Azed 2627

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A reasonably testing Azed, though sound and clear in retrospect as usual. I have a minor quibble about the definition in 24d, but that might be my ignorance. Thanks to Azed.

 
Across
1 FLATBACK Mantelpiece decoration in apartment, a large tub (8)
FLAT + BACK (“a large vat or tub”)
7 WHIM Man objectively pursuing women, fancy (4)
W[omen] + HIM
11 RUKH Jumbo carrier for UK (Heathrow) one boards (4)
Hidden in foR UK Heathrow; variant of “roc”, a mythical bird that can carry off an elephant (Jumbo)
12 THERAPY Treatment, what one accepting blame takes, variable (7)
THE + RAP + Y (mathematical variable)
13 ARCADY Ideal place for poet, roughly in middle of untidy yard (6)
CA (circa) in YARD*
14 SABOT Patten returned to home, leaving East (5)
Reverse of TO BAS[e]; sabot and patten both mean a clog
15 MEANDER What could indicate lake for a ramble? (7)
ME AND ER gives “meer”, variant of “mere”, a lake
18 HUGUENOT Member of religious minority, persecuted enough, but leaderless (8)
Anagram of ENOUGH [b]UT
20 LENTAMENTE Break for Shakespeare during Lent, reread slowly (10)
ENTAME (as in “breaking” a wild horse) in LENT*
22 SOLFATARAS Fumaroles, thick, in sun’s gravelly ridge (10)
FAT in SOLAR (sun’s) ÅS (Swedish word for a kame or esker: a bank or ridge of gravel etc)
25 ROTIFERA Tiny sea creatures, run over, a doctor brought back? (8)
R[un] O[ver] + reverse of A REFIT
29 SCRAPIE It could give sheep a real itch, with regular scratching (7)
Anagram of alternate letters of ShEeP a ReAl ItCh, &lit
30 ADUST Charred, providing a bit of light housework (5)
A + DUST
31 STROLL Activity for toddlers or gnomes, last to take the lead (6)
TROLLS with the S moved to the front
32 LINE-OUT Touch may precede this form of elution (7)
ELUTION*
33 PREE Scottish sound from water edging river (4)
R in PEE – pree is a Scots word for “to make a trial of”, so perhaps as in “sound out”
34 MAGG Nick (according to Walter) that is rejected by Peggy (4)
MAGGIE (like Peggie, a diminutive of Margaret) less I.E. – a word used by Sir Walter Scott meaning to steal (= nick)
35 BEFRIEND Favour brief suffering before death (8)
BRIEF* + END
Down
1 FRAMPLER Scott’s rowdy, frequently of fuller bulk (8)
FR + AMPLER – another word from Sir Walter Scott, meaning a brawler
2 LUREX Ray with bit of luminance round shiny fabric (5)
RE (ray, as in do-re-mi) in LUX
3 THANATOID A thin toad, squashed, and apparently dead (9)
(A THIN TOAD)*
4 BUDDHA Religious teacher, one with appropriate qualifications in a nave, given uplift (6)
DD in reverse of A HUB
5 CHARGE Ambassador’s stand-in, a financial liability (6)
Double definition, with or without an acute accent of the E
6 KEST Disused shed in park estate (4)
Hidden in parK ESTate; an obsolete variant of “cast”, as in thrown or discarded
8 HABANERA Dance from Hungary, one preceding prohibition age (8)
H + A + BAN + ERA
9 IPOMOEA A poem I concocted about love for convolvulus plant (7)
O in (A POEM I)*
10 MYTH Fantasy? I’m surprised this is dismissed (4)
MY (I’m surprised!) + TH[is]
16 METACARPI Forelegs? First of couple in a primate, hybridized (9)
C in (A PRIMATE)*
17 UNSTRUNG Like a useless guitar, denied due recognition? Transpose within (8)
TR in UNSUNG
19 TASSELED Last seed sewn flowered like US corn (8)
(LAST SEED)* – the single L means this is a US spelling
21 EXORDIA Old love before love turned arid, forming introductions (7)
EX (an old love) + 0 (love) + ARID*
23 FESCUE Teacher’s pointer to save, fine in place of rule (6)
RESCUE (save) with R replaced by F
24 TARTAR What gallery displays in reproduction of it ? see plaque (6)
ART in ART* – I don’t think plaque and tartar (both dental problems) are quite the same thing
26 SILEN Pan resembles one, not quite enough for mum (5)
SILEN[t]
27 MALM Earthy stuff rotund character removed from Swedish location (4)
MALMO less O (a “rotund character”) – strictly speaking the final character is ö, with an umlaut
28 STOB Anxious to bet is accepting this stake for Scots (4)
Hidden in anxiouS TO Bet

6 comments on “Azed 2627”

  1. I really liked MEANDER in this one. It’s a sort of reverse X and Y type of clue. Very clever.
    I must admit that I didn’t give TARTAR a second thought in terms of the definition once I’d worked it out. They’re probably used interchangeably in common parlance, but strictly speaking they aren’t the same. Tartar is what plaque becomes if not cleaned.

  2. Thanks for the blog, agree with Tim about MEANDER , Azed often does this when an answer contains AND but this was very neat with two letters each side.
    Not fond of LENTAMENTE , it does work fine but we have Lent in the clue going around the answer as an anagram but also Lent turns up in the answer. Not wrong but I always find this clumsy.
    RUKH is a great word, I am glad it was hidden.

  3. I had a question mark against the clue for PREE, where I felt that “sound” didn’t really convey the meaning of the word. Chambers has: “to make a trial of, esp by tasting or kissing”.

  4. Roz@2, I thought the same about LENTAMENTE – I almost thought I must have got it wrong, but it clearly fitted. In a bit of a hurry, I carelessly pencilled in TEASELED for 19dn, without checking the anagram, then got a bit worried when I put in IPOMOEA and had a word ending in AA! Luckily it didn’t take much sorting out.

  5. Several I could not parse this week, thanks to Andrew for the explanations. Also surprised by LENTAMENTE, thought it could not be right.

  6. Further to some discussion on Azed 2633 on the topic of indirect anagrams, I feel I should point out that 24dn is technically an indirect anagram. I was completely happy with the clue, and did not wish to raise the issue at the time. In the blog on Azed 2633, I tried to remember Azed’s guidance. I am grateful to bridgesong (blogger of Azed 2631) for giving me the correct version. It is easier to repeat it again here than to allude to it:
    “The component letters of the anagram, or an unequivocal indication of them [I have reproduced bridgesong’s emphasis], must be given explicitly in the anagram-based clue”.
    I am happy that “in reproduction of it” contains the necessary unequivocal indication.

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