I found some of this rather difficult and my apologies, from time to time I’m a bit vague. But I’m sure someone will explain things and then, as always, it will be quite obvious.
Definitions in crimson, underlined. Anagram indicators in italics.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | CHARTBUSTING |
Funny but arch pop star outselling other discs? (12)
|
| (but arch)* Sting — the pop star Sting | ||
| 10 | RUBIA |
Polish, one with a source of red dye (5)
|
| rub 1 a | ||
| 11 | DENEB |
Bright twinkler, one coming out once, and not once in (5)
|
| de(ne)b — the one coming out once is a debutante, abbreviated to deb | ||
| 13 | REPRINT |
First impressions won’t include this run in production of Pinter (7)
|
| r in *(Pinter) — the first impression of a book is its first edition and of course it won’t have been reprinted at that point | ||
| 14 | CLIP |
Overcharge for piece of jewellery (4)
|
| 2 defs, the first one slang according to Chambers | ||
| 15 | EVER SO |
Earl left half of spread? Not half! (6, 2 words)
|
| E verso (as opposed to recto) | ||
| 16 | KILLADAR |
Garrison commander to exhaust with month in Israel (8)
|
| kill Adar — Azed likes his Jewish months and uses them often (as he does I think elsewhere in this puzzle) — I always have to look them up | ||
| 17 | TABU |
Maori’s prohibition beginning to unravel after peg (4)
|
| tab u[nravel] — I was a bit vague about the Maori, but the word seems to be originally Polynesian and was probably spelled that way | ||
| 19 | CERASTES |
Cleo’s asp disturbed actresses endlessly (8)
|
| *(actresse[s]) — I imagine that the asp that killed Cleo was a member of the Cerastes | ||
| 23 | AGGRADES |
Task doubled in a long time is building up (8)
|
| (darg)rev. in ages — I couldn’t understand how grad = task doubled, but by ‘doubled’ Azed means ‘reversed’ and a darg (which I’d never heard of) is Scot and N Eng dialect for a task | ||
| 25 | LUNA |
Moth, one caught in luminance, centre of flame (4)
|
| L un [fl]a[me] | ||
| 27 | FLATIRON |
One just beginning to tuck into tart, one often pressed (8)
|
| fla(tiro)n — pressed against the clothes … | ||
| 29 | TOO-TOO |
Exquisite sound of horn we observed in Scotland (6)
|
| toot oo — now I see how that Scrabble word, which had always struck me as silly, works: oo = we (Scots) | ||
| 31 | NOUN |
Name sister in love? The opposite (4)
|
| n(0)un — it seemed a bit odd to have noun = name, but as Chambers says, a noun is a word used as the name of a person, … — the opposite of sister in love is love in sister | ||
| 32 | DRAGOON |
Old musket one of the Gordons fired? (7)
|
| I think this refers to the Gordon riots of 1780, when a dragoon or musket would have been used | ||
| 33 | ROILY |
Billowing, rendering river unctuous (5)
|
| r oily — it seems Azed has done the sort of thing that I wouldn’t dare to do in one of his clue-setting competitions, that of equating roily with billowing when so far as I can see Chambers doesn’t have this: it has roily = turbid but not turbid = billowing; maybe there is a chain somehow — perhaps it’s more likely that the second sense, of rile (N Amer) is being used | ||
| 34 | MUSCI |
Mosses I see exchanging position in harmony (5)
|
| start with music (= harmony) and swap the i and the c | ||
| 35 | PLATE-LEATHER |
Something to polish e.g. silver, soft, conditioned two taels of a lady (12)
|
| p *(tael) *(tael) her — not initially a very convincing surface, but a tael is a Chinese silver coin | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | CRACK-HALTER |
Fine fellow nursing limp? He should probably stretch (11)
|
| crack(halt)er — someone likely to or deserving to be hanged, and stretch = hang by the neck (slang) | ||
| 2 | HURLING |
Sport club, not amateur (7)
|
| Hurling[ham] — the club is the Hurlingham club in London | ||
| 3 | RIPPLER |
One extracts seeds, increasingly ready for harvest, round core of apples (7)
