Azed 2483

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Not too hard on the Azed scale, but as always I leaned some new words (most of which I will probably forget until the next time they tirne up) and a few interesting facts. Thanks to Azed.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
1. ASTRAGALUS Bone in a truss, tight, a girl’s broken (10)
A GAL in (A TRUSS)*; googling the word mostly gives information about a plant, but it’s also an alternative name for the talus bone in the foot
12. BELABOUR Identify with Corbynite strike vigorously (8)
BE [a member of the] LABOUR [party]
13. SOGGY Shelled eggs in sauce, too liquid? (5)
[e]GG[s] in SOY
14. CHOSE Went for madame’s article (5)
Double definition – CHOSE is French for “thing”, or “article”
15. BLUETTE Lively little piece tutee played with behind library? (7)
B[ritish] L[ibrary] + TUTEE. Bluette is a French word meaning a spark or flash, and by extension a short playful piece of music. It doesn’t seem to be related to the colour blue, or the Blues as in music, (though there’s a jazz piece by Dave Brubeck that uses the name); it’s actually from a root meaning “white”, cognate to beluga (as in the white whale) and the first part of the name Belarus (= “White Russia”)
16. HITHE River landing that’s nearer when river’s diverted (5)
HITHER (nearer) less R. Found in placenames such as Rotherhithe
18. SOUVENIRS Aussie purloins small amounts when about to arrive in Paris (9)
VENIR (French to come, arrive) in SOUS (small amounts: also French); to souvenir is Australian slang for purloin or steal
20. SINTER Geyser deposit consisting of sulphur to treat as landfill? (6)
S + INTER (bury, treat as landfill)
21. ZEBU Creature protected in India? Some sterilize bullocks (4)
Hidden in steriliZE BUllocks – it’s a kind of Asian cattle, so presumably treated as a sacred cow in India
23. TEIN Currency piece from Italy in basic decimal unit (4)
I in TEN – minor currency unit of Kazakhstan
25. CAESAR Delivery of a kind, a scare when batting (6)
(A SCARE)* – as in Caesarean section
27. IMPELLANT Driving force that gets pitman moving about a yard and a bit (9)
ELL (unit of length, about 45 inches) in PITMAN*
28. FESTA Holiday wandering in Far East (not Arabia) (5)
Anagram of FAR EAST less AR. It seems a pity that the anagram is of FEAST, which is essentially the same word
30. PLEROME Potential energy holding fungus back, from which plant growth starts (7)
Reverse of MOREL in PE
32. ORNIS Bird population of a county, not trapped by children (5)
[c]ORNIS[h]
33. RISER Endless danger, tyre half gone from rear, no tread (5)
RIS[k] + reverse of [ty]RE – riser and tread are contrasting parts of a staircase
34. ROAD TEST Damage to treads – cause for failing this? (8, 2 words)
(TO TREADS)*
35. PASTEURISM A pie of suet protected by solid form of inoculation (10)
A + SUET* in PRISM
Down
2. SKOLLIE SA hoodlum cheers stretcher (7)
SKOL (toast – cheers) + TIE
3. TEGU Lizard skin half shed (4)
Half of TEGUment
4. REGEST Early record from Queen brought up former romance (6)
Reverse of ER + GEST – Miltonian word for a register
5. GESTURAL Like a physical signal, a mixture of rage and lust (8)
(RAGE LUST)*
6. ALME Dancer Ida dismissed by London theatre (4)
ALME[ida]
7. LACHES Legal negligence ending in funeral is painful (6)
[funera]L + ACHES
8. SOOTIEST Muddy tootsies, dirtier than the rest (8)
TOOTSIES*
9. LUSH Drunk a little red (not opening barrels) (4)
BLUSH less B[arrels]
10. TREE SURGERY Caring for woods etc, hear about sudden increase in sandpipers? (11, 2 words)
REE SURGE in TRY (hear)
11. ASBESTIFORM Foam bits’re crumbling round square of discredited insulation (11)
S (square) in (FOAM BITS’RE)*
17. SNIP-SNAP Quick chat and drinks during break in card game (8)
NIPS (drinks) in SNAP (card game)
19. VOCALISE Head of finance in love is unusually articulate (8)
CA (Chief Accountant) in (LOVE IS)*
22. BAMMERS Coofs trapping French lady in brasseries (7)
MME (Madame) in BARS. Coof and bammer are both Scots words for a fool; bammer is a variant of bampot or barmpot
24. BLASTS British girl swallowing last of pot in US rave-ups (6)
B + [po]T in LASS
26. ETRIER English name for Trèves: it’s familiar to mountaineers (6)
E + TRIER (formerly known in English as Trèves); an etrier is a short rope ladder used in mpountaineering
29. EROS Popular circus character, hard up (4)
Reverse of SORE (hard) – the “circus character” is the famous statue in Piccadilly Circus, usually called Eros, though it actually depicts his brother Anteros
30. PYET Burnsian pie, still with a bit of pastry on it (4)
P[astry] + YET
31. OSSI One beyond the wall once lives well, having climbed up (4)
Reverse of IS SO – slang for an East German

5 comments on “Azed 2483”

  1. Thanks Andrew – slight typo in 2d, the stretcher is a LIE, (though I did consider TIE at the time, in the structural sense, but not quite the same). A pleasant romp, thanks Azed.

  3. Couldn’t parse 32ac, thanks for that.

    Curious about 27ac.  IMPELLANT doesn’t appear to be in Chambers, only IMPELLENT which doesn’t fit either with the word play or the crossing letter.

    Apart from that, as usual I have no memories of completing this but have a completed puzzle in front of me, so I must have done it.

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