Azed 2659

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Azed gives us a standard plain puzzle for the competition this month.  The competition clue is the 12-letter entry at 2 down

 

 

 

I struggled a bit with the wording of three of the clues this week. I feel sure someone will explain what I seem to be missing. 

For example the ‘having receiving’ part of the clue for STUBBED at 31 across doesn’t seem to read fluently.  Also, I can’t see where ‘devouring’ fits in the clue for SECODONT. at 16 down.   Is it part of the definition or is it a containment indicator?  We already have ‘in’ as a possible containment indicator.  Finally, I don’t see what ‘naturally’ adds to the clue for ARGYRITE at 5 down.  ARGYRITE is defined simply as a sulphide and I can’t see how ‘naturally’ comes into the wordplay.

Overall, I found this to be at the difficult end of Azed’s spectrum with more entries that usual that I haven’t come across before.

No Detail
Across  
1

Symbolic comb good for parting a hank that’s plaited (6)

KANGHA (the comb traditionally worn by Sikhs in their hair as a symbol of cleanliness and an article of faith.  KANGHA is one of the of the 5 Ks of Sikhism)

G (good) contained in (parting) an anagram of (plaited) A HANK

KAN (G) HA*
6

United lead, a work of art to seethe from below? (6)

UPBOIL (to boil up? with the word seeming to indicate something BOILs UP from below)

U (United) + PB (chemical symbol for lead) + OIL (painting; work of art)

U PB OIL
12

One old Scottish bird wraps wimple perfectly (10, 2 words)

A MERVEILLE (perfectly)

A (one) + MERLE (archaic [old] or literary Scottish word for the blackbird) containing (wraps) VEIL (wimple)

A MER (VEIL) LE
13

Dress machine’s cut in length of thick cotton (7)

KITENGE (African term for a length of brightly-coloured thick cotton cloth)

KIT (dress) + ENGINE (machine) excluding (cut) IN

KIT ENGE
14

Unwillingness to speak, ignoring extreme limits … of this once? (4)

UTIS (din or clamour making it difficult to speak)

MUTISM (inability or unwillingness to speak) excluding the outer letters (ignoring extreme) M and M

UTIS
15

Duck flesh parcelled by mum (6)

SMEATH (names for various ducks, such as the smew, pochard, wigeon and pintail)

MEAT (flesh) contained in (parcelled by) SH (keep quiet; be mum)

S (MEAT) H
16

Driver is waiting nearby, last to take the lead (6) 

SHOVER (driver)

HOVERS (is waiting nearby) with the final letter (last) S moved to the front (to take the lead) to form SHOVER

SHOVER
18

A little bit of cash, standard one (4)

PARA (small Turkish coin; bit of cash)

PAR (standard) + A (one)

PAR A
19

Tiny bit of sponge artist set in mottled stripes (9) 

SPIRASTER (coiled sponge spicule with radiating spines; tiny bit of sponge)

RE (Royal Academician; artist) contained in (in) an anagram of (mottled) STRIPES

SPI (RA) STER*
22

Company’s stage design in opening of gala providing treat (9)

COSSETING (pampering; gratifying to the full; providing treat)

CO‘S (company) + SET (stage design in a theatre) + IN + G (first letter of [opening of] GALA)

COS SET IN G
24

Lone tree, partially combustible (4) 

OMBU (South American tree, a species of Phytolacca, that grows isolated in the pampas)

OMBU (hidden word in [partially] COMBUSTIBLE)

OMBU.
25

Modest about ride with ‘ounds, being gentrified (6)

COUNTY ( Having the characteristics and habits of the inhabitants of country houses and estates, especially an upper-class accent and an interest in horses, dogs,etc)

COY (modest) containing (about) ”UNT [what your do with ‘ounds, both dropping the H)

CO (UNT) Y
27

Pa welcoming men in scruff order, very informal (6) 

DAMNED (informal term for ‘very’)

DAD (father; pa) containing (welcoming) an anagram of (in scruff order) MEN

DA (MNE*) D
29

Leg with last bit of gangrene requiring operation (4)

GAME (lame; disabled, maybe requiring an operation?)

