A plain Azed puzzle this week.
There was the usual mix of unknown, vaguely-known and well known words and phrases in the entries in this puzzle leading to a my spending a fair amount of time in Chambers Dictionary. However, it’s never to late to learn and dictionary browsing takes one down new and interesting back roads of language. There are 36 entries in the gird. Of these, I reckon 10 were completely unknown to me, 10 were vaguely known, probably because I have come across them in other barred crosswords and 16 were fairly well known
I don’t think I have come across ‘remote’ as an exclusion indicator before, but it made some sense in the clue for DISCO at 16 across.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1 |
Fixed metal case yielding choice wine, lot disposed of by compact group (12) PLUMMER-BLOCK (metal frame or case for holding the end of a revolving shaft) PLUM (choice) + MERLOT (red wine) excluding (disposed of) LOT + BLOCK (compact mass or group) PLUM MER BLOCK |
| 10 |
Dancing in pier one’s joined supplementary performers (7) RIPIENI (supplementary performers) Anagram of (dancing) IN PIER and I (Roman numeral for one) RIPIENI* |
| 11 |
In the manner of noisy pet showing reverse of appeal running round yard (5) AYELP (in a state of barking, like a noisy pet) PLEA (appeal) reversed (reverse of) containing (running round) Y (yard) A (Y) ELP< |
| 14 |
Podium beneficial to champion (8, 2 words) STAND FOR (champion) STAND (podium) + FOR (beneficial to) STAND FOR |
| 15 |
Extract of vulcanite? That’s enough of that (5, 2 words) CAN IT (directive to ‘stop doing that’) CAN IT (hidden words in [extract of] VULCANITE) CAN IT |
| 16 |
Music club, a real find, very remote (5) DISCO (club or party where music for dancing is provided by records, usually played by a disc jockey) DISCOVERY (a real find) excluding (remote , located separately [outside the grid?]) VERY DISCO |
| 17 |
Protesting strongly about power, Surinam’s in upheaval (8, 3 words) UP IN ARMS (protesting strongly) Anagram of (in upheaval) SURINAM containing (about) P (power) U (P) IN ARMS* |
| 20 |
Many in 16 will, and tick 15! (4) MOSH (dance energetically to loud rock music in a crowded space, as will people in a DISCO [entry at 16 across]) MO [moment; tick] + SH [be quiet {CAN IT – entry at 15 across}]) MO SH |
| 22 |
Fussy officer on board, having a ‘thing’ about exemplar of industry (6) FANTAD (fidgety, fussy person, especially a ship’s officer) FAD (a hobby or interest intensely pursued at first, but soon passed over for another; a thing [slight obsession]) containing (about) ANT (an example of an insect / person who works very hard [exemplar of industry]) F (ANT) AD |
| 23 |
Like Mariana’s whereabouts, month before arrangement of date (6) MOATED (Mariana in the MOATED Grange is a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, based on a line from Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure) MO (month) + an anagram of (arrangement) DATE MO ATED* |
| 25 |
Once lost it may be found among several ornaments (4) LORN (archaic [once] word for lost) LORN (hidden word in [found among] SEVERAL ORNAMENTS) LORN |
| 26 |
As before discharge useless female performer, tramp inside? (8) DISPLODE (Milton [poet; old word; as before] for discharge) PLOD (tramp) contained in (inside) DISEUSE (female performer) excluding (less) USE DIS (PLOD) E |
| 28 |
Like a semiconductor, installation for 20p (in full)? (5) N-TYPE (negative-type of a semiconductor, having an excess of conduction electrons over mobile holes) NTYPE (hidden word in [installation for] TWENTYPENCE [20p in full]) N-TYPE |
| 30 |
Some foreign money backing third team? (5) CEDIS (standard monetary unit of Ghana; some foreign money) C (third [after A and B]) + SIDE (team) reversed (backing) C EDIS< |
| 32 |
Nautical rope turned sails etc having negotiated inlet (8) GIRTLINE (gantline [nautical term for a rope used in a single-block hoist]) RIG (sails etc) reversed (turned) + an anagram of (having negotiated) INLET GIR< TLINE* |
| 33 |
Buffet closed with sun outside (5) STOOL (buffet can be defined as a low rectangular STOOL in the North of England and Scotland) TO (closed) contained in (with … outside) SOL (sun) S (TO) OL |
| 34 |
