[If you’re attending York S&B please see comments 32&33] - here
This is Azed 2498. He is moving ever closer to the impressive 2,500 mark
I found this to be a fairly standard Azed, well clued as ever with an eclectic mix of words. I note that RIOT GRRRL at 20 across was given as a single word of 9 letters. I can’t find a dictionary that lists it with anything other than 2 words. The wordplay was very clear, so it’s not a big issue. I liked the RRR for the three Rs (basic education).
There was some excellent misdirection in the clues, such as ‘Musical without …’ in 23 across and ‘Goes off school’ in 14 down.
The wordplay seemed particularly clear this week and I managed to parse everything before I started the blog. That doesn’t always happen.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
| 1 | Social status includes posh extremes of talking – like this? (8) |
CLASS (social status) containing (includes) (U [upper-class; posh] + TG [first and last letters of {extremes of} TALKING]) C (U TG) LASS |
CUTGLASS (descriptive of an upper-class refined accent) |
| 7 | Faces having to return unwanted mail (4) |
MAPS (peoples’ faces) reversed (having to return) SPAM< |
SPAM (unwanted electronic mail) |
| 10 | Each fish given bread (9, 2 words) |
PERCA (genus of fish) + PITA (type of slightly leavened bread) PER CA PITA |
PER CAPITA (for each person) |
| 11 | Wooden cup? Keep trying to acquire a lot (5) |
BID (make an offer for a lot at auction) + ON (continue) – taken together giving keep BIDding BID ON |
BIDON (container for liquids, such as a wooden cup, water bottle, tin can or oil drum.) |
| 12 | Sheep,a tailless breed, wrapped in part of fetal membrane (7) |
RAC CA (RAC) UL |
CARACUL (Asiatic breed of sheep) |
| 13 | Line taken aboard by one in vessel, a Yarmouth speciality (7) |
L (line) contained in (taken aboard by) BOATER (one who in a BOAT [vessel]) B (L) OATER |
BLOATER (herring partially dried in smoke, especially at Yarmouth) |
| 15 | Part of bill I paid in some foreign money (4) |
LIPA (hidden word [part of] BILL I PAID) LIPA |
LIPA (Croatian monetary unit; foreign money [unless you are solving the puzzle in Croatia]) |
| 18 | The governor worried about press release? The opposite (5) |
PR (press release) containing (about) ATE (worried) – i.e. the opposite of the wording at the beginning of the clue P (ATE) R |
PATER (father; governor) |
| 19 | See slope in location yielding source of tungsten (9) |
(C [third letter of the alphabet pronounced see] + HEEL [slope]) contained in (in) SITE S (C HEEL) ITE |
SCHEELITE (greenish or brownish mineral, calcium tungstate, crystallizing in the tetragonal system, an important source of tungsten) |
| 20 | Broadcast to girl about basic education? She’s a punk feminist (9) |
Anagram of (broadcast) TO GIRL containing (about) RRR (the three Rs – reading, riting and rithmetic – basic education) RIOT G (RRR) L* |
RIOT GRRRL (A young woman who plays or enjoys an aggressively feminist style of punk rock music) This appears to be two words in Chambers |
| 23 | Musical without in the main including where you’d place Hamilton? (5) |
SEA (ocean main) containing (including) NZ (New Zealand; Hamilton is a city on North Island, New Zealand) SE (NZ) A |
SENZA (musical term meaning ‘without’) |
| 24 | Remnant bit of cloth maiden cut from something similar (4) |
F FENT |
FENT (remnant or odd, short or damaged piece of cloth) |
| 26 | Bill penned by proprietress – it’s placed on metal base (7) |
AC (account; bill) contained in (penned by) MADAM (proprietress [of a brothel]) M (AC) ADAM |
MACADAM (smooth hard surface placed on road metal) |
| 28 | One of many redheads have? He’s embarrassed with piles (7) |
Anagram of (embarrassed) HE and PILES EPHELIS* |
EPHELIS (freckle; a coloured patch on the skin., frequently found on red-headed people) |
| 29 | Little bird? Such a one grabs head of worm with energy (5) |
(TIT [another small bird] containing [grabs] W [first letter of {head of} WORM) + E (energy) T (W) IT E |
TWITE (North European finch with streaked brown plumage; small bird) |
| 30 | Travel a lot and log mishandled bill of exchange wrong in retrospect (9) |
Anagram of (mishandled) LOG + BE (bill of exchange) + TORT (any wrong, not arising out of contract, for which an action for compensation or damages may be brought) reversed (in retrospect) GLO* BE TROT< |
GLOBETROT (travel, especially as a tourist) |
| 31 | African tree cut red leaves (4) |
SHEA SHEA |
SHEA (African tree whose seeds yield shea butter, used as a food and in soap manufacture) |
| 32 | Not drinking round English stellar group, most woeful? (8) |
TT (teetotal; not drinking) containing (round) (E [English] + ARIES [constellation; stellar group]) T (E ARIES) T |
TEARIEST (most woeful) |
| Down | |||
| 1 | Unwelcome visitor in Victorian garden getting drinks at last? (12, 2 words, apostrophe) |
COBBLER (one who works at a last) + PEG (a measure of brandy and soda; drink) – put the two together and COBBLER’S PEGS describes ‘drinks at last’ COBBLER’S PEGS |
