Some very easy clues in this month’s prize competition, but I have a problem in parsing a couple of others.
I’m covering this puzzle for loonapick, who will in turn cover for me in January. It seemed to me to be substantially easier than usual, with some pretty accessible and obvious anagrams, but I came unstuck at 13 across where I can’t explain the wordplay and also at 5 down. Given the generous checking I can be reasonably sure that both answers are correct. I also briefly went wrong in the north western quadrant by entering HAIKU without bothering to work out the wordplay, and that led to an error at 12 across. There are more 4 letter answers than usual, which can mean a higher level of difficulty, but parsing all of them was straightforward, except for the African chief at 16 across, who required some research.
Now to try and come up with something clever yet elegant to provide a clue to ADHERENT. It’s likely to take me longer to come up with just the one clue than it did to solve the whole puzzle, and even then I’m unlikely to write one good enough to warrant a mention.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | PHLEGMON |
Pustule genetically modified? No help fiddling round that (8)
|
| GM (a common abbreviation for genetically modified) in *(NO HELP). | ||
| 7 | AVES |
Birds to preserve, first to last (4)
|
| SAVE (preserve) with the first letter moved to the end. | ||
| 11 | DIALOGITE |
Get aid with oil being mined for rosy mineral (9)
|
| *(GET AID OIL). I wondered if Azed meant to say “mixed” rather than “mined” – it would seem to make more sense. | ||
| 12 | SKRAN |
Grumbles when having to return nosh (5)
|
| NARKS (rev). I originally bunged in SIREN here (because of my error at 2 down), then corrected it to SCRAN, before finally getting it right (I hope!). | ||
| 13 | GRAFIN |
Grand foreign lady (with no trace of accent) very much withdrawn in Geneva (6)
|
| RAF (FAR – very much? – rev) in GIN (Geneva). Strictly speaking, this should be Gräfin, but it seems as though the clue is telling us to omit the accent. I suspect that there is more to this than I have been able to see. | ||
| 14 | SKINNY-RIB |
Get high round hostelry with wife in light jumper (9)
|
| INN inside SKY (high) RIB (wife, as in Adam’s rib). | ||
| 15 | MUMP |
Maiden, one responding to appeal, displaying sulk (4)
|
| M(aiden) UMP(ire). Both abbreviations refer to cricket, although the surface does not. | ||
| 16 | HAKA |
Intimidating display from African chief once, not his first (4)
|
| This is a reference to Shaka, a Zulu leader in the early nineteenth century. The haka itself of course is now very familiar to those of us who have been watching the Rugby World Cup. | ||
| 19 | CRENELLED |
Set of principles Liz admitted, marked with notches? (9)
|
| NELL (another diminutive of Elizabeth) inside CREED (set of principles). | ||
| 21 | TARRIANCE |
Sailor I spotted in bar, lingering as before (9)
|
| TAR (sailor), I in RANCE (bar). | ||
| 24 | HUTU |
Bantu speaker, last to establish settlement (4)
|
| HUT (settlement) followed by (bant)U. I’m not sure that I really agree that “last” in the clue refers back to Bantu, but nothing else makes any sense. Equally, “establish” in an across clue doesn’t really mean the last letter, whereas it might in a down clue. Again, I may be missing something. | ||
| 26 | BORE |
Put up with wind as unseen nuisance (4)
|
| Two definitions separated by a piece of wordplay: BORE(as) – the north wind. | ||
| 29 | BEEFEATER |
Yeoman, one starting game that accepts wretched fee (9)
|
| *FEE in BEATER (one who “starts” game). | ||
| 30 | TIARA’D |
I’ll be involved in 50% of bunkum, being crowned as Pope (6)
|
| I in TARADiddle. I didn’t know that the Pope’s (triple) crown is called a (or the) tiara. | ||
| 31 | AZINE |
Complex organic compound – it’s stupidity disposing of outer elements (5)
|
| (cr)AZINE(ss). Azed turns down the opportunity to use the first two letters of his pseudonym as part of the wordplay. | ||
| 32 | UNSATIATE |
Was at table in e.g. Oxford and dined, with room for more? (9)
|
| SAT inside UNI, ATE. | ||
| 33 | DESK |
Bureau ill cut out to simplify using computers? (4)
|
| DESK(ill). | ||
| 34 | EXTERNAT |
Make for old poet in a text reread in Parisian day school (8)
|
