Thanks to Azed
| Across | ||||||||
| 1 | SPRINGAL | Drinks knocked back, including round, in early youth (8) RING (round) in reverse of LAPS – “early” means it’s an archaic word |
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| 7 | IDLE | Eric, maybe, not employed in Lidl emporium (4) Hidden in lIDL Emporirm, and two definitions: Eric Idle of Monty Python for the first |
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| 11 | FELLAHEEN | Peasants skin a chicken, to be stuffed with sage finally (9) [sag]E in FELL (to skin) A HEN |
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| 12 | BLIT | Transfer a lot in computer’s memory for arts degree (4) The arts degree is B.LIT, Bachelor of Literature. I knew the IT meaning (“to transfer a large array of bits between different location in a computer’s memory”) from the (more common?) “bit blit”, often used in graphics programming |
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| 13 | LIBANT | Poet’s drinking a little – drunk accepts prohibition (6) BAN in LIT (drunk) |
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| 14 | APPALTO | Contract closed after shock (7) APPAL + TO (closed, e.g. of a door) |
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| 15 | ARIA | This opens in composition … as in opera maybe? (4) Composite anagam &lit – ARIA OPENS IN is an anagram of AS IN OPERA. Pity about the repetition of IN |
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| 16 | ÉPICIERS | French tradespeople aroused ire opening large works (8) IRE* in EPICS |
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| 20 | RENDERING | Nurse interrupts grinder that’s damaged first layer of plaster (9) EN (Enrolled Nurse) in GRINDER* |
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| 21 | AMOURETTE | Unreliable mate, roué accepting short time in dalliance (9) T in (MATE ROUE)* |
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| 25 | ALEHOUSE | A rotter grabs man from behind in tavern (8) Reverse of HE in A LOUSE |
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| 26 | TATH | Manure to touch up a bit of horticulture (4) TAT (to touch up) + H[orticulture] |
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| 27 | TREBLED | Lacking advance, earl debt ruined, multiplied somewhat (7) (EARL DEBT) less A[dvance] |
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| 30 | AT EASE | A guy that’s relaxed (6, 2 words) A TEASE |
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| 31 | TAXA | Make heavy demands on adult groups in biology (4) TAX (make heavy demands on) + A[dult] |
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| 32 | SERPENTRY | Occupants of reptile house, close together, shut up inside (9) PENT (shut up) in SERRY (to close together, as in serried ranks) |
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| 33 | ERAS | Important dates to delete? Not quite (4) ERAS[e] |
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| 34 | DIASTEMA | Gap between teeth? Help returned to check one (8) Reverse AID + STEM A |
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| Down | ||||||||
| 1 | SABA | Music heralded our queen’s arrival – see special Arab coat (4) S[pecial] + ABA. Saba is a variant of Sheba, and “The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba” is a famous piece of music from Handel’s oratorio Solomon, often performed on its own, as here |
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| 2 | PULP | Mash, line fed to young pet? (4) L in PUP |
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| 3 | RHIPIDOPTERA | Parasitic insects making infected pet drop hair I trapped (12) I in (PET DROP HAIR)* |
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| 4 | NELLIE | Weakling, poorly raised, in endless poverty (6) Reverse of ILL (poorly) in NEE[d] |
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| 5 | GLUTEN | It’s avoided in some diets, stuff with (unequal) parts switched (6) EN/GLUT with its “unequal parts” swapped |
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| 6 | LAISSE | I’ll be captivated by girls without ending string of verses (6) I in LASSE[s] |
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| 8 | DEARTICULATE | Darling with cute tail mishandled, put out of joint (12) DEAR + (CUTE TAIL)* |
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| 9 | LENIENTS | The French embracing love in Rome getting end away – they softened (8) NIENT[E] (Italian for nothing or “love”) in LES |
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| 10 | ENTANGLE | Confuse fish following disguised net (8) NET* + ANGLE (to fish) |
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| 16 | ELASTASE | Enzyme to be left in peace? (8) LAST in EASE |
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| 17 | POMWATER | Poem crafted with art about Welsh sweet apple, old (8) W[elsh] in (POEM ART)* |
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| 18 | CRUX | Curved roof timbers, we hear, forming a cross (4) Homophone of “crucks” |
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| 19 | OREO | Tea-time treat? It has middle of chocolate (double) coating on (4) RE (on) between two instances the middle letter of [choc]O[late]. This is the “possibly unfamiliar trade name” – Oreos are originally from the US but widely available in the UK, so surely familiar to most people |
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| 22 | RAISED | Free ride as given a lift (6) (RIDE AS)* |
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| 23 | TERATA | Hurt, a treat in such as The Elephant Man (6) (A TREAT)* |
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| 24 | THEIRS | Scottish institutes, after time belonging to that lot (6) T + HEIRS; “institute” means an heir in Scots law |
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| 28 | EXAM | Millions undergoing rising bill, a testing thing (4) Reverse of AXE (a bill) + M |
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| 29 | DATA | What may occupy base? Not much turns up (4) Reverse of A TAD – the definition relates to “database”; it seems a bit odd to use “base” on its own in this way |
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Thanks Azed and Andrew
15ac: The construction here must be (ARIA OPENS)* = AS IN OPERA. The first “in” is part of the anagram indicator (“in composition”).
