A plain Azed this week
As usual, Azed has given us a mix of everyday and obscure words, all clearly clued.
I have probably come across the device used in 1259 before, but I had forgotten all about it until I said the number to myself as twelve fifty-nine.
There’s always going to be a composite anagram involving both the entry and words in at least one clue in an Azed crossword these days and we found such an example early on at 2 across to give DROOG
I liked the triple clue for SAID. I hadn’t really noticed the word ‘port’ in the clue until I came to write the blog and thought what purpose is that word playing?
I liked less the three uses of O in the wordplay as ring, egg and circle, although I may have missed something more subtle.
Once more, Azed has given us a challenging, but fair puzzle.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
| 2 | Habitual whore taken in, charged (10) |
TOM (prostitute; whore) contained in (taken in) ACCUSED (charged) ACCUS (TOM) ED |
ACCUSTOMED (habitual) |
| 11 | Rough desperado, broke? See hard-up —- possibly (5) |
This is one of Axed’s composite anagrams which combines the entry and some words in the clue. In this case ROUGH DESPERADO is a composite anagram of (possibly) SEE HARD UP from the clue and DROOG, the entry. DROOG |
DROOG (gang-member, specifically a violent hooligan of the type portrayed by Anthony Burgess in his novel A Clockwork Orange; rough desperado) |
| 13 | Full of Scotch? Follow course inside subterranean chamber (5) |
GO (follow course) contained in (inside) FOU (Scottish word for full or drunk) FO (GO) U |
FOGOU (man-made underground [subterranean] passage or chamber, found in Cornwall) |
| 14 | Feel blue fragments of Spode, undated (7) |
Anagram of (fragments of) SPODE + ND (not dated; undated) DESPO* ND |
DESPOND (lacking in hope; feeling blue) |
| 15 | Bit of mockery following bumpkin (5) |
F (following) + LOUT (bumpkin) F LOUT |
FLOUT (a jeer; a bit of mockery)
|
| 16 | White wine keeping cold cooper’s bottled (8) |
Anagram of (bottled) COOPER’S containing (keeping) C (cold) PROSEC (C) O* |
PROSECCO (Italian sparkling white wine) |
| 17 | Like personal tutorial in interpretation of 1259? (8) |
ONE TO ONE (1259 could be said as twelve fifty-nine and written as the time 12:59 or ONE minute TO ONE) ONE-TO-ONE |
ONE-TO-ONE (descriptive of a personal tutorial where a tutor teaches just ONE student) |
| 18 | Declared port special – top-notch date (4) |
There are two wordplays or definitions here SAID (reference to Egyptian city of Port SAID at the northern end of the Suez Canal) S (special) + A1 (excellent; top notch) + D (date) SAID or S AI D |
SAID (declared) |
| 19 | Muslim ruler having trouble with queen, creating watchtower (7) |
MIR (Muslim ruler) + ADO (trouble) + R (Regina; queen) MIR ADO R |
MIRADOR (belvedere or watchtower) |
| 25 | Worth a bet? Devotee rolled dice (7) |
FAN (devotee) + an anagram of (rolled) DICE FAN CIED* |
FANCIED (considered likely to win; something worth a bet) |
| 27 | Encouragement not genuine if debts are ignored? (4) |
SPURIOUS (not genuine) excluding (are ignored) IOUS (I owe yous; debts) SPUR |
SPUR (encouragement) |
| 28 | Memory trace a German’s fuzzily got about mark (8) |
Anagram of (fuzzily) A GERMAN containing (about) M (mark; former German currency) ENGRA (M) MA* |
ENGRAMMA (memory trace) |
| 30 | Non-standard church court? Abomination when it houses large car (8) |
HATE (object of hatred; abomination) containing (houses) LIMO (LIMOusine; large car) HA (LIMO) TE |
HALIMOTE (non-standard form of HALL-MOOT [normally a court of the lord of a manor; the court of a guild) as if a holy or church court) |
| 32 | Ring, dainty, kept in readiness (5, 2 words) |
O (letter shaped like a ring) + NICE (dainty) O N ICE |
ON ICE (kept, or waiting in readiness) |
| 33 | Does he offer dross to Brighton holidaymakers? (7) |
PIER (Brighton is a seaside resort with a PIER) + ROT (rubbish; dross) PIER ROT |
PIERROT (white-faced clown with loose long-sleeved garb; formerly, a member of a group of entertainers in similar dress at seaside resorts, such as Brighton. Presumably some PIERROTs could be poor entertainers [offering dross]) |
| 34 | Overseers won’t need diplomats for this ‘royal’ measure (5) |
FOREMEN (overseers) excluding (won’t need) FO (Foreign Office; home of the diplomatic corps) REMEN |
REMEN (unit of measurement used by the ancient Egyptians [equivalent to 52.4cm or 20.62in], also known as a royal cubit)
|
