Azed No. 2,760 – Plain

15 comments on “Azed No. 2,760 – Plain”

1. Thanks for the blog , took me nearly twice as long as usual , did not get my normal start in the top left . I got the four long ones crossing then did the corners anti-clockwise from the top right . The fish was my last one in when I had all the letters, “wandering at large” seems a bit much to just indicate an anagram .
   ACTABLE and LASTAGE were very neat . For SCOTISM I was not keen on therapy for OT .

2. I finished it! – or at least I got a correct answer into all the spaces, with all the assistance I could muster from wordfinders, anagram-o-matics, Google and the dictionary, and several remained unparsed (AC for “before meals”, kale=money, the complex anagram for PLECTRE, vis=power). CHEVESAILE took longest because I was trying to fit HER into it. Favourites LAST AGE, LEASOWE and GRUE (I remember someone in a book saying that something gave them a “cauld grue” and of course that must be where “gruesome” comes from.)

3. Roz @1, isn’t OT in SCOTISM defined by “a therapy” (i.e. one therapy) not just “therapy”? Does that make it any better for you?

   gladys @2, the composite anagram for PLECTRE is a common clue type for Azed and other (especially barred) crosswords. A useful reflex to adopt when you see the word “this” (or the like including a long dash) in a clue is to look for a composite anagram.

4. Just defeated by IRID, for which I had IRIS. Couldn’t parse it either way; I would think ‘have the drop on’ means to do something before someone else. Didn’t get the ‘finished’ notification and couldn’t work out why. Anyway, very nearly got it done. Thanks for the usual workout and blog.

5. I made the same mistake as SZJoe@4, hoping the blog would clarify the parsing. Never heard of IRID. Comes of not checking in Chambers, where all is clear. I think the clue is OK, in the sense of ‘I rid myself of…’. Hung up for a long time on top left corner, and had to resort to Google for 1ac, which to my mind is an admission of defeat. Do we all have our allowable aids? I use Chambers Dictionary and ditto Crossword Dictionary.

6. Tim@2 , absolutely not , the clue works fine but OT occupational therapy is clued by a therapy , hmmm why not just give us the answer ? Last week we had inc clued by including , at least try and make us think .

7. Nonafi @6 , I try to solve without using Chambers at all but I do like to check everything afterwards including all the bits of wordplay . What people use is entirely a personal choice . I used to use Chambers a lot more while solving plus a thesaurus which had lots of lists in the back .

8. I too found this very difficult. Then you read Cineraria’s blog and you wonder why.

   Azed has become quite lenient wth himself in later years, even breaching his own rules. Quite simply RID does not equal DROP. They are both transitive verbs but, syntactically (anyone tell me what it means?), they are different. So, I can rid myself of a nuisance (reflexive), or I can drop the nuisance (transitive).

   Here is Azed from A–Z of Crosswords, page 14: ‘…each clue should observe the normal rules of grammar and syntax.’

   Unless you’re Azed.

   While I’m there, it might be worth quoting page 11 (re e.g. 12 Ac): ‘ A more complex development
   of the anagram is what I have called the composite anagram…’ So it’s definitely ‘composite’.

   I don’t know when ‘crinkly’ became ‘stateside’. It first appeared in 1988, I think, but as slang. It was still slang in my 2006.

   I didn’t particularly like ‘a therapy’ for OT but I’ll pass it. I’ll also pass including for ‘inc’. If we start wandering we’ll soon be having ‘clues to clues’ which, for me, are the last straw. What about all the IVR abbreviations? P is Portugal and I disagree with having to solve a part of the clue to find ‘Portugal’, then having to solve another part to ’P’.

   I’m largely on Azed’s side. I just think he needs a smack bottom as a reminder now and agaain.

   Stefan

9. I’m generally with Stefan @8. We might think “inc” for including is a bit easy, but then who with any crossword experience hesitates over the likes of “nothing” = O (8dn), “gold” = AU (14ac) or OR and “no good” = NG (9dn)? I’m happy to accept the likes of 8dn, 14ac and also 18ac to set off against those that take me rather longer.
   There was further inconsistency in this one over marking things as regional or archaic. “Lesson” in 13ac wasn’t noted and nor was “colour” in 3dn, but we did get “Scottish shudder” in 9dn and “old names” in 22dn, as well as “local” in 4dn and another “old” in 2dn.

10. I was pleased to finish my first attempt at the Azed, albeit with one error: as with others, I had IRIS. Several NHOs and several were not fully parsed, so I needed the blog to understand.
    I used some aids, dictionaries, thesaurus, and Google to check the unknowns.

11. Popped in to say “Hello” My memory doesn’t extend to seven days but I cannot remember this being especially hard. My Chambers is falling apart and I do have an alternate letter dictionary (produced by the Don in the forties) which is handy from time to time. So glad Azed’s’ 2750th “do” went well.

12. For the record, gladys, nonafi and ALFWEARD, my aids are Chambers and my brain. I have lots of reference books but use them only as last resorts. A couple of years ago Azed came up with an answer which was a proper name: SOCOTRA. (It’s an island in the Gulf of Aden). The answer was almost clear from the wordplay but the precise spelling wasn’t. I go off to Google Maps to check that my answer is correct, even though I’m guessing. I don’t consider this ‘cheating’. There was an amusing aftermath to this. In a slip, Azed stated he did not think SOCOTRA was ‘very obscure’. That left at least a dozen of us in this forum scratching our heads because I don’t think a single one of us had ever heard of the place (and there is some serious brain power collected here). We know Azed can be a bit odd but there was certainly laughter in this household.

    Another example is, say, I have a definition which I think is ‘Irish thing’. It’s my last entry and I have –OKE. The first letter is unchecked. I cannot get the wordplay. I can go through Chambers: AOKE, BOKE, COKE, DOKE… but it’s boring. Here my first port of call is Crossword Clue Solver (CCS), which I have found up to date and comprehensive. Except that here it isn’t. Chambers Crossword Dictionary under ‘thing’—no use. Chambers Backwords eliminates at least some of the letters, so I go through Chambers after all. I get the answer and the wordplay was staring me in the eye.

    If I do this, I consider that I have not finished the crossword myself but, after all these years, I’m not too bothered about it. It happens maybe once or twice a year

    Stefan

    I am coming back with another post to discuss Azed’s indicators for dialect, archaic, Scots, poet’s, etc. and I should be pleaased to hear people’s views.

13. Stefan @12 there is a good example of your -OKE thing in the current puzzle , we can discuss it next week .
    Just to be clear , I am not saying the OT or INC clues are wrong , they just give too much away . OT for example could have said treatment .
    Good to see you Keith .

14. At the moment, I’m using various aids while I’m new to Azed, but aim to reduce them as time goes on. I hardly ever need them for the Cryptic: just Google/Chambers once in a while to confirm that an unfamiliar result exists and fits the definition – but of course Azed has a lot more of those.

15. You go for it, gladys. There’s no oneupmanship here and this forum is always educational and usually fun. I can remember the joy at solving my first single clue!

    Stefan

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