The actual construction of Azed clues is often fairly simple. The difficulty is because the words are so incredible: I never do one of his crosswords without learning something new. Also the construction is sometimes hard to see and one agonises over the way a clue works only to realise that one has been on a wild goose chase. My guess is that nobody will look at this blog without having a copy of Chambers to hand, and so can easily enough look up the meanings of these weird words; but they may be unsure how a particular clue works.
Definitions in crimson, underlined. Anagram indicators in italics. Anagrams indicated like (this)* or *(this).
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | SUBCOMPACT |
Cop must, in crash with cab or US sports car, say (10)
|
| (Cop must cab)* | ||
| 10 | PALAY |
S. Indian tree, once wan, before being brought in (5)
|
| pal(a)y — paly is an archaic word for pale, a = ante, before — a bit tricky this, because a palas is also an Indian tree, but Azed, as he always does in such circumstances, makes it quite clear which one: a) palas doesn’t parse; b) in Chambers it specifically says a palay is a S. Indian tree | ||
| 12 | OLD-LINE |
Traditional American individual, about 50, with jaunty lid (7)
|
| o(L *(lid))ne | ||
| 13 | UNARY |
United yarn spun with a single component (5)
|
| (U yarn)* | ||
| 14 | ANTA |
Flanker making interception in clean tackle (4)
|
| Hidden in cleAN TAckle | ||
| 15 | MONOMIAL |
A Moomin novel learner follows, consisting of one word only (8)
|
| (A Moomin)* L — rather an obvious anagram | ||
| 16 | COUEIST |
One practising psychotherapy, I use rolling in hospital bed (7)
|
| (I use)* in cot — yes a cot is indeed a hospital bed, although it’s not the first type of bed one thinks of | ||
| 18 | SNEBBE |
I lost pity and almost declined old rebuke (6)
|
| s(I)n ebbe[d] — “it’s a sin/pity” | ||
| 20 | STEALE |
Poet’s handle: ‘past its best’ where English is involved (6)
|
| st(E)ale | ||
| 21 | EPULIS |
Oral tumour oozing pus, i.e. round front of lip (6)
|
| *(pus i.e.) round l[ip] | ||
| 23 | DEGRAS |
Extract of wool half made with torn rags (6)
|
| [ma]de *(rags) — I was slow to put this in, but degras is a fat made from sheepskins, so it’s an extract of wool I suppose | ||
| 24 | MARCATO |
Extremes of accent in an Italian maybe, displaying a strong one (7)
|
| Marc(a[ccen]t)o — the ‘one’ in the definition refers back to the extremes of accent musically — why ‘a strong one’ and not ‘strong ones’? | ||
| 26 | GLANDERS |
Knockout in G and S? It may be fatal for asses (8)
|
| G(lander)S | ||
| 28 | ILEA |
I live without (ultimately) dead parts of intestine (4)
|
| I lea[d] — lead = live according to Chambers, I suppose in the sense that one lives/leads a life | ||
| 29 | SPART |
Grass splits, last coming forward to front (5)
|
| parts, with its last letter moved to the front | ||
| 30 | RESTAGE |
Mount new production of what’s fashionable, including moving set (7)
|
| *(set) in rage | ||
| 31 | CANEH |
Measure to beat heroin (5)
|
| cane h | ||
| 32 | GENERALATE |
Information a long time delayed in top military office (10)
|
| gen era late | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | SPUD |
Chat maybe opens up in Shakespeare (4)
|
| (dups)rev. — it’s the third definition in Chambers of ‘spud’ — dups is a Shakespearean word | ||
| 2 | BLAGUEUR |
Source of flummery fit to appear in fog? (8)
|
| bl(ague)ur | ||
| 3 | CARSE |
Plain Scotch (watery?), recipe shown in several bottles (5)
|
| ca(r)se — a case of wine, e.g. | ||
| 4 | MOROSE |
What’s associated with chips, containing nothing sour (6)
|
| mor(o)se — I think this refers to ‘The Walrus and The Carpenter’ in Lewis Carroll: morse is another word for walrus and chips is another word for carpenter | ||
| 5 | PLANT |
Youngster, type that’s dropped in (5)
|
| Plant(in) — a typeface | ||
| 6 | A DROITE |
Toadie shifting to accept right – tending that way? (7, 2 words)
|
| r in (toadie)* — another of Azed’s definitions that refers back to something in the wordplay | ||
| 7 | CLAMBE |
Old rose, something from Canterbury see in Church? (6)
|
