Azed 2390

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We have a plain Azed competition puzzle this week …

 

 

 

Well it was presented as plain puzzle, but given the date of publication, it was a case of ‘Solvers beware’….

There was a very short preamble – Competitors should submit with their entries a cryptic clue to a 13-letter phrase hidden in the completed diagram’

However it wasn’t as simple as that as solvers would find when they tried to enter 11, 13, and 36 and 37 across which didn’t fit with the crossing down letters.

For me, I realised that the 11,13 was going to be APRIL FOOL and 36,37 was going to be FOOL APRIL before I had solved the clues to my satisfaction.  However, I was fairly sure of PAIL for 36 and the penny dropped fairly quickly that the two entries in the two symmetrically placed rows were going to be anagrams of the clue answers.  That lead to FRAIL, POLO, PAIL and FLOOR as the answers.

It was fairly obvious that the thirteen letter phrase was going to be in the middle row, and so it was as POISSON D’AVRIL, French for a joke made on 1st April.  I’ve vague memories that Azed has used this phrase for a clue competition in the past, but I could well be wrong.

For the second Azed in a row that I have blogged, I got a long way through the puzzle before resorting to Chambers.

The puzzle was a pleasant Easter solve that didn’t take too long to finish.

Across
No. Clue Wordplay Answer Entry

1

 

Cut framing copy that’s pinched (7)

 

SNED (cut) containing (framing) APE (copy)

SNE (APE) D

   SNEAPED (pinched)

6

 

Had rag lit for Muslim pyre? (6)

 

Anagram of (lit) HAD RAG

DARGAH*

  

DARGAH ([structure over] a place where a Muslim holy person was cremated or buried.  Earlier versions of Chambers don’t all have the Muslim reference)

 

11

 

Weak or strong bar (5)

 

F (forte; loud; strong) + RAIL (bar)

F RAIL

 FRAIL (weak)

APRIL

 

13

 

Cut over, love following game (4)

 

LOP (cut) reversed (over) + O (zero; love score in tennis)

POL< O

POLO (game)

FOOL

 

14

 

Matches no longer in use when about exhausted (6)

 

AS (when) containing (about) MATE (archaic word for exhausted)

A (MATE) S

  

AMATES (Spenserian [old] word for matches)

 

15

 

One responsible for junk folded charts on foreign sea (7)

 

MAPS (charts) reversed (folded) + MER (French word [foreign] sea)

SPAM< MER

  

SPAMMER (one who sends junk e-mail)

 

16

 

 Head of church pens fine passage for reading therein (8)

POPE (Head of the Roman Catholic church) containing (pens) ERIC ( blood-fine paid by a murderer to his victim’s family in old Irish law)

P (ERIC) OPE

  

PERICOPE (extract or passage, especially one selected for reading in church.

17

 

English composer rendering poet’s ‘Abode of the Departed’ (4)

 

ADES (word used by the poet Milton for HADES [described by the Bible as the Abode of the Dead [departed])

ADES

  

ADES (reference Thomas ADÈS [born 1971], British composer, pianist and conductor)

 

18

 

One of mixed race, first to last achieving prestige (6)

 

MESTEE ( offspring of a white person and a quadroon; one of mixed race) with the first letter M moved to the end [first to last])

ESTEEM

  

ESTEEM (regard; prestige)

 
19 Kindle going wrong before last bit of title, approaching denouement? (7)

Anagram of (going wrong) KINDLE + E [final letter of [last bit of] TITLE)

ENDLIK* E

  

ENDLIKE (of, relating to, or pertaining to the finish; approaching denouement)

 

26

 

Arches during flight? (7)

 

IN (during) + STEP (part of a flight of stairs)

IN STEP

  

INSTEP (prominent arched part of the human foot, between the ankle and the toes)

 

29

 

Popular with groups circulating round, lots of us are seen in bierkeller (6)

 

IN (popular) contained in (with … around) SETS (groups) reversed (circulating)

STE (IN) S<

  

STEINS (large beer mug, often earthenware and frequently with a hinged lid, often found in bierkellers)

 

30

 

Rhyming scheme for chart-toppers? (4)

 

ABBA (descriptive of a rhyming scheme where the first and fourth lines, and the second and third lines rhyme)

ABBA

   ABBA (Swedish pop group who had many No 1 hits in their career; chart-toppers)  double definition

32

 

 History that has to fade away, about dispatched (looking back) (8)

PASS (fade away containing (about) SENT (dispatched) reversed (back)

PAS (TNES<) S

  

PASTNESS (the state or quality of previous times; history)

 

34

 

 What’s wrong, money going to reverse ulceration? (7, 2 words)

(TORT [any wrong, not arising out of contract, for which an action for compensation or damages may be brought] + OOF [old word for money]) all reversed (going to reverse)

(FOO T ROT)<

  