| ERN (a Miltonian spelling of earn) inside *(A TEXT). | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | PUSS-MOTH |
One’s thick-bodied and hairy, almost killed in thrust (8)
|
| SMOT(e) inside PUSH. | ||
| 2 | HOKKU |
Short poem, endless claptrap king penned (5)
|
| K in HOKU(m). Originally I bunged in HAIKU, which in turn led to my mistake at 12 across. | ||
| 3 | LORIMER |
See me oil RR that’s faulty? I’ll deal with gear (7)
|
| *(ME OIL RR). | ||
| 4 | GINNER |
Cotton worker from north cutting finger badly? Not the first (6)
|
| N in *FINGER. | ||
| 5 | MANY-HEADED |
Multiplex, showing such as the Hydra (10)
|
| I’m not entirely sure how to parse this; multiplex means many, but how does “showing” mean “headed”? | ||
| 6 | NORITE |
Nitro blasted core of igneous rock (6)
|
| (ign)E(ous) in *NITRO. | ||
| 8 | VIFDA |
Dried salt-free meat hung by way of being stuffed with egg-free food (5)
|
| F(oo)D inside VIA. It’s a Shetland term. | ||
| 9 | ETICKET |
Aid to modern travel replacing kite etc (7)
|
| *(KITE ETC). | ||
| 10 | SENT |
Granted bit of cash in eastern Europe (4)
|
| Double definition: the second one is an Estonian monetary unit. | ||
| 13 | GRANNY FLAT |
Flagrant misbehaving round city wherein relation’s put up (10, 2 words)
|
| NY (city) in *FLAGRANT. | ||
| 17 | ADHERENT |
A follower (8)
|
| The competition word. | ||
| 18 | CAULINE |
‘Sympodial’? It’s disguised in a clue (7)
|
| *(IN A CLUE). | ||
| 20 | LAOTIAN |
A Latino mistaken for east Asian (7)
|
| *(A LATINO). | ||
| 22 | IDEATE |
Fancy fish tasted for supper (6)
|
| IDE (fish) ATE. | ||
| 23 | CREATE |
College to think highly of including English institute (6)
|
| E(nglish) inside C(ollege) RATE (think highly of). | ||
| 25 | TRASS |
Treat changes to seat with this cement (5)
|
| Treat changes to seat if you use TR as S: one of Azed’s favourite devices. | ||
| 27 | RENGA |
Group poetical effort created by children gathering (5)
|
| Hidden in “children gathering”. | ||
| 28 | STUD |
Poker stirring dust (4)
|
| *DUST. |
HUTU is [ESTABLIS]H + UTU (settlement).
I took 5D as a double definition, the first being simply “multiplex.” Chambers gives one definition as “having many elements.”
Your parsing of GRAFIN is fine with me. Very much is one of the definitions for far in C. The “no trace of an accent” is referring to the missing umlaut and I don’t think there’s anything more or deeper to it.
HUTU is H (last to establish) plus UTU (a Maori settlement).
I’m also not sure about MULTIPLEX but I took it as a double definition, the first (multiplex showing) referring to a cinema (with multiple showings).
My other gripe was Nell as a variation of Liz which seems a stretch. Mind you, my father’s generation used John when referring to someone called Jack and vice versa.
Thank bridgesong.
Agree with Cineraria on those two.
In 11, ‘mined’ as in ‘blown up’?
GRAFIN – ‘far’ as in “it is a far, far better thing I do…”.
My quibble was with Nell as diminutive of Elizabeth – my Chambers doesn’t support it.
Thank as ever to Azed.
Thanks bridgesong for the blog!
DIALOGITE
Agree with Gonzo on ‘mined’. The sense ‘blown up by a mine’ seems to fit.
HUTU: I agree with the parsings above.
GRAFIN: Agree with others.
MULTIPLEX: DD for me too (the ‘showing’ hangs loose)
Chambers:
MANY-HEADED: 1. having many heads 2. consisting of many.
MULTIPLEX: 1. Multiple 2. Having many elements (as already pointed out).
Thanks for the blog, I never send the competition ones off so I am happy just to bung everything in and check later , does not matter if I have to mess up my grid, this was my fastest ever finish.
A few queries , some mentioned above, NELL comes from Helen , ELIZABETH has many versions bot not NELL. I think that Multiplex is very loose for the first definition .
UMP(ire) is not in Chambers93 , it may be in the 2016.
Rance = bar appears again very quickly.
Many thanks for the blog, cleared up a couple of queries I had. Overall good fun I thought. I liked that HOKKU and RENGA were in symmetrical grid positions.
Thanks, Cineraria and others, for putting me right over HUTU. Don’t know how I missed that, especially as HUT doesn’t mean settlement anyway!
I’m not persuaded by “mined” as “blown up” in DIALOGITE, even though it’s probably the sense that Azed intended, just because it’s equally improbable as a surface. You don’t mine oil in either sense.
