It’s competition week for Azed, but it’s just a plain puzzle. No doubt there will be complex puzzles around Christmas and New Year.
I found this more difficult than many of Azed’s puzzles that I have blogged. There seemed to be more obscure words than usual in the grid which made it difficult to get a foothold quickly beyond TOODLE-OO, JAPE, NADIR and ROWS.
However, I got there in the end and learned a few new words or new meanings of old words along the way.
I’ve seen or blogged clues for JEER and JESTER in the Independent in the last few days and today we have JESTEE.
Foreign languages palyed a part with both French and Latin getting a mention.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1 | Bairn’s worn out its bunny perhaps (6)
WABBIT (Scottish [bairn is a Scottish term] word for exhausted or tired out) WABBIT (how a child [bairn] might pronounce rabbit [bunny]) WABBIT |
| 6 | Church portico from source of gypsum – see inside (6)
PARVIS (enclosed space, or sometimes a portico, at the front of a church) V (vide [latin] – see) contained in (inside) PARIS (reference [plaster of] PARIS which is another name for gypsum) – I can’t find a separate dictionary entry for PARIS, without the ‘plaster of’ as a source of gypsum PAR (V) IS |
| 11 | Such as The Scotsman locally? Chairman has page within set aside (5)
PRENT (Scottish word for PRINT [newspaper]. ‘The Scotsman’ is a daily newspaper) PRESIDENT (chairman) excluding (set aside) SIDE (page) PRENT |
| 12 | Nothing’s visible in cheap see-through material (5)
VOILE (any of several kinds of thin semitransparent material; see-through material) O (character representing zero or nothing) contained in (in) VILE (worthless; cheap) V (O) ILE |
| 13 | Cheers, excessively going round lots without end (8)
TOODLE-OO (goodbye; cheers) TOO (excessively) containing (going round) OODLES (lots) excluding the final letter (without end) S T (OODLE) – OO |
| *15 | Swagger (7)
BLUSTER (swagger) This is the competition clue, so tnere is now wordplay. You can submit your own clue to take part in the competition. |
| 16 | False acacia died, it being cut in swirling rain (7)
ROBINIA (any plant of the locust or false acacia genus) OBIIT (Latin for died) excluding (cut) IT contained in (in) an anagram of (swirling) RAIN R (OBI) NIA* |
| 17 | Jack to follow in trick (4)
JAPE (trick) J (jack) + APE (mimic; follow) J APE |
| 18 | Call-girl with guy? One’ll be responsible for split (8)
PROTEASE (any enzyme that splits up proteins; it’ll be responsible for split) PRO (prostitute; call-girl) + TEASE (guy) PRO TEASE |
| 21 | Bellbird, a paragon on the wing (8)
ARAPONGA (the campanero or S American bell-bird) A + an anagram of (on the wing) PARAGON A RAPONGA* |
| 24 | Garment of fibrous ‘grass’? It’s never taken off (4)
RHEA (garment made from a plant of the nettle family [fibrous grass]) RHEA (a flightless bird; it’s never taken off) double definition RHEA |
| 25 | Giving cheer, say, when absorbing one of the classics (7)
ELATING (giving cheer) E.G. (for example; say) containing (when absorbing) LATIN (one of subjects [Greek and LATIN] in a classics degree) E (LATIN) G |
| 26 | Funny panto, the author’s penned? It’ll take a bit of beating (7)
TIMPANO (an orchestral kettledrum; it’ll take a bit of beating) I’M (I am; the author’s) contained in (penned) an anagram of (funny) PANTO T (IM) PANO* |
| 29 | Extract from The Gondoliers? Shepherd’s pipes flanked by drumbeat (8)
BOAT-SONG (song sung by a BOATman, such as a gondolier) OATS (shepherds’ pipes) contained in (flanked by) BONG (deep hollow sound such as the sound of a drum) B (OATS) ONG |
| 30 | Drain corrected – it’s reached by plumbing (5)
NADIR (the lowest point of anything, a point reached by plumbing [the depths]) Anagram of (corrected) DRAIN NADIR* |
| 31 | Regarding oils, overlay, old, needs backing (5)
OLEIC (relating to or derived from oil) (CEIL alternative spelling of CIEL [to overlay or line] + O [old]) all reversed (needs backing) (O LEIC)< |
| 32 | This rake, with gen, sorts out gardening (6)
GRADIN (a tier of seats rising at an angle; RAKE can be defined as an inclination [rising at an angle) GARDENING is an anagram of (sorts out) GRADIN and GEN GRADIN |