Wild zeal? Report without it included, making one cross (7) ZEBRULA (offspring of a male zebra and a female horse; cross) Anagram of (wild) ZEAL containing (included) BRUIT (rumour or report) excluding (without) IT ZE (BRU) LA* |
| 35 |
‘E eats out in NW city – it ‘elps in sampling local dairy product? (12) CHEESETASTER (long hollow tool for taking a sample from the inside of a CHEESE; something that helps in sampling a local dairy product) (E + an anagram of (out) EATS) contained in (in) CHESTER (a city in the North West of England) CHE (E SETA*) STER |
| Down | |
| 2 |
Brass accepted as currency in Croatia (4) LIPA (Croatian monetary unit) LIP (brass is a slang word for effrontery or cheek [LIP]) + A (accepted) LIP A |
| 3 |
Philosophical work, thoroughly serious one I ingested (8) UPANISAD (any of a number of Sanskrit theosophic or philosophical treatises) (UP [thoroughly] + SAD [serious]) containing (ingested) (AN [one] + I) UP (AN I) SAD |
| 4 |
See me zip up for US fight (5) MIX-IN (American [US} term for a fight) MI (sounds like [see?] ME) + NIX (nothing. Zip also means nothing) reversed (up; down entry) MI (X IN<) |
| 5 |
Kept record of gnarled tree in outer region (7) ENTERED (logged; kept record of) Anagram of (gnarled) TREE contained in (in) END (outer district or region) EN (TERE*) D |
| 6 |
Heads of ringers in aquatic sports – they’re normally submerged (4) RIAS (normal drowned valleys) RIAS (initial letters of [head of] each of RINGERS, IN, AQUATIC and SPORTS) RIAS |
| 7 |
Musicians together recognized as steel, endlessly toothful (7) BANDSAW (an endless saw or toothed steel belt) BAND (group of musicians) + SAW (recognise) BAND SAW |
| 8 |
Soft and slow, idly moving if old (6) LYDIAN ([of music] soft and slow) Anagram of (moving) IDLY + AN (archaic [old] word for ‘if’) LYDI* AN |
| 9 |
Tramp abroad, dimwit imbibing tea (8) CLOCHARD (French [foreign] word for a tramp) CLOD (stupid person [dimwit]) containing (imbibing) CHAR [tea]) CLO (CHAR) D |
| 12 |
Undo misbehaving in the papers, revealing hubris (9) PROUDNESS (pride; arrogance; hubris) Anagram of (misbehaving) UNDO contained in (in) PRESS (the papers) PR (OUDN*) ESS |
| 13 |
Mantle once removed with maiden, celebrates about it (9) SCUMMINGS (matter coming to or floating on the surface of liquid, esp in the form of foam or froth that is removed from the surface; mantle is an old word for the SCUM on a liquid) SINGS (celebrates) containing (about it) (CUM [Latin for with] + M [maiden]) S (CUM M) INGS |
| 18 |
What Glasgow beggars suffer, mounting crowd hit badly (8) POORTITH (Scottish [Glasgow] word for poverty; what Glasgow beggars suffer) TROOP (great number of people or animals; crowd) reversed (mounting; down entry) + an anagram of (badly) HIT POORT< ITH* |
| 19 |
Was prominent circle leading party, outwardly vigorous? (8, 2 words) STOOD OUT (was prominent) STOUT (vigorous) containing (outwardly) (O [character representing a circle] + DO [party]) STO (O D O) UT |
| 21 |
They figure prominently in encaenia, peal enveloping education? (7) BEDELLS (encaenia is the annual commemoration of founders and benefactors at Oxford University; BEDELLS is the Oxford University spelling of a beadle or mace bearer who presumably play a role in encaenia) BELLS (peal can be defined as a set of bells) containing (enveloping) ED (education) B (ED) ELLS |
| 22 |
Finely woven, to reach as of old round tailored shin (7) FISHNET (woven as a fine NET) FET (obsolete [old] word for fetch which can be defined as ‘to reach or attain’) containing (round) an anagram of (tailored) SHIN) F (ISHN*) ET |
| 24 |
Poet composed under tree, attaining maximum excitement? (6) TIPTOE (on ones TOES through excitement) TI (small Pacific liliaceous tree of the Cordyline genus) + an anagram of (composed) POET TI PTOE* |
| 27 |
I lost relish being cooked in ovens (5) LEHRS (glass-annealing ovens) Anagram of (being cooked) RELISH excluding (lost) I LEHRS* |
| 29 |
The sound of noisy birds making one curse? (4) PIZE (term of imprecation; curse) PIZE (sounds like PIES [magpies, birds which are nosiy]) PIZE |
| 31 |
Helpless ass scratched loaf (4) IDLE (laze; loaf) AIDLESS (helpless) excluding (scratched) the letters in ASS IDLE |
Thank you duncanshiell.