GAM (human leg) + E (final letter of [last bit of] GANGRENE)

GAM E
31

Bowled in first stages, going back, having receiving painful blow (7)

STUBBED (received painful blow)

(B [bowled] contained in [in] DEBUTS [first appearances; first times on stage?; first stages])

(STUB (B) ED)<  Either B could be the one contained
32

Alloy I included in manufacture of carillons (10)

NICROSILAL (cast-iron alloy containing nickel, chromium, and silicon, used in high-temperature work)

I contained in (included in) an anagram of (manufacture of) CARILLONS

N (I) CROSILAL* either I could be the one contained
33

Oily paste absent in watery iftar’s starter (6) 

TAHINI (oily paste made of crushed sesame seeds)

(A [absent] contained in THIN [watery]) + I (first letter of [starter] IFTAR)

T (A) HIN I
34

Strike come to an end in Glasgow, allowed in (6)

DELETE (strike [out])

DEE (Scottish [Glasgow] word for DIE [come to an end]) containing (in) LET (allowed)

DE (LET) E
Down  
1

NZ bird sounding (almost) like a dove (4) 

KUKU (a large fruit-eating pigeon of New Zealand)

KUKU (sounds like [sounding like] COO COO [two occurrences of sounds made by doves])

KUKU
*2

Obsession with counting things (12)

ARITHMOMANIA (an obsessive preoccupation with numbers, characterized by a compulsion to count people or objects)

No wordplay as this is the competition word for which entrants have to submit a clue

ARITHMOMANIA
3

No saint is desecrated by such heathens (7) 

NATIONS (Gentiles or heathens)

Anagram of (desecrated) NO SAINT

NATIONS*
4

Axis formed in history – and then Germany (5)

HENGE (Spenserian [old [in history]) term for ‘axis’)

HENGE (hidden word in in) THEN GERMANY)

HENGE
5

Tar I blended with grey natural sulphide (8) 

ARGYRITE (mineral composed of silver, germanium and sulphur.)

Anagram of (… blended with …) TAR I and GREY

ARGYRITE*
7

One writing about bit of rock, object turning up in prehistoric time (7) 

PERMIAN (the uppermost Palaeozoic system. rocks from prehistoric time)

PEN (author; one writing) containing (about) (R [first letter of [a bit of] ROCK + AIM [object] reversed [turning up; down entry])

PE (R MIA<) N
8

Pale blue pants concealing worker’s muscle (6)

BICEPS (muscle with two heads, especially that at the front of the upper arm or that at the back of the thigh)

BICE (pale blue) + PANTS excluding (concealing) ANT (worker)

BICE PS
9

Everyone’s turned up following old crock (4)

OLLA (jar or urn; crock)

O (old) + ALL (everyone) reversed (turned up)

O LLA< 
10

Abuse male patients having to stand inside with temperature (12)

ILL-TREATMENT (abuse)

ILL MEN (male patients) containing (having inside) TREAT (stand, as in stand a round of rinks) + T (temperature)

ILL TREAT) MEN T
11

Hearty girl losing heart slips into apathy (8)

LETHARGY (inertia; apathy)

Anagram of (slips into) HEARTY and GIRL excluding the central letters (losing heart) GL

LETHARGY*
16

Chap getting drunk in group devouring like carnivores (8)

SECODONT (with cutting back teeth, like carnivores)

(COD [fellow; chap] + ON [drunk] contained in [in] SET (group)

SE (COD ON) T
17

Rodent Circe bewitched three times daily (8) 

CRICETID (member of the Cricetidae, a family of rodents including the hamsters)

Anagram of (bewitched) CIRCE + T.I.D. (ter in die, in prescriptions, three times a day)

CRICE* TID
20

Part of e.g. lobster I peer nervously over, gracing menu? (7)  

PEREION (the thorax in Crustacea; part of a lobster, for example)

Anagram of (nervously) I PEER + ON (part of [gracing?] the menu)

PEREI* ON
21

Melodious snatch taken in a rush (7)

TUNABLE (melodious)

NAB (seize; snatch) contained in (taken in) TULE (large American bulrush)

TU (NAB) LE
23

Source of Asian timber, 75% dehydrated outside? (6)

SUNDRI (East Indian timber tree; source of Asian timber)

SUNDRIED (DRIED [dehydrated] in the open air [outside]) excluding the final two of eight (25%) letters ED leaving 75% of the word remaining

SUNDRI
26

Seed’s early stage in rubber, trailing 0-5 (5)

OVULE (in flowering plants, the body containing the egg cell, which on fertilization becomes the seed; seed’s early stage)

O (character representing zero; 0) + V (Roman numeral for 5) + ULE (crude rubber)

O V ULE
28

A lot to eat one’s way through, nameless (4)

MUCH (a lot)

MUNCH (to eat one’s way through) excluding (less) N (name)

MUCH
30

Regular feature of new digger? (4)

EDGE (a new digger will have a sharp edge on its cutting tool)

EDGE (letters 2, 4, 6 and 8 [regular feature] of NEW DIGGER)

EDGE

 

12 comments on “Azed 2659”

  1. Thank you, duncanshiell. I bet you and I, and many others, wonder how easy it is to crack an Azed. I can remember the joy when I solved not just a clue but the entire grid of a Ximenes. This Azed was surprisingly hard and he played lots of games (bless ’im!)