|
| [ap]pl[es] in riper | ||
| 4 | TARMAC |
Bituminous stuff limb in tractor hoisted (6)
|
| arm in (cat)rev. — it was news to me that tractor = cat, but there it is in Chambers | ||
| 5 | BLINDED |
Dead duck upended among reeds, say, out of sight? (7)
|
| (d nil)rev. in bed — not sure if it’s the river bed or what one might sleep on | ||
| 6 | USNEA |
Tree lichen not as formerly found in the States (5)
|
| US(ne)A — I think ‘ne’ = ‘not’ (as formerly) rather than ‘not as’ (formerly) | ||
| 7 | TEVET |
One of two months wherein to find amphibian with temperature mounting (5)
|
| (t evet)rev. — not sure why it has to be reversed, or why it’s one of two months (possibly because it’s December or January); an evet is the same as an eft | ||
| 8 | INGRATE |
Thankless task’s half caught up in troubled reign (7)
|
| (ta[sk])rev. in *(reign) | ||
| 9 | NEBS |
You may find estaminet’s upset at this bill item (4)
|
| I’m a bit vague here: neb = bill, but … | ||
| 12 | BLOUSON NOIR |
Former young tearaway, offspring in uni, blood mostly breaking rule (11, 2 words)
|
| son in (uni bloo[d])*, then r | ||
| 18 | AGNOSIA |
Nurse limits returning fuss, result of brain damage? (7)
|
| (song)rev. in aia | ||
| 20 | REAL ALE |
Tipple for the discerning? Ray has one on airline, soaring (7, 2 words)
|
| re a (El Al)rev. — re = ray, the musical note | ||
| 21 | SPIN OUT |
At home aboard jet? Carry on (7, 2 words)
|
| sp(in)out | ||
| 22 | ENOUNCE |
Part of speech given in the City, with English that’s articulate (7)
|
| E(noun)C E — Azed didn’t want to repeat himself by clueing ‘noun’ in the same way in the two crossing clues | ||
| 24 | STIGMA |
Magistrate, not standard, neglected character blemish? (6)
|
| (Magist[rate])* — neglected is an anagram indicator that I haven’t seen before, although it makes sense: if something is neglected it will become loose; almost anything is OK for Azed if it’s an anagram indicator, unlike some other aspects of his clueing | ||
| 26 | ATILT |
Like a jouster, occupied around start of lists (5)
|
| l[ists] in (at it) | ||
| 28 | LOREL |
Ne’er-do-well traditionally lost with Latin (5)
|
| lore L | ||
| 30 | OBOL |
Greek coin, old, to toss up (4)
|
| o (lob)rev. |
Thanks Azed and John
17ac: I think this is TAPU, which is marked as “[Maori]” in Chambers 2014, and TAP works at least as well for “peg” as TAB does.
7dn: I think the “one of two months” is Azed misunderstanding the definition as tenth month of the ecclesiastical or fourth of the secular year. I took “mounting” as indicating that T goes before EVET (above in a down answer).
Sorry, should have done this with my previous comment:
9dn: I had NESS (bill = headland) composite anagram (upset): (estaminet’s) = (at ness item)*
Thanks for the explanation of AGGRADES.
DRAGOON is an anagram (‘fired’) of A GORDON.
Agree with Pelham Barton on TAPU and TEVET.
9d is NESS, a compound anagram (AT NESS ITEM)* = ESTAMINET, so the definition is ‘bill’ as in Portland.
Thanks as ever to Azed. Ladt to parse was HURLING(HAM)
DRAGOON I took to be an anagram (fired) of A GORDON (one of the Gordons).
Nebs is NESS and is a compound anagram with Estaminet’s = at ness(this bill)item with the definition (this bill) being in Chambers as bill 2 … a sharp promontory.
Neglect and neglected (in STIGMA) are given in Chambers Crossword Dictionary as a valid anagram indicator, probably from the sense of “to treat carelessly”.
Favourite for me was CHARTBUSTING
I wonder with TEVET whether “mounting” is not used in the usual way as a reversal indicator, but as a positional indicator so that you have EVET (amphibian) with T (temperature) mounting or getting/going on top (in a down clue) of Evet. As you say John, it doesn’t make sense to reverse a palindrome.
I’m obviously a slow typist Pelham Barton @1,2 and Gonzo @3 and concur with your comments for TAPU, DRAGOONS, TEVET and NESS.
