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I found this rather difficult, and several held out for a long time. The left-hand answer to 12dn resolutely escapes parsing: I hope someone tells us how it works. The rather odd format is caused by the software that I generally use not liking this very unusual arrangement of answers. As a result I’ve been a little hurried with the blog: please do ask if anything isn’t explained clearly.
Definitions underlined. Since Azed has the answers in no particular order I’ve added (%) when you have to read the parsing back-to-front, as it were. Anagram indicators are in italics.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 What’s going on here? Low dive put on enterprise (but without ad) | JOINT VENTURE: joint [ad]venture — I can’t see what the definition is and suspect it’s an &lit. [Probably not: the comments suggest that the definition is just the first bit and (which I missed) it refers to the type of thing involved in the solution, so I’ve changed the underlining] |
| 6 One after a catch that’s run alongside river / rock leapt excitedly having caught one | APLITE / SEINER — (%) 1 in (leapt)*, Seine r |
| 7 Decorative plant not useful alongside cabbage / inclined to lie, scattering nectar | COLEUS / CRETAN — cole u/s, *(nectar), (referring to the ‘All Cretans are liars’ syllogism, [sorry, forgetting, paradox not syllogism, see Dormouse@11]) |
| 8 Tips, mostly special, varied / eggs stuffed with odds and ends for roll | APICES / ROTATE — (specia[l])*, ro(tat)e |
| 10 Brook’s No. 5, put in twice batting for innings, / can dally when missing ‘wide’ones etc. | AND ALL / WICKET — (%) [Broo]k in (twice)*, hidden in cAN DALLy |
| 11 Chap to glug sauce / wine from pubs, cases turned over | CATSUP / BARSAC — cat sup, bars (ca)rev. |
| 15 The French backs in control making their (narrow) way / confusion fills crowd, hoarse round Murrayfield? | ROUPIT / RUELLE (%) rou(pi)t, le(rev.) in rule |
| 16 Islander moving to Siam / carriage has left one in capital | SAMIOT / BERLIN — *(to Siam), Ber(L 1)n — Berlin isn’t the capital, it’s the carriage |
| 17 Alarm rarely accepted with euro’s shifting / artist trapped by changing rate slips | AROUSE / ERRATA — a (euro’s)*, RA in *(rate) |
| 18 Those driving e.g. tumbril for tragic heroine / the French held loved, one in business? | CARMEN / DEALER — car men, dea(le)r — I can’t quite see how le is included in dear |
| Down | |
| 1 Swamp dweller from a bog in Jamaica / cowers trembling, put into computer system encoded | JACANA / ESCROW — J(a can)a, (cowers)* |
| 2 Very cruel, not old, brandished an iron / chopper, with old father on scent | OPOPONAX / NERONIAN (%) ne *(an iron), ax with (o pop on) [the parsing of opoponax/opopanax has led to some discussion: I think I was wrong, because Azed would have told us that it’s a spelling that isn’t in Chambers (although my parsing seems perfectly OK). Azed probably meant (an ax) with (o pop) on, ‘on’ a mere juxtaposition indicator] |
| 3 Marry fancy dresser turning up in ornamental clip / I shall notice circling one in a twinkle, as of old | ILLIAD / TIETAC (%) — tie cat(rev.), (I’ll (1) ad) |
| 4 Rev’s daughter, almost forgotten with church / free of duty, aunt embarrassed with kiss? | NIECE / UNTAX — nie CE, (aunt)* X |
| 5 Wise maybe at length, having time with high flyers, / in part gives selectively for plate | VESSEL / ERNEST (%) Hidden in giVES SELectively, ernes t (ref Ernie Wise) |
| 9 Marsh plant, albeit wild in south-east, / churned up with olives in rainy month | PLUVIOSE / SEABLITE (%) — *(up olives), (albeit)* in SE |
| 11 One that’s conscientious with car’s dodging fox, / wounding part of gate underside | CORSAC / BARBED — CO (conscientious objector) (car’s)*, bar bed |
| 12 Treat for budgie, see, almost given fly / without limit in large tree or ericaceous shrub [goodness knows how I missed the definition of ‘pium’ in Chambers: it’s a Brazilian fly, as has been pointed out below] |
SEPIUM / SALLAL — se[e] pium (???), s(all)al |
| 13 Woman boarding coach for plane / parking exactly on the hour may have featured in dance? | PATTEN / CHENAR (%) P at ten (clog … clog dance …), c(hen)ar |
| 14 Drone over Oregon creating mood in US: / check endless rising range | HUMOR / SERRA — hum Or, arres[t](rev.) |
Thanks John, the pium in 12d is the small but very troublesome Brazilian biting fly. I had more qualms about the parsing of OPOPONAX, since the particles seem in the wrong order. Not helped by the alternative spelling OPOPANAX being unchecked.
