As usual the first Azed of the month is a competition puzzle. This time it is a standard plain
Azed frequently includes Scots words as entries, but today he went further afield on a world tour with entries or component parts from France, Spain, Germany, Japan, Ireland, Italy, Egypt and Greece as well as Scotland.
I am not sure of the parsing of ROUNDEL at 19 down. In fact I had my greatest trouble parsing two or three words at the end of the Downs. ROUNDEL is the now the only one I have doubts about.
Azed’s clues are always precise with smooth surfaces My favourites today were the clues for DAIL and ARABICA,
I was a little surprised to see ‘inside’ used as a containment indicator in three consecutive clues at 21, 22 and 27 down.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
| 1 | Blood type and fingerprints together causing extreme nervousness (6) |
AB (one of the four blood types in the ABO blood group system) + DABS (slang term for fingerprints) AB DABS |
ABDABS (an alternative spelling of HABDABS [a state of extreme nervousness]) |
| 6 | Put off with poem being broadcast at quite a lick (7) |
Anagram of (off) PUT + an anagram of (bring broadcast) POEM UPT* EMPO* |
UPTEMPO (played or sung at a fast rate). |
| 11 | Parisian prank, OK when wild dare’s involved (8) |
Anagram of (wild) DARE contained in (when … involved) + FINE (okay) F (REDA*) INE |
FREDAINE (an escapade or prank, a French [Paris] word included in Chambers) |
| 13 | Musical as of old that’s returned to Broadway location (4) |
UT (Latin [old] word for ‘as’) reversed (returned to) NY (New York, location of Broadway) TU< NY |
TUNY (TUNeful, musical) |
| 14 | Jose’s informally clad when in this (prompt, in front of orchestra) (6) |
CUE (prompt) + RPO (Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) CUE RPO |
CUERPO (Spanish word [Jose] indicating a state of informal dress, eg in one’s shirtsleeves. This Spanish word is in Chambers) |
| 15 | White wine – regret bins being ransacked with last of vintage in (11) |
Anagram of (being ransacked) REGRET BINS containing (with … in) E (final letter of [last of] VINTAGE) STEINBERG (E) R* Any of the three Es could be the one contained. |
STEINBERGER (a white Rhine wine) |
| 16 | Porcelain for oriental tea bowls? Bun’s served with this in local puppet theatre (4) |
If you put BUN in front of (served) with RAKU (the entry) you form the word BUNRAKU (Japanese form of puppet theatre) RAKU |
RAKU (type of Japanese coarse-grained, lead-glazed pottery fired at low temperature, used especially to produce tea bowls) |
| 17 | Where stars such as Leo may be seen almost every day (4) |
DAIL DAIL |
DAIL (The Irish parliament . The reference is to LEO Varadkar, who is the Irish Prime Minister as I write this blog. There is a General Election in Ireland on Saturday 8th February, the day before this blog is published) |
| 18 | Fantastical dream poet’s kept within bounds (5) |
Anagram of (fantastical) DREAM MEARD* |
MEARD (Spenserian [poet’s] spelling of MERED [bounded; kept within bounds]) |
| 23 | Coffee avoided by those trying to give up, frenzied in a way (5) |
RABIC |
RABIC (descriptive of someone affected with rabies and consequently frenzied) |
| 24 | Carriage, one protected by soldiers (4) |
I (Roman numeral for one) contained in (protected by) MEN (soldiers) M (I) EN |
MIEN (air; look; bearing; carriage) |
| 25 | Catch one placed in bottom of boat but not left (4) |
A (one) contained in (placed in) HUL H (A) UL |
HAUL (content of fishing nets; catch) |
| 26 | Little in Italian court one comprehends, words being truncated (11) |
AN (one) containing (comprehends) (POCO [Italian for ‘little’ + PATIO [courtyard]) A (POCO PATIO) N |
APOCOPATION (the cutting off of the last sound or syllable of a word; words being truncated) |
| 30 | Rock-cut tunnel of Middle Eastern country? Not one, ten (6) |
SYRI SYRIN X |
SYRINX (rock-cut tunnel, as in Egyptian tombs) |
| 31 | Scottish race put on for audience (4) |
LADE (sounds like [for audience] LAID [put on]) LADE |
LADE (Scottish word for a millstream or race [channel bringing water to or from a millwheel]) |
| 32 | Doughnut: fruit mostly has to form lining inside (8) |
LINE [to form a cover or LINing) contained in (inside) (BERR BER (LINE) R |
BERLINER (iced doughnut with a jam filling) |
| 33 | Running leet, sited where it runs and was running (7) |
Anagram of (running) LEET contained in (sited in) BED (a LEET is trench for bringing water to a millwheel, so it will run in a river BED of some kind) B (EETL*) ED |
