A competition puzzle again this week Thank you Azed.
| ACROSS | ||
| 3 | SPATCHCOCK |
Quickly insert something to repair tap after start of seepage (10)
|
| PATCH (to repair) COCK (tap) following first letter (start) of Seepage | ||
| 10 | FUERO |
Constitution of EU modified with inclusion of short rule (5)
|
| anagram (modified) of OF EU containing (with inclusion of) R (rule, short indicates abbreviation) | ||
| 11 | ALANNAH |
My child, a girl (not Di) coming after a boy (7)
|
| diNAH (a girl) missing DI following ALAN (a boy) | ||
| 12 | FREIT |
Ref punished Italian, a warning, ye ken (5)
|
| anagram (punished) of REF then IT (Italian) – ye ken indicates a Scots word | ||
| 13 | VELL |
Source of rennet, contents of level ladle (4)
|
| found inside (contents of) leVEL Ladle | ||
| 15 | LIVE A LIE |
Evil, devious foreigner mostly getting to conceal shameful deeds (8, 3 words)
|
| anagram (devious) of EVIL then ALIEn (foreigner, mostly) | ||
| 16 | SCUTTLE |
Sink? It’s often by the fire (7)
|
| double definition | ||
| 18 | HARASS |
Bother keeps besetting head (6)
|
| HAS (keeps) contains (besetting) RAS (headland) | ||
| 20 | RELUCT |
Hold back old cur let out (6)
|
| anagram (out) of CUR LET | ||
| 22 | NOONER |
Quickie during lunch break? Not a soul having run! (6)
|
| NO ONE (not a soul) with R (run) | ||
| 24 | CLYPEI |
First sign of cockroaches – I yelp frenziedly, insect protectors needed (6)
|
| first letter (first sign) of Cockroaches then anagram (frenziedly) of I YELP | ||
| 27 | ERISTIC |
Argumentative type is tense when restricted by fine (7)
|
| IS T (tense) inside (when restricted by) ERIC (fine) | ||
| 28 | STEAM CAR |
One answer to air pollution making mark, involving collaborative group? (8, 2 words)
|
| SCAR (mark) contains (involving) TEAM (collaborative group) – I’m not convinced about the non-polluting credentials of steam cars. Reading Wikipedia it seems they were a failure at answering answer air pollution problems, and at pretty much everything else too. | ||
| 30 | SORD |
Flock of ducks, mute? Not one duck (4)
|
| SORDO (mute) missing one letter O (duck, zero score) | ||
| 31 | MERIL |
Counter for game? Learner must join club (5)
|
| MERI ( a war club) with L (learner) | ||
| 32 | FLEXILE |
Law kept in line? It’s not rigid across the water (7)
|
| LEX (law) inside (kept in) FILE (line) – across the water indicates an American word | ||
| 33 | ZERDA |
Fox found in Zambia, form of red one (5)
|
| Z (Zambia) then anagram (form) of RED and A (one) | ||
| 34 | DESIDERATA |
Requirements (10)
|
| the competition clue | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | OFFISHNESS |
Aged catch, with head displaying aloof manner (10)
|
| OF (aged) FISH (catch) with NESS (head) | ||
| 2 | CURACAO |
By the sound of it, make bacon from a pig in liqueur (7)
|
| sounds like “cure a sow” (make bacon form a pig) | ||
| 3 | SEEK |
Resort to spot on end of peak (4)
|
| SEE (to pot) then peaK (last letter, end of) | ||
| 4 | PRISTANE |
Fish oil painter’s used liberally (8)
|
| anagram (used liberally) of PAINTER’S | ||
| 5 | TAMILS |
S. Indians in formal garb around start of mela (6)
|
| TAILS (formal garb) containing (around) first letter (start) of Mela | ||
| 6 | CLAVER |
Nashgab, smart, one supplanting English (6)
|
| CLeVER (smart) with A (one) replacing E (English) | ||
| 7 | HAVEREL |
Suffer with relative whom locals regard as a fool (7)
|
| HAVE (suffer) with REL (relative) | ||
| 8 | ONELY |
Poet’s just close to cathedral city (5)
|
| ON (close to) then ELY (a cathedral city) | ||
