It is a plain Azed puzzle that forms the basis of the blog this week
I got quite a long way through the puzzle without looking in Chambers, but as always, there were a number of words in the wordplay or entries, that were new to me.
I am not sure what the definition is in the clue for USENT at 11 across.
Having grown up in Scotland and now back living in Scotland, I was well aware of the word DROUKIT, but I always used to spell it with a double O rather than an OU, however the wordplay clearly leads to DROU… and Chambers gives both spellings.
Finally, I am defeated by the reference to ‘bishop’s tea party’ in the clue for URATE at 27 down. I know a bishop is addressed as Right Reverend (RR) and ATE could be an anagram (party) of TEA, but I can’t get the U in this construction. I am sure someone will point out what I am missing.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1 |
Open fabric marker kept in series for amateur handicraft (12) SCRIMSHANDER (someone who does scrimshaw [a sailor’s spare-time handicraft, such as engraving or carving fanciful designs on shells, whales’ teeth, etc; anything crafted in this way]) SCRIM (open fabric used in upholstery, bookbinding, for curtains, etc) + (HAND [indicator; marker] contained in [kept in] SER [series]) SCRIM S (HAND) ER |
| 10 |
Trouble getting in fish for tourist hotel (7) PARADOR (any of several types of (usually country) dwellings, eg castles, convents, etc converted for use as tourist accommodation in Spain) ADO (trouble) contained in (getting in) PARR (young salmon; fish) PAR (ADO) R |
| 12 |
Liberal taken in by trend, once deluded (5) BLENT (past tense of the obsolete [once] meaning of BLEND [delude]) L (Liberal) contained in (taken in by) BENT (trend) B (L) ENT |
| 13 |
Handle sword-thrust as of old (5) STOCK (handle) STOCK (alternative word for STOCCADO [straight thrust in fencing]) double definition a third definition could be ‘to STOCK goods’ [to handle goods] STOCK |
| 14 |
Hawking may produce this subject in result (6) SPUTUM (matter coughed up and spat out. Hawking means ‘forcing up phlegm from the throat’) PUT (to subject) contained in (into) SUM (result of addition) S (PUT) UM |
| 15 |
Spot roughly treated mostly round front of chin (6) MACULE (a spot, eg on the skin) MAULED (roughly treated) excluding the final letter D (mostly) containing (round) C (first letter of [front of] CHIN) MA (C) ULE |
| 16 |
Wild buffalo? I appreciate that wafted aroma (7) TAMARAO (a small wild buffalo) TA (thank you; I appreciate that) + an anagram of (wafted) AROMA TA MARAO* |
| 19 |
Miss spread out in bedroom I tickled (4) OMIT (leave out; miss) OMIT (hidden word in [in] BEDROOM I TICKLED) OMIT |
| 22 |
Salt sprinkled via aid to digestion (6) SALIVA (liquid secreted in the mouth to soften food and begin the process of digestion) SAL (salt) + an anagram of (sprinkled) VIA SAL IVA* |
| 23 |
Stomachs financial undoing, one involving millions (6) RUMINA (first stomachs of ruminants) (RUIN [bankruptcy; financial undoing] + A [one]) containing (involving) M (millions) RU (M) IN A |
| 24 |
Jock’s stabbing pain catches back (4) STEN (Scottish [Jock] word for a stabbing pain) NETS (catches) reversed (back) STEN< |
| 26 |
Ice cream confection in pastry – something out of this world (7) TARTUFO (dessert of ice-cream or light mousse-like chocolate) TART (pastry) + UFO (unidentified flying object; something out of this world) TART UFO |
| 29 |
Old bird, one hiding its head, but not that one! (6) STRICH (screech owl; bird) OSTRICH (which is made up of O [old] + STRICH [the bird that is the entry]) excluding the first letter O (hiding its head). The OSTRICH is often said to hide it’s head in the sand, but apparently it is a myth STRICH |
| 30 |
Autocrat, one in pieces suffering setback (6) SATRAP (viceroy or governor of an ancient Persian province; a provincial governor, especially if powerful or ostentatiously rich; a tyrannical person) A (one) contained in (in) PARTS (pieces) reversed (set back) S (A) TRAP< |
| 31 |
University enraptured was unwonted (5) USENT (unusual [unwonted] contraction for USED NOT) I’m not really sure of the definition here U (university) + SENT (enraptured) U SENT |
| 32 |
Veteran fighter Ben’s driven from Libyan city (5) GHAZI (veteran Muslim warrior, slayer of infidels) BENGHAZI (city in Libya) excluding (driven from) BEN GHAZI |
| 33 |
Scrap metal? Science taking lead, without turning back (7) SCISSEL (scrap metal left when blanks have been cut out) SCI (science) + LESS (without) reversed (turning back) SCI SSEL< |
| 34 |
Sign of a bad night? Remains on edge, left with shattered senses (12) RESTLESSNESS (not sleeping well; sign of a bad night) RESTS (remains) containing (on edge [of]) (L [left] + an anagram of [shattered] SENSES) REST (L ESSNES*) S |