I made things hard for myself by putting TYPE-N instead of N-TYPE – they are both in TWENTY PENCE !
Thanks as ever to Azed.
I breezed through about half of this, and then for whatever reason found the remainder quite the grind, even though the clues were pretty fair. I have never seen or heard the term “mix-in,” in that sense, but maybe it is regional.
Thanks for the blog and the Tennyson reference , I was thinking of the Mariana trench in the Pacific with moat=trench but totally convinced by your answer. I too pondered the “very” for discovery being “remote ” decided it was just in another place or perhaps outside the grid, DISCO ended on the very edge.
Unusual grid with two SIX letter words totally crossing with others.
Like Roz, I thought Mariana referred to the trench which could be a sort of moat. Didn’t know the Tennyson reference. Well spotted, that blogger!
Roz @ 3 and cruciverbophile @ 4
As I am more of a science-based person than an arts-based person, my initial thought was also the Mariana(s) trench, but I couldn’t see how a moat would be identifiable where everything else was very deep water, so I did a bit of internet research and hit on Tennyson and Shakespeare which struck me as more likely to be what Azed was thinking about.
I thought Mariana trench was very dubious , you would need to drain the Pacific. As soon as I saw your reference I was convinced.
I did know the Tennyson poem – heard it read on Radio 3 many years ago and found it in a collection. The refrain at the end of each verse is memorable:
She only said, “The day is dreary,
He cometh not,” she said;
She said, “I am aweary, aweary,
I would that I were dead!”
30ac: I would have described this as SIDE C (third team) reversed, rather than C + SIDE reversed.
4dn: I don’t think ‘see’ counts as ‘sounds like’. I think (in crosswords, at least) ME and MI are interchangeable, presumably in the meaning of a note in the tonic sol-fa.
I thought there were some very gentle clues this week, for an AZED.
Thanks for the blog.
Greetings all.
Took me till Wednesday evening to complete this- other matters demanding attention- with a lot of Chambers time at the end.
The moated grange was familiar from the Golden Treasury of long ago. Google “A little boy whose name was Robert Rees” to find a comic view of bits of poems- I learned this from my uncle about eighty years ago. Radio 4 had a talk this afternoon about the Poetry Library which was also relevant.
Thanks to Azed and to duncanshiells for his work with crayons and strike-outs”
Robert Reece
Thanks to Azed and duncanshiell
I found this quite a tough solve, which took two or three sessions. I toyed for a little while with “Red Leicester” for 35ac which didn’t help.
At least 10 ac went in quickly, as I am a member of the Ripieno Society!
I love these Azeds for the new words and etymologies. Completed this but with several gaps in parsing. So thanks Azed and Duncanshiell for an enjoyable challenge and a great blog.
FANTAD was probably the pick of the ‘new to me’ words on this one, though there were several others – CHEESETASTER was also nice and I love the RIPIENI idea.