A plain 12 x 12 grid, this week, with some very generous checking.
Unusually in a plain Azed puzzle, there were two nine-letter words (at 7 and 15 down) with only one unchecked letter in each. As is not unusual, there were a couple of clues (26 across and 28 down) which were wrongly numbered; but I was more bothered by 12 across and 6 down, where I thought the clues were either misprinted or just plain wrong. Of course I could be mistaken.
| Across | ||
| 1 | VIBS | Force packing black walking boots (4) |
| B in VIS. Vibram is the brand name of a type of rubber used for soles of walking boots. | ||
| 4 | PULSIDGE | Pigs duel frantically, thrill for mistress in play (8) |
| *(PIGS DUEL). An easy clue for an obscure word, which according to Chambers is to be found (only?) in a line by Mistress Quickly in Henry IV, Part II, meaning pulse. | ||
| 11 | INOPINATE | Number injected trendy drug not thought of before (9) |
| N in IN OPIATE. | ||
| 12 | OSTIA | Where you could have found naves opening (5) |
| I’m struggling with this clue, because ostia is a plural, so the clue should refer to openings. And I think that there should be an apostrophe after naves. A nave is a Shakespearean term for a navel, which is what the clue is presumably referrring to. | ||
| 14 | BRAIDE | Shakespeare’s deceitful Katherina, say, one taken in (6) |
| A in BRIDE. The reference is to The Taming of the Shrew. | ||
| 16 | PROCTOR | Manager? Eight once coming between prince and king (7) |
| OCTO in between PR and R. | ||
| 17 | TRYOUT | Dummy run tutor concocted with year entering (6) |
| Y in *TUTOR. | ||
| 18 | NOBLE | Great black backed gull’s tail’s divided (5) |
| (tai)L in EBON (rev). Nicely misleading surface, I thought. | ||
| 20 | PROSAIST | Mr Ordinary, pawn beside fancy aristos (8) |
| P *ARISTOS. | ||
| 22 | CLAIMANT | One bringing law suit, wild animal in court (8) |
| *ANIMAL in CT. Claimant is the term now used in place of plaintiff. | ||
| 24 | EDEMA | Pathological bloatedness, feature of excessive demagoguery (5) |
| Hidden in “excessive demagoguery”. | ||
| 25 | CABRIE | Wild ruminant giving California cheese (6) |
| A charade of CA and BRIE. | ||
| 26 | CERAMAL | Electronic resistor running clear mum installed (7) |
| MA in *CLEAR. | ||
| 29 | ELEVON | Flap created when fifth work of fiction is rejected? (6) |
| NOVEL, E (fifth letter of the alphabet) (all rev). | ||
| 30 | TAPET | Old-style hanging? Tyburn tree initially introduces copy (5) |
| APE in T(yburn) T(ree). | ||
| 31 | CLERECOLE | Empty cellar? Sounds like that primer is needed (9) |
| Sounds like “clear coal”. | ||
| 32 | PASSERES | Many birds proceed south before nesting (8) |
| ERE in PASS S. | ||
| 33 | ENEW | Immerse kitchenwares? – this rack roughly (4) |
| Compound anagram: ENEW plus THIS RACK = KITCHENWARES. | ||
| Down | ||
| 1 | VIOL | One was bowed, showing only half of injury (4) |
| VIOL(ENCE). | ||
| 2 | BOTRYOSE | Like grapes producing taste in old drink (8) |
| TRY in BOOSE. | ||
| 3 | SPINOSE | Sip bubbly with bouquet suggestive of brambles? (7) |
| *SIP, NOSE. | ||
| 5 | UNAPT | Slow do for oldies punctuated by zizz (5) |
| NAP in UT. “DO” in the clue is the first note of the musical scale, formerly ut. | ||
| 6 | LABRYS | Axe delivering double whammy reduced trains (ours) formerly entering stations (6) |
| I think that this is BR (trains) in LAYS (which can mean to station). Chambers indicates that BR formerly meant British Rail, but I don’t see the need to indicate the abbreviation (“reduced”), nor do I understand what “ours” is doing. Have I missed something subtle, I wonder? | ||