FOOT ROT (ulceration of the coronary band, or any other infection of the feet in sheep or cattle)

 
35 Alternative to bell-ringing?  Single one could replace setting altar (6)

Azed does like his complex anagrams.  The entry RAT-TAT and the clue word SINGLE can be anagrammed together (could replace) to form SETTING ALTAR*

RAT-TAT

   RAT-TAT (knocking or drumming sounds that could be used as an alternative to bell-ringing to play a tune)

36

 

 Stoop (as once) looking anaemic by the sound of it (4)

PAIL (sounds like [by the sound of it] PALE [wan; looking anaemic])

PAIL

PAIL (STOOP is an old variant spelling of STOUP which is an archaic word for bucket or PAIL)

 

 FOOL

37

 

Start of last over?  Coming in aimed at stump (5)

 

LO (first letters of each of [start of] LAST and OVER) contained in (coming in) FOR (aimed at)

F (L O) OR

FLOOR (defeat; stump)

 

 APRIL

38

 

Pour out regular feature of bad language? (6)

 

EFFUSE (sounds like F Us [regular feature of bad language])

EFFUSE

  

EFFUSE (pour out)

 

39

 

Colourful river fringed with willow I cut (7)

 

RED (there are a few RED rivers in the World – China and Canada both have one) containing (fringed with) OSIER (any willow whose twigs are used in making baskets) excluding (cut) I

I’m not sure I have got the parsing right as I interpret ‘fringed with’ to indicate that RED is contained inside OSER rather than the other way round.  Perhaps I’m missing something obvious.

R (OS E R) ED

  

ROSE-RED (colourful)

 
Down

1

 

Mates got up in face paint (4)

 

PALS (mates) reversed (got up; down clue)

SLAP<

  

SLAP (stage make-up; face paint)

 

2

 

Some misbehaving when grannies’s around?  He certainly takes after his dad (7)

 

NAN (grannie) containing (around) an anagram of (misbehaving) SOME

NA (MESO*) N

 

 

NAME-SON (male child called after his father)

 

3

 

Such as Bunthorne taken off in satire (6)

 

Anagram of (taken off) SATIRE

ARTIES*

  

ARTIES (Bunthorne is a character in Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic opera Patience.  he is a very ARTY [artistic, or affectedly aspiring to be] pretentious fellow)

 
4 Guns for men on board (6)

PIECES (guns)

PIECES

  

PIECES (men on a chessboard for example)  double definition

 

5

 

T’radio’s broadcast about writers he distributes (11)

 

Anagram of (broadcast) T’RADIOS containing (about) PENS (writers)

DIS (PENS) ATOR*

  

DISPENSATOR (distributor)

 
6 Hang where some take the plunge, cutting end of rope? (6)

DEEP END (the part of a swimming pool where some people take the plunge) excluding (cutting) one the first Es (last letter of [end of] ROPE)

DEPEND

   DEPEND (hang down [archaic]; hang on; rely on)

7

 

Simple Scots displaying a brief passion about loch (5)

 

A + (FAD [hobby or interest intensely pursued at first, but soon passed over for another; brief passion] containing [about] L [loch])

A FA (L) D

  

AFALD (Scots word meaning simple)

 
8 What stirs Othello with drama?  This handkerchief, loathed maybe (5)

This is one of Azed’s complex anagram clues:

OTHELLO and DRAMA together can be formed into an anagram (what stirs) of LOATHED and ROMAL (the entry)

OTHELLODRAMA* = LOATHEDROMAL*

   ROMAL (handkerchief)

9

 

Some see land from the south, out of the wind (4)

 

ALEE (hidden word in [some] SEE LAND) reversed (from the south; down clue)

ALEE<

  

ALEE (on the leeward side; out of the wind)

 
10 Stocks of eg Soays relish roaming free (6)

Anagram of (roaming free) RELISH

HIRSEL*

  

HIRSEL (stock of sheep)

12

 

Decision from the Élysée, showing where it stands, almost, and about time (5)

 

PARIS (city in which the Élysée place can be found) excluding the final letter (almost) S containing (about) T (time)

PAR (T) I

  

PARTI (French [Élysée; Paris] word for decision)

 

20

 

Irish resort, fashionable, amid varied lakes (7)

 

IN (fashionable) contained in (amid) an anagram of varied LAKES

K (IN) SALE*

  

KINSALE (port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland)

 

21

 

Do part of dressage routine?  One did it, entering prize (6)

 

(A [one] + FF [fecerunt [latin] meaning [they] did it]) contained in (entering) PIE (prize)

PI (A FF) E

  

PIAFFE ( perform a PIAFFER [dressage movement on the spot in which the horse’s feet are lifted in the same succession as a trot, but more slowly])

 

22

 

Face poop the wrong way, heading south-east (6)

 

Anagram of (the wrong way) POOP + SE (south east)

OPPO* SE

  

