A minor delay with the late arrival of the PDF on the Guardian website, and then this turned out to be quite a tricky puzzle, with quite a lot of unfamiliar words. As usual, following the instructions gets you there in the end, though there were a couple of rather abstruse parsings. Thanks to Azed.
| Across | ||||||||
| 3. | FISH-GUTTER | Ransack channel for handy menial in sea-food joint? (10) FISH (to ransack) + GUTTER (channel) |
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| 10. | SURYA | Deity viewable by anyone immersed in shimmering rays (5) U (“viewable by anyone” as a film certificate) in RAYS* |
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| 11. | EUTERPE | Scrambling up tree, fourth of date palms (7) (UP TREE)* + fourth letter of datE. Euterpe is perhaps best known as one of the Muses, but is also a genus of palm trees (named after the Muse) |
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| 12. | PRUNTS | Glass decorations giving one kicks round edge of tumbler (6) [tumble]R in PUNTS (kicks) |
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| 13. | DROOP | Decline a small drink, imbibing nothing (5) O in DROP |
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| 15. | RASCAILLE | Poorly, in grip of scare, a disorderly mob? Och aye (9) ILL in (SCARE A)* |
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| 18. | OBOES | Players booed endlessly (and drunkenly) by character at front of stalls (5) Anagram of BOODE[d] + S[talls] |
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| 19. | TABI | Items of oriental hosiery, a bit the worse for wear (4) (A BIT)* |
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| 20. | TABBINET | Curtain material? Sounds like something cat’s caught in (8) Homophone of “tabby net”, which a cat might be caught in |
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| 22. | FORNENST | Favouring home that’s about new? Jock’s bang opposite (8) FOR + N in NEST (home) |
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| 24. | NEUM | Book 4 summarily includes English group of notes sung on same note (4) E in NUM (abbreviation of Numbers, the fourth book of the bible) |
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| 25. | OBESE | Needing to diet? Number going outside to be seen (5) tO BE SEen less the surrounding TEN |
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| 29. | TRENCHERS | Boards required for those digging protective ditches (9) Double definition |
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| 31. | TAIRA | Rope from rear decapitated SA carnivore (5) Reverse of [L]ARIAT |
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| 32. | TALLOT | Ultimate for artist having to share garret (6) [artis]T + ALLOT |
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| 33. | ESCAPEE | One bolting sword round sheath? No p-poet (7) SCABBARD less B-BARD in EPEE |
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| 34. | LOIPE | I’ll be involved in long run – langlaufers follow it (5) I in LOPE |
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| 35. | DESPONDENT | Cent losing out to major currency, third going in fall, sad (10) DESCENT (fall) with C (cent) replaced by POuND less its third letter# |
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| Down | ||||||||
| 1. | ESPRIT FORT | Eccentric priest, not against a bit of tendentiousness, a rationalist (10, 2 words) PRIEST* + FOR (not against) + T[endentiousness]. A slight blemish that the FOR here intersects with the same element in 22a |
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| 2. | CURAÇAO | Liqueur, almost the last of it, worthless, imbibed in company (7) I thought I’d have to admit defeat on this, but it’s U (the second last letter of liqueur, so “almost the last of it”) + RACA, a word that appears just once in the bible, in Matthew 5:22, apparently meaning “worthless”. On searching the archives I see that it’s not entirely new to me. Of course RACA doesn’t have the cedilla needed for the answer, but such subtleties are usually ignored even by Azed |
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| 3. | FRUSH | Surge following opening of farce, break from Shakespeare (5) F[arce] + RUSH |
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| 4. | SATAY | Tasty barbecue item? Stop pinching one (5) A in STAY (to stop) |
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| 5. | HESITANT | Anything but forthright, disturbing the antis (8) (THE ANTIS)* |
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| 6. | GULL | Booby – or another seabird (4) Double definition. I confidently entered LOON here on my first pass |
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| 7. | TEREBINTH | What you can get thinner from? Concoction of three girlfriend swallowed (9) BINT (girlfriend) in THREE* |
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| 8. | TROGON | Colourful bird to be sold in marketplace (6) GO (to be sold? Chambers has the adjectival meanings “ready” and “in perfect condition”) in TRON |
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| 9. | EPODE | What’s poet read? This crafted with art maybe (5) Composite anagram: (POET READ)* = EPODE ART |
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| 14. | POSTMASTER | Large bill includes e.g. jigger for Oxford scholar (10) MAST (jigger is a type of mast) in POSTER |
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| 16. | CHINSTRAP | Helm anchor? Check strain that’s twisted sloop’s rear (9) CH + STRAIN* + [sloo]P – “helm” here is an archaic form of “helmet”, which could be help in place by a chinstrap |
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| 17. | ABSENTED | Moved away, having retired, directed inside (8) SENT in ABED |
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| 21. | EUTROPY | Regular variation spoilt duet, except for the first, not so good (7) Anagram of [d]UET + ROPY |
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| 23. | RELICS | Odd pieces from Sicily (ruined) transported as mementos (6) Anagram of the odd letters of SiCiLy RuInEd |
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| 26. | BLASÉ | Bored with pleasure, there being little left in bed (5) L in BASE |
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| 27. | SCALE | Climb in mountainous Caledonia (5) Hidden in mountainouS CALEdonia |
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| 28. | RELIT | Workman on roof maybe starting at bottom got going again (5) Reverse of TILER – I think the clue is ambiguous as to which word is the answer |
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| 30. | EVEN | Flat stage removed from outskirts of Herts location (4) STEVENAGE less the outer STAGE |
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Thanks Andrew, as you say some tricky parsing. GO as in “these go for £5 a pair” in 8?