| 33 | Succeeded in ballet leap on one’s posterior, or butt (6)
JESTEE (the butt of a joke) (S [succeeded] contained in [in] JETÉ (in ballet, a leap from one foot to the other in which the free leg usu finishes extended forward, backward or sideways) + E (last letter of [posterior] ONE) JE (S) TE E |
| Down | |
| 1 | Prepare scalp for shampoo? Two basins may be involved in it (12)
WATER-PARTING (a watershed or divide separating two valleys river basins; two basins may be involved in it) WATER PARTING (before shampooing their hair, some people might wish to apply WATER to their PARTING) WATER–PARTING |
| 2 | Pro a hip MO, being treated with a something for Parkinsonism? (10)
APOMORPHIA (an alkaloid used in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease) Anagram of (being treated) PRO A HIP MO + A APOMORPHI* A |
| 3 | It may be deployed (by Scot) for boring, cutting in (4)
BROG (Scottish term for an awl [a boring tool]) Anagram of (it may be deployed) BORING excluding (cutting) IN BROG* |
| 4 | Old wife’s privilege between the sheets, to continue unchanged, tired out (7)
BEDRITE (Shakespearean term [old] for ‘the privilege or due of the marriage-bed’; old wife’s privilege) BE (continue unchanged) + an anagram of (out) TIRED BE DRITE* |
| 5 | On the doorstep I’m leaving under control (6, 2 words)
IN LINE (under control) IN LIMINE (Latin for ‘on the threshold’; on the doorstep) excluding (leaving) I’M) IN LINE |
| 6 | Boring mollusc left in a shop, wriggling (6)
PHOLAS (the piddock genus of rock-boring molluscs) L (left) contained in (in) an anagram of (wriggling) A SHOP PHO (L) AS* |
| 7 | Acknowledgement once, one on left-hand page to use as before (6)
AVOURE (Spenserian [old; once] term for avowal; acknowledgement) A (one) + VO (verso; left-hand page) + URE (obsolete [as before] word for ‘use’) A VO URE |
| 8 | Some stitching, pinkish we hear (4)
ROWS (some complete lines of stitches) ROWS (sounds like [we hear] ROSE [pinkish in colour]) ROWS |
| 9 | Fruit sections volunteers tucked into apace (6)
VITTAE (thin, elongated cavities containing oil, found in the pericarps of some fruits; fruit sections) TA (Territorial Army [a body of military volunteers, now known as the Army Reserve]) contained in (tucked into) VITE (quickly; apace) VIT (TA) E |
| 10 | Glandular substance excitedly found within curet, see, dealt with (12)
SECRETAGOGUE (a glandular substance which stimulates secretion) AGOG (excitedly) contained in (found within) an anagram of (dealt with) CURET SEE SECRET (AGOG) UE* |
| 14 | E.g. pun going wrong in bar, showing inconsistency (10)
REPUGNANCE (inconsistency) Anagram of (going wrong) EG PUN contained in (in) RANCE (bar) R (EPUGN*) ANCE |
| 19 | Company is in group that’s hoisted heraldic features (7)
COTISES (heraldic term for quarters of a bend in breadth) CO (company) + (IS contained in [in] SET [group] reversed [that’s hoisted; down entry]) CO T (IS) ES< |
| 20 | Dirt in infected ear? Cowboy may make use of such a team (6)
REMUDA (supply of remounts on a ranch, etc; cowboys may make use of such a team of new horses) MUD (dirt) contained in (in) an anagram of (infected) EAR RE (MUD) A* |
| 21 | Sheltering abroad in S. Italian region avoiding outsiders (6, 3 words, apostrophe)
A L’ABRI (French [abroad] for ‘under shelter’; sheltering abroad) CALABRIA (region of Southern Italy) excluding the outer letters (avoiding outsiders) C and A A L’ABRI |
| 22 | Stardom to recognize after progress as before (6)
RENOWN (fame; stardom_) REN (old [as before][ word for RUN [progress]) + OWN (recognize) REN OWN |
| 23 | Jock’s special spade Paddy let out (6)
PATTLE (Scottish ][Jock] word for a small long-handled spade for the special task of cleaning a plough; Jock’s special spade) PAT (another form of Paddy) + an anagram of (out) LET PAT TLE* |
| 27 | Page introducing assistance gave satisfaction (4)
PAID (gave satisfaction) P (page) + AID (assistance) P AID |
| 28 | Instruction to act? It’s worth little or nothing (4)
DOIT (a thing of little or no value) DO IT (an instruction to act) DO IT |
Thanks Azed and Duncan. I too found this one to be more difficult than other recent Azeds.