| C(lamb)E — climbed (Spens) — I think the Canterbury is the New Zealand one, where there are many sheep, and the word ‘see’ says ‘see this …’, not an ecclesiastical reference | ||
| 8 | ENTABLATURE |
A neat butler organized topping structure (11)
|
| (a neat butler)* | ||
| 9 | MEALIES |
Part of cereal diet – see Mali for cooking (7)
|
| (see Mali)* | ||
| 11 | ANTON PILLER |
High Court order, one on page received by gardener (11, 2 words)
|
| an t(on p)iller — news to me | ||
| 17 | CARAGANA |
Showy plant, a flag planted in miraculous venue (8)
|
| C(a rag)ana — the miracle at Cana (bible) | ||
| 18 | SEA-GIRT |
One sails northward in company describing islands? (7)
|
| (a (rig)rev.) in set | ||
| 19 | BIRDMAN |
Ornithologist turned up feather shaft, damn peculiar (7)
|
| (rib)rev. (damn)* | ||
| 22 | LANATE |
One gets in after expected time, fuzzy (6)
|
| l(an)ate —not quite comfortable here: fuzzy = woolly in the sense of vague, but lanate = woolly in the lanolin sense, so are they equivalent? | ||
| 23 | DARTER |
Dragonfly died on motorway, tail missing (6)
|
| d arter[y] | ||
| 24 | MERGE |
Combine in bit of work in muddled group cutting lee (5)
|
| erg in me[lée] | ||
| 25 | COPAL |
Ingredient of varnish, cloudy, covering stone (5)
|
| c opal | ||
| 27 | ETHE |
Soft, old, and heavenly, not real (4)
|
| ethe[real] |
Thanks for the blog John.
I never did get PALAY – it’s not on OneLook as a tree (although Collins online defines it as a tropical vine).
I think ‘see’ in 7 is a misprint for ‘seen’, the surface would make more sense. Canterbury lamb is in Chambers.
LANATE Is defined just as ‘wooly’, so ‘fuzzy’ seems fine to me – ‘a lanate pelt’?
The morse and the chips raised a big smile/groan once I got it.
Blagueur is a lovely word – source of our blag?
Thanks as ever to Azed.
Great blog John!
DEGRAS:
(Found this on a website)
A thick, smelly Grease extracted from Wool with solvent. Degras is the main source for the production of Lanolin.
https://cameo.mfa.org/wiki/Degras
MARCATO
Could the ‘one’ in the def not refer back to the ‘accent’ alone (extremes of that person’s accent)?
MOROSE and PALAY: Good ones!
Thanks for the blog, I agree that Azed clues can often be simple constructions but it can be obscure word in obscure word giving obscure word , PALAY a good example , even the A is pretty obscure.
I agree with Gonzo@1 for seeN in CLAMBE , in the paper the “see” is right at the end of the line , maybe the N got chopped.
BLAGUEUR must have lead to blagger? my students use that term a lot.
UNARY not in my Chambers93 but I know the term well .
Agree with KVa@2 about the reference in MARCATO. I also agree with the blog that LANATE = woolly/ woolly = fuzzy doesn’t mean Lanate = fuzzy.
7dn: could perhaps be read as “something from Canterbury, see, in Church” ie see LAMB in CE. I don’t think “seen” would add anything to either the surface or the cryptic interpretation, whereas “see”, coupled with church, nicely leads the mind astray.
1dn: I felt this didn’t quite work, as it is “opens in Shakespeare” (ie DUPS) that is up. Perhaps “Chat maybe Shakespearean opens up” – where Shakespearean could work as both an adjective (for cryptic) and a noun (for surface).
I didn’t dig deep enough in Chambers for that meaning of chat.
MunroMaiden@4
SPUD
Didn’t notice any problem until you pointed it out. Valid point.
Your clue works. 👍🏼
KVa @2 I’m not an expert on Italian, but marcato is a musical term and my guess is that it refers to the way that a piece is played, not to the way someone talks. But I suppose Azed could be just referring to ‘accent’ (the strength of a musician’s accent) not to ‘Extremes of accent’.
John@7
MARCATO
Noted. Thanks.
(Sorry for the confusing choice of words in my post@2-mixing up the surface and the
cryptic reading).
OED has for lanate “Having a woolly covering or surface” – as apparently used in botany and entomology to describe e.g leaves.
Late as usual.
Don’t remember much about 2713 though it took me a while on a busy weekend. Thanks to Azed & to Joh for the blog.
Advice to newcomers for 2714 – don’t be put off the “special” it is a treat.
2716