| 9 | CALIF |
50% of state leaving for spiritual leader (5)
|
| CALIFornia missing 50% | ||
| 14 | LENTICULAR |
What can make line curl at being twisted double-convex (10)
|
| anagram (what can make…) of LINE CURL AT | ||
| 17 | FLYSHEET |
He’s among group having to hurry over leaflet (8)
|
| HE inside (is among) SET (group) following (having…over, on top of) FLY (hurry) | ||
| 19 | SEAMAID |
Grease applied to help old siren? (7)
|
| SEAM (grease) with AID (help) | ||
| 21 | CEILIDH |
Evening of music etc from Spain I cover in church (7)
|
| E (Espana, Spain) I LID (cover) inside CH (church) | ||
| 23 | RECULE |
Former kick, if delivered by Old Nick coming up on one’s rear end (6)
|
| LUCifER (old Nick) missing (having delivered, ejected) IF reversed (coming up) then last letter (rear end) of onE | ||
| 24 | CRAYER |
Trader, one invited in by late-lamented funny man? (6)
|
| A (one) inside (invited in by) CRYER (Barry Cryer who died this year, late-lamented funny man) | ||
| 25 | STOLE |
Ecclesiastic gown moved gradually and rustled (5)
|
| triple definition | ||
| 26 | XERES |
Dry up after ten? Try a sherry (5)
|
| SERE (dry) reversed (up) following (after) X (ten) | ||
| 29 | ORRA |
Scottish supernumerary from among junior ranks (4)
|
| found inside juniOR RAnks |
No real favourites although SCUTTLE took me back to the days of coal fires and DESIDERATA back to the 60s and 70s when the poem was ubiquitous.
Thanks PeeDee and Azed
Thanks for the blog, I also wondered about STEAM CAR , I know nothing about them but producing the steam surely involved a lot of air pollution.
For LENTICULAR I do not think TWISTED is in the definition , just part of the indicating the anagram. Lenticular lenses and galaxies are typically very smooth, the Sombrero galaxy is probably the most famous.
Hi Roz, thanks for that. I don’t know why twisted got underlined, will update the blog soon. I was thinking of lenticular clouds in the weather, I had not heard about lenticular galaxies. Always good to learn new things.
Thanks Azed and PeeDee
28ac: To be fair, Azed did not say it was a good answer to air pollution.
31ac: It will be interesting to say what Azed says about this on the Azed slip, MEREL being an alternative spelling for the answer and MERE for the “club”. I know a lot of setters are happy for ambiguous clues to be resolved by crossing answers, but I am not sure that Azed is one of them.
33ac: Small point on the parsing. It should of course end A (one), not I.
31ac: “interesting to see what Azed says”. My mind was running ahead of my fingers.
If you’ll pardon a pedant PeeDee, along with A not I in 33 across as Pelham Barton says, you need to change CATCH (fish) to FISH (catch) in 1 down and SAEM with SEAM in 19 down.
Apart from those minor things, I also wondered whether 50% was required in the clue for 9 down given that Calif is given as a valid abbreviation for California in Chambers 2014.
Thanks for the corrections everyone. Tim C – good natured pedantry will always welcome here!
Late coming in as I was away from home with only a half-understood iPhone. Enjoyed this a lot. Thanks to Azed and PeeDee.
Agreed about STEAM CAR being highly polluting. I do remember some really strange things on the road. Steamrollers sometimes rolled past and the heaviest loads of coal & coke were beyond powered vehicles so were on horse-drawn drays. An international competition had been held at the turn of the century in Liverpool to see which could cope best and even after WWI there was a shortage of oomph.