| 35 | Middle-easterner, an inhabitant abandoning branch of Buddhism (5) |
A (an) + DENIZEN (inhabitant) excluding (abandoning) ZEN ([originally] a Japanese branch of Buddhism [with various sects] which holds that the truth is not in scriptures but in a person’s own heart if they will only strive to find it by meditation and self-mastery) A DENI |
ADENI (an inhabitant of ADEN, a middle easterner) |
| 36 | The French in combat, secretive and showing little interest (10) |
LES (one of the French forms of ‘the’) contained in (in) (LISTS [the boundary of a jousting-ground or similar area, hence the ground itself, combat] + SLY [secretive]) LIST (LES) S SLY |
LISTLESSLY (showing little interest) |
| Down | |||
| 1 | Old remnant, not even what could give you chest room (12) |
ODD (not even) + an anagram of (what could give you) CHEST ROOM ODDCOMESHORT* |
ODDCOMESHORT (archaic [old] word for remnant) |
| 3 | Bashful about female, right? Irish chief could claim this (7) |
COY (bashful) containing (about) (SHE [female] + R [right]) CO (SHE R) Y |
COSHERY (the ancient right of an Irish chief to quarter himself and his retainers on his tenantry) |
| 4 | Optic activated with a sherry glass (6) |
Anagram of (activated) OPTIC + A COPIT* A |
COPITA (tulip-shaped sherry glass)
|
| 5 | Car accessory that’s transformed runs, but not without boodle (7) |
Anagram of (transformed) RUNS + OOF (money; boodle) SUNR* OOF |
SUNROOF (section in a car roof that can be slid open to admit light and air; car accessory) |
| 6 | Stir one’s own egg? (4) |
TOD (one’s own) + O (egg-shaped letter?) TO D O |
TO-DO (stir)
|
| 7 | Start journey switching parts as equivalent? (6) |
OFFSET (SET OFF [start journey] with the two component parts SET and OFF switched round [switching parts] to form OFFSET) OFFSET |
OFFSET (thing set off against another as equivalent or compensation) |
| 8 | Annoyance created by spies over time (6) |
MOLES (spies) + T (time) – this being a down entry the letters of MOLES are placed over the letter T MOLES T |
MOLEST (as a noun, an annoyance) |
| 9 | Monkey at home on eastern ogee moulding (7) |
DOUC (a variegated monkey of SE Asia) + IN (home) + E (eastern) DOUC IN E |
DOUCINE (cyma recta [an ogee moulding of the cornice]) |
| 10 | Teaching oneself, caution mostly abandoned, about performed play (12) |
Anagram of (abandoned) CAUTION excluding the final letter (mostly) N containing (about) DID ACT (performed play) AUTO (DID ACT) IC* |
AUTODIDACTIC (teaching oneself) |
| 12 | Ordure entirely engulfs this west-country ditch (4) |
REEN (hidden word in [engulfs] ORDURE ENTIRELY) REEN |
REEN (Somerset etc [west-country] term for a ditch or watercourse |
| 20 | If old, needing drive round – pick from list (7) |
AN (an archaic [old] form of ‘if’) contained in (needing … round) IMPEL (drive) IMP (AN) EL |
IMPANEL (alternative spelling of EMPANEL [to select [pick] a jury from a list of potential members) |
| 21 | Alexander’s specialty, making the trounced migrate (7) |
Anagram of (trounced) MIGRATE RAGTIME* |
RAGTIME (reference Alexander’s RAGTIME Band, song by Irving Berlin) |
| 22 | ‘Whaup’ indicates my breed, relatively easily located (those heading here)? (7) |
WIMBREL (first letters of each of [those heading here] WHAUP, INDICATES, MY, BREED, RELATIVELY, EASILY and LOCATED) WIMBREL |
WIMBREL (Little Whaup, species of small curlew. The curlew itself is also known as the Great Whaup. The bird can also be spelled WHIMBREL) |
| 23 | Quotations? Royal personages editing number out (6) |
PRINCES (royal personages) excluding (editing … out) N (number) PRICES |
PRICES (quotations) |
| 24 | E.g. lute pieces among what’s transposed etc. (6) |
MEN (pieces [in chess, for example]) contained in (among) an anagram of (transposed) ETC CE (MEN) T* |
CEMENT (LUTE can be defined as clay, cement or other material used as a protective covering)
|
| 26 | Gypsies, international, in a pack? (6) |
I (international) contained in (in) CARDS (reference a pack of CARDS) CA (I) RDS |
CAIRDS (gypsies) |
| 29 | January perhaps for writers? Flash forward (4) |
MO (moment; flash) + ON (forward) MO ON |
MOON (literary term [writers] for month, of which January is one example) |
| 31 | Stone circle, circuit erected (4) |
O (letter shaped like a circle) + LAP (circuit) reversed (erected; down clue) O PAL< |
OPAL (precious stone) |
It’s a bit quiet here – obviously nothing controversial or outstanding in the crossword – so I’m just popping in to say thank you, Duncan, for the blog.
