Azed No. 2,666 Plain

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A 13 x 11 grid this week for a change.

There are a couple of answers which I can’t parse to my satisfaction (or at all, really) so I hope that you will be able to come up with suggestions.

picture of the completed grid

ACROSS
1 CATCH AT STRAWS
Jazzer rap, strong, was confused? Make do with inferior stuff (13, 3 words)
CAT (jazzer) CHAT (rap) STR(ong) *WAS. This phrase is in Chambers under the entry for straw, and is defined as “to resort to an inadequate remedy in desperation”.
11 OBIT
Funeral ceremonies over, had a snack afterwards (4)
O(ver) BIT.
13 ABAC
Mathematical calculator one required to divide basic rudiments (4)
A in ABC. It’s defined as a nomogram and derives, unsurprisingly, from the Latin abacus.
14 RINGLET
Fairy dance, right round fireplace (7)
INGLE (fireplace) in RT.
15 NIKE
Group from the kindergarten going round famous Louvre exhibit? (4)
Hidden and reversed. This is the statue.
16 PIPA
Oriental lute: father accompanies one on piano (4)
P(iano) I PA.
17 CRETAN
Islander finding odd bits to eat in freshly landed herring (6)
E(a)T in CRAN (a measure of capacity for herrings just landed in port, equivalent to 37.5 gallons, according to Chambers).
18 ISOGEOTHERM
Underground feature like others, so mixed up with eight more (11)
*(SO EIGHT MORE). A subterranean contour of equal temperature.
21 NUT
Barrel rolling weirdo (3)
TUN (rev).
24 ALI
Clay became this – a red blob fashioned with it is Della-Robbia (3)
Compound anagram: ALI + A RED BLOB = DELLA ROBBIA. The reference is to Cassius Clay, who changed his name to Muhammad Ali.
25 STREET-LEVEL
The general population in Ireland wander round centre of Newtown willingly as before (11)
(new)T(own) LEVE (old term meaning willingly) inside STREEL (Irish for wander).
27 GALIOT
Flap about fuel having to be sent back for old cargo boat (6)
OIL in TAG (all rev).
29 TWIT
Fool, one interested in birds losing beloved in Paris (4)
TWIT(cher).
31 EVOE
Recall end of Bacchae, almost finished – their cry? (4)
(Baccha)E OVE(r) (all rev). The Chambers definition is terse: “expressing Bacchic frenzy”.
32 TITANIA
Satellite, one inside – isn’t it wrong way round? (7)
A inside AINT IT (all rev). Titania is the largest moon of Uranus.
33 PAWA
Fondle a pretty shell (4)
PAW A. Also known as abalone.
34 STET
Order against striking disheartened thoroughfare (4)
ST(re)ET. A proof-reader’s direction to the printer.
35 TRANSGRESSIVE
Committing sin? Rag stirs seven, naughtily (13)
*(RAG STIRS SEVEN).
DOWN
1 CORN IN EGYPT
Number entering crypt go dancing – that’s plenty (11, 3 words)
NINE in *(CRYPT GO). I confess to never having encountered this synonym for abundance before.
2 ABID
Command after advance poet’s tolerated (4)
A(dvance) BID.
3 TINPOT
Cheap nip drunk within another such (6)
*NIP inside TOT (a measure of drink).
4 HOLIER
Former monarch after foreign festival growing in sanctimony (6)
HOLI (Hindu spring festival) ER.
5 ALEPOLE
Old pub sign cut up and put in a shelter (7)
LOP (rev) inside A LEE.
6 SYNC
In this is matching kitchen feature by the sound of it (4)
Sounds like “sink”.
7 TWIRE
Lecherous old expression he left out of the cable, … (5)
T’ WIRE. A Shakespearean term meaning a leer.
8 RAKERY
… Typical of this, right – right in a tone of voice? (6)
R(ight) and R(ight) inside A KEY (tone of voice). Solving the previous clue helps you to understand the definition.
9 WADABLE
Trick I cast for a fish, not requiring a swim (7)
WILE (trick) with the I replaced by A DAB.
10 SCINTILLATE
What’s Scots rock containing within there? Sparkle (11)
I’m struggling to parse this one. Presumably SC is Scots, but I can’t find a rock other than SILL or SLATE, neither of which is sufficient.
12 STATUETTE
Figurine from Egypt protected by law (9)
ET (International Vehicle Registration code for Egypt) inside STATUTE.
19 SUBADAR
Mogul governor, one clothed in absurd frippery (7)
A in *ABSURD. At first glance, I assumed that Azed had used a noun (frippery) as an anagram indicator, but of course it is also an adjective.
20 HOTWIRE
Start, often illegally, house with 7 (7)
HO(use) T WIRE. A rare example in an Azed puzzle of a cross-reference to the answer to a previous clue.
22 ATIVAN
One pursuing topsy-turvy life – tranquillizer required (6)
VITA (life, rev) AN. “Required” here is just for the surface reading.
23 BLITES
Members of the goosefoot family – wild astilbe’s not one (6)
*(a)STILBE.
24 AVANTI
Call for progress demanded by French lawyer on the other side (6)
AV(ocat) (French Lawyer) ANTI.
26 ROOMS
Rented accommodation for Jock to fumigate from bottom up (5)
SMOOR (rev). I’m a little dubious about the accuracy of the wordplay here, as Chambers defines “smoor” as “to smother or suffocate, to put out a fire or light” and neither of those meanings seems to be the same as “fumigate”, which is defined as “to expose to fumes”.
28 TEGG
Fleece? Mine’s got a bit of tar on (4)
T(ar) EGG. An egg can refer to a mine or bomb.
30 KIEV
What sounds briefly like a major dish on the menu? (4)
I think that this is a homophone of KEY (as in music), but that doesn’t account for the final V. Anyone have a better suggestion?

