harp (transposed) (10) |
| *(intone harp) | ||
| 11 | SIPE | Steepish turns? Partly – this helps with road-holding (4) |
| Hidden backwards in “steEPISh” | ||
| 12 | DRACO | Love following e.g. Queen around – star group (5) |
| O (“love”) following <=CARD (“e.g. Queen”, around) | ||
| 14 | SQUITCH | School briefly taking leave in grass (7) |
| SCH(ool) taking QUIT (“leave”) | ||
| 17 | STURNIDAE | Family of birds use art weaving round nest as of old (9) |
| *(use art) round NID (“nest” of old) | ||
| 18 | CARB | Vehicle with breadth reduced for engine part (4) |
| CAR (“vehicle) with B(readth, reduced) | ||
| 20 | STADIA | Large venues made of stone with return of opera (6) |
| ST(one) + <=AIDA (return of “opera”) | ||
| 21 | ORDURE | Muck streamed without limits at road’s edges (6) |
| (p)OURE(d) (“streamed” without limits) at RD (“road”)’s edges. | ||
| 23 | LENS | Cyril’s partner often succeeded, making contact? (4) |
| LEN (“Cyril’s partner often”) + S(ucceeded)
Cyril Washbrook was oftening the opening batting partner of Len Hutton, one of England’s greatest batsmen. |
||
| 24 | RIDGEBACK | Hunting dog mauled sick badger, second dispatched (9) |
| *(ick badger) | ||
| 27 | ACHERON | River with ‘pain’ applied about it (7) |
| R(iver) with ACHE (“pain”) + ON (“applied”) and &lit.
Acheron or “river of woe” was one of the five rivers of the Greek underworld. |
||
| 29 | ANEAR | Old-fashioned approach, one attracting attention (5) |
| AN (“one”) attracting EAR (“attention”) | ||
| 30 | TOLA | Measure of precious metals – plenty showing return (4) |
| <= A LOT (“plenty”, showing return)
A tola was a measure of bullion in India and South Asia. |
||
| 31 | TRANCED-OUT | Zonked by electronic music entirely gripping wild dancer (10) |
| TOUT (“entirely”) gripping *(dancer) | ||
| 32 | OOSE | Scots down: no score, and English accordingly making comeback (4) |
| O (“no score”) + <= (E(nglish) + SO(“accordingly”), making comeback) | ||
| 33 | CLERKESS | She keeps the books, reckless when going wrong (8) |
| *(reckless) | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | BUSS | Two-master, British/American ship (4) |
| B(ritish) + USS (“American ship” as in USS Indianapolis) | ||
| *2 | UBIQUARIAN | Found everywhere (10) |
| Azed wants you to clue this one. | ||
| 3 | LAP UP | Take in enthusiastically what’s post-larval? The reverse (5, 2 words) |
| <= PUPAL (“what’s post-larval”) | ||
| 4 | STUTTERED | Speak in service once? Was hesitant doing so (9) |
| UTTER (“speak”) in STED (“service”, once, an archaic version of “stead”) | ||
| 5 | HICCUP | A glitch, this, one’s lot in life (6) |
| HIC (“this”) + CUP (“one’s lot in life”) | ||
| 6 | OPAH | Fish – a shop serves more than one, battered (4) |
| *(a shop) would give us OPAHS (“more than one”) | ||
| 7 | CORDIAL | Warm crumbs on one’s face (7) |
| COR (“crumbs”) on DIAL (“one’s face”) | ||
| 8 | ANAL | Uptight, as identified by first half of session on couch? (4) |
| First half of ANAL(ysis) (“session on couch”) | ||
| 9 | PROTEASE | Enzyme causing decay in legumes (8) |
| ROT (“enzyme”) in PEASE (“legumes”) | ||
| 13 | CHAIN BOLTS | Escape being fettered? Shipwrights may have fixed such (10, 2 words) |
| BOLT (“escape”) in CHAINS (i.e. fettered) | ||
| 15 | ANTICHLOR | Pulp cleanser made from thin coral (9) |
| *(thin coral)
According to the BRB, an antichlor is a substance used in paper-making to free the pulp from the last traces of free chlorine. |