| Down | |
| 1 |
Robots, say, at work ousting heart of plant? It may evince sympathy (8, 2 words) SOB STORY (pitiful tale told to arouse sympathy) Anagram of (at work) ROBOTS SAY excluding (ousting) A (central letter of [heart of] PLANT) SOB STORY* |
| 2 |
A very long day in tropical parts (5) CALPA (a day of Brahma, a period of 4320 million years; a very long day) CALPA (hidden word in [in] TROPICAL PARTS) CALPA |
| 3 |
Occasion, we hear, for a poet’s tears (5) RHEUM (a poetic word for tears) RHEUM (sounds like [we hear] ROOM [scope or occasion]) RHEUM |
| 4 |
Mark, one seen on note becoming due (8) MATURING (becoming due as in the example of an insurance policy MATURING or coming due for payment) M (mark; e.g. old German currency) + A (one) + TURING (reference Alan TURING [1912 – 1954], computer scientist whose face appears on a £50 note; seen on note) M A TURING |
| 5 |
Site with a smash littered round roundabout? It stops circulation (11) HAEMOSTASIS (stoppage of bleeding or the circulation) Anagram of littered) SITE and A SMASH containing (round) O (roundabout shaped character) HAEM (O) STASIS* |
| 6 |
Score a couple of centuries, lifting hearts (5) NOTCH (make a nick in; score) (C [Roman numeral for 100 {century}] + TON [informal term for 100 miles per hour; century] giving a couple of centuries), all reversed (lifting; down entry) + H (hearts) (NOT C)< H |
| 7 |
Awfully dour over clothes getting soaked in the Trossachs? (7) DROUKIT (Scottish [Trossachs] word for drenched or soaked) Anagram of (awfully) DOUR + KIT (clothes) DROU* KIT |
| 8 |
Valence adjusted for restricted area (7) ENCLAVE (a piece of territory entirely enclosed within foreign territory; restricted area) Anagram of (adjusted for) VALENCE ENCLAVE* |
| 9 |
Light rain effective action cleared from street (4) ROKE (light rain) STROKE (effective action, feat, achievement) excluding (cleared from) ST (street) ROKE |
| 11 |
Upright, active, this lot work making a point (11, 3 words) ROMAN A THESE (a novel that sets out to demonstrate a thesis or proposition) ROMAN (descriptive of a typeface of the upright kind) + A (active) + THESE (this lot) ROMAN A THESE |
| 17 |
Salvoes creating fury in drinking places (8) BARRAGES (heavy or continuous fire; salvoes) RAGE (fury) contained in (in) BARS (drinking places) BAR (RAGE) S |
| 18 |
Old pavilions? Matches will include one (8) CANOPIES (PAVILION is an obsolete [old] term for a CANOPY) COPIES (imitations; matches of originals) containing (will include) AN (one) C (AN) OPIES |
| 20 |
Set out in deep thought for tourist priority? (7) MUST-SEE (something that a tourist just has to visit) Anagram of (out) SET contained in (in) MUSE (deep thought) MUS (T–SE*) E |
| 21 |
Top lady exchanges lid for one to have a favourable effect (7) IMPRESS (produce a profound or favourable effect upon) EMPRESS (female head of an empire; top lady) with the first letter (lid) E replaced by (exchanges with) I (Roman numeral for one) to form IMPRESS I MPRESS |
| 25 |
Military supremo at head of troops, rarely surrounded (5) CINCT (rare word for surrounded or encircled) C IN C (Commander in Chief; military supremo) + T (first letter of [heads of] TROOPS) C IN C T |
| 27 |
Salt cellar initially passed for junior cleric at bishop’s tea party (5) URATE (salt of uric acid) CURATE (junior clergyman) excluding (passed) C (first letter of [initially] CELLAR) URATE – what about the bishop’s tea party? |
| 28 |
Commotion with withdrawal of US has me mostly gripped in worries (5) FAZES (perturbs or worries) FUSS (commotion) excluding (with withdrawal of) US containing (has … gripped) AZED (puzzle setter; me) excluding the final letter D (mostly) F (AZE) S |
| 29 |
One submitting petition, good but with page missing (4) SUER (one who submits a petition) SUPER (good) excluding (with … missing) P (page) SUER |
Thanks duncanshiell.
The definition of USEN’T is ‘was unwonted’ i.e. ‘was unaccustomed [to]’.
I think the bishop’s tea party refered to is the proverbial one at which the curate receives the egg that is ‘good in parts’ (though sources say it was a breakfast).
Thanks as ever to Azed.
I did like the ‘very long day’!
Unsure about the definition for RESTLESSNESS, but I guess that’s why the question mark is there. A slip from Azed in SOB STORY – shouldn’t “evinces” be “elicits”?
I could not find good attributions for BLENT, STEN, or CINCT, but the wordplay was clear enough. I did not understand the wordplay for Roman = upright–that seems more than a little vague, but I worked it out from the crossers. (Not a term familiar to me, though.) I thought STOCK might be an obsolete past tense form of “stick,” but that was just a guess. This one was just about at my competence level. Thanks as always for the blog.
