Azed No. 2,539 ‘Printer’s Devilry’ – Competition Puzzle

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A difficult puzzle, but I enjoyed the challenge. This is not a cryptic crossword, but nonetheless a puzzle well worth attempting if you like word games in general. Thank you Azed.

I needed several sessions over the day to finish this. The hardest part was getting started. Once the grid was 50% full then there was a possibility of deducing solutions logically, but until then it was hard work all the way. My approach was to assume that the completed sentence will make more sense than the one printed in the clue, so look for any word that seems to be awkwardly placed in a clue and start guessing there.

Possibly the biggest challenge for seasoned solvers is to try and break the habit of “solving” the clues. Once one manages to ignore the cryptic possibilities it allows one to focus on finding the devilry instead.

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1 BED-REST
This is where the horses are coming between races (7)
This is where the horses are comBED – RESTing between races
6 TONGA
Being home, she can’t wait for lessons to end (5)
Being hoT ON GAmes, he can’t wait for lessons to end
10 ANCHORESS
To a crude and slovenly American: muck (9)
To a crude and slovenly American mAN CHORES Suck
11 OTTO
Victorious armies keen to look a long time over it (4)
Victorious armies keen to loOT TOok a long time over it
13 URESIS
In retirement among many, pleasing, in a choir (6)
In retirement, among many pleasURES, I Sing in a choir
14 TRICAR
I select the name applied to a gallery piece with flashing lights (6)
Is “elecTRIC ARt” the name applied to a gallery piece with flashing lights?
16 HAVER
A coat of white wasted, wall’s becoming discoloured (5)
A coat of white wasH AVERted, wall’s becoming discoloured
17 DESINE
My wife doesn’t like to cook it, straight from the river (6)
My wife doesn’t like to cook iDES I NEt straight from the river
18 EPENTHESES
Was it wretched affairs made mad verses? (10)
Was it wretched affairs made mE PEN THESE Sad verses?
19 INTERSTATE
A society pad, what he’d expect for celebrity portraits (10)
A society paINTER STATEd what he’d expect for celebrity portraits
23 ADMASS
The club’s new signing is recognized as lively, gifted (6)
The club’s new signing is recognized as lAD MASSively gifted
25 ARRET
Dad, after yet another night at the local, burns unsteadily (5)
Dad, after yet another night at the local bAR, RETurns unsteadily
28 ONAGRA
Was the Ramsbottom lad prodding that, live? Mistake (6)
Was the Ramsbottom lad prodding that liON? A GRAve Mistake.
29 HEATER
We go out for meals occasionally but avoid posies (6)
We go out for meals occasionally but avoid posH EATERies
30 HEIR
Is Tony (popular in British jokes) less familiar to US audiences (4)
Is tHE IRony (popular in British jokes) less familiar to US audiences
31 ESTIMATOR
‘In my opinion, Boris benefits the country,’ by Hardliner (9)
In my opinion Boris benefits the country bEST. I‘M A TORy hardliner.
32 MUSCA
A well-informed person can grasp such things while ignorant (5)
A well-informed person can grasp such things while ignoraMUS CAn’t
33 LENITES
Delicate nymphs find the attentions of oversexed siting their tolerance (7)
Delicate nymphs find the attentions of oversexed siLENI TESting their tolerance
DOWN
1 BOOTH
During space odyssey would astronauts ever need to? Real! (5)
During space odyssey would astronauts ever need to reBOOT Hal?

Hal is the malfunctioning HAL 9000 series computer from 2001 – A Space Odyssey
2 ESTRAPADE
Highland stalkers on all sides coming in waver (9)
Highland stalkers on all sides coming in wavES TRAP A DEr
3 DATIVE
It’s a bar – many have ‘winery’ – often wish I owned it (6)
It’s a bar many have wineD AT – I VEry often wish I owned it.
4 ENDART
Should wealthy patron list rooms to work in? (6)
Should wealthy patron lEND ARTist rooms to work in?
5 THUNDER-GOD
Wretched folk with the sun blazing; for all it’s worry, spell continuing endlessly (10)
Wretched folk with the sun blazing for all it’s worTH UNDERGO Dry spell continuing endlessly