Liked the reference to Little Ern , getting that and VESSEL helped crack 1ac.
Thanks as ever to Azed.
Thanks, John for the detailed blog!
JOINT VENTURE (1A)
“What’s going on here?’ seems to be the def referring to a joint venture (so to speak) of two solutions for
each clue.
Not sure it’s an &lit. I must be missing something.
DEALER (18A)
LE held loved=LE held in love/in ‘dear’?
As KVa says @2, the definition in 1a is “What’s going on here?”. That being a separate definition means it’s not an &lit. In the past Azed has used other ‘key words or phrases’ like this that connect with the format of the puzzle. The last one in this style (2624) had DOUBLE DEALER as the 1a phrase.
For DEALER it’s really ‘the French held by loved’. It could do with a comma between held and loved.
Gonzo @1 is correct with the pium
Thanks for the blog, I agree with Tim@3 , Azed often has 1Ac referring to the puzzle as a whole – What’s going on here – is the definition.
My Chambers93 only has OPOPANAX so I could be wrong here, I was not happy with AN AX for chopper. Agree with Gonzo@1 though, OPOPONAX has ON doing double duty.
I found this went in quite easily , with so many letters checked it is hard to put something in the wrong place. VESSEL helped a lot with the top half, PLUVIOSE sorted out all the bottom half.
[ Keith (Thomas ) did you win the Azed 2677 ? ]
Thanks for the blog and helpful follow-up comments from others. I enjoyed the format of this one. I also had OPOPANAX and don’t see the -ONAX variation in Chambers, though I do see it referenced elsewhere online.
OPOPONAX
As parsed by John in the blog
AX with O POP ON works fine for me.
(Well. As Jay@6 points out, the -ONAX variant is not in Chambers).
I eventually got the top half done by Monday evening, but got nowhere with the bottom half for the rest of the week.
With 2dn, not knowing the alternative spelling I went with what is in Chambers. Seems to me, if a spelling not in Chambers was intended, Azed would have mentioned that.
AX with O POP ON is fine as far as it goes – but then there is no indication that AX comes at the end, which I think there should be. Alternatively, ‘chopper’ = AN AX but, as Roz@4 says, that’s not satisfactory either. Otherwise, I found this all went in ok. Like others, I got VESSEL and ERNEST quite easily, which confirmed my guess that 1ac was something VENTURE and, like Roz, I got PLUVIOSE to sort out the bottom half.
Not keen on CRETAN = ‘inclined to lie’, which is a racial slur. Not given by my C98 (it only mentions cretism = a lie) – is it in more modern versions?
MunroMaiden@9
John says this in the blog: referring to the ‘All Cretans are liars’ syllogism. That sounds convincing. No?
All Cretans are liars is known as Epimenides paradox. Wikipedia has a description:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epimenides_paradox
Thanks, KVa and Dormouse – I’m aware of the poem attributed to Epimenides and the subsequent logical debates. I don’t think that allows the term to be used today and it isn’t referenced in my Chambers. I appreciate the clue ends with a question mark – presumably applying to the definition, although the word order obscures that – but it might have been better to imply the term was now outdated. Does anyone know what Chambers 2016 offers?