Thanks as ever to Azed.
Thanks for finding “RACA”. With the exception of that (and the tentative “GO”), I found this puzzle clearer than usual.
For 7d, I only know “BINT” as a derogatory term, a long way from “girlfriend”, but that may just have been where I grew up.
Did anyone else pick up on the pairs of similar words? The first that come to the eye are the adjacent TABI/TABBINET, but then I noticed OBOES/OBESE, EUTERPE/EUTROPY, RELICS/RELIT.
I had a very slow start on this. I entered RELIT backwards at first (and I agree that the clue works both ways). Once I corrected that, I got DESPONDENT, and then rumbled on from there. I still had a ? at the end for the parsing of ACA? in CURACAO, even though that had to be the answer. Thanks, Andrew.
Perhaps just me but what is a “group of notes sung on same note”?
Stefan
Marmite Smuggler, I’d say a typo – should be “on the same syllable”.
8d GO – maybe auctions- “going…going…gone”?
Ref, GO – my electronic C has it:
go1 /g?/
intransitive verb (prp g?’ing; pap gone /gon/ (see separate entries); pat went (supplied from wend); 3rd pers sing pres indicative goes)
1. Used to express futurity or intent
…
…
24. To be sold
…
…
50. (with an infinitive without to) to move off with the intention of doing something, as in go see (N American; see also go and below)
Nick
Gonzo: I’m sure you’re right about the error in the clue for NEUM (more commonly spelt NEUME, I think). I meant to check and comment further on the clue but it slipped my mind..
Hello, Gonzo and Andrew. I think we are all right.
NEUM was obviously correct but I went rummaging online and learned magnificent things. We can have the punctum, the virga and the bipunctum. The bipunctum might indeed be a succession of notes on a single note (scholars disagree) but I think this is a bit too erudite for a Sunday morning even for Azed.
But, and if you’re young enough, file these away:
We have also the clivis and climacus; the podatus and scandicus; the torculus and porrectus. We can have the praepunctis which might also be the praepunctis podatus pressus. And the subpunctis, also found as the subpunctis scandicus subpunctis.
Anyway, I think the quilisma settles once and for all that “group of notes sung on same note” is not worthy of Azed.
But where would we be without him?
Stefan
Marmite Smuggler @9 “But where would we be without him?” I for one would have a rather empty time with my two cups of tea and cup of coffee early on a Sunday morning! I enjoyed this as always. Thanks to Andrew (particularly for the parsing of CURACAO) and to Azed.
Thanks for the diversion Azed and the explanations Andrew. CURACAO defeated me for parsing but the answer was obvious. Of course a later check showed RACA in my eChambers. I should have done that first.
I took “go” to mean that if something is sold it will go. I recall comments like “ at that price that will soon go” so it seems a more informal use.
For the NEUM clue, I have no real world experience of the term so took the dictionary to be close enough. A case of my own linguistic incompetence.
Azed has become my Saturday evening exercise in lateral thinking, often carrying over to Sunday morning on the more baffling leftover clues (UK GK in particular being a personal bugbear). I have become accustomed to the occasional imprecision in some of the clues, but more often than not, after studying the blog, find that the “imprecision” was in my own understanding.