COBBLER’S PEGS (Australian [Victoria] weed with peg-like bristles on the flower-heads; unwelcome visitor in Australian garden [Victorian] garden) |
| 2 | Stocks I illuminated in arrangement of suite (9) |
(I + LIT [illuminated]) contained in (in) an anagram of (arrangement) of SUITE UT (I LIT) IES* |
UTILITIES (stocks or bonds of public UTILITIES) |
| 3 | Shindig on the agenda? (4) |
TO-DO (commotion; shindig) TO-DO |
TO-DO (reference a TO-DO list or agenda of topics that need attending to) double definition |
| 4 | Line to tempt all but last of pond-life (6) |
L (line) + ENTIC L ENTIC |
LENTIC (associated with standing water; inhabiting ponds, swamps, etc) |
| 5 | Mark individual not on bunks (8) |
SCAR (mark) + PERS SCAR PERS |
SCARPERS (runs away; bunks [flees]) |
| 6 | Vaquero’s blanket, worthless thing kept in enclosure, often (6) |
RAP (worthless thing) contained in (kept in) SAE (stamped addressed envelope; something that was often required as an enclosure in a written communication. Probably not some common nowadays SA (RAP) E |
SARAPE (brightly-coloured woollen riding-blanket, often worn around the shoulders by Mexican men. Vaquero is a term from Spanish (language of Mexico) meaning ‘cowboy’) |
| 7 | Nameless pond-life in disused pool (4) |
SPAW SPAW |
SPAW (obsolete [disused] form of SPA [pool]) |
| 8 | Type of spinel with ornamental edging round it (8) |
PICOTE (a loop in an ornamental edging) containing (round) IT PICOT (IT) E |
PICOTITE ( dark spinel containing iron, magnesium, and chromium) |
| 9 | Mental matter when subjected to it (12) |
Anagram of (subjected to MALTREATMENT [the entry]) MENTAL MATTER MALTREATMENT* |
MALTREATMENT (rough handling – possible anagram indicator) |
| 14 | Goes off school with current romantic partners coming round (9) |
DATES (current romantic partners) containing (coming round) ETON (English public school) D (ETON) ATES |
DETONATES (explodes; goes off) |
| 16 | This versatile tool dud? Hoped ground might be worked over (8) |
HOPED GROUND is a compound anagram (worked over) of DUD and the entry PRONG–HOE HOPED GROUND* |
PRONG-HOE (a HOE with PRONGS [one of Chambers’ definitions that state the obvious]- useful tool) |
| 17 | Double oxide endless time blended with ochre (8) |
Anagram of (blended with) TIM CHROMITE* |
CHROMITE (double oxide of chromium and iron) |
| 21 | Small pedimental structure, grand and bleak (6) |
G ($1,000; grand) + ABLET (the freshwater fish, the bleak) G ABLET |
GABLET (small gable [pedimental structure] over a niche, buttress, tabernacle, etc) |
| 22 | Head of college on College Hill? (6) |
RE (with reference to; on) + C (college) + TOR (rocky outcrop or hill) RE C TOR |
RECTOR (head of an academy or college) |
| 25 | Small armadillo from Peru, black one (4) |
PE (International Vehicle Registration for Peru) + B (black, when describing pencil lead) + A (one) PE B A |
PEBA (South American armadillo, [possibly found in Peru]) |
| 27 | Former composition to adorn archaically (4) |
DITE (obsolete [former] word for a composition) DITE |
DITE (archaic word for adorn) double definition |
Thanks duncanshiell. All good apart from 7ac being ambiguous for SPAM or MAPS.
In 1d, ‘peg’ is also a cobbler’s last, so quite complicated.
LOI SENZA – the misdirection troubled me for ages. Did you know there is a musical about Ayrton SENNA?
Thanks Azed!
Oh and a ‘cobbler’ is also a drink. So two valid parsings for 1d?
Thank you to Azed and duncanshiell.
I confidently entered MAPS first of all, which then held me up at the end. And I puzzled over 19th century gardens for a while, before remembering that Australian references are a favourite Azed device.
Gonzo: Chambers gives peg as a pin used in shoemaking rather than a last. (Unless I’m missing a definition somewhere.) I was unable to fully parse this as I knew cobbler = drink but couldn’t see where the rest came from.
I don’t feel that in the context of an Azed puzzle 7ac is ambiguous. The participle phrase ‘having to return’ can only apply to the ‘Faces’; in order to modify the ‘unwanted mail’, it would need to be separated from it by some form of punctuation, such as a comma. I’m confident that Azed has deliberately chosen this wording, rather than eg ‘Faces returning unwanted mail’, to avoid the potential ambiguity.
Dormouse @4: I was thinking some large fixed wooden peg for shaping, but I see on further investigation that they are used like nails, so the given parsing is the only one.
I think that 7Ac is a valid clue for both SPAM and MAPS and I’d not criticise either. For me, though, it needs a checked letter before I know which.
Compare 11Ac from 2495:
Dock unloaded citrus fruit and fish (4) — SHAD: SHADDOCK (citrus fruit) less DOCK [Andrew’s—thank you]
This could equally well be Citrus fruit unloaded dock… If we’re going to equate the two clues, SHAD needs a comma: Dock unloaded, citrus fruit and fish. I think the presence or absence of the comma is a choice allowable to compilers.
Stefan