As usual, I’ve a completed grid from last week but little memory of how I got there. I see there were three that I didn’t understand, so thanks for the explanation. I didn’t get the 1259 reference, and I couldn’t see where ADENI came from. 29dn I was wondering if it had anything to do with to moon, as in to flash ones buttocks.
I feel that would be ‘flash backward’ rather than ‘flash forward’, unless one were blessed with outstanding gymnastic prowess.
I liked 6d, To-do. I remember Richard Rogan being in two minds about my use of egg for ‘o’ in a Times clue-writing competition two or three years ago. I’m sure I’d come across it a few times before that, but this Azed was the first time I’ve seen it for ages.
REEN was a good hidden. For what it’s worth, in Newport, South Wales, we referred to the stream next to our school as ‘the reen’. Not that far from Somerset, admittedly.
In the same spirit as Brian-with-an-eye @1: thank you to Duncan, and to Azed. Nothing this week to stimulate debate in the manner of last week (26 comments). I was held up for a time by 17ac partly by the subtlety of the device, partly, as quite often, by the failure to indicate hyphens – not a set convention for barred crosswords, since The Spectator does always indicate them. Then the one-to-one answer called up the memory of two lines in a Seuss-type children’s book from long ago (which I can’t track down online: maybe someone can oblige, if there still is anyone out there)
And trains from Portland, Maine, are due / At two-to-two, and two-two, too
No problem here with ‘egg’ for O – Chambers gives ‘egg’ as “anything shaped like a hen’s egg”. Assuming that we accept ‘duck’ = O (which I would suggest we all do), then we must surely also accept the (original) longer form “duck’s egg” as representing an ‘O’, and while I’m no oologist I think that in shape if not size a duck’s egg and a hen’s egg are pretty similar, so there we go…
Just to chip in. Thanks, as always, to Azed and to duncanshiell for his detailed blog.
As usual nowadays it took me a day or so to find time to complete (approaching Christmas time gets squeezed) but perhaps there were fewer outlandish words here as it was never a chore. 1259 was a nice little numerical twist and the bonus second definition fro SAID was neat.
Coming very late to this party, but can someone offer a simpler explanation for DROOG (2 across)? I’ve now read the explanation in the paper and the one here and I still have not the slightest idea how the answer was arrived at.
Thank-you.
To start with, let me say that this is a long way from being one of Azed’s finest clues.
Rough desperado, broke? See hard-up —— possibly. Where an extended (double-em) dash appears in an Azed clue, it is to be replaced by the solution, the idea being that this will complete the clue by producing both a valid wordplay and a sentence which when read as a whole appears complete and makes sense because of the specific word which has been inserted. So here we get “Rough desperado, broke? See hard-up droog possibly” – as regards wordplay, a rearrangement (‘broke’, =broken) of the letters ROUGH DESPERADO could produce (‘possibly’) SEE HARD-UP DROOG; regarding a meaningful sentence, a ”nasty ruffian without money” (‘rough desperado, broke’) could very well be described as a ‘hard-up droog’ but not as, say, ‘a hard-up boat’ (makes no sense at all) or a ‘hard-up parson’ (bears no obvious relation to the ‘rough desperado’)
A clearer example of this type of clue (a composite anagram &lit containing a blank) would be something like D. Appleton’s entry for Azed competition 2,218 (FOREIGNER):
After break-up ‘good German friend’ could become ‘goddamn ——’
I hope that helps!
You must think me very rude for not thanking you sooner, DRC, but still, ‘thank-you’.
And, yes, I can see how it works now. I just had never heard of this ‘put the answer into the clue’ mechanism before. I only buy an Observer once in a blue moon so don’t get much practice with Azeds.