16ac: I got this slightly differently: I took “died” as ob, which is in Chambers on the same page as obiit, and then got the I from “it being cut”. I think my reading works, but having seen Duncan’s I prefer his.
16A: I read this in agreement with PB@1’s first impression: OB. + I[T] inside (RAIN), but I see the logic of your parsing.
29A: I could not find any attribution for OATS = shepherd’s pipes in Chambers (what was I missing?), even though that had to be correct, and IMHO BONG is an odd description for a drumbeat.
Nice job on the blog, as always.
29ac: “a shepherd’s pipe”, (marked literary and poetic) is the penultimate definition of oat on p 1060 of my copy of Chambers 2016. Cineraria, I see what you mean about BONG, which I associate with the strokes of Big Ben counting the hours, but Chambers page 173 gives “a deep hollow or ringing sound”, and I think the “hollow” option works for the beat of a drum.
Thanks Azed and Duncan
I was tickled that my first thought Wabbit turned out correct – so rare I manage to get a nice early start to Azed.
1d water parting – is clearly correct and properly parsed but does strike me as missing something.
Nor a good week for me. By Monday evening I’d barely completed the bottom left corner and gave up. Other stuff to do.
Welcome all!
No mention of the “Observer” sale. My paper of choice for over seventy years- even in Tiny Rowland era. Shame on the Scott Trust.
Thanks to Azed & to duncanshiell for the blog. My last two in were WATER-PARTING (with a chuckle) and RHEA.
BLUSTER tested my surviving grey matter though should produce some good ideas.
Welcome all!
No mention of the “Observer” sale. My paper of choice for over seventy years- even in Tiny Rowland era. Shame on the Scott Trust.
Thanks to Azed & to duncanshiell for the blog. My last two in were WATER-PARTING (with a chuckle) and RHEA.
BLUSTER tested my surviving grey matter though should produce some good ideas.
Welcome all!
No mention of the “Observer” sale. My paper of choice for over seventy years- even in Tiny Rowland era. Shame on the Scott Trust.
Thanks to Azed & to duncanshiell for the blog. My last two in were WATER-PARTING (with a chuckle) and RHEA.
BLUSTER tested my surviving grey matter though should produce some good ideas.
There will be something about the sale of The Observer in next week’s blog.
Keith Thomas @ 6
There have been comments about the sale of The Observer to Tortoise in the General Discussion section of this website for a few days now.
Agree that this was made relatively hard by the number of obscure words. Self-inflicted problem from entering the alternative “pettle” for 23D – two different types of strop – which made 25A my LOI. Solved eventually by ignoring the problematic crosser, which made it easier and avoided the deprecated change of case.
Re 29ac. ‘When shepherds pipe on oaten straws’. Love’s Labour’s Lost, v.ii.913
Late to join the discussion, as I’ve (for various reasons) only just looked at the puzzle. Found it harder than usual to get going, but then it gradually came together.
6ac: according to Wiki, plaster of Paris was so-called because burnt gypsum came from quarries in the Montmartre district of Paris. So it is Paris the place that is the source of gypsum.
Like PB@1, I had parsed ROBINIA as OB + I(T) in RAIN*, but I prefer the blog’s version, thank you.