Eightsome Reels is a special invented by Azed that he generally brings out about every couple of years. They can be a bit hard to get started on, as you need to do some cold solving until you have some adjacent entries to work on. This time my entry point was at 8/9/15; even then it wasn’t straightforward, as there wasn’t a unique way to enter the words, so I had some tentative pencillings-in for a while until some more answers confirmed the positions.
Even with more checking letters available it isn’t completely plain sailing, though: as I’ve mentioned before, it seems to be a feature of the format that the more common letters appear disproportionately often, making it hard to find useful patterns to latch on to. Of the 133 letters in the finished grid, 22 are E (16.5%) and 16 are S (12%); the nine letters ESTINARLM (in descending order of frequency) account for over 80% of the total, and the eight letters JKQVWXYZ don’t appear at all. There also seems to be a tendency for the clues to be a bit “same-y” – a lot of full or partial anagrams, and an unfortunate repetition in 8 and 9. Still, an enjoyable challenge as always to Azed, so thanks to him.
| 1. | ROBOTISE | Automate bistro, one gutted and given makeover Anagram of BISTRO + O[n]E |
| 2. | MEPHITIS | Foreign letter in Times oddly creating awful stink PHI (Greek letter) in TIMES* |
| 3. | ACALEPHE | Jellyfish making one jump in pain A (one) + LEP (dialect form of “leap”) in ACHE |
| 4. | MACADAMS | Surfaces for driving mothers? A rotter cuts in A CAD in MAMS |
| 5. | MAISTERS | Staff at Fettes as term gets going lives in? IS in (AS TERM)* – Fettes is a public school in Edinburgh, hence the Scots form of “masters” |
| 6. | TEMPLETS | Agency employee maybe hires out patterns for modelling TEMP + LETS – this would fit into the corner in either direction, so the preamble tells us to enter it clockwise “to avoid ambiguity” |
| 7. | BOTTINES | Dainty footwear to cadge down under, with spikes BOT (Australian slang for “cadge”) + TINES |
| 8. | HITTITES | Biblical people strike alliances (about time) HIT + T in TIES |
| 9. | HEARTIES | Sporty types try matches HEAR + TIES – a bit of a blemish that “ties” is used in consecutive clues, with rather similar definitions |
| 10. | THANADAR | Senior police officer adjusted hat and even bits of hair Anagram of HAT + AND + the even letters of hAiR |
| 11. | ARTESIAN | Like some basins wherein resinata is mixed RESINATA* |
| 12. | ATTESTED | Manifested on the wagon and unusually sedate about it TT (teetotal, on the wagon) in SEDATE* |
| 13. | ASTATINE | At a display that includes what’s fashionable IN (fashionable) in A STATE, with the element’s chemical symbol as definition |
| 14. | STEATITE | Soapstone protuberance in place TEAT in SITE |
| 15. | TESTIEST | Most bad-tempered and tense, I, with nasty fly round about T[ense] + I in reverse of TSETSE |
| 16. | HANGNEST | Fire-bird sang, then fluttered (SANG THEN)* |
| 17. | ETRANGER | An American in Paris maybe aboard upmarket Range Rover Hidden in upmarkET RANGE Rover – French for a stranger of foreigner, as an american in Paris would be |
| 18. | SLATTERN | Besom, modern, with tin coating LATTER in SN (tin). Besom is familiar as the name of a broom (vaguely alluded to in the surface), but it’s also “a term of reproach esp for a woman, implying slatternliness, laziness, impudence, or unscrupulous energy“ |
| 19. | ANTEPAST | Old-style appetizer: on it pâté’s spread AN’T (archaic form of “on it”) + PATES* |
| 20. | ANTIDOTE | Nostrum: a suggestion includes ‘thrice daily’ TID (abbreviation on a prescription for “thrice daily”) in A NOTE |
| 21. | DOTTEREL | Bird, stupid one, misdirected letter after party DO + LETTER*, and two definitions, though these are very close (or possibly a single extended definition) |
| 22. | ENGENDER | Produce, mottled green around tip END in GREEN* |
| 23. | GENITURE | Good variation of uterine birth G + UTERINE* |
| 24. | TURNSOLE | Dye vessels in painted tinware URNS in TOLE |
| 25. | SNIPPETS | ‘Leg caught in ladder turned over’ in mini news items? Reverse of (PIN in STEPS) |
| 26. | TIDINESS | Being orderly, eats in, press around DINES in reverse of SIT (“to weigh, bear, press”). The comma after “in” seems misleading: unusual for Azed, I think |
| 27. | FIELDING | What’s cover doing for novelist? Double definition – cover is a fielding position in cricket |
| 28. | NOTIFIED | No education? I slot back in, becoming informed Reverse of I FIT in NO ED |
| 29. | TRENTINO | Money put into local rail transport for Italian region TIN (money) in TRENO (“train” in Italian, hence “local”). This is the proper name mentioned in the notes |
| 30. | ENTELLUS | Monkey showing shortened tail? We’d like to know EN[d] + TELL US |
| 31. | SERAPHIN | Old silver coin, Persian, distributed around Hungary H in PERSIAN* – variant of “xerafin”, former silver coin of Goa |
| 32. | SEROTINE | Bat that’s become weak, caught in net ROT in SEINE (fishing net) |
| 33. | FLEETING | Peg bowled over in brief affair, transient Reverse of TEE in FLING |
| 34. | STIFLERS | There’s less forest ultimately developed with fir trees Anagram of LESS + [fores]T + FIR – stifler and tree are both names for the gallows |
| 35. | TRESPASS | Trench and lock securing spring SPA in TESS. Trench has “to encroach” as one of its definitions |
| 36. | PERFUSES | Soaks in water, surf crashing in – sun follows SURF* in PEE (water) + S[un] |
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