BEETLED (scurried; was running) |
| 34 | Transfers financial arrangements involving clubs (6) |
DEALS (financial arrangements) containing (involving) C (clubs) DE (C) ALS |
DECALS (transfers in the form of pictures or designs) |
| Down | |||
| 1 | What’s appearing post-harvest in the manner of a rat? (10) |
AFTER (in the manner of) + GRASS (informer; rat) AFTER GRASS |
AFTERGRASS (the GRASS that grows after mowing or reaping; what’s appearing post-harvest) |
| *2 | Fuss |
There is no wordplay for this entry. It is solely a definition for a word that has to be clued for the monthly competition. BRUHAHA |
BRUHAHA (fuss) |
| 3 | Madonna topped middle in inner sanctum (6) |
ADY TUM |
ADYTUM (the most sacred part of a temple; inner sanctum) |
| 4 | US party in tart’s place, well away (4) |
BAKE BAKE |
BAKE (American term for a party at which food is BAKEd) |
| 5 | Primate mounting ambition to cut wrongdoing (6) |
AIM (ambition) reversed (mounting; down clue) contained in (to cut) SIN (wrongdoing) SI (MIA<) N |
SIMIAN (ape; primate) |
| 6 | Without admission Christian died having gone round in it (11) |
(UNIATE [member of any community of Christians, especially in eastern Europe and Asia, that acknowledges the papal supremacy but which is allowed to retain its own customs and practices with regard to all else] + D [died]) containing (having gone round) IN IT UN (IN IT) IATE D |
UNINITIATED (not yet admitted, to a secret society for example) |
| 7 | Ruin meat that’s cooked I left out? But you could trust me (7) |
Anagram of (that’s cooked) RU TRUEMAN* |
TRUEMAN (honest man; person you can trust) |
| 8 | Sudden tidal surge always brought about end of bathing (4) |
E’ER (ever; always) containing (brought about) G (last letter of [end of] BATHING) E (G) ER |
EGER (alternative spelling of EAGRE [bore or sudden rise of the tide in a river]) |
| 9 | Spotted wildcat that’s spread, alas (6) |
MARG (MARGarine, a spread) + AY (alas) MARG AY |
MARGAY (spotted South American tiger-cat) |
| 10 | Ruff for senior churchman (4) |
POPE (the ruff, a European freshwater fish) POPE |
POPE (head of the Roman Catholic church; senior churchman) double definition |
| 12 | Some Franciscans remain in college fraternities (10) |
C (college) + (LIE [remain] contained in [in] ORDERS [fraternities, especially religious or knightly]) C ORDE (LIE) RS |
CORDELIERS ( Franciscan friars, named from the knotted CORD worn as a girdle) |
| 17 | Painkiller not for being injected in face (7) |
CON (against; not for) contained in (being injected in) DIAL (face) DI (CON) AL |
DICONAL (a painkilling opioid drug) |
| 19 | Disc that’s wavy in part (except for the last bit) (7) |
I’m not sure of the parsing for this. The best I can come up with that the majority of the letters (part) spell ROUND (curved or wavy) plus two letters EL which are composed solely of lines and have no curved or wavy parts ROUND EL |
ROUNDEL (disc) |
| 20 | Unruly baron, English, behaved as of old (6) |
Anagram of (unruly) BARON + E (English) ABORN* E |
ABORNE (past tense of ABEAR [obsolete {as of old} word meaning ‘behave’]) |
| 21 | Firework to get going inside picnic basket (6) |
TAR (incite to fight; get can be defined as to attack or fight) contained in (inside) PED (hamper; picnic basket) PE (TAR) D |
PETARD (a moving firework) |
| 22 | Bilious stomach pain, hot inside (6) |
H (hot) contained in (inside) COLIC (severe spasmodic pain in the abdomen; stomach pain) C (H) OLIC |
CHOLIC (bilious) |
| 27 | The old want former radio company (see name inside) (4) |
N (name) contained in (inside) PYE (a company that used to make radios, now subsumed into Philips) PY (N) E |
PYNE (alternative spelling of PINE [long; yearn for; want]) |
| 28 | He removed the coins on leaving damaged Greco-Roman box (4) |
Anagram of (damaged) T CIST* |
CIST (tomb consisting of a stone chest covered with stone slabs in ancient Greece and Rome) |
| 29 | Not working with reduced wages loses peripheral pass (4) |
IDLE |
IDLE (not working) |
There were several I couldn’t parse so thanks for the explanations.
In return, I had 19d as UNDE (wavy) inside ROL(E) – part, except for the last bit.
dormouse @ 1
Thanks – that is obviously the right parsing rather than my ‘clutching at straws’ attempt
Many thanks, as always, to both. Another enjoyable romp. I eventually came to the same conclusion as Dormouse @1 after I had given up trying to get anything else to fit. So, new word for me – UNDE.