Nice job on the blog, as usual. I guessed SABA from the “special Arab coat” wordplay–familiar enough material for Azed, with the added hint of “queen”–but technically I found 1D as a clue either unclear or unfair, unless this piece is somewhere known in the repertory simply as “Saba.”
Thanks for the blog, FELLAHEEN took me a while, had to search for words for skin and no first letter.
BLIT is not in my Chambers 93 , not surprisingly , but the clue was very clear.
NELLIE also not there as a weakling.
Nice reference to John Hurt for TERATA with the capital at the start .
16dn – does LAST equate to “to be left”? Outlast would, but I’m not sure about last. “To be left in peace” is an attractive bit of surface cluing in itself, but I’m not sure it can apply to enzymes, so this feels like a stretch in both directions. Like Roz@3, I had neither BLIT nor NELLIE in my Chambers (98), but enjoyed 23dn. Thanks for the blog.
MM@4 re 16dn: Going by Chambers 2014, last (in the sense of “to survive”) is an intransitive verb, while outlast is a transitive verb. The construction “to be left” (in the sense of “to remain”) needs an intransitive verb.
MM @4 : How about “the final date lasted/was left until twelfth night”?
Pelham Barton@5, I agree outlast is transitive. I was thinking more of the sense of it. For me, “to be left” isn’t quite the same as “remain” – it conveys the sense of something or someone else having gone away or failed/died. There is a difference, for instance, between “to be left in peace” and “requiescat in pace”!
Gonzo@6, I’m not sure I understand your phrase? There seems to me to be a difference in meaning (or at least an ambiguity) between “lasted until xyz date” – ie was continuously in existence until then – and “was left until” – ie was set aside or not activated until.
However, happy to be told I’m wrong.
MM@4: I was reading them as adjectives meaning essentially “remaining”: “That dress is the only one left from the sale. It is the last one.” Does that work?
Hello all!
Thanks, as always, to Azed and to Andrew for picking up the pieces.
Re LAST in ELASTASE. “I hope the fish I bought will last till Friday” = “… will be left till …” seems to make “to” in the clue redundant but necessary.
SABA was familiar, Ethiopian monarchs claimed to be descended fro the Queen.
MM – the “date” in my example is meant to be the sticky fruit 🙂
…but I think ‘lasted’ can mean ‘was left untouched’.
Cineraria@2, I think 1D passes the test that you can verify an answer from the wordplay with the definition: SABA ~ SHEBA, whose queen’s arrival is heralded by music, at least by Handel.
Roz@3, ” blit” was certainly in use before 1993: I recall it from the 80’s Amiga 500. Now pretty much historical, I think, now graphics processors are essentially highly parallel computers.
I’m a bit late on the blog but I don’t understand how you get the last A in SABA.
Brian @13 ABA is actually a coat in Arab nations, Chambers names Syria.
It is not AraB , I had the same thoughts initially.
Gonzo@10: Belatedly, thanks for your clarification! An insight into Christmas traditions in your household perhaps? 🙂
Roz@14, thanks (belatedly)