Another plain puzzle this week.
I am in equal measures relieved and disappointed when I see that the Azed is plain in those weeks where it is my turn to do the blog. Relieved because plain puzzles are generally easier and also easier to blog, and disappointed because they are often just a case of finding a possible solution from the wordplay and checking the dictionary to see if the proposed solution fits the bill and are generally not as much fun to solve as the more complicated “trick puzzles”. That was certainly the case with this one. Every solution I put in turned out to be the correct one (assuming I have completed the puzzle correctly), and I only failed to parse one clue at the first sitting. That one solution (LOIN) held out for nearly a week, which is unforgiveable for a crossword lover with a French degree. To be clear in case the aforesaid could be construed as criticism, the puzzle was still fun to solve and still provided me with the satisfaction I always get from completing a tougher crossword.
Merry Christmas everyone, and especially to our esteemed setter.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | TRISMUS |
One introduced strums idly? It obviates gaping (7)
|
| I introduced to *(strums) [anag:idly]
A trismus is a spasm of the facial muscles that makes it hard to open one’s mouth. |
||
| 12 | HEBE |
One of Veronica’s group often ends in her bed being ignored (4)
|
| Ends in HE(r) and BE(d) being ignored
Hebe is a genus of plants which have been generally reclassified as part of the Veronica genus. |
||
| 13 | PRENTICE |
Trainee to give inducement following press release (8)
|
| ENTICE (“to give inducement”) following PR (press release) | ||
| 14 | RAMIN |
What gives (Malay?) maiden shelter in shower? (5)
|
| M (maiden) in RAIN (“shower”)
A ramin is a Malaysian tree. |
||
| 15 | CATAPAN |
Snack placed in container for Byzantine governor (7)
|
| TAPA (Spanish “snack”) in CAN (“container”)
A catapan was a govermor of Calabria and Apulia in the Byzantine empire. |
||
| 16 | ALDOSE |
Sugar pound short in a helping (6)
|
| L (pound) in A + DOSE (“helping”) | ||
| 18 | EMIRATE |
Eastern team I assembled round king in ruler’s office (7)
|
| E (eastern) + *(team i) [anag:assembled] round R (rex, so “king”) | ||
| 19 | BREAKER |
A shot of rum in mug for one broadcasting on CB (7)
|
| [a shot of] R(um) in BEAKER (“mug”) | ||
| 20 | LEAT |
Russia maybe? Not her race (4)
|
| LEAT(her) (“Russia” leather, maybe, without HER)
A leat (aka race) is a trench for bringing water to a millwheel. |
||
| 21 | GOLIATH BEETLE |
Insect found in a gilt hotel, wriggling – it’s a very big one (13, 2 words)
|
| BEE (“insect”) found in *(a gilt hotel) [anag:wriggling] | ||
| 25 | BLOC |
Portion of reblochon for like-minded party get-together (4)
|
| Hidden in [portion of] “reBLOChon” | ||
| 26 | RICOTTA |
Cheese tart, cooked: I’ll join company tucking into that (7)
|
| *(tart) [anag:cooked] with I joining Co. (company) tucking in. | ||
| 29 | RICHARD |
Chap free, having taken in daily (7)
|
| RID (“free”) having taken in CHAR (“daily”) | ||
| 31 | BISECT |
Divide in two morsel that’s dry inside (6)
|
| BIT (“morsel”) with SEC (“dry”) inside | ||
| 32 | ATHANOR |
Special incinerator torana embellished, hot inside (7)
|
| *(torana) [anag:embellished] with H (hot) inside
An athanor was an alchemist’s self feeding digesting furnace (yeah, I don’t know what that was either!) |
||
| 33 | TESTA |
Shell getting good mark after exam (5)
|
| A (“good mark”) after TEST (“exam”) | ||
| 35 | VIOLENCE |
Force one left disgracefully, caught in immorality (8)
|
| *(one l) [anag:disgracefully] where L = left, caught in VICE (“immorality”) | ||
| 36 | LOIN |
Meat a bit off in Maxim’s? (4)
|
| LOIN (far, or “a bit off” in French (Maxim’s being a famous Parisian restaurant)) | ||
| 37 | PRELECT |
Address? Prince given pick (7)
|
| Pr. (prince) given ELECT (“pick”) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | THRANG |
Highland crowd resounded after this is removed (6)
|
| RANG (“resounded”) after TH(is) with IS removed | ||
| 2 | REALPOLITIK |
Pair like to get drunk, left in, showing avoidance of moral considerations (11)
|
| *(pair like to) [anag:get drunk] with L (left) in | ||
| 3 | SEI |
Marine monster fathoms from sand-dune (3)
|
| F (fathoms) from SEI(f) (“sand dune”)
A sei is a kind of rorqual. |
||
| 4 | MANSE |
Part of clergyman’s ecclesiastical residence in parish (5)
|
| Hidden in [part of] “clergyMAN’S Eccelesiastical” | ||
| 5 | UPBEAT |
Cheerful pub arranged nosh (6)
|
| *(pub) [anag:arranged] + EAT (“nosh”) | ||
| 6 | SEAME |