Chambers 2014 lists thunder god as two words
6 TORSE
A heraldic wreath (5)
competition clue
7 OR ELSE
Make sure you pick the right men in the woods! (6, 2 words)
Make sure you pick the right mOREL SEen in the woods!
8 NESH
For an inexperienced surgeon setting a shattered board (4)
For an inexperienced surgeon setting a shattered boNE’S Hard
9 ASSIEGE
Yon bonnie laddie will surely get led up (7)
Yon bonnie laddie will surely get lASSIE GEed up
12 ORCHESTRAL
Stethoscopists can detect even a mine (10)
Stethoscopists can detect even a minOR CHEST RALe
15 UNSTERILE
These are tired old jokes from the past, admired (9)
These are tired old jokes from the pUNSTER I LEast admired
18 ERATHEM
In Mozart’s opinion, Figaro must outwit his master (7)
In Mozart’s opERA THE Minion Figaro must outwit his master
20 NASTIC
Party activist has worker to demonstrate affiliation (6)
Party activist has worN A STICker to demonstrate affiliation
21 SANTON
Who took control after shocking event in the senate that way? (6)
Who took control after shocking event in the senate? That waS ANTONy.
22 ARGENT
In the class, wry attempt to close ranks if threatened (6)
In the class wAR GENTry attempt to close ranks if threatened
24 SHEMA
Thin of yore, has gone to seed physically (5)
ThiS HE-MAn of yore has gone to seed physically
26 TARES
Our director’s unrelenting – he never gives his cast (5)
Our director’s unrelenting – he never gives his casT A RESt.

My first entry here was “…his caST A REst”.
27 OATS
I’ve solved crosswords for years – is this my first getting up to scratch? (4)
I’ve solved crosswords for years. Is this, my first gO AT Setting, up to scratch?

24 comments on “Azed No. 2,539 ‘Printer’s Devilry’ – Competition Puzzle”

  1. Thanks PeeDee.
    This was fun, I never felt completely stymied though I took several sessions at it. Nice to see the Ramsbottoms, and young Albert their son, getting a mention.
    Favourite … “man, chores suck”.
    Thanks as ever to Azed

  2. Superb and fair setting from Azed. He foreshadowed this quite some time ago in a slip and I bet it took some hard work to get the finished product. Strange I did not find it particularly difficult and it took barely longer than a Plain. Some breaks were obvious—how many of us started with HEATER? ARRET, TARES, SANTON and the bottom right almost done, even though UNSTERILE was my last in. NESH and I happened to know TORSE anyway. So it was URESIS.
    The rest fell into place with part-words, my usual attack with PD. It had to be “for all it’s worTH U[nder?]”; “society paINTER”; “bonnie laddie will surely get lASS”; “coat of whitewasH”.
    I still hadn’t worked out THUNDERGOD, even when It had to be the answer, because it’s two words in my Chambers. UNDERGO Dry was one of what I call my “bderr” moments: so obvious you can’t see it.
    And (I hope I’m allowed to say this): for a while my delicate nymphs were lesbian because I was convinced the oversexed in question was either a siREN or siRENS. I wondered what Azed was going on about. A truly enjoyable Sunday morning.

    Stefan

  3. I was held up for a long time by THUNDER GOD. It wasn’t so much the erroneous enumeration, it was my failure to construct a plausible sentence that caused the problem. For a while I also had SATIVE instead of DATIVE at 3 down.

    It took me ages to come up with anything remotely plausible for TORSE, despite the friendly letters. Too many possibilities, in fact. I can’t begin to estimate how long setting a whole puzzle would take me. No wonder Azed doesn’t do them very often!

  4. PD is by no means my puzzle type of choice (though I far prefer it to definition/letter mix and Playfair). But I really enjoyed this. Almost every clue had me thinking “Gosh, that’s clever!” when I realised how the missing words fitted in. The “chores suck” and Figaro reference were particular favourites. As PD puzzles go, this is as good it gets and Azed is to be applauded.

    As the blogger says, there’s a temptation to “solve” the clues as if they were normal cryptic clues and I fell for that several times. Perhaps long-term solvers are at a disadvantage with these puzzles?

  5. I got into this by getting/guessing the competition word straight away using Bradford’s. I then steadily filled in the grid, but the bottom right hand corner proved tricky – I convinced my self that ‘CAS/T’ shouldn’t include ‘CAST’ in the undevilled version for ages.

