As usual for the first Azed puzzle of the month, this is a competition puzzle with one word clued by definition only. It is a plain puzzle though. No doubt there will be a non-standard Azed offering closer to Christmas or the New Year.
Also as usual, this was a puzzle with very fair cluing and excellent surfaces. Even the wordplay can involve something relevant to different parts of the entry. For instance the word BURLEY from which we take a single letter B is a tobacco, as is the SHAG part of the entry SHAGBARK
I liked the clue for CAM with it’s total misdirection to the sport of horse racing
There were a couple of anagram indicators I was a bit doubtful about initially, but I can see that ‘dress’ in 29 across can mean ‘set in order’ as in an Sergeant Major’s command to a squad of soldiers. I’m still not convinced though about ‘excavated’ as an anagram indicator at 21 down for SHEOL
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1 |
Substance in tank is hard buoyant graphite (4) KISH (solid graphite that has separated from, and floats on the top of, a molten bath of cast iron) KISH (hidden word in [substance in] TANK IS HARD KISH |
| 4 |
Curb tots running wild in hamper (8) OBSTRUCT (hamper) Anagram of (running) CURB TOTS OBSTRUCT* |
| *11 |
A cautious person (10) ACHITOPHEL (a cautious person) This is the competition word that has to be clued, so there is no wordplay ACHITOPHEL |
| 13 |
Unified creatures close to being included among hybrids (5) ZOONS (structurally unified individual creatures) ON (close to) contained in (being included) ZOS (types of hybrid domestic cattle found in parts of the Himalayas, said to be a cross between the male yak and the common horned cow) ZO (ON) S |
| 14 |
Fresh horses are cleverly taken round soggy ground (6) REMUDA (supply of remounts on a ranch, etc; fresh horses) Anagram of (cleverly) ARE containing (taken round) MUD (soggy ground) RE (MUD) A* |
| 15 |
Bit of burley in tobacco box, sort of hickory (8) SHAGBARK (kind of hickory tree) B (first letter of [bit of] BURLEY contained in (in) (SHAG [tobacco cut into shreds] + ARK [chest; box]) SHAG (B) ARK |
| 16 |
Tractor cutting pillar diagonally (5) CATER (diagonally) CATERPILLAR (a tractor or other [especially earthmoving)]vehicle running on endless articulated tracks made up of a series of flat metal plates) excluding (cutting) PILLAR CATER |
| 17 |
Lion maybe removing 50% of herd? (3) CAT (a lion is a member of the CAT family) CATTLE (reference a herd of CATTLE) excluding (removing) the final 3 of 6 (50%) letters TLE CAT |
| 19 |
Catch walrus? It makes one very sad (9) HEARTACHE (sorrow; anguish, which makes one very sad) HEAR (catch) + TACHE (moustache; a walrus is a type of moustache) HEAR TACHE |
| 22 |
Androgyny in plants is common with variation round east (9) MONOECISM (having separate male and female flowers on the same plant; androgyny in plants) Anagram of (with variation) IS COMMON containing (round) E (East) MONO (E) CISM* |
| 24 |
Outsiders at Cheltenham – what many will have a punt on (3) CAM (river in Cambridge where many people will take to the water on a punt) CAM (first and two final letters [outsiders] of CHELTENHAM) CAM |
| 27 |
Each with mutton getting to leave nothing on plate (5, 2 words) EAT UP (consume everything; leave nothing on the plate) EA (each) + TUP (ram which probably produces mutton) EA T UP |
| 29 |
I may dress rich lot with ultimate in elegance (8) CLOTHIER (person who makes or sells clothes to dress people) Anagram of (dress) RICH LOT and E (final letter of [ultimate in] ELEGANCE) CLOTHIER* |
| 30 |
It can combine with antibody, tending to occur in a female (6) HAPTEN (a substance, usually a small molecule, that can combine with an antibody) APT (tending [to]) contained in (in) HEN (a female) H (APT) EN |
| 31 |