||
| 16 | SCORDATO | Production of Tosca includes beginning once rendered dissonant (8) |
| *(tosca) includes O(nce) R(endered) D(issonant)
“Dissonant” seems to be doing double duty here unless Azed intends this to be & lit. My knowledge of classical music doesn’t extend far enough to know whether the beginning of Tosca is considered to be disssonant. |
||
| 19 | BUGGANE | Evil spirit began flying around – loathe being trapped by it (7) |
| *(began) with UG (“loathe”) being trapped by it. | ||
| 22 | FACADE | Fellow over a barrel? That’s what the world sees (6) |
| F(ellow) over A CADE (“barrel”) | ||
| 25 | WROTE | Week’s routine put on paper (5) |
| W(eek) + ROTE (“routine”) | ||
| 26 | TEAS | China etc with time assuming dominance in the Orient (4) |
| EAST (“Orient”) with T assuming dominance (i.e. rising to the top) | ||
| 27 | AXEL | Kiss in meadow coming up – and spectacular leap (4) |
| X (“kiss”) in <=LEA (“meadow”, coming up) | ||
| 28 | NABS | Head twice (at least) catches a person absent after noon (4) |
| ABS (“a person absent”) after N(oon) | ||
*anagram
Thanks for the blog, loonapick.
In 16d, ‘beginning once’ = ORD. I think Azed would use ‘beginning of’ rather than just ‘beginning’ to indicate the first letter of a word, and ‘beginnings of’ to indicate the first letters of more than one word.
Failed to get the CYRIL clue (i thought it might be a Greek mythology, opera or show biz clue. I know of Hutton and Washbrook, but just didn’t think of them. Defeated by NABS also.
Thanks, loonapick. I’ve been waiting all week for an explanation of CHAIN BOLTS. And while I could see that 23a must be LENS I had no idea which Cyril was involved (I think it is too niche fwiw), and, more embarrassingly, couldn’t see how LENS could mean CONTACT. How shortsighted of me.
There are 3 separate definitions preceding the wordplay in the NABS clue.
Like probably almost everyone else I had to google Cyril’s partner. Azed knows his cricket and expects us to know it too!
Matthew @1 – that makes sense. I’ll amend later when I’m at a PC.
Richard Heald @4
I meant to underline “catches” as well. What’s the third definition?
28ac PERSON is the third NABS. The answer is just ABS. after NOON.
Surely the most remarkable clue in this puzzle is that for 22dn (“Fellow over a barrel? That’s what the world sees”), which features an element so unexpected that I had to check that Azed’s name was indeed above the crossword…
DRC, I don’t see what’s so un-Azed about 22 down? Perhaps there’s a double entendre in there which my innocent mind would never see?
I too had to look up the Cyril reference. I’m interested in cricket but that was before my time!
Well, it looks like a very ordinary clue (and any double entendre was lost on me too!). But I can say with confidence that in the 2,411 preceding Azed crosswords (and the 80,000+ associated clues) you will not find a wordplay where ‘Fellow’ is used to indicate ‘F’ (I’ve checked the last couple of hundred just to reassure myself). In an early (1972) slip he wrote:
“Another device which cropped up more than once for some reason was F as an abbreviation for ‘fellow’. Chambers gives this but only as part of a longer abbreviation, e.g. F.R.C.S., F.R.A., etc. If one is to allow F for fellow, one should logically accept R = royal, A = academy, and so on. This I cannot do. It seems to me to open the door to all sorts of bogus abbreviated equivalents.”