    I managed to come up with a clue that at least follows the rules, but whether it will be seen to be any good, I dunno.

  6. I loved this and found it not overwhelmingly hard. None of the splits were hard to spot and most clues had pointers to the theme, horses being combed say.
    I was amused that Mr Lance’s prize-winner from the last PD, for ERATHEM, was pinched. Were any others recycled.
    Good to see the great northern word NESH- as a southrener it was my first encounter with my adopted territory’s rich vocabulary.
    Azed is always a treat and most especially in this grey era. May Spring son lift our hearts

  7. We got stuck on the very last letter as we put “Edema” for 24 down. “The demain of yore has gone to seed…. ” I suppose the word “physically” should have alerted us that this was not correct, but it made sense at the time! Doh! Otherwise a fascinating challenge. Thank you AZED.

  8. Like Marmite Smuggler, THUNDERGOD was a problem for me, and looking again at my print-out I see I have quite a few wrong answers! Never mind. Like cruciverbophile, I thought this was a tremendous piece of setting by Azed – I wonder how long it took him?

  9. really enjoyed this, my first PD puzzle (though i will need a long break before even considering attempting another!). i had DEFILE for DESINE for a time, giving the somewhat sensible “ide filet straight from the river”. i thought the repetition of “cast” in the deviled and non-deviled 26d was a little disappointing, especially since it leads to the double solutions of TARES and STARE for the same clue. the clues for the long entries were terrific though – EPENTHESES was a standout

  10. This was the first time I’d seen this type of puzzle, and I think it just doesn’t work. After reading the instructions, I checked some previous PD solutions to see if I’d misunderstood — but no, the clues really are just very flexible word-holders, with no “verifier”.
    So while I figured out NESH, I had “DEMAI” for 1d (reaD EMAIl) and ERISES for 13a (pleasE, RISE, Sing). I split the right word, using another one of typical Azed obscurity, but without a definition, there was no way to tell that they weren’t the intended ones (except that they weren’t helping with the crossers).
    Good luck to those who can persevere through this kind of blind struggle, but I didn’t even bother printing it out.

  11. BiglyNifty@10 – I see where you’re coming from. I didn’t finish the puzzle, but what was essential for me was to get a few really unquestionable answers, which were long ones such as ANCHORESS and EPENTHESES, and build up from there. The sentence that includes your example of ERISES sounds a bit forced, whereas Azed’s solutions are all pretty natural, and I think the key lies there. But it was a hell of a struggle.

  12. Thanks Azed and PeeDee. Printer’s Devilry has been my favourite “special” ever since I first met it in the 1970s. It is interesting to look back at the very early Azed slips to see that Azed was initially reluctant to attempt the composition of this type of puzzle, which had been a part of the repertoire of Ximenes before him. In my view, he took to it immediately and has shown great skill in constructing these puzzles. Of course, it is much more difficult to avoid ambiguous clues, and I was another who suffered from EDEMA at 24dn, but eventually, realising that A–AES was impossible for 23ac, I got 2dn and solved 23ac from AD-A-S, which gave me SHEMA to replace EDEMA.
    I very much hope that we will see another Printer’s Devilry after the usual interval. They certainly work for me.

  13. Had a look back at “Ximenes on the Art of the Crossword”, (1969) and Azed’s collection (1975) and found quite a few PD’s there. X said it was he favourite variant though his clues didn’t seem as elegant as AZ’s. If newcomers would like the books they are not much use to me and deserve a good home.
    Good to see a few new faces and to have a chat. As always thanks to Azed and PeeDee

  14. ^ That’s very generous of you, Keith. I bought a second-hand copy of Ximenes’ book a couple of years ago and it was certainly not cheap. I haven’t regretted it though – it’s important and fascinating.
    As for the puzzle, it was a lot of fun but very tough. As always, quite something on Azed’s part to write nearly 40 clues (probably more if a few are rejected) that have a decent ‘devilled’ surface.
    I took ages to write a clue for the competition – at one stage my wife looked at me and thought I’d received bad news. When I told her I was really struggling with writing a crossword clue she just rolled her eyes. 🙂

  16. AP – from a personal perspective, having an excuse to “trawl through Chambers” is one of the main reasons I come to Azed in the first place!