Fish found in the sea or in a river (5) DOREE (alternative spelling of DORY, a golden-yellow fish of the mackerel family; [sea] fish) OR contained in (in) DEE (name of many rivers in the United Kingdom) D (OR) EE |
| 32 |
Specialized scientist: he’s got mice for working on (10) GEOCHEMIST (one who studies the chemical composition of the earth; specialist scientist) Anagram of (for working on) HE’S GOT MICE GEOCHEMIST |
| 33 |
What’s a nonpareil like? Don’t be so nosy! (8) PEERLESS (without equal; nonpareil) PEER (look; nose) + LESS (not so much) – don’t be so nosy PEER LESS |
| 34 |
Blue dye that’s appropriate, as it’s said, for such bags (4) SACS (pouches or bag-like structures) SACS (sounds like [as it’s said] SAXE [a blue dye colour]) SACS |
| Down | |
| 1 |
I’ll leave ladies, maybe leading a Neapolitan folk dance (8) KAZACHOC (Russian folk dance in which high kicks are performed from a squatting position) KAZI (lavatory; ladies toilet for example) excluding (leaving) I + A + CHOC (a Neapolitan is a small rectangular CHOColate) KAZ A CHOC |
| 2 |
Like a jab? It’ll treat marsh rot (8) SHORT-ARM (reference a SHORT-ARM jab, descriptive of a shot played by some cricketers) Anagram of (it’ll treat) MARSH ROT SHORT-ARM* |
| 3 |
Chestnut’s second in race by missing hedge (6) HINDER (obstruct. Hedge can also mean obstruct) H (second letter of [second] CHESTNUT) + IN + DERBY ([famous] horserace) excluding (missing) BY H IN DER |
| 5 |
What’s guy whacked hard with end of baton? (7) BODHRAN (shallow one-sided drum, common in Irish and Scottish folk music) I’m not sure BODHRANs are played by hitting them very hard. BO (familiar term of address for a man; guy) + an anagram of (whacked) HARD + N (last letter of [end of] BATON) BO DHRA* N |
| 6 |
Prop over-stretching in twice getting dropped (5) SPRAG (a mine prop) SPRAINING (over-stretching) excluding (getting dropped) IN + IN (in twice) SPRAG |
| 7 |
Article, green, showing what is height of fashion (or was) (5, 2 words) THE GO (I assume this is an old fashioned [or was] term for the height of fashion. I can’t find a reference to the phrase in any dictionary, but it’s probably related to ALL THE RAGE) THE (definite article) + GO (a green traffic light indicates that you can go) THE GO |
| 8 |
Quake (not the first) clear in the NE (6) REMBLE (North of England word for clear) TREMBLE (quake) excluding (not) the initial (the first) letter T REMBLE |
| 9 |
What can be useful in cutting stones? Shaping sard can (7) CADRANS (instruments used to adjust a gem whilst it is being cut; useful in cutting stones) Anagram of (shaping) SARD CAN CADRANS* |
| 10 |
Durable timber essential to decorate a kitchen (4) TEAK (timber made from a durable wood) TEAK (hidden word, central in [essential to] DECORATE A KITCHEN) TEAK |
| 12 |
One just before stroke given a bone (4) COXA (the hip bone) COX (the COX sits facing the rower known as the stroke in a rowing eight) + A COX A |
| 17 |
Canons, Catholic, preceding liturgy with soaring tune (8) CRITERIA (standards or canons) C (Catholic) + RITE (liturgy) + AIR (tune) reversed (soaring; down entry) C RITE RIA< |
| 18 |
Cutting guides, some in pool getting allowed in (8) TEMPLETS (thin plates cut to the shape required, used as guides in cutting wood, metal) TEMPS (people from the pool of temporary staff) containing (getting … in) LET (allowed) TEMP (LET) S |
| 20 |
Almost everything filling floor or window display (7) ETALAGE (display, especially of goods in a shop window) ALL (everything) excluding the final letter L (almost) contained in (filling) ETAGE (floor or storey) ET (AL) AGE |
| 21 |
Endless outrage coming up about ‘dry’ functions (7) COSECHS hyperbolic cosecants; trigonometrical functions) SHOCK (outrage) excluding the final letter K (endless) and containing (about) SEC (dry, when describing wine) CO (SEC) HS< |
| 22 |