OPPOSE (face)

 

23

 

Serving women formerly holding peg in palms (6)

 

ATS (Auxiliary Territorial Service [replaced by the Women’s Royal Army Corps in 1949]; serving women) containing (holding) TAP (peg or stopper on a barrel)

AT (TAP) S

  

ATTAPS (nipa palms)

 

24

 

Against having to beg after losing at hazard once (6)

 

V (versus; against) + ENTREAT (beg) excluding (losing) AT

V ENTRE

  

VENTRE (old form of venture [archaic word for hazard])

 

25

 

 City in Italy beneath rocky tier (5)

Anagram of (rocky) TIER + I (International Vehicle Registration for Italy)

RIET* I

  

RIETI (city in the Lazio region of central Italy)

 

27

 

Armadillo some shoot at outrageously (5)

 

TATOU (hidden word in [some] SHOOT AT OUTRAGEOUSLY)

TATOU

  

TATOU (an armadillo, especially the giant armadillo.

 

28

 

Titled folk in jewellery page removed from head (5)

 

PEARLS (jewellelry) excluding the first letter (removed from head) P (page)

EARLS

  

EARLS (examples of titled folk)

 

31

 

Intellectual dropping in for entertainment (4)

 

BOFFIN (any expert or intellectual) excluding (dropping) IN

BOFF

  

BOFF (entertainment)

 
33 Poker displaying projecting knob (4)

STUD (projecting boss, knob, or pin)

STUD

   STUD (STUD is a form of the card game poker)  double definition

 

 

14 comments on “Azed 2390”

  1. Thanks for the usual excellent exposition
    I took 35a to refer to knocking on the door rather ringing the doorbell and I parsed 39a as R (river) + OSIERED (fringed with willow) less I

  2. I’ve been waiting all week for the explanation of 11, 13, 36 and 37. It was obvious from the crossers what had to be entered, but I couldn’t see any reason for it. Now I can, so thank you very much, duncan. (And I agree with RichWA’s two suggestions, btw.)

  3. I was away last weekend and didn’t get to look at this till Tuesday night and then I really struggled to complete it, not helped by entering POOL for 13ac.  Like Brian@2, when I finally realised what had to be entered into those four answers, I couldn’t work out what was going on.  And I totally failed to spot the hidden phrase at the centre.  Never was good at French.

  4. I think Azed’s intention in 38ac (EFFUSE) was probably for the ‘regular feature of bad language’ to be EFF USE (see ‘eff’ in Chambers). The alternative parsing doesn’t quite work for me.

    In 26ac the ‘flight’ is STEPS rather than STEP, and the solution INSTEPS; in 37ac, L is indicated by ‘Start of last’, with O being the cricket scorer’s abbreviation for ‘over’.

    It’s not unknown for Azed to accidentally repeat a competition word, most recently with FENESTRA (2,270) and most notably with AVANT-PROPOS (1,234), only five years after its first use. He also set AMNESIC in 1,637, ironically forgetting that he had used AMNESIAC in 289! POISSON D’AVRIL has indeed appeared before, in AZ 1,818, but in that instance it was a ‘Letters Latent’ puzzle, with the letter N not indicated by the wordplay, so ‘clue recycling’ would not be an option for competitors.

  5. Thanks duncanshiell. I confess that the indications of the need to enter anagrams of the solutions to 11ac & 13ac and to those of 36 & 37 still elude me completely.

  6. Nothing to do with the cluing but I was a bit puzzled by “Muslim pyre” in 6ac – I didn’t think Islam permitted cremation. However it’s in Chambers so I guess it must be right !

  7. I’m another who (correctly, I hope) entered APRIL FOOL and FOOL APRIL without understanding why – I didn’t see that they were anagrams of the answers, just that nothing else would fit!

  8. RichWA@6: The old Chambers entry (referred to by Duncan) read “(a structure over) a place where a holy person was cremated or buried.” I think that by introducing the word ‘Muslim’ the editors have created a paradox, repeated in Azed’s definition.

  13. I remember a Beelzebub on 1st April back in 2012 where the joke was that the clues had been printed in reverse order.  Completely flummoxed me.

  14. This was a real treat and must have caught some out, certainly perfect for Easter Day’s coincidence with April Fools. I was lucky that I didn’t solve the four false entries until after I’d got the crossers. I think there is a wee matter in duncanshiell’s excellent blog. In 37ac if Azed had wanted two first letters he’d have said “starts”. I think the O for “over” stands separately. I did figure out the double anagrams but only after completing the puzzle.

    Many years ago Azed produced a wonder in which all the four 12-letter entries round the edge had definitions of anagrams of the answers entered. As here it was possible to complete the diagram without knowing the actual intended words so the only sufferers were those who cannot sleep wondering what final point they’ve missed. Perhaps the experts on the great database could point me to that tour de force.

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