MunroMaiden @12: there’s nothing in the current edition of Chambers to justify this usage, just “cretism=lie”, as you say. I agree that it’s a bit of a stretch.
Thanks, bridgesong 🙂
Hello just got around to joining in, having been working through today’s episode.
Thanks to Azed & to John for the heavy-lifting.
Yes to Roz@5- big thrill to receive Book Tokens yesterday.
At least no over-anxious sub-editor re-numbered this time.
I have a special affection for “Right & Left” puzzles which remind me of Ximenes’s 750th, a posh do held at the the Café Royal off Piccadilly Circus. A little comp was based on R&L and the waiter nudged Sybil into winning the wee bottle of Cherry Brandy (red for port). Someone else won Chartreuse (green for starboard) We drank it years ago.
Was lucky in spotting 1ac pretty quickly and a J in sqaure 1A is a great letter to get one started. Am glad Azed mentioned the two-word answer AND ALL at 10ac’
I found this comparatively uncomplicated for a “special,” just plunging ahead with a side (and entering it on the wrong side, to begin with, as it turned out). No matter, just printed out a new grid and started afresh. I was also confused by SEPIUM & SALLAL at first, although I eventually cottoned on.
I wish to come to Azed’s defence again. My Sundays are holy and not to be profaned. I find it amusing that Azed comes up with a definition which is a whimsical reference to a logic conundrum; I find it troubling that it’s called a “racial slur”. I’ve been warned once and I’ve read Admin’s Reminder of 7 Oct, so hear me.
“Inclined to lie” is not in my C2006 either. I’d be surprised if it were. Neither is “What’s going on here?” for JOINT VENTURE. Is “may have featured in dance” accepted by reference to the subhead clogdance? Then why cannot “Inclined to lie” be accepted by reference to Cretism? I’m more worried by OPOPANAX, surely a minor blip bound to occur occasionally, and “at ten” for “on the hour”. That’s not in Chambers either.
These are mechanisms of setters: they wink at us, and I (undoubtedly of many), wink back when the penny drops.
Here I must reveal that I have spent one year of my life on Crete. Cretans lie. I reckon most do. The ancient man in Anopoli who told us, at three in the morning, that we could get to Xania via Pachnes in “one day”. The taverna owner near where we lived who assured us he closed “at midnight” even in the tourist season. Ha! And Cretans love it! There is no slur at all except in the minds of those who want Cretans to think differently. Surely most of the human species lie at some point. It’s no insult or slur to me, much less anything to do with my race. Or Azed and a crossword clue.
Azed himself has pointed out that we have many classicists among setters and solvers. I’m pleased to see classical references: they educate me. I’m old enough to remember Morecambe and Wise (and surely Azed must be a fan: I’m not). Morecambe and Wise, (far less politically correct) and hence Azed, even Chambers, are innocent. Poor old Epimenides, and hence Azed, are guilty.
One point is correct, in a way. Cretans are Greeks, fiercely so, but they will always be Cretans first and Greeks second. If we wish to consider them a “race” they will be proud to know it. They’ll even tell you, as one told me, that Cretans didn’t come from Africa, all of Africa came from Crete! Bless ‘em, and Azed.
Stefan
Just for clarity, Epimenides didn’t come up with a paradox. A poem, which includes the phrase “all Cretans are liars” is attributed to him. The supposed paradox of this phrase (which is easily shown not to be paradoxical) wasn’t highlighted until the 19th century, while Epimenides lived around 600BC.
For myself, I think most statements of the type “All x are y” are suspect, unless trivially true. And while I enjoy Azed very much, I don’t regard him as beyond reproach.
A totally minor comment: this blogpost is in the uncategorized folder rather than the Azed folder, so it doesn’t show up in a search for Azed-related posts (i.e. you don’t see it at https://www.fifteensquared.net/category/azed/).
AR @19
Sorted now.