| 7 | STRONTIAN | Metallic oxide extracted from iron as blasted with TNT (9) |
| *(IRON AS TNT). | ||
| 8 | DOIT | It indicates minimum of indulgence in dowry? (4) |
| I in DOT. A doit can either mean a small obsolete Dutch coin or a thing of little value: either way the clue works as an & lit, I think. | ||
| 9 | GADOLINITE | Silicate trouble in cracked tiling with last of slate (10) |
| ADO in *TILING, E. | ||
| 10 | EVEREST | A very tall order at any time, getting estuary shortened (7) |
| EVER, EST. | ||
| 13 | SERRADELLA | Rare ladles stirred forage plant (10) |
| *(RARE LADIES). | ||
| 15 | GUACAMOLE | Eau log obstructed at fringes of river dip (9) |
| CAM in *(EAU LOG). | ||
| 19 | BEAR UPON | Contact sport raised work in head, subject to pressure (8, 2 words) |
| RU OP (rev) in BEAN. “Subject” here should be read as a verb. | ||
| 20 | PIECE UP | Hastily repair pastry vessel, injecting bit of epoxy (7, 2 words) |
| E in PIE CUP. | ||
| 21 | EMBRACE | Hug? HM envelops doctor with one (7) |
| MB in ER, ACE. | ||
| 23 | LEANER | Daily, maybe, after cutting leader less profitable (6) |
| I think this is a reference to the Jamaican newspaper, the Gleaner. | ||
| 25 | CLARE | Sister left in charge (5) |
| L in CARE. | ||
| 27 | REIS | Country branch serving some obscure islanders (4) |
| Hidden in “obscure islanders”. | ||
| 28 | STEW | Debauches after turning up in bordello (4) |
| WETS (rev). | ||
*anagram
‘Naves’ is Latin for ships and Ostia was the port of Rome. Can’t help with 6 though.
Thanks Azed and Bridgesong.
6dn: I agree that “reduced” and “ours” are both unnecessary for the wordplay, but both words are relevant, and “reduced” is needed for the surface to make sense.
23dn: I took the “Daily” to be CLEANER.
I agree with Bridgesong that the ever more present gremlins have affected 12 across. The first definition is as described in post 1, the second is “opening”. OSTIA is the plural of OSTIUM, so it should be “openings”.
In 6 down, “reduced” tells us we need an abbreviation and also helps the wordplay, but “ours” isn’t really needed for either, although it isn’t unfairly misleading. Perhaps Azed felt that British Rail is outdated enough that extra clarification is needed (fair enough, I guess), but with the recent smattering of misprints/errors we’ve had I can’t help wondering if it sneaked through from a rough draft.
Gremlins aside, an excellent puzzle as ever.
Second para should be: In 6 down, “reduced” tells us we need an abbreviation and also helps the SURFACE…
Sorry – I’ll learn to write one day.
rf3435 @1: thanks for enlightening me about Ostia, I suppose “where” in the clue was the give away, but I thought it referred to a part of the body, hence my ramblings about navels. i am encouraged by cruciverbophile who agrees that it should have been “openings”.
I think Pelham Barton @2 is correct; (C)LEANER is more likely than (G)LEANER.
After attempting today’s offering I’m not sure we can blame all the errors on some poor intern. Perhaps Azed should go to Specsavers.
You have a point there Sidey. Although I’ve preferred to blame the Grauniad gremlins, the error in today’s can only have come from the setter. At least it was obvious enough not to have been too much of a blind alley.
A good, fairly straightforward offering. The few errors I’m sure were just there to make sure we were paying attention. 🙂
6D: I think that Bridgesong’s parsing is right; “ours” refers to the fact that BR was publicly owned and belonged to all of us, rather than the privatised mess we have now.