29 comments on “Azed No. 2,666 Plain”

  1. Thanks for the blog, I thought maybe KEY F for KIEV but not good.(KIEV is not pronounced key ev, but the food may still be? ) . Is it “briefly” because the chicken is missing ?
    Also there is KIEVE=KEEVE= a large tub – Major dish ?
    I hope someone else has a better idea.

  2. Thanks bridgesong.
    SCINTILLATE is INTIL (Sc. ‘Into, in or unto’) in SCLATE (Sc. form of slate).
    I took the homophone of KIEV to be ‘key F’.
    Thanks as ever to Azed.

  3. SCINTILLATE – SCLATE is a Scottish word for slate , a rock and INTIL is Scottish for IN ( within there) .

  4. A double crossing with Gonzo but we seem to agree.
    My Chambers93 did not have PIPA or CORN IN EGYPT but the wordplay was clear. WADABLE was very neat . HOTWIRE a good definition and I agree it is unusual for Azed to refer to another clue and use that entry directly.

  5. Roz@1 (Gonzo and bridgesong)!
    Just sharing…
    If not relevant, please ignore.
    A Ukrainian acquaintance of mine told me a year or so ago (just about the war started):

    Kiev is pronounced like kee ev (and that is Russian)
    Kyiv is pronounced more like kreev (an r like sound; and that is Ukrainian)
    In either case, the English pronunciation could be different.

    A question (relevant to the context):
    Is ‘ev’ in a way a brief pronunciation of ‘ef’ (like the f in of)?

  6. Thanks, Gonzo and Ros for explaining SCINTILLATE. As for KIEV, I wonder if it’s meant to be a homophone of “key (o)f”, which would explain the V, since the F in OF is voiced. And in music it’s normal to refer to keys by including the preposition.

  8. Thanks, bridgesong!
    Though I haven’t attempted the puzzle, the blog is simply too good and very educative.

  9. KVa @5: we had the same thought, I see.

    Roz @7: yes, although of course there is no ambiguity here because every letter in this three letter word is checked. Azed is always scrupulously fair when it comes to checking letters.

  10. Thanks KVa and Bridgesong .
    KVa first, we pronounce F as eff but OF as OV which is where the idea from Bridgesong comes in . I now think KEY OF is better but still the stray O.
    And there is the issue of how to pronounce the city or the food in the first place. Not a good clue to use a homophone.

  11. Bridgesong@9 yes the NUT is checked but not really good enough for Azed. Every clue should be solvable without ambiguity or needing the grid.