    I’m sure others have noticed that ILL-TREATMENT is also abuse (verb) and m, (male) and Ear Nose and Throat for “patients”. Azed uses that sometimes. It stretches the parsing but I’ve been around too long: I know Azed likes to have a laugh.

    Stefan

  2. For what it’s worth, I think “devouring” in 16 down is part of the definition, although perhaps we need a zoologist to confirm that such teeth are indeed characteristic of carnivores.

    I think “receiving” in the clue for STUBBED is simply a typo, and I must confess that I didn’t even notice it!

    As the rules now make it clear that entries to the monthly competition puzzle may be submitted by email (not just for overseas solvers as before) I took advantage of the facility to submit my entry that way. I will not now be able to claim that my entry must have been lost in the post!

  3. Thanks for the blog, I thought this was quite tricky , we have had three fairly friendly Plain puzzles after the PD, maybe being a Competition puzzle prompted Azed to up the level.
    Like you I did notice that the definions for STUBBED and SECODONT seemed a bit odd.
    For ARGYRITE I got passed on to three separate headings in Chambers, finally = native sulphide, does this imply it occurs naturally ?
    For CRICETID we only just have an anagram of Circe.
    For DAMNED I do not know the phrase – in scruff order , but had to be an anagram.
    For PEREION I found “gracing menu” a bit odd, I assume dishes are ON or off the menu ?

  4. I also took advantage of the email entry option, but in an epic fail I entered LAME rather than GAME. I was thinking that to lam is to beat, which might equate with to leg or to kick. Now I’m kicking myself for not giving this further thought. Oh well, I did enjoy the clue writing!

  5. Travelling in the UK at the moment so I’m away from my dictionaries but managed to finish this OK on a real newspaper rather than a pdf from the net. I didn’t notice “receiving” and checked Argyrite on line where it seems to be a naturally occurring mineral ore of silver. My real struggle was with the clue writing this time.

  6. Hello! Thanks to Azed, as always, and to duncanshiell for the heavy-lifting. I did complete this on the day, though with more delving into Chambers than recently. and then struggled over clue-writing.
    As one with a maths degree I’d never met ARITHMOMANIA though it was easy to spot and one of the early entries.
    I may have experienced it. Does “spot the prime” count. I am just entering my third consecutive year of just two prime factors. Doesn’t occur again till 121/122/123.

  7. Thanks for the blog Duncan. Jay@4 – I also entered LAME not GAME but on the basis that LAM has another meaning: ‘to flee’ (sometimes with it) hence to lam it = to leg it. Do we think there are two acceptable solutions there? I hope so as I was quite pleased with my ARITHMOMANIA clue (although that generally means that Azed won’t like it)!

  8. Another enjoyable puzzle, tricky in parts. I completed the left half (more or less) first, followed by the other half later while I was out. I was pleased with myself for completing that other half without my usual references around me, going online just a couple of times just to check things. I thought of both LAME and GAME and preferred GAME in the end. I tried to write a clue, but it didn’t really yield to my best efforts, and I didn’t send in my solution.

    Thanks to Azed, and to duncanshiell for the blog.

  9. Definitely needed the dictionary for this one. I had a stab at ENUMEROMANIA for the long one, KHANGA is one of several words fitting the wordplay, the parsing of BICEPS was last to fall out.
    31 must be ‘having received’ to make sense.
    Thanks Azed and duncanshiell.

  10. Roz@3, “in scruff order” was in common use in my family when I was young; my father was in the RAF, so possibly it’s a services expression? Also, according to C98, ‘native’ means occurring naturally as a mineral (among its other meanings).
    Re UPBOIL, my C98 lists it without definition; I assumed it to mean bubble up, in the manner of a hot spring.

  11. In my Chambers the 14th entry for GAME is “Business, activity, operation”.
    Did anyone else notice the nudist lurking in row 10?
    Thanks duncanshiell and Azed.

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