What is there left to say? Thank you Azed for yet another interesting puzzle.
Apologies for the late arrival of the blog, I messed up with the scheduled publish time.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | OLD-FOGEYISH | Like a blimp, is held goofy, wacky (11) |
| anagram (wacky) of IS HELD GOOFY | ||
| 12 | BARONIAL | Albion recreated, with a king in residence, Balmoral-style? (8) |
| anagram (recreated) containing (with…in residence) A R (rex, king) | ||
| 13 | CLARY | Herb, ?rst of row planted in the earth (5) |
| Row (first letter of) inside CLAY (the earth) | ||
| 14 | DULY | Lord going over year, as is proper (4) |
| LUD (lord) reversed (going over) then Y (year) – proper can be used informally as an adverb | ||
| 15 | RAPIDS | Fish caught by rafter thrown back where rafter has fun? (6) |
| ID (fish) inside (caught by) SPAR (rafter) reversed (thrown back) | ||
| 16 | OKAYED | Cheese dairymaid sent back as approved (6) |
| OKA (cheese) then DEY (dairymaid) reversed (sent back) | ||
| 17 | AMANDINE | A chap to treat to a meal? Fragrant candle required (8) |
| A MAN (chap) then DINE (to treat to a meal) | ||
| 19 | TOUT | Bairn’s sudden illness – maybe he’s caught a touch of urosis (4) |
| TOT (he, a bairn) contains (has caught) Urosis (first letter, a touch of) – bairn’s… indicates that the word is Scots | ||
| 21 | BRAISE | Sea bream to stew slowly (6) |
| double definition | ||
| 22 | CASQUE | Queen, as a precaution (one might suppose) seen in helmet (6) |
| QU in CASE (queen in case, as a precaution) | ||
| 24 | PLUS | Place where Trump holds sway – positive? (4) |
| PL (place) then US (where Trump holds sway) | ||
| 26 | CAGOULES | Caul goes ?oppy as waterproof wear (8) |
| anagram (floppy) of CAUL GOES | ||
| 28 | CATNAP | Summit round volcano, once head’s blown, in brief period of dormancy (6) |
| CAP (summit) contains (round) eTNA (volcano) missing first letter (once head’s blown) | ||
| 29 | ALPINI | Troops active in plain? Number not seen there (6) |
| anagram (active) of IN PLAIn missing N (number) | ||
| 31 | AMID | Surrounded by help accepting little money (4) |
| AID (help) contains (accepting) M (money, little=abbreviation) | ||
| 32 | PAEON | Farm worker with a trapped foot (5) |
| PEON (farm worker) containing (with…trapped) A | ||
| 33 | RIGADOON | Frolic with difficulty just after lively dance (8) |
| RIG (frolic) with ADO (difficulty) ON (just after) | ||
| 34 | CHRONOMETER | Crone falling out with mother: one may sound alarm (11) |
| anagram (falling out) of CRONE with MOTHER – an alarm clock perhaps | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | LA-LA | To accompany wordlessly, one’s joining in quite uplifted (4) |
| A (one) inside (joining in) ALL (quite) reversed (uplifted) | ||
| 3 | DIAPAUSE | Once satisfied, given a boost, exercise suspended animation (8) |
| APAID (satisfied, once=obsolete) reversed (given a boost, sent up) then USE (exercise) | ||
| 4 | FORINT | Filler by the ton included to bulk out stronghold (6) |
| IN (included, as an addition or inclusion) inside (to bulk out) FORT (stronghold) – 1 forint is 100 filler, Hungarian currency | ||
| 5 | GAP SITE | Holiday house including heated pool going up in vacant lot (7, 2 words) |
| GITE (holiday house) contains SPA (heated pool) reversed (going up) | ||
| 6 | ERGON | Business in Athens, so new (5) |
| ERGO (so) N (new) | ||
| 7 | YONKERS | It may accommodate NY-ers, OK? (7) |
| it (the solution) is an anagram of (may accommodate the letters) NY-ERS OK – a district of New York | ||
| 8 | INDABA | I must give way to muscle in major country conference (6) |
| INDiA (major country) with I being replaced by AB (muscle) | ||
| 9 | HALER | Unit of currency increasingly robust (5) |
| double definition | ||
| 10 | FLY-DRESSING | What some anglers may master, habit in brief (very) (11) |
| DRESS (habit) inside FLYING (very brief) | ||
| 11 | SCRATCHCARD | Nick and Jack may reveal you’ve won a prize (11) |
| SCRATCH (nick) and CARD (Jack perhaps) | ||
| 18 | SILLIEST | Makes one’s bed among the dregs, dafter than the rest (8) |
| LIES (makes one’s bed) inside SILT (dregs) | ||
| 20 | BUCARDO | Goat you won’t see any more, young one having turned up on road, squashed (7) |
| CUB (young one) reversed (having turned up) on anagram (squashed) of ROAD – an extinct species of goat | ||
| 21 | BUGABOO | Half crazy with sign of plague around – zero cause of anxiety (7) |
| GAga (crazy, half of) inside (with…around) BUBO (sign of plague) then O (zero) | ||
| 23 | QINDAR | Another currency unit (one rand oddly with head of queen on)! (6) |
| anagram (oddly) of I (one) RAND following (with…on) Queen (first letter, head of) | ||
| 24 | PUPATE | To reach an intermediate stage, young pet was tucking in (6) |
| PUP (young pet) then ATE (was tucking in) | ||
| 25 | GAMIC | Sexual frolic unending, I see (5) |
| GAMe (frolic, unending) then I C (see, name of letter) | ||
| 27 | APRON | Thrust stage? No amateur appears in one (5) |
| PRO (no amateur) inside AN (one) – an area of a stage extending into the auditorium | ||
| 30 | NODE | Doze off before end of anecdote, point where it gets complicated (4) |
| NOD (doze off) then anecdotE (end letter of) – a turning point in a story | ||
Thanks to Azed and PeeDee.
I am always full of things to comment on when I do the puzzle on a Sunday, all of which are completely forgotten a week later. One thing I did notice, however, was that bubo and bucardo are consecutive entries in Chambers – a small clue to Azed’s setting process perhaps (although it is entirely possible he knows the entire dictionary off by heart).
3 down DIAPAUSE
Paid reversed gives you DIAP
Exercise gives you USE
What gives you the A in the middle?
I think it’s APAID for once satisfied. Chambers gives apay as archaic for satisfy.
Thanks Norman and Dormouse for pointing out my error in DIAPUASE. Fixed now.