Azed No. 2,669 Plain

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A plain puzzle from Azed this week.

I solved this one in record time at lunchtime on Monday, and had the whole thing parsed quite quickly as well, so I guess that means that this was not the most challenging of Azeds. I did learn a few new words – RHAGADES, BANCO/BLANCO, HAVEREL, PAGURID and THRUTCHING were all new to me, as was PARTAN, even though I am Scottish.

Thanks Azed.

ACROSS
1 PEPPER’S GHOST
Theatrical phantom is pelting front of gallery crowd (12, 2 words)
PEPPERS (“is pelting”) + [front of] G(allery) + HOST (“crowd”)

Pepper’s ghost is a theatrical device that creats an onstage ghost by using a mirror to reflect an image of an actor hidden somewhere off or under the stage.
9 ARRAH
Accepted bishop’s mild exclamation: ‘Bedad!’ (5)
A (accepted) + RR (Right Reverend, so “bishop”) + AH (“mild expression”)
11 QUARTO
Book size said in Scotland to contain pictures (6)
QUO’ (Scottish form of quoth, so “said in Scotland”) to contain ART (“pictures”)
13 RHAGADES
What skin cream soothes, treating a red gash (8)
*(a red gash) [anag:treating]

Rhagades are cracks or fissures on the skin.
14 TON-UP
Speedster to drive round, holding on (5)
<=PUT (“to drive”, round) holding ON
15 SITTERS
Models that shouldn’t be missed (7)
Double definition, the second referring to an easy chance in sports such as football.
17 LAYOUT
The feminine Parisian kid mostly appears in this uniform (6)
LA (article in French, so “the feminine Parisian”) + YOUT(h) (“kid”, mostly)
18 NOMINA
Names from the past I’m among shortly making comeback (6)
<=(I’M among ANON (“shortly”)) [making comeback]
19 MATY
Maybe ironic address to friend year after sack? (4)
Y (year) after MAT (“sack”)
20 SPUD
Murphy giving a hand alongside son (4)
PUD (“a hand”) alongside S (son)
21 BLANCO
Application for military uniform left in money kept in accounts (6)
L (left) in BANCO (standard money in which a bank keeps its accounts, so “money kept in accounts”)

Blanco