Azed 2477

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The last competition puzzle before the Chrtistmas special, and a fairly gentle one (after the initial hurdle of it not being available on the website till Monday). Thanks to Azed.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
1. SCUPPERS Does for college taking meals round (8)
C[ollege] in SUPPERS
11. POLEY What Jock would call humble, taking English in college (5)
E[nglish] in POLY (i.e. polytechnic, college – strange to have this twice in consecutive clues); poley and humble both mean “hornless” (of cattle), with humble being a Scotticism
12. SEROXAT Mixed up, so extra antidepressant required (7)
(SO EXTRA)*
13. RUCKS Folds in damask curtains partly drawn back (5)
Hidden in reverse of damaSK CURtains
14. ISTLE Man e.g. given time inside showing fibre (5)
T in ISLE (of Man)
15. MAUVAISE Like worthless demoiselle? One is clothed in purple (8)
A IS in MAUVE – feminine version of the French word for bad, worthless
16. THREE-D In a corner round piece of Hepplewhite is giving impression of depth (6)
H in TREED (cornered)
17. GINNEL Alley pub attracting set round (6)
INN in GEL – meaning an alleyway between houses; one of those words that are highly region-dependent: alternatives are snicket and ennog
19. WARPLANE Mosquito maybe making one swerve a little way (8)
WARP (to swerve) + LANE (a “little way”)
22. PISCATOR One landing fish in port wandering round Exeter once (8)
ISCA (Roman name for what is now Exeter, in full Isca Dumnoniorum) in PORT; ISCA and EXE are related names for the river, from an Celtic word for fish (also seen in Scottish Gaelic “iasg” and Irish “iasc”)
25. ATWAIN Like yoked pair formerly attached to cart (6)
AT (attached to) WAIN (cart)
26. PRAISE Laud is prelate? Let this become broadcast (6)
Composite anagram: (IS PRELATE)* = LET PRAISE
29. TRANSFIX Rivet I removed from rolling stock, wrong if twisted? (8)
TRAINS less Y + reverse of X (used to mark a wrong answer) + IF
31. HOTTY Desirable companion to have in bed, in more ways than one! (5)
Two slang meanings: a hot-water bottle and a sexually-attractive person
32. DONAT Primer applied on a table, omitting outer parts (5)
Hidden in applieD ON A Table; the surface suggests paint, but this primer is actually a grammar book
33. EPEEIST Fencing specialist providing what indicates parking in modified site (7)
PEE (a P indicates a place to park) in SITE*
34. AWETO Caterpillar seen in a rainy start to October (5)
A + WET + O[ctober]; rather gruesomely, it’s “the body of [a] caterpillar filled with a parasitic fungus, used to obtain a pigment” (and also as a traditional remedy)
35. PESTERER Person that’s brought round quantity of wood – he does go on so (8)
STERE (measure of timber) in PER[son]
Down
1. SPRAT‑WEATHER Dark days (12)
The competition word, referring to “the dark days of November and December” (a good time for catching sprats, apparently)
2. COUCHANT Reclining in care of frisky nautch (8)
C/O + NAUTCH*. In case you were wondering (as I was), nautch is “a traditional Indian dance performed by professional dancing girls”
3. ULCER Unsound element in awful ceramics (5)
Hidden in awfUL CERamics
4. PEKOE Dog receiving nothing for tea (5)
O in PEKE
5. ESPADA Matador from Spain with home in South America (6)
E (Spain) + PAD in SA
6. REPUGN Shakespearean to oppose type of theatre, waving gun (6)
REP (repertory theatre) + GUN*
7. HOSANNA Noah, poorly, hospital admitted – praise be! (7)
SAN (hospital) in NOAH*
8. EXTINCT Squashed kiss can, in flirting etc (7)
X (kiss) + TIN (can) in ETC*
9. PALS What deprives one of feeling, losing yen for friends? (4)
PALSY less Y[en]
10. STEEL ERECTOR E.g. title page in rewrite of Elstree Spiderman (12, 2 words)
RECTO (a right-hand page in a book, such as the title page would be) in ELSTREE*; a spiderman is steeplejack, or “a building worker who erects the steel structure of a tall building”. I’m slightly surprised that Chambers gives this as two words rather than hyphenated
18. ECOSTATE Like Adam after Eve’s arrival, in green mode of existence? (8)
ECO STATE; ecostate means “ribless” (from e-, denoting a lack, + costa = rib), though Adam presumably still had most of his left after God “took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof” to make Eve (Genesis 2:21-22)
20. REWATER Use another rose on art? We’re going crazy (7)
(ART WE’RE)* – to use another rose on your watering can would be to RE-WATER
21. PLANTER Early colonist in place before Roman river (7)
PL[ace] + ANTE (Latin “before”) + R
23. INFUSE Soak being employed to tackle opening of fizz (6)
F[izz] in IN USE (being employed)
24. SPIRTS Journey skywards on board fine jets (6)
Reverse of TRIP in SS (Steamship, so “on board”)
27. ALOWE J. Laurie’s ardent one giving him orders at Walmington? (5)
J[ohn] Laurie played Private Frazer in Dad’s Army, in which he would be given orders by Captain Mainwaring, played by A[rthur] LOWE. Alowe means “ablaze”; like Laurie/Frazer, from Scotland
28. INNER Late meal without starter? Pretty good shot (5)
[D]INNER – part of an archery target, or a shot that lands in it
30. ROPE Guy maybe – atop fire’s a fit one lit (4)
Another composite anagram: (ATOP FIRE)* = A FIT ROPE

3 comments on “Azed 2477”

  2. ^ Yes, that was great. Spotting the Arthur Lowe connection isn’t too hard, but using John Laurie to indicate the Scottish derivation so neatly is superb.

    Thanks to Azed, and Andrew (who found this one a much easier challenge than I did!).

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