Azed No. 2,753 – plain

14 comments on “Azed No. 2,753 – plain”

1. Thanks Azed and loonapick

   12ac: I read “being” as a verbal noun.

   30dn: I read this as [st]OVE N[ew].

2. I’m with Pelham Barton @1 with (st)OVE N(ew).
   I just wish I could imprint ARITA in my brain.

3. I’m sure Pelham @1 is correct in his parsing of OVEN, but where is the definition? It has to be “cook” and Chambers does have the verb form “cook in an oven” but I struggle to think of any plausible use of it.

4. [There’s nothing in today’s Observer about the error in the list of prize-winning clues for Azed 2750 that was published last week, nor is there any sign of the Azed slip for that puzzle, which we were told would correct the error. We shall just have to be patient for a little longer, it seems.]

5. Thanks for the blog , I thought that BANDYLEGGED was very neat and the link to the next clue . I agree with you for SERAPIS , so does Chambers93 . No sign of CRUE but seen this many times .
   Agree with Bridgesong@3 for cook = OVEN ?? I have looked in both directions and cannot find anything to support this .

6. OVEN
   As bridgesong@3 says, Chambers has ‘oven’ as a verb.
   I have heard people say (heard it in normal conversations as well as
   in some tele-series), ‘microwave the food’. Microwave is given
   as a transitive verb in Chambers (to cook or defrost in a microwave oven).
   I guess ‘oven’ could be used instead of ‘microwave’.

7. I also thought that cook didn’t equal OVEN (it’s not given as a verb in my C98). Re SERAPIS, Chambers and Wikipedia both suggest Serapis was one god, but identified with others, particularly Osiris and Apis, so maybe that’s a source of confusion.
   2dn: what is the significance of “cakes, say”? Is it just random, to make the surface read well? I was trying to think of a homonym, but Toile is a material, rather than a cake, while Tuile, which is a biscuit, doesn’t sound the same.

8. 30dn (definition): As bridgesong@3 has noted, the relevant definition is in the recommended edition of Chambers. So far as I am concerned, that is all that is necessary. The only interest I take in references to outdated editions is that I am glad Azed is rewarding those of us who keep up to date.

9. As for PB@1, that is how I interpreted both.
   MM@7: I had the same question about “cakes.” I guess the clue works with or without.

10. I don’t think “Scotch cakes” are even a thing (as Welsh cakes are or Scotch pancakes). But perhaps someone with a more up to date Chambers than mine can put me right….

11. MunroMaiden I just thought it meant a dozen of anything in Scotland . A dozen cakes for example , the Scots would say TWAL . I know Scotch is not correct here but Chambers does allow it .

12. MM@10: there is no Scotch cake among the approximately thirty phrases listed on page 1399 of Chambers 2016 under the headword Scotch. The list does of course include Scotch pancake.

13. As they say, “there isn’t a noun that can’t be verbed”. I guess to oven a meal has joined the ranks of to medal and to podium at the Olympics. I can’t imagine adopting it any time soon.

14. Nevertheless, the OED online (thanks be for), does have:

    “The earliest known use of the verb oven is in the late 1500s.
    OED’s earliest evidence for oven is from 1596, in the writing of Thomas
    Nashe, writer.
    It is also recorded as a noun from the Old English period (pre-1150).”

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