Azed 2453

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Apart from a couple of stragglers at the end, I found this very much on the easy end of the Azed scale. As usual the precise clueing makes even the more obscure answers eminently gettable, sometimes with a bit of educated guesswork helped by several decades’ experience of these puzzles. Thanks as ever to Azed.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
1. SAFE Peter, initially Simon, a symbol suggesting strength? (4)
S[imon] + A + FE (chemical symbol for iron, which suggests strength). Peter is slang for a safe.
4. STRESSOR Factor causing mental pressure and some distress, ordinarily (8)
Hidden in diSTRESS ORdinarily
11. PILLIWINKS Torturer’s instrument causing confusion, reversal of volition, and damaged skin (10)
PI (confusion) + reverse of WILL + SKIN* – it’s a kind of thumbscrew
12. ERUV Sabbath relaxation, socially acceptable in lax rev (4)
U (socially acceptable) in REV*
13. SAKER Highland search trapping adult falcon (5)
A[dult] in SKER – see 29a for a strange duplication
14. CURSENARY Questionable reading (hasty perhaps), an oath, not dialectal (9)
CURSE (oath) + NARY (not, in dialect) – cursenary (also seen as cursorary) is a questionable word in the original of Henry V, possibly intended to be “cursitory”=”cursory”=”hasty”
15. TREMIE Layer of e.g. bridge foundation, mass one encased in teak maybe (6)
M 1 in TREE. A tremie lays – i.e. is a layer of – concrete
16. KIEV Fried meat dish, last piece dropped in large tub (4)
KIEVE (a large tub) minus its last letter
18. AEROSTAT Balloon: one rotates up in the air (8)
A + ROTATES*
22. CALTRAPS Obstacles to troop movement, see, as of old including snare (8)
C + TRAP in ALS (old form of “as”)
24. ETNA A bit of a chanteuse, performing turn? I’m still active (4)
Hidden in reverse of chANTEuse. Mount Etna last erupted in December 2018
26. DRY ROT Party member, Communist (not English) returning, concealed decay (6, 2 words)
Reverse of TORY RED, less E
27. CHANTRIES From church one hears chapels where mass is sung (9)
CH + AN + TRIES (hears, as in court)
28. OIDIA Old, I’ll get help reversing fungal stages (5)
O + I + reverse of AID
29. SCUR Dogs bringing up rear in Scottish hunt (4)
CURS with the last letter moved to the front. This is a variant of SKER, as used in 13a
30. ENGENDRURE Former generation under regent mostly maltreated (10)
Anagram of (UNDER REGEN[T])
31. EGRESSES Ranks, first off, catching steamer departures (8)
SS (steamer) in [D]EGREES
32. FLED Investigator about end of trail disappeared (4)
[trai]L in FED (federal agent)
Down
1. SPECTATE Watch muscle, getting into condition (8)
PEC in STATE
2. AIR‑BREATHING Like jet engine, an article after breaking barrier mostly (12)
Anagram of BARRIE[R] + THING (article)
3. FLUTERS Terribly restful members of the wind section (7)
RESTFUL*
4. SI QUIS Public notice is put up – jokes following if page is missing (6, 2 words)
Reverse of IS + QUIPS less P
5. TWIRE Woman in old dress causing old-fashioned look (5)
W in TIRE (old form of “attire”)
6. RIKSMÅL Old Norwegian manuscript turning up, penned by ‘Karl’, I translated (7)
Reverse of MS in (KARL I)*. It’s a written form of the Norwegian language, mostly superseded (as I understand it) by Bokmål
7. ENSEW The old follow European directions (a full set) (5)
E + NSEW (all four of the cardinal points of the compass) – old form of “ensue” (follow)
8. SKANKY One accompanying king in blue, dirty and unattractive (6)
AN + K in SKY
9. OVEREXPOSURE Too much publicity proves roué deviously circling former partner (12)
EX in (PROVES ROUE)*
10. RORY Best on the pitch from international club? No thanks (4)
ROTARY (club) less TA. Rory Best is a Rugby player from Northern Ireland, apparently not related to the footballer George
17. VESTURED Once dressed in suit I’ve changed I twice discarded colour (8)
Anagram of SUIT I’VE, less both “I”s + RED
19. TARRIES Start of trouble with damaged Sierra causing delays (7)
T + SIERRA*
20. CARACUL Scots miser, one copper brought in, sheepish creature (7)
A CU in CARL (Scots miser)
21. RANINE Made rapid progress in English, regarding part of tongue (6)
RAN IN E
23. TREADS Damage to these? Road test may reveal that (6)
Composite anagram &lit: ROAD TEST is an anagram of TO TREADS
25. STAGS Dogs or deer (but not hens?) (5)
Triple definition – the first is from “to follow,dog, shadow”, though I suspect this comes from deer-stalking, making it rather close to the second definition; the third is from stag and hen parties
26. DIANE It often accompanies steak, one served in feast? (5)
A in DINE, referring to the dish Steak Diane, described by Wikipedia as having become “retro”
27. COPE Manage local exchange (4)
Double definition – to manage, and a dialect word for “to barter or exchange”

4 comments on “Azed 2453”

  1. quenbarrow
    #1 - Sun 23rd Jun 19, 05:22

    Thank to Andrew as well as Azed – your introductory lines are just right. On 10d RORY: if (admittedly a big if) you leave aside the Rugby player’s surname, it could work for another Ulsterman, the golfer Rory McIlroy, a skilled player of pitch shots to the green, and, even better, for Rory Stewart, Secretary for International Development, and still busy last weekend in pitching his case for the leadership: sadly no longer.

  2. shikasta
    #2 - Sun 23rd Jun 19, 13:38

    Thanks Andrew.  I was surprised to see Azed use WOMAN (singular) for W in 5d – as has been pointed out on 15^2 before, W stands for WOMEN (plural) but not the singular (at least in Chambers)

  3. Wil Ransome
    #3 - Mon 24th Jun 19, 11:27

    I’d have thought that in 10dn Azed was referring to Rory McIlroy. But I would say that, wouldn’t I, since I play golf. In my experience everyone refers to Rory McIlroy as Rory. Rory Best I’ve hardly heard of; is he known by rugby aficionados as Rory?

    And calling Rory McIlroy ‘Best on the pitch’ is the sort of clever wordplay that Azed often has.

  4. Marmite Smuggler
    #4 - Thu 27th Jun 19, 08:36

    I live half the world away, have little interest in sport and none at all in politics. So RORY, although it was obviously correct, was one I put down as a headscratcher. I did a little investigation on the Internet. I discovered that “Rory” is a very rude word indeed. This certainly didn’t sound like Azed but he can surprise you. Was it in one of the more recent editions of Chambers but not in mine? I tried to bend the clue to fit my new word. Yes, it’s likely that Rory would have a pitch, like a very good salesman, if he was going to be successful in his endeavours with the young and sex-crazed. You could even say that he would be the “best on the pitch”.

    But surely not. We’ll find out in a couple of weeks.

    Stefan

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