Thanks for the blog, I think everything has been covered. For NEBS the word “this” in the clue often means a compound anagram, it is one of the few give-aways from Azed.
CRACKHALTER not in my Chambers93 so took a while to find the middle bit, also HALT=limp is given as archaic, Azed usually indicates this.
Roz@7, surprising that CRACKHALTER isn’t in your Chambers, as it’s in my C98 and it’s obviously not a new addition. C98 gives it as obsolete – again, there’s no indication of that in the clue. For 7dn, I don’t think “temperature mounting” really works as meaning an extra T at the top. If the amphibian was EVETT, temperature mounting would be appropriate. “Higher temperature” might have been better? 5dn: I think BED refers to a reed-bed (hence “say” in the clue).
MM@8 re 7dn: I think the indicator for an extra T at the top is “with temperature mounting”, taking mount vt “to get up on” (Chambers 2014), as in mounting a horse.
Chambers 13th edition (2014?) has…
crack-halter, crack-hemp or crack-rope n (obs) someone likely to or deserving to be hanged.
Thanks MunroMaiden and Tim, I have checked and checked C93 and it is not there , nor the other ones you mention Tim. Maybe C98 was the first time? Does anyone have Chambers English Dictionary? or 20th Century ?
C93 is the first edition of The Chambers Dictionary.
Chambers English Dictionary, 1988: crack-halter, crack-hemp, crack-rope (obs.) one likely or deserving to be hanged.
I have a Chambers’s Twentieth Century Dictionary with missing title page but it’s a later impression of the 1901 with the Supplement (I think it’s 1914): all three are in, not obsolete, but crack-hemp only is given a (Shak.).
Stefan
This puzzle was as challenging as the previous one, giving me plenty to think about, particularly on the right-hand side.
I liked (as ever) the inclusion of four long answers in the grid, CHARTBUSTING being the only early success. The other three were all unfamiliar, but the mission to get them one by one was a rewarding one. The clue to NESS looked so odd at first that it was surely going to be an outrageous one. It was! Thanks to contributors so far for the interesting discussions around this and other clues. And thanks to Azed and John.
My C 1983 (20th Century Dictionary) has the same as MunroMaiden’s C1998, my C2014 and Marmite Smuggler’s C1988 under the headword “crack”.
It’s also in the 1908 Chambers on Project Gutenberg as “Crack?-halt?er, Crack?-hemp (Shak.), Crack?-rope, one likely to be hanged.” so definitely not a new addition to the C93
I mean “not a new addition to the C98”
Very strange , I have checked C93 again and it is not there. It is essentially a new dictionary although based on the 20th Century and then the English. They must have taken it out and then put it back for C98.
I remember many years ago there was an Inquisitor puzzle (when it still ran in the Independent) that was themed around “taser”. Turned out the word was in the current Chamber but was in earlier editions (and is now in the current edition).
The 2014 edition of Chambers (labelled the 13th Edition), Dormouse @17, was known for having quite a few missing words. If you search for “Chambers missing words” you’ll find a pdf with a list of them. The 2016 edition was a revision of the 2014 edition with the missing words restored.
I have the 13th edition which is copyright 2014, but I was never sure whether it was the 2014 or 2016 edition. I think I’ve finally worked it out that mine is the 2016 version. The first ‘word’ in the “missing pdf” is “abbot of unreason” but it appears in my ‘2014’ edition of Chambers, so my edition is the 2016 edition (which Azed uses). The other clue is that the front of the dust jacket has the words “Revised 13th Edition”.
“Crack-halter” is not in the “missing words” pdf.
Taser is of course a more modern word and most likely wasn’t around in the late 1800s/ early 1900s. 🙂
I am late to the party this week. I thought that the clue for NESS was kind of a trainwreck, with the definition and the compound anagram fodder and other extraneous words all jumbled together. Unfortunately, I had no idea what Azed was getting at there. Otherwise, a solid puzzle, as usual.
Cineraria I treat compound anagrams as a sort of equation.
ESTAMINETS = AT (this bill) ITEM , a bit of crossing out leaves an anagram of SNES = NESS .
The word “this” gives the game away , Azed often uses it for compound anagrams.