A plain puzzle from Azed, if any of his puzzles could ever be described as plain.
This was at the same time a bit more challenging than some Azed plains and easier to parse than some Azed plains. For once, I think I parsed all of the answers (I’m often left with one or two I’m unsure about), and yet it took me three sittings to complete the puzzle.
Thanks Azed.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | FROG-SPIT |
Larval protection that can yield fit sprog? (8)
|
| *(fit sprog) [anag:that can yield]
Frog-spit (aka cuckoo-spit) is a froth secreted by certain insects on plants, surrounding the insect larvae for protection. |
||
| 7 | PLIM |
Country swell enveloped by compliments (4)
|
| Hidden in [enveloped by] “comPLIMents”
Plim is a word meaning “to swell” in certain dialects. |
||
| 10 | CATALASE |
Enzyme regrettably consumed in viand (8)
|
| ALAS (“regrettably”) consumed in CATE (“viand”) | ||
| 12 | GUIMP |
Coarse thread I used to join parts of fish with hands in Scotland (5)
|
| I used to join parts of GUMP (“fish with hands in Scotland”)
Gump is a Scots word for guddle (catching fish with your hands) |
||
| 13 | MAGOT |
Ape in perfect condition, with dull coating (5)
|
| GO (“in perfect condition”) with MAT (“dull”) coating | ||
| 14 | STOMAL |
Body opening’s almost repaired (6)
|
| *(almost) [anag:repaired] | ||
| 15 | GANESA |
Deity reversing a hindrance with injection of energy (6)
|
| [reversing] <=A SNAG (“a hindrance”) with injection of E (energy) | ||
| 16 | TENACE |
High card following lower one ? It may facilitate finesse (6)
|
| ACE (“high card”) following TEN (“lower [card]”)
In bridge, a finesse is an attempt to win a hand with a lower card than another in one’s hand, and menace is a combination of cards that allows this move to take place. I don’t play bridge, so that may or may not be an adequate explanation – apologies if not! |
||
| 18 | MONASTERIAL |
Solitary flower framed by mullion (11)
|
| ASTER (“flower”) framed by MONIAL (“mullion”) | ||
| 19 | EARTH-CLOSET |
Primitive latrine converted from chalet store (11)
|
| *(chalet store) [anag:converted from] | ||
| 24 | ASTRID |
Girl suggesting divine beauty, mostly in the saddle? (6)
|
| [mostly] ASTRID(e) (“in the saddle”)
Astrid is a girl’s name that means “divinely beautiful”. |
||
| 26 | SHORAN |
Navigation system one introduced cut short (6)
|
| A (“one”) introduced (to) SHORN (“cut short”)
Shoran is a system of navigation which uses the time taken between radar signals. |
||
| 27 | CAROLS |
Scholar scribbled bit of Homer out in cloistered studies (6)
|
| *(scolar) [anag:scribbled] where SCOLAR is SC(h)OLAR with [bit of] H(omer) away
A carol is part of a cloister which is used as a study (also known as a carrel, which is what an individual study space at my University’s library was called). |
||
| 29 | ILIAD |
House I got back ? it’s a long story (5)
|
| <=(DAIL (Eairann, the lower “house” of the Irish Parliament) + I) [got back] | ||
| 30 | FOLIA |
What’ll start falling off limes in autumn? (5)
|
| [what’ll start] F(alling) O(ff) L(imes) I(n) A(utumn) | ||
| 31 | NERVE END |
Sensitive spot? Dr even puzzled about English name (8, 2 words)
|
| *(dr even) [anag:puzzled] about E (English) + N (name) | ||
| 32 | GLEE |
What Scots do if cross-eyed ? or goggle-eyed in part (4)
|
| Hidden in [in part] “gogGLE-Eyed”
Glee (or gley) is a Scots word for “squint”. As a proud Scot, my mind goes to Burns’ To a Mouse, where the Bard suggests that “the best laid schemes o’ mice and men gang aft agley”. |
||
| 33 | SIGHTSEE |
Following foreign gent, these excited rubberneck? (8)
|
| *(these) [anag:excited] following Sig. (short for signor, a “foreign gent”) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | FEGS |
In local speech ‘truly’ say is replacing US for ‘howdy-do’ (4)
|
| F (us>EG)S where e.g. (“say”) replaces US in FUSS (“howdy-do”) | ||
| 2 | ROUTEMAN |
Foreign pick-up in novel for store’s delivery guy (8)
|
| UTE (utility vehicle, a truck in Australia, so “foreign pick-up”) in ROMAN (“novel”) | ||
| 3 | ONION |
Ramp maybe, one with leg on each side (5)
|
| I (one) with ON (“leg” in cricket) on each side
Ramp (also known as wild garlic) is a member of the onion family. |
||
| 4 | GEMMAN |
Grand girl in novel accompanying knight, an old fellow (6)
|
| G (grand) + EMMA (“girl in (Jane Austen’s) novel”) accompanying N (knight, in chess notation)
Gemman is an old version of “gentleman” |
||
| 5 | PALLESCENCE |
Cancel sleep, being restless and losing colour (11)
|
| *(cancel sleep) [anag:being restless] | ||
| 6 | TAMALE |
Spicy dish cheers man (6)
|
| TA (“cheers”) + MALE (“man”) | ||
| 7 | PLANAR |
Flat design artist’s come up with (6)
|
| PLAN (“design”) + <=RA (member of the Royal Academy, so “artist” has come up) | ||
| 8 | LAGER |
Pils ? that’s about it for those nicking what’s not theirs! (5)
