AZED 2,317

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There are two typos in this crossword: Edinburgh is spelled Edinburg at 11ac, and 34ac is numbered as 24ac. Obvious mistakes of course, not likely to detain anyone, but when the standard of proof-reading falls like this, if you can’t at first solve a clue then you begin to wonder if there is a typo in it. Not something one normally sees in Azed’s crosswords — how he generally maintains such high standards of accuracy without so far as I know having any sort of crossword editor to pick up on things is impressive.

(I wrote this before discovering that there is a third typo: The first word of the clue for 4dn is meant to be Chain not Cain. And here at last we have a mistake which does actually cause a waste of time (in my case, because I was doing the blog, considerable).)

The usual: sound clueing, impossibly difficult words whose very existence keeps surprising me, one or two excellent clues, and as so often one (4dn) whose explanation is beyond me (at least it was, until the typo was pointed out).

Definitions underlined and in maroon.

Across
1 SPHINGID Moth taking whirl round hydrant, sturdy (8)
sp(h)in gid — gid = sturdy, a disease of sheep
11 CRAME Ornamental threadwork ma disposed of in Edinburgh market stall (5)
{ma}cramé
12 AZILIAN Of a period many years ago, a vast number by the sound of it (7)
“a zillion”
13 ROLEX Reliable timer showing times after function (5)
role x — I expect it’s a reliable timer, although it’s more a rather vulgar status symbol — a little bit of advertising here
14 VANADIC Representation of Diana in medal of high-valency element (7)
(Diana)* in VC — the adjective from vanadium
17 YOGA Exercise regime past year set back (4)
(ago y)rev.
18 TONOPLAST Child receiving slap on breaking plant membrane (9)
(slap on)* in tot
19 CHALK Hour interrupting snooze? I’m given much to do on board (5)
c(h)alk — chalk on the blackboard used to be a feature of classrooms, less so nowadays, so perhaps the clue would have been more accurate with ‘I was’ rather than ‘I’m’
22 SOOTED Toe twisted in turf getting covered in dirty marks (6)
(toe)* in sod
23 HAMULI I’ll be after millions in fishing catch producing mini hooks (6)
ha(m)ul I
24 ANODE Lady returns to her country, essential part of circuit? (5)
(doña)rev E — a doña comes from Spain (E)
25 BONA FIDES A dog typically leaves nothing in its grub? That’s trust for you (9, 2 words)
bon(a Fid{o})es — the typical dog is Fido, although I’ve never actually met a dog called Fido
28 REAR Prepare for fresh hostilities without this breed (4)
rear{m} — m is the rear of rearm
31 UNTILED Harriet led her party briefly ——, without quarrels? (7)
until Ed — Harriet Harman was briefly leader of the Labour Party before Ed Miliband — because of the typos at 11ac and 34ac I thought that there might be another one here, but no: the two dashes are deliberate
32 ABORE No longer behaved as one pub patrons avoid (5)
a bore, someone that pub patrons avoid
33 SOCAGER Feudal tenant, increasingly savvy about overcharge (7)
s(oc)ager
24 MAVIN Massachusetts wine buff? (5)
Ma vin, possibly &lit. since it’s US slang
35 ANAPAEST Army’s leader takes irregular peasant on foot (8)
A{rmy} (peasant)*
Down
1 SCRATCH BRUSH One polishes metal, the devil to do at speed round barrels (12, 2 words)
scratch (b)rush
2 PROSO Tramps love cereal (5)
pros 0
3 HALON Nimbus, northern, threat to ozone layer? (5)
halo N
4 NEXT Cain store Green’s last to hold out with no end in sight (4)
At least that’s what I think it is, but I really can’t work out how — my guess, although Google tells me that it is quite unfounded, is that there is someone with the name Cain who is an important person at Next, the clothing store, and that this is {Gree}n {t}ext, the t that is dropped being the ‘end in sight’. Very doubtful. I’m sure someone will come along and explain it and it will be quite obvious and I won’t understand how I ever failed to see it. Now I discover that there is a typo and it’s meant to be ‘Chain’ not ‘Cain’. So it’s definition as previously stated, {gree}n ext{end} (a kind person explained how it worked). Harrumph.
5 GAVELKIND This is … leaving kids freely (i.e. all get a share in it) (9)
(leaving kids – is)* — semi &lit.?
6 DINK Murray speciality, helpful after exchanging ends? (4)
kind with the letters at each end swapped — perhaps the dink is an Andy Murray speciality, but I should have thought that all the top players used the drop-shot — perhaps Murray does rather a lot
7 CLAYTONIA US plant having earth scattered on it advanced (9)
clay (on it)* A
8 RIDOTTO Public dance fest offering free extract of roses (7)
rid otto
9 TAIGLED Kite going after bream? Jock’s lingered (7)
tai gled — Scottishisms always seem to be signposted by Azed with the word ‘Jock’, something that has been criticised as insensitive, but come on
10 INCANDESCENT Tinned line? It must be very hot indeed (12)
in can [= tinned] descent
15 COLUBRIAD Long story of asp? Bad, I curl sinuously incorporating Cleo’s end (9)
(Bad I curl)* round {Cle}o
16 CASSANDRA One having prior dope and held in little credit (9)
a [= one] with, before it, c(ass and)r — a very nice &lit.
20 HAVE-NOT Pauper keeping endless spite within lid (7)
ha(veno{m})t
21 AMBATCH Having bowled in a game I’m called on to produce floaters (7)
a m(b)atch — the floaters being floating pieces of wood
26 DROVE Host in NY took the plunge welcoming first in reception (5)
d(r{eception})ove — dove = in NY took the plunge
27 ÉPRIS Last bit of purchase placed on top? One’s captivated (5)
prise with its last bit [letter] placed on top
29 ALGA What may be washed ashore in equinoctial gales? (4)
Hidden in equinoctiAL GAles, &lit.
30  CAMP Early form of football pitch (4)
 2 defs

*anagram

7 comments on “AZED 2,317”

  1. Thanks for the blog, John. I found this harder than average for a plain Azed.
    The misprint in 4 down was helpfully pointed out by a poster on last week’s blog,

  2. I, too, found this harder than average, even without the typos. I did spot the correction given in last week’s blog, which helped, but MAVIN was one of the first I got and I entered it into 24ac without thinking. Took a while before I noticed my mistake.

  3. Very good blog, John. At the risk of being a bore on the subject of typos, I’ll reaffirm my theory that most of these mistakes originate from the publishing stage rather than Azed himself. If I had a pound for every time I’ve had to trawl crossword forums for a link to the puzzle because the Guardian link doesn’t work, I’d be able to buy myself a very decent dinner. And the Guardian/Observer isn’t exactly unknown for typos!

    I may be wrong, of course, and I’ll happily stand corrected if someone has more concrete information.

    Excellent puzzle, and I agree it was considerably harder than usual.

  4. The typos were thankfully highlighted last week, otherwise an already difficult puzzle would have been more difficult still. I think I was delving into the BRB from just about the start. A bit of a knock to the confidence after a very easy one the week before.

  5. Me again – just to say that I think we have another typo this week: the first word of 1 down should be plural, no?

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