I can’t see how ROKE works. STROKE cleared of ST would work for the parsing, but not the surface. STROKE cleared from ST leaves me with “negative” letters; an interesting concept which I have not thought about until now. Thanks both.
Thanks for the blog, I did manage a non-Chambers finish but went for RIKE for 9D so had to amend that.
26AC not in my Chambers 93 but the clue was obvious.
Gonzo @2 I agree on EVINCES but I would go for EVOKES. @1 my source agrees on the breakfast for the Curate but stresses ” Parts of it are good ” is the actual comment.
For once I actually found the middle the trickiest part, I usually get stuck in one of the corners.
My first finish. It took a fair while as I had BLEAR in for BLENT thinking of bull and bear markets being trends, but once MATURING dropped that had to change. incidentally I parsed the A as being Turing’s initial. Which works too I think. ATURING = ‘one seen on note’
The only ROMAN A I knew of was the A CLEF variety, but plenty of crossers helped.
RESTLESSNESS took ages as I was playing around with variations of sleeplessness thinking the remains were lees, the discard in brewing and fermentation, but obviously I couldn’t make it work.
I couldn’t parse the second definition of STOCK though, as the Chambers app doesn’t have that under stock that I could see, now found it under stoccado as from the German stock for stick.
Also didn’t get the bishops tea party reference.
Thanks Duncan and Azed
Well done Blah, took me a lot of goes before my first finish.
My Chambers 93 has STOCK 2 = stoccado = a straight thrust in fencing.
Turing actually took me a while to twig, I do not think I have ever seen a £50 note, old or new.
I suppose an explanation for the bishop’s tea party in 27d is that a curate would be the most junior cleric at such an event if the assembled company included vicars and rectors, besides the bishop.
Like Blah @6 I hadn’t heard of ROMAN A THESE; had to confirm SCRIMSHANDER and a few others in Chambers, but all in all went in fairly easily as I remember. Thanks to Azed and duncanshiell.
Thanks Roz, I was (and still am) rather chuffed with myself.
Having looked up the origins of curate’s egg, there’s quite an interesting story attached with an early case of plagiarism. Gonzo@1 is correct that the original is set at breakfast.
The bottom right of this puzzle defeated me, not helped by my not noticing I’d made a spelling mistake for 5dn so I had the wrong starting letter for 30ac.
Thanks Azed and duncanshiell. This was very much a DNF for me but I got all the right-hand side filled in at least, and some of the left. And all the parsing makes sense. Well, nearly all.
STOCK came to me from the french estoc, a small stabby sword, which I assume is etymologically related.
I knew SCRIMSHANDER but usually spell it with a K, which put me off the scent for 2d. Gah!
I was also puzzled by the bishop’s tea party – seems a bit cheeky adding strictly redundant extended definition like that, but it makes for a more pleasing surface.
Blah @ 9 I looked it up last week starting from Brewer’s. The famous Punch crossword is a copy of one in Judy Magazine but they also stole the idea from an earlier story etc etc quite a trail and the words of the Curate change slightly each time.
I don’t know what the obsession is with ‘not using Chambers’. I read ages ago in some crossword book or what not that the setter always uses a dictionary, and so then there is no issue if the solver does/has to too.
Nick @13: some people like to spice things up by increasing the challenge in an activity that has started to be a bit samey. It’s like climbing without technical aids or cycling round the world unsupported. It doesn’t make them better or worse than others.
Personally, checking in Chambers as I go on is part of the fun for me as I always find something new even if it’s not the solution.
Thanks to Azed and duncanshiel.
An enjoyable tussle as always.
In the Punch cartoon the line is “… parts of it are excellent”, which of course is not possible a bad egg is a bad egg!
My Chambers 93 is very fragile so I try to use it sparingly, after I have finished I do check everything but I can have my dictionary on the desk and use it carefully. I prefer to solve quickly and use the clues to have educated guesses for what the obscure words are.
Roz, as I said last week, that’s why I invested in the Chambers app in Windows. Won’t wear out. I used to buy the new edition whenever it came out but my 2014 edition has fallen to pieces.
I could never complete Azed without checking Chambers as I go along. My vocabulary is not big enough.
Dormouse , I am very attached to my dictionary, had it a very long time. I do not really know what an app is and I am sure I would not be able to use one.
The clues for Azed are usually clear enough to work out unknown words, look at DROUKIT or GHAZI.
The only that caught me out was ROKE , I had RIKE from stRIKE but I did find my mistake when I checked.
My old Chambers is 1972. Bought when I went up to Uni in 1974. Tatty but treasured, although I also have a a 2014. I like finding words, and then adjacent (equally obscure) ones alongside them.
Marie @19, 1972 makes my 1993 seem very modern, it has lost the red hardboard covers and the cover for the spine. Fortunately the stitching on the spine is high quality and just about holds it together.