He consistently rejected the abbreviation if used in competition entries, but in 2011 came the first sign that he could be weakening:
“Chambers gives ‘R’ as an abbreviation for ‘River’ (not ‘river’), presumably on the grounds that it is used on maps followed by the name of the river in question, but there seems to be a long-established and widely accepted convention among crossword setters, myself included, that R/r = river is OK. Inconsistencies linger, none the less. Following some ancient Ximenean pronouncement, I have always nurtured a dislike of, for example, F = Fellow (or fellow), in that it is only really used as the first initial in a longer string, e.g. FRS, FRCP, etc, though this is not significantly different to the R = River/river example.”
And in 2014 his resistance in relation to competition entries collapsed:
“I have been thinking quite a lot recently about my attitude to the use in clues (mine as well as yours) of abbreviations. As I think many of you know, I have long opposed the use of certain abbreviations, such as F = Fellow (the capital is important), on the grounds that though they are listed in Chambers in isolation, they only really occur as part of longer abbreviations, e.g. FRS, FRCP, etc. But I am uncomfortably aware that in allowing other comparable abbreviations I am guilty of inconsistency, and am resolved (not without some trepidation, admittedly) to accept in clues submitted any abbreviation given in C, or indeed in any reputable dictionary.”
Since then, he has accepted the abbreviation in two published competition entries. But to actually include it in one of his own clues? Remarkable!
This could get complicated. F for FEMALE. C defines in one instance FELLOW as “one of a pair, a mate’ and several other dubious references to partners. So a blokes fella could be his wife?
Well, well – I’d never have picked that one up! Thanks for the background. Interesting stuff.
I think we can all agree that abbreviations which only occur as part of longer abbreviations (such as O for opera, as in ROH or ENO) are a no-no unless they’re lexicographically justified as stand-alone abbreviations too. In this particular case Chambers isn’t helpful, giving it gives it as Fellow (of a society, etc) – does that mean it can stand on its own or not?
I would say (and others may well differ) that the quote from Azed in the final sentence of your penultimate paragraph is the best possible resolution, even if it is a compromise. But let’s not forget that some of the abbreviations given in Chambers probably only ever occur in crosswords: does anyone really use a = about or even g = good (except as part of VG) in real life?
Talking about abbreviations, this always mistifys me, like found hanging from the ceilings in hospitals and such like:
ENT
Ear, nose and throat
Why the hell have a big sign with the abbreviation and what it stands for? Imagine the extra cost!
I hope I wasn’t the only one to find Ubiquarian a headache to clue!
Perhaps most of you already know, but Azed is the subject of the latest Meet the Setter in Guardian online:
https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/crossword-blog/2018/sep/06/crossword-blog-meet-the-setter-azed
Nika, I I agree. I got a far as ‘Centers of Rubik cube face in a mess…’ but after messing about with this gave up after finding no way to work in the definition.
Nila, even. Sorry. Bloody Android tablet changes words without you noticing. I cannot find a way to turn that off.
Nick, the clue I submitted involved an anagram indicator that I agonised over for a while, not being able to find it in the Azed archive. Would you believe it turns up as an anagrind in today’s puzzle?! (I can’t go into detail as it’s a live puzzle.)
I think it’s high time the lists of abbreviations in Chambers had a major overhaul. It’s baffling to me that M = medium and XL = extra large are both there, but not S = small or L = large. And when was the last time anyone used A as an abbreviation for America(n), Australia(n), about, absent, accepted, acting, advance or afternoon?
In principle I agree with Richard but I suspect that clues, especially for advanced puzzles, would become easier as a result of such a clear-out. With fewer abbreviations to play with, we’d get get the same ones used more frequently, and setters would have to rely more often on “first of this” and “last of that” constructions.
It’s noticeable that in crosswords from the past there was far less reliance on single letters, but then again the surface readings and cryptic grammar were rather less polished than we (mostly) get today. Swings and roundabouts!