    I know I could sit and read the dictionary anyway, but having a reason to do so makes it so much easier. A bit like having an interest in fossils or wild plants might mean you make the extra effort to visit obscure places that you would not have bothered to go if you were simply “out for a walk”.

  17. OK, that’s perfectly reasonable. My own personal rule for obscure Azed words is to work out a solution and only then use Chambers to check whether I’m right (I often break this rule, I must add). I can’t do this with PDs, as I would never get to ESTRAPADE or EPENTHESES under my own steam

  18. Three points:
    I do as much of Azed as I can in my head. Some might think it odd that I know TORSE in heraldic terms. Likely I’ve used it (in crosswords only) a few times in my life. At school (over fifty years ago!) I especially enjoyed the history lessons which touched on left-field stuff like heraldry. I was not good at English and I’ve spent many years trying to rectify that. I recently had cause to criticise a budding writer because his use of aposiopeses became irritating and put the reader off. I don’t know why I know words like that. I’m not proud. In PD 2539 I think I knew of 50% of the words. Note “knew of”. Because I know ONAGRA, and SANTON and URESIS and ENDART, are in Chambers but I don’t know what they mean. It doesn’t matter: I take a few minutes to look them up. So I’m never racing the clock. I think PD 2539 took me a little over two hours. Perhaps average for a Plain, too.
    So to my second point. Beyond Chambers, I consider reference works useful but secondary. I have many. The internet is the last resort. Azed introduces obscure references but when they’re something to do with pop groups, footballers or UK Secretaries of State I’ve never heard of, or Science Fiction, I’m disappointed but feel I’m not cheating. The internet was the only reason I got BOOTH. LENITES had me rummaging because its not in my Chambers. Exactly the silly and boring word I applaud Chambers for not including. (Won’t be long, Mum—just going off to lenite a bit…). And, in support of PeeDee: in my toilet you will find an old edition on the shelf there and I read it.
    Last: Mr Keith Thomas—consider the disposal of your books. I think I’ve revealed in the past that I’m a second-hand bookseller. I could not source today a single copy of MacNutt (1966). If I were to sell my own copy, the price I’d put on it would be mad. Until someone comes along and buys it. The paperback reprints are available but also making silly prices.

    Stefan

  19. Thanks for the book comments, Marmite Smuggler and Twmbarlwm. My McNutt is paperback. Like the Azed it has folded in pages as bookmarks of versions of either’s products which I presumably filed because I did well or badly or just thought were interesting. I also have the menu and a paper napkin from Ximenes’s 750th, held at the Café Royale, very posh.
    One special that Azed seems to have by-passed for years is “Theme and Variations”. I recall one in which the theme words were the sites of England-Australia test grounds, Nottingham, Lords, Manchester, Leeds and Oval. I can even remember the variations. It must have been 1956 as 1952 was before I became addicted. They must be hard, first to find five and only five linked themes.

  20. MarmiteSmuggler, you give me an ideal excuse to go trawling again!

    It looks like LENIS etc gets included in Chambers from the New Edition (1983) but LENITE (as a verb) only gets a mention in Chambers from the 11th Edition (2008) onwards. I can’t see it referenced at all in my mum’s old 1966 edition.

  21. @Marmite+Smuggler

    Lenite:

    lenis /l?’nis or len’is/ (phonetics)
    adjective
    (of a consonant) articulated with relatively little muscular effort and pressure of breath, opp to fortis
    noun (pl l?’nes /-?z/)
    Such a consonant
    ORIGIN: L, soft

    lenite /li-n?t’/ intransitive verb and transitive verb
    To undergo or cause to undergo lenition

    lenition /li-nish’?n/ noun
    A softening of articulation, common in Celtic languages

  22. Keith T – looking at the andlit archive, I think the T&V you mention may have been X287 (MANCHESTER) from 6 June 1954.

    I’ve not myself had the pleasure of meeting a T&V – it seems that the last one was in March 2002 (PEARL, Azed’s 30th anniversary), and the one before that was 635 (ROSEMARY) in July 1984. Allowing for a further 18 year gap, one should have arrived in 2020…perhaps if we wait a bit longer three will come along at once.

  23. As an aside, I have often wondered if it possible (with skilled cluing – it’s hard enough with a simple PD!) to do a PDD – Printer’s devilry with Definition.

    Over the years I have toyed with the idea…

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