Dam in Germany gives this menacing rumble (6) MUTTER (German word for mother [dam]) MUTTER (of thunder, hence menacing, to rumble faintly) double definition MUTTER |
| 23 |
Commander writing about moving up artillery cannons (6) CAROMS (short form of caramboles which are cannons in billiards) (CO [commander] + MS [manuscript; writing]) containing (about) RA ([Royal] Artillery) reversed (moving up; down entry) C (AR<) O MS |
| 25 |
Holes excavated for where the dead will rest (5) SHEOL (the place of departed spirits, the abode of the dead) Anagram of (excavated [?]) HOLES SHEOL* |
| 26 |
Coke imbibed in alcoholic tipple yielding kick? (5) WINCE (obsolete or dialect term for kick) C (cocaine; coke) contained in (imbibed by) WINE (alcoholic drink or tipple) WIN (C) E |
| 28 |
Trucks? Squatter regularly moves around in these (4) UTES (Australian short form for utility vehicles; trucks) Anagram of (moves around) SUTE (letters 1, 3, 5 and 7 [regularly] of SQUATTER) UTES* |
| 29 |
Choice hunks of pork? One bit of each thereof (4) CHOP (small pieces of pork, cut from a larger hunk)_ CHOP (first letters of each of [each of one bit of ] CHOICE, HUNKS, OF and PORK CHOP |
Thanks duncanshiell.
In 34 SACS, I thought the “appropriate” might be there to hint at “-on”, the dye being Saxon Blue in full.
Had STRAG from ‘straining’ for 6d for a long time, not happily.
Thanks as ever to Azed.
I has SPRAY at 6d, but fortunately the lack of a sensible parse nagged me into another trawl of Chambers at the end. I’m not sure why I didn’t spot Sprag in the first place now.
I justified ‘excavated’ at 25d with the idea of digging out a quantity of earth and then piling it up next to the hole, everything excavated now obviously being in a different configuration.
I enjoyed this one, lots of neat clues. Found the competition word quite tough to work with though.
^ I has typed has instead of had 🙂
For 7d, one of the definitions of GO as a noun in Chambers is: (with the) the current fashion (inf; archaic)
Thanks for the blog, I could not find THE GO in my Chambers 93 but Matthew @ 7 has found it , probably a later edition. KAZACHOC not in C93 but other spellings were and it was obvious from the clue.
I did not like CAM , outsiders should be symmetrical , one (or two) from each end, not mix and match.
I really thought 17D was going to be something else but SACS spoilt it, just as well really.
Thanks for the blog Duncan. With a few gentle write-ins to get me started, this was overall accessible enough for me to complete it in time to get a competition entry off, which is a bonus. I agree with Roz about CAM – thought I must be missing something to indicate the A. Also, after much deliberation, I justified ‘excavated’ the same way as Twmbarlwm, though it does feel a bit of a stretch. All good though.
HEARTACHE made me laugh out loud.
Re THE GO, I couldn’t give you a citation, but I feel like I’ve come across it in a book – maybe Evelyn Waugh’s Vile Bodies, or something else of that era.
Roz @5 and Matthew @4, that definition of “the go” is in Chambers 2014.
A few struggles for me and like many HEARTACHE brought a smile.
I did end up with what I thought was a fairly decent clue for 11 across but then I think that most months, haha.
As this was a competition puzzle, it may be worth mentioning that the results of the November competition have now been published and are available on the &lit website. Although Azed says that he did receive entries from all the regulars, the very low entry (the lowest since September 2020, itself affected by postal delays in Oxford) suggests to me that some entries had still not arrived. Must be the reason my offering didn’t get a mention!
I can’t blame the post bridgesong@9 as I’m allowed to email as I’m overseas. My excuse is it’s the undiscovered entry in the spam folder!