Thanks for explaining 23ac – I knew Len Hutton, but not that Washbrook was Cyril, so was trying to find someone more recent. I tend to agree about single-letter abbreviations, but concur with the thoughts of cruciverbophile@18
Cruciverbophile, the major overhaul I suggest wouldn’t necessarily result in fewer abbreviations. There are many commonly used abbreviations absent from Chambers – such as W, D and L for won, drawn and lost – that I think warrant inclusion, and with each passing year new examples emerge, so I can’t see the harm in ditching some of the more abstruse and outdated ones. It’s frustrating, when I try to explain advanced crosswords to newbies, to be asked e.g. why ‘afternoon’ means A yet ‘morning’ doesn’t mean M, and the only answer I can give is: “I don’t know, it just does.”
Richard, when you put it like that you’ll get no argument from me. If we’re talking about replacement rather than a major cull that’s fine with me. One would only hope that the new abbreviations would give the opportunity for fair misdirection, in the way that acting and advanced look like verbs when in reality they represent adjectives. Of course won, drawn and lost are used quite regularly in some daily puzzles, and won is already in Chambers, but only as the Korean currency.
An interesting discussion.
Richard, I completely agree – if Chambers’ editors were to get rid of the accumulated detritus, resolve the obvious inconsistencies (to recognise a chestnut colt but not a bay filly seems like discrimination on two counts) and include a range of abbreviations in common use, I suspect there would be little net change in overall numbers – for instance I would see L gaining ‘large’, ‘long’, ‘lost’ and ‘live’ (have the editors never wired an electric plug?) at the very least. It is surely high time that the dross was cleared out – of the words which you list that Chambers shows under A (or a), all of which have been present through many editions, the only one given by OED is Australian, in the context of £A for Australian pounds. I think we need to lobby the publishers on this one…
DRC, L = long was in Chambers when I started solving Azed in the 90s but for some reason it was removed. Here’s another oddity: the infamous 13th edition (the one that omitted all the words highlighted in the 12th) contained only one brand new single-letter abbreviation. What was it? B = bastard. I can’t help wondering whether the persons responsible for that edition were drunk on duty …
Out of interest, in what context does L stand for long? I’m guessing trouser or dress length but I don’t recall ever seeing it.
I tried to use R for regular and S for short in puzzles I’ve compiled and was told by my proof tester that these were not “established” abbreviations. I questioned it at the time as surely if they are in everyday use (as they are if you ever go clothes shopping), they should be fair game. New solvers must get confused at what does and does not constitute an acceptable abbreviation.
DRC – depending on the age of the editors, I doubt anyone under the age of 30 wouldn’t have even taken the back off a plug, let alone wire one!
Thanks (as always) to Azed and to loonapick. Thanks too to DRC @9 for the diligent search of Azed’s evolving views on “partial” abbreviations. Lesser compilers annoy by using “bachelor” for B though I’m not sure whether Who’s Who might use it. If so would “spinster” be S?. In normal circles it’s only a bachelor of Arts, Science or Divinity. The suggestion of pruning abbreviations would certainly make compilers’ work harder. I doubt whether G as stand-alone “good” would go as anyone whose ever written a school report will agree. Ther are a lot fewer VG’s.
I do remember Washbrook, though am not sure he was Len Hutton’s most frequent opening partner. Cook will be useful to future compiler cricket-lovers. What a way to finish a test career! Though there won’t be many well-remembered partners.
Another example of inconsisitency in initialisms came up 3 or 4 weeks ago on the Times crossword forum. A cryptic puzzle had “daughters” to indicate ‘d’, despite no dictionary support for that. It threw me at the time because there were two d’s in the solution, but one of them was already accounted for elsewhere in the clue.
Anyway, it turned out that d for daughters has been used in the Times before and the solver just has to get used to it. Perfectly logical of course when Chambers et al give ‘s’ for son or sons, but another reason for an overhaul of single letter definitions perhaps.
I have sent a mail to Chambers suggesting that they might want to consider a review of the abbreviations in the Big Red Book, in particular the single-letter ones…