|
| (pil)LAGER(s) (“those nicking what’s not theirs”) | ||
| 9 | METALLED |
Suitable for regular traffic? Hard to believe in grassland, we hear (8)
|
| TALL (“hard to believe”) in homophone [we hear] of MEAD (meadow, so “grassland”) | ||
| 11 | TIGHT-LACING |
Drunk, one in cling uncomfortably showing effect of corsetry (11)
|
| TIGHT (“drunk”) + A (one) in *(cling) [anag:uncomfortably]
Compression of the waist caused by tight clothing, according to Chambers. |
||
| 16 | TRESSING |
Forming braids, special, in ringlets, not left plaited (8)
|
| S (special) in *(ringets) [anag:plaited] where RINGETS is RING(l)ETS (not L (left)) | ||
| 17 | CATILINE |
Reckless conspirator, name associated with mutiny, fired up inside (8)
|
| CAINE (“name associated with mutiny”) with <=LIT (“fired”, up) inside
The Caine Mutiny is a book by Herman Wouk, and a film adaptation of the same name starring Humphrey Bogart as the commander of the WWII minesweeper, USS Caine. |
||
| 20 | THRAVE |
More than one such will be bundled up in harvest (6)
|
| *(harvest) [anag:bundled up] would give THRAVES (“more than one” THRAVE) | ||
| 21 | HYADES |
Unknown in the Underworld, we’re always to be seen in the Bull (6)
|
| Y (“unknown” in mathematics) in HADES (“the Underworld”) | ||
| 22 | STROUT |
Local swell tutors delinquent (6)
|
| *(tutors) [anag:delinquent] | ||
| 23 | MOIRE |
It looks to have been wet, making love in the mud (5)
|
| O (“love”, in tennis) in MIRE (“the mud”)
Moire is a cloth designed to look wet. |
||
| 25 | ROLLS |
Some bread, but no banger (5)
|
| Double definition, the second referring to a Rolls-Royce | ||
| 28 | SADE |
Letter from Tel Aviv date shown in unsealed enclosure? (4)
|
| D (date) shown in SAE (stamped addressed envelope, or “unsealed enclosure”)
Sade is the 18th letter of the Hebrew alphabet |
Thanks, loonapick. There is a typo in your parsing of 9D. I still do not understand the definition for 9D. What sort of “regular traffic” are we talking about? A successful finesse involves winning a trick with a card of lower value when an opponent might have played a card of higher value. A tenace is basically two cards that bracket an opponent’s card of intermediate value.
Thanks for the blog and all the extras, I too remember the word CARRELS for the library but only heard it said , never written down, and I did realize the link to CAROLS . Also your Burns quote is brilliant for GLEE and AGLEY, learnt a lot today.
The HYADES are very visible every evening at the moment.
I thought PILLAGERS was neat and FEGS is ine of those words you do not believe exists.
Cineraria @1 a METALLED road is a type of tarmac , suitable for heavy traffic of cars erc.
Roz @4 Thank you. I have found the reference now and learned a little something besides.
My pleasure.
Roz@2 I meant to say ….. I did NOT realize the links ….. so more learning .
I had no trouble with METALLED and regular traffic given plenty of unmetalled (no tarmac) dirt roads in Oz. Toorak Tractors and Balmain Bulldozers have likely never seen a dirt road due to their being used almost exclusively on metalled roads on the school run or shopping trips.
LAGER was a particular favourite.
METALLED comes from metal meaning anything dug from the ground, hence rock used in road building. Ordnance Survey maps in the UK used to refer to metalled roads – I still have some ones from the sixties that show that,
In astronomy, a metal is any element heavier than hydrogen and helium.
Quite correct Dormouse @7 , the fraction of “metals” in a stars outer surface can give a lot of information.
Type, age , stage of evolution even how the star will end its life.
Just popped in to say “Hello” to fellow Azed-ers. The Tuesday posting foxes me and I’ve little recollection of when I did this but, as always, i was a treat. It was certainly not a single sitting. Thanks to Azed & loonapick.
In France a TENACE in bridge is sometimes called a FOURCHE, a fork, with the idea of the prongs and spaces. being the significant cards.
Way behind everyone – like Keith@9, I’m not yet used to the Tuesday posting. Like Roz@2, I’d come across carrels, but didn’t click that CAROLS would mean the same, so only had it pencilled in for quite a while. I also struggled for ages to parse LAGER – and then felt really slow! I especially liked 25dn.
I have never heard the term METALLED used in the US, although someone might use it somewhere. Our roads are either dirt, gravel, or paved, with something of an obsession for seeing that every last foot of every last road gets paved. I am sure some fancy roads are paved in cobblestones or bricks for short stretches, too, but those are more for ornamental or historical preservation purposes. There were also some wooden plank roads that I have seen in photos, but I do not know whether any are extant or operational now.