Sailors leaving navy to get lubricated (5)
|
| N (navy) leaving SEAME(n) (“sailors”) | ||
| 7 | ENTIRE |
Brewery stout I included in main course, not the last (6)
|
| I included in ENTRE(e) (“main course”, not the last) | ||
| 8 | STARLETS |
With shifting of time alarms minor cast players? (8)
|
| STAR-T-LES (“alarms”) with T (time) shifting becomes STARLE-T-S | ||
| 9 | PIPA |
Toad making a chirp when flipped (4)
|
| <=A PIP (“a chirp”, flipping)
A pipa is a South American toad |
||
| 10 | ACATALECTIC |
Tactical ace exploited line with full components (11)
|
| *(tactical ace) [anag:exploited]
An acatalectic is a line of poetry with its full complement of syllables. |
||
| 11 | BENET |
One of the lesser orders, crooked, admitting ultimate in malfeasance (5)
|
| BENT (“crooked”), admitting [ultimate in] (malfeasanc)E
A benet is a lower ranking Catholic exorcist. |
||
| 17 | ORICHALC |
Brassy alloy, ample in coal that’s mined (8)
|
| RICH (“ample”) in *(coal) [anag:that’s mined]
Orichalc is a gold-coloured alloy. |
||
| 22 | ARANEA |
Its webs adorn the garden space, bordering one (6)
|
| AREA (“space”) bordering AN (“one”) | ||
| 23 | BOBBER |
Bees trapped by farmer float (6)
|
| B + B (bees) trapped by BOER (“farmer”) | ||
| 24 | EXTANT |
Old coin (no shilling) that may still be found (6)
|
| (s)EXTANT (“old coin”) with no S (shilling) | ||
| 25 | BRAVO |
Slices of beef roast and veal, often well done (5)
|
| [slices of] B(eef) R(oast) A(nd) V(eal) O(ften) | ||
| 27 | IRONY |
Yard given coverage by press, hard (5)
|
| Y (yard) given coverage by IRON (“press”) | ||
| 28 | TITHE |
Sexiness revealed in article, quite a small part (5)
|
| IT (“sexiness”) revealed in THE (“article”) | ||
| 30 | CHON |
Small foreign coin? It’s fallen out of tunic (4)
|
| IT falling out of CH(it)ON (“tunic”)
A chon is 1/100 of a won in Korea. |
||
| 34 | ELL |
Measure of cloth, length shown in two ways (3)
|
| L = length and is shown in tow ways (EL + L) |
No real problems with this, apart from all the usual dictionary lookups.
I know what you mean about ATHANOR loonapick. Nobody seems to know exactly how it worked.
Thanks for the blog, I agree that this was very basic, I think this often happens when Azed is working on a special puzzle. No doubt we will find out today.
My only annotation was for LOIN , I had to ask someone about the French part on the Monday. I have been to Maxim’s , the decorations were better than the food.
[Nothing to add about this week’s puzzle, but this quote from this month’s Azed slip will be of interest to some regulars:
“Less easy to excuse was a couple of my recent clues to short words forming other words when read backwards and (this is the point) not making it unambiguous which were the answers to be entered. When one is working under pressure this trap is an easy one to fall into inadvertently, but I firmly believe that it weakens any clue where it’s used and should be avoided. I’m told that my recent lapses were discussed on internet websites, so now you know where I stand and I shall endeavour to mend my ways!”
I may be responsible for this, having mentioned the issue on my submission to this month’s competition, but credit should go to Pelham Barton, who first raised the issue in comments on recent blogs.
Thanks bridgesong for passing on the detail from the Azed slip. I know that at least one other member of this forum also raised the matter with Azed, so thanks also to everyone from here who did that. It is good to have Azed’s policy clarified. Of course other policies are available, but it is good to have clear expectations from Azed. Thanks also of course to Azed for his willingness to acknowledge the lapses from his usual standard.
Thanks again to Azed for this puzzle and to loonapick for the blog. The pattern of only plain puzzles in the first two or three weeks of December has been in place for a long time ahead of a Christmas special (which could appear as early as 18 December). I am deliberately writing this before looking to see what today’s is like. It does appear that Azed has substantially reduced the frequency of specials anyway.
I found this fairly straightforward; my last two were CATAPAN and PIPA (“a chirp”, – I -, wasn’t obvious to me and I was woefully slow to come up with TAPA for a snack). It also took me a little while to parse EXTANT, as I fell into the trap of thinking EX = “old”.
Acording to Wiki, “digestion” in alchemy is a process in which gentle heat is applied over several weeks. Traditionally, this was done using a sealed flask buried in fresh horse dung, so I guess an athanor was a welcome invention!