Azed No. 2,556 Plain – Competition Puzzle

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The puzzle is complete, but I’m not sure of a couple of my parsings.

Although I am confident that I have completed the grid with the right answers, two of the parsings caused me trouble.

 

DE-TEST doesn’t work for me, but maybe someone can enlighten me.

 

Similarly for PANDERMITE, I wonder whether this was a draft that Azed didn’t get round to finishing. Maybe he intended to come back to it and put in a definition for PERMIT and insert a word meaning AND…

 

Whatever, it was still fun, and as usual I learned a few new things, many of which I will have forgotten within five minutes of making this post.

 

Thanks, Azed.

ACROSS
3 SPANISH FLY
In pash being thwarted by female, showing cunning about that aid to better sex (10, 2 words)
*(in pash) [anag:being thwarted] by F (female) with SLY (“showing cunning”) about, so S(PANISH-F)LY

 

Spanish fly used to be a preparation made from crushed beetles which was supposed to be an aphrodisiac.
10 NEAR-GALE
Strong wind battered range – bitter? (8, 2 words)
*(range) [anag:battered] + ALE (“bitter?”)
12 GATOR
It lurks in the everglades from Georgia to heart of Florida (5)
Ga. (Georgia) + TO + [heart of] (flo)R(ida)
13 MARACA
Fellow managed prison (all names withheld) – it maintains a lively rhythm (6)
MA(n) (“fellow”) + RA(n) (“managed”) + CA(n) (“prison”) with all Ns (names) withheld
14 STALAG
Site that is missing a prisoner? Not one for that kind (6)
S(i)T(e) (i.e. (“that is”) missing) + A LAG (“prisoner”) and semi &lit.
15 CHARAS
Narcotic, one featuring in dailies (6)
A (one) featuring in CHARS (“dailies” as in charwomen)

 

Charas is a narcotic, the resin of hashish.
16 BIFOCALS
Face mostly disfigured with boils? They can change the way one looks (8)
*(fac boils) [anag:disfigured] where FAC is FAC(e) [mostly]
17 RAGG
Slating material, furious in being written out (4)
RAG(in)G (“furious” with IN written out)

 

A ragg is a large rough slate.
18 TREBLE
Choirboy to quiver missing mass (6)
TRE(m)BLE (“quiver”) missing M (mass)
20 IGNOMY
Former disgrace, portent (not the first) – goodness me! (6)
(s)IGN (“portent”, not the first (letter)) + O MY! (“goodness me!”)
22 KEEL
Aids this barge being refitted – lakeside possibly (4)
*(aids KEEL) is an anagram [refitted] of LAKESIDE
23 DRAMBUIE
Whisky liquor that is taken after cocktail of bad rum (8)
i.e. (“that is”) taken after *(bad rum) [anag:cocktail of]
26 DETEST
Can’t stand to let off e.g. MOT? (6)
Not sure of the parsing here, but maybe Azed is suggesting that if you DE-TEST, you are doing the opposite of testing
28 TOERAG
*A despicable person (6)
Azed invited solvers to provide their own cryptic clue:

 

e.g. Kick and take the mickey out of tramp (6)
29 EDENIC
Former PM in charge of ideal state (before fall) (6)
(Anthony) EDEN (“former PM”) + IC (in charge)
30 SPATE
Noah’s beginning to leave pens at being prepared for flood (5)
*(pes at) where PES is PE(n)S (Noah’s beginning (N) to leave)
31 TRUCHMEN
Ex-president (English not American) has installed Chinese interpreters (8)
(Harry S ) TRUM(a>E)N (E for English not A for American) has installed Ch. (Chinese)
32 PANDERMITE
Permit (one assumes) required before start of excavating Turkish borate (10)
Not sure how to parse this: I can see PERMIT before [start of] E(xcavating). Is it possible that Azed wants us to read PERMIT as P AND ERMIT?
DOWN
1 ANGSTRIDDEN
Isn’t beginning to discount danger, trembling and deeply worried (11)
*(isn’t d danger) where D is [beginning to] D(iscount)
2 PEATHAG
Heat varies in lofted space, less squelchy part of bog (7)
*(heat) [anag:varies] in [lofted] <=GAP (“space”)
3 SATAY
Never stood for spicy meat en brochette (5)
SAT AY = aye sat = “never stood”
4 PROLEG
Bit of immature creature, part replacing one in farm animal (6)
ROLE (“part”) replacing I (one) in P(i)G (“farm animal”)

 

A proleg is an insect larva’s abdominal leg.
5 NARGILY
What’s mass of clay in New York, producing a sort of ‘bong’? (7)
ARGIL (“mass of clay”) in NY (New York)

 