I couldn’t find THE GO in Chambers last week, but now I know where to look, I found deep in all the noun meanings of “go” in the Chambers app. Easy to miss.
Bridgesong @9, as Azed says, the difficulty of the puzzle was probably the main reason for the low entry ultimately – in the blog there were 5 or 6 people saying they were unable to finish, which is pretty unusual.
I got my competition entry off very early in the week just because of Azed’s revised deadline, so maybe that made a difference, but who knows?
bridgesong @9 – I’m sure that’s the reason. Can’t blame the post myself – just my inability to complete the puzzle in time.
Thanks Azed and duncanshiells and welcome all. I did finish this on the day, though it was a slog with more than the average number of Chambers checks- normally I leave all these to the end.
Good to see comments about last month’s comp. I had read several letters about Oxford’s postal nightmare. I’m amused and comforted by bridgesong’s comment at @9. After I sent my clue for VARIORU(M) I had a bright idea for improving the wording. Perhaps the original is still in postal limbo!
^ But no one was amused when I made the same joke in last week’s blog! 😉
Roz@5, ‘all the go’ is given in Chambers 1988 (under go) with the meaning ‘very fashionable’. It is marked as colloquial. In Chambers 1998, it is given in the same way, but marked as colloquial – old. Can’t say I remember it being in current usage in 1988! I agree about CAM – neat surface, but not quite fair cluing. I also failed to see how “that’s appropriate” fitted into 34ac.
Thanks to duncanshiell for the blog.
MunroMaiden@16 ” all the go ” is in mine but not “the go” , I think the phrase itself is very out of fashion. I have seen it in books like widdersbel @7 and agree 20s or 30s , perhaps F Scott Fitzgerald .
Gonzo@1 has an idea for “appropriate” that seems to work, this dye was in quite recently.
Letters and articles in the Guardian about postal service in Oxford, some people had no post for 3 weeks. I did think the winning clue today was very good.
I read Loonapicks blog of Azed 2580 I tried this puzzle completed but did not enter the competition, I needed some electronic help and all I can say is what have I been missing, this was an enjoyable experience but the Christmas & New Years specials (if there are any) fill me with fear.
Wonderful to see a new name here- I claim to have done every Azed, and many of Ximenes before him though I suspect there are still a tiny few who precede me.. Welcome!
Very late to the party, but echo what’s been said above, CAM did strike me as a trifle inexact, HEARTACHE raised a chuckle as did (for me at least) PEERLESS.
I have finally entered my first competition clue (shock horror it’s not a comp. anag.) after missing the deadline the last two months.
In the likely event that it doesn’t get a mention then I shall definitely claim that the Royal Mail is still to blame, and in order to garner support for that please accept a belated LOL Twmbarlwm.
Thanks Duncan and Azed.
^ Thanks for the uncontrollable laughter, Blah! Ironically mine did actually get through because I got a VHC. But then there was less competition than usual 😀
Am I wrong in thinking that ‘dress’ in 29 AC must either be part of the definition (in which case it can’t work as an anagram indicator) or that it’s an anagram indicator (and thus can’t be part of the definition)? If ‘dress’ is the anagram indicator, then ‘I may’ is the definition? I could understand just ‘I’, but ‘I may’?
WardL @22, I wasn’t sure, but I agree that ordinarily you can’t have ‘dress’ playing two parts.
I think I accepted the definition as ‘I may’ on the grounds that it would work as a definition if moved to the back of the clue, i.e ‘Dress rich lot with ultimate in elegance? I may’. Still not sure though.
Thanks Azed and Duncan
WardL@22 re 29ac: I think this clue could be taken as “& lit” in the same way as 5dn. Every word is relevant to the definition, and can also be considered as part of the wordplay. Individual words doing double duty is generally frowned upon (certainly by Azed), but the whole clue working in two different ways is considered a good thing.
I couldn’t see Clothier as an &lit in the same style as Bodhran, but I’m not the best judge of them. Something about the syntax didn’t seem right for it. But now I see that “I” = “The word ‘clothier'” seems to be the intent.
Not much light shed on 34 by the official solution.