  12. ROOMS
    What is ‘for Jock’? Asking us to look for a Scottish word? Dictionaries indicate that ‘jock’ is an offensive word.
    Or is it a homophone indicator (for a jockey)?

  13. KVa @12 yes it does indicate a Scottish word. Azed is more precise than most setters , he will usually give some hint when a word is Scottish, US, Maori etc. He does the same for old or archaic words and slang or dialect . With practice you get used to it.
    See 25AC , Irish word. 29Ac French word 2D Abid from Spenser a poet. 5D , 7D an old word. 10D Scots . 24D French .

  14. Bridgesong @6: “key’v” is plausible, though you’ll have to explain the ‘major’ for the non-musical-theory-trained like myself.

  15. Having been doing Azed for a few months now, I think this is the first time I’ve had a fully parsed grid (so I thought) with no question marks. I had ticks against ALI, WADABLE, SCINTILLATE (parsed as Gonzo@2) and STREET-LEVEL.

    That said, I parsed KIEV as a homophone of KIEVE (a large/major tub/dish) with “on the menu?” leading to the definition.

    Thanks to Azed and bridgesong.

  16. Gonzo @14: yes, it could equally well be “minor”, I suppose.

    Jay @15: that’s an intriguing suggestion. We’ll have to wait for Azed’s notes in a fortnight’s time to see if you’re correct.

  17. I did mention KIEVE or KEEVE @1 but you do not need ” sounds briefly like ” . Just sounds like , or briefly , but not both.

  18. I didn’t have a problem with taking KIEV to be a pun on Key F (a major which could also be minor). The word “briefly” in the clue has to be included in any explanation of the pun/wordplay. Isn’t an ‘F’ a ‘short V’? How are Prokofiev and Diaghilev pronounced?

  19. I couldn’t fathom KIEV. Problems with all suggestions so far.
    kieve/keeve doesn’t account for the briefly, nor can a keeve be sensibly described as a dish, as it is a vat, nor does it account for major which has so many possible implications, as large would have been more accurate and perhaps even better for the surface.
    Key F is not a thing. Key of [ ] is a thing; one could certainly describe eg. G major as ‘key of G’ and I would even say that for G minor, one would not say ‘key of G’, or even ‘key of G minor’, though this is not the sort of thing that dictionaries deal with and seems too wishy-washy. I suppose any example of ‘key of x’ would be just ‘key of’ without the last bit, i.e. briefly.
    Lieutenant Kije kept popping into my head, but I couldn’t think of any similarly named majors.

  20. Re SMOOR (which also puzzled me): as a noun it can mean smoke – I wonder if Azed was misled by that?

  21. James @19: it is because ‘Key F’ is not a standard phrase that it could be ‘brief’ for ‘key of F’, by my reasoning.

  22. Gonzo @21, so briefly can mean take out a bit in the middle? All options very ropy; if any of them is what Azed was thinking none of us will be kicking themself.

  23. It should be noted that Chambers defines kiev as “n a dish made of thin fillets of meat, esp chicken (chicken kiev), filled with butter, garlic, etc……” The pronunciation guide also allows an ef or ev ending.
    I like Gonzo @21’s suggestion that the briefly refers to the ‘of’ removal.

  24. Tom C @ 18: F is an unvoiced V …. (i.e. it’s just the sound made by the passing of pushed air between the lips ans without the use of the vocal cords.

    T and D and P and B similarly …

  25. I read KIEV as a homophone for “Key?: F,” following the pronunciation of the dish in Chambers, and Azed’s indication of “briefly.” A good try for a difficult word to clue.

  26. Every new comment I think someone must have cracked it, but no.
    Cineraria @25 ‘A good try for a difficult word to clue’; considering Azed has been producing immaculate clues (bar very rare exceptions) for words most compilers wouldn’t let within a mile of their grids for more than 50 years I think that’s pretty inapt. The fact that nobody’s sure about it means it wasn’t a good try, even if it turns out to have a good explanation. The only reason I know I got the right answer is that nothing else fits *IEV. Also, it’s not a difficult word to clue. I’ve just come up with three on a short walk. I quite like this one: ‘Poles must leave knives out for neighbour’s meal’.

  28. Tim C: well spotted! I had a note to check the explanation in my copy of the physical paper in a few hours’ time.

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