I agree that there is no evidence to justify equating Nell and Liz; ELLE would work, but then you’d be left with CREND.
Thanks Azed and Bridgesong. I got MUMP early and fell into the trap of putting HAIKU unparsed at 2dn. I was able to work round the rest of the grid before returning and correcting this error.
11ac/19ac: I agree with others that Azed appears to have slipped up on these (mined and Liz/Nell).
15ac: Of course ump is in Chambers 2016 (also 2014, 2011, and very probably in earlier editions which I no longer possess). Chambers gives us “ump (inf) n short for umpire“, with no specific reference to either cricket or baseball. SOED 2007 and ODE 2010 give the origins as early 20th century, and the word as chiefly North American. The SOED definition is “An umpire, esp. in baseball”. The definition in Collins 2023 is “an informal US name for umpire“. Naturally, as Azed recommends – and expects us to use – Chambers, he would see no need for the American reference.
re: “mined”. It seems fair in the sense of “mine” as “to make diligent use of (a resource)”. Collins.
Does Chambers not have anything similar?
Not such a doddle for me: plumped for AMINE instead of AZINE, not being able to think of anything suitable to fit either ?AMINE? or ?AZINE?, grumpy about the double deletions. Also not crazy about the wording of 33d. Happy with the two parts of 5d matching the two definitions of MANY-HEADED but surprised at the clue given that the two are so close.
A SKINNY-RIB in my Chambers is given as a tight jumper, rather than light.
Thanks Azed, bridgesong
Zithery @ 10: you’re right, Chambers does have “to exploit a natural resource…” , but if that is the sense of “mined” where is the anagram indicator?
James @11: Chambers defines “deskill” as “To remove the element of human skill from (a job, process, operation, etc) through automation, computerization, etc”.
bridgesong @13, thanks, I eventually worked out the clue. My vague comment was just that ‘ill cut out to simplify etc’ is an inelegant way of getting from deskill to desk
James: it’s just “ill” that’s cut out. To simplify etc. is part of the definition of “deskill”.
James@11: I toyed with AMINE 31 myself, but DREAMINESS for ‘stupidity’ didn’t quite satisfy (though I did check whether DRESS could mean ‘elements’).
I lose count of the number of Azeds I get wrong by one letter! I too had AMINE for 31, but didn’t know AZINE, was just looking for somthing that would fit by that stage, and an AMINE does fit the definition. Completely unparsed of course, but I thought it just has to be that. Except . . .
Too busy yesterday (Remembrance and 2682) so don’t expect anyone will read this. I enjoyed the comp and also had a neat 3 a.m. brainwave for ADHERENT. Nit-picking about AZINE (did get it right ) doesn’t it break the rules by clueing a word nt used and then using it. Are Stupidity and Craziness synonyms? I’m not so sure.
Keith
We bloggers get an email when someone posts, no matter how late, so at least one person has read your post! I don’t think that AZINE breaks the rules (it’s not an indirect anagram) but I agree that stupidity and craziness are not exact synonyms.
31ac: (crAZINEss): Chambers 2016 gives “ridiculous, stupid” under crazy adj, so Azed is entitled to use it. As for going through CRAZINESS to AZINE, that is just the same principle as used in plenty of other clues, starting at 7ac, where “preserve” clues SAVE, which is then given a wordplay modification to AVES.
Incidentally, I usually check back on Azed blogs for at least as long as they are referenced from the first page of the website. I do not normally bother commenting simply to tell you that someone has read your comment.
I also check back on the blog during the following week, so that makes at least 3 people that will read, if not comment on, ‘late’ comments. I suspect this happens more with Azed than with the ‘daily’ blogs.
The Azed slip is out for this and confirms reservations above….
“I slipped up myself in my clue to CRENELLED, by suggesting that Nell is a short form for Elizabeth: conceivable, I suppose, but unlikely and not recognized by Chambers, which I must have failed to consult. Very few raised the
matter, and those that did did so with typical politeness. Another clue of mine, ‘Multiplex, showing such as the Hydra?’ for MANY-HEADED provoked one query that it appeared to contain no cryptic element. Fair point. I can remember being
devoid of inspiration when trying to come up with anything remotely interesting (any ideas?), and I clearly settled too readily for a pair of definitions, one general and one
specific. Must try harder, m’lud.”
Azed also comments that entering AMINE for AZINE “can only have been the result of guesswork”. But it’s good to see Azed acknowledge his errors.
Keith @18: your 3.00 a.m. brainwave was clearly inspired, as your clue (Woman not very involved in church season) was awarded a HC. Congratulations! Coincidentally, my own clue also involved an adaptation of Advent, but didn’t get mentioned in the slip. Must have got lost in the post again!