A narghily is a Turkish smoking pipe.
6 SEAHORSE
Water running into shore’s rotten – could be ‘dead’ hippo (8)
SEA (“water”) running into *(shore) [anag:‘s rotten]

 

The ‘hippo’ here would be the hippocampus, a legendary sea monster of ancient mythology.
7 HORACE
Chorale may be translated from this odist, Latin (6)
HORACE L (Latin) is an anagram [may be translated from] of CHORALE
8 FEAR
I’ll escape from a fire that’s activated alarm (4)
*(a fre) [anag:that’s activated] where FRE is I escaping from F(i)RE
9 LOCAL
Recommended by dieticians – unlike much of what it serves? (5)
LO-CAL (i.e. low-calorie) would be “recommended by dieticians, but what is served at the LOCAL (pub) mostly would not be recommended by them.
11 TASSELLGENT
Falconer’s bird? Deal in the latest, cracking experience mostly (11)
SELL (“deal in”) + GEN (“the latest”) cracking TAST(e) (“experience”, mostly)
16 BOMBSITE
Awful mess – double-headed besom’s wielded with it (8)
*(b-besom it) [anag:wielded] where B-BESOM is a “double-headed besom”
18 TRITIUM
Isotope: it’s discovered in notable achievement, independent of pH (7)
IT discovered in TRIUM(ph) (“notable achievement”, independent of pH)

 

Tritium is an isotope of hydrogen of triple mass, hence the tri- part of its name.
19 LEGATEE
Beneficiary set up a limit for trust maybe (7)
<=GEL (“set”, up) + A + TEE (the letter T, “a limit” (first or last) “for T(rus)T, maybe”)
21 OMENED
Chaps engaged in major book of words, portentous? (6)
MEN (“chaps”) engaged in OED (Oxford English Dictionary, so “major book of words”)
22 KLEPHT
King set out for audience, one resisting conquerors from abroad (6)
K (king, in chess notation) + homophone [for audience] of LEFT (“set out”)

 

The Klephts were Greeks who retreated to the hills when the Turks invaded their country and then spent centuries as brigands and outlaws.
24 REDIA
Assistant brought up young parasitic worm (5)
<=AIDER (“assistant” brought up)

 

Redia is a larval form of a digenetic nematode.
25 CRAME
Jock’s stall – is this his den ransacked for merchandise? (5)
his den CRAME is an anagram [ransacked] of MERCHANDISE

 

In Scots, a crame is a booth or kiosk.
27 TERN
Sherry’s medium in tradename large schooner (4)
(sh)ER(ry) [‘s medium] in TN (tradename)

 

A tern is a three-masted schooner.

10 comments on “Azed No. 2,556 Plain – Competition Puzzle”

  1. Thanks loonapick. I agree re DE-TEST – perhaps exempt from testing?
    I liked P AND ERMIT very much when I twigged.
    Thanks as ever to Azed.

  2. Yes, Permit was a nice penny-drop.
    I couldn’t account for the R in Redia because I’d assumed assistant was just AIDE, but got it eventually.
    I don’t think Hippocampus occurred to me at all for SEAHORSE. I vaguely remember thinking “could be ‘dead'” = SEA (as in Dead Sea) and “hippo” is more or less Greek for HORSE… but I soon realised that didn’t work, not least because it would need a capital D.
    Anyway, all good fun as usual, and for once I correctly guessed the competition word before I’d looked at any other clues.

  3. Thanks for the blog. Agree with you and Gonzo for DETEST and PERMIT , the second of which is brilliant. I also like SATAY and LOCAL.
    NARGILY was in recently with one of its many different spellings.
    Should 23AC be liqueur rather than liquor ?

  5. Mine too, Stefan. (I only noticed the hippocampus reference in the blog.)

    EA as water would be a handier device for setters if it were not confined to Chambers. Have to fall back on ‘Each’ a lot of the time.

  6. Roz@3. My understanding is that all liqueurs are liquors, so 23AC worked for me. 32AC did not. Thanks both.

  8. Ref. 32ac – “one assumes” – look up “assume” and one def. is ‘take in’ – so I thought we have PERMIT with ‘one’ taken in + E. But that was as far as I got, as I couldn’t make ‘one’ = ‘and’.

    I thought 13ac was clever.

  9. This seems to have gone in OK (it was a long time ago now). Remembered NARGILY or similar spelling from a previous Azed; definitely read PANDERMITE as ‘permit’ + e; liked ANGSTRIDDEN. Many thanks to A & loonapick.

  10. I agree with @4 on the parsing of 6d. In 22ac, is “possibly” redundant, since “refitted” already indicates the anagram? I liked LOCAL and MARACA – both clever, but thought 8d and 30ac a bit weak, particularly having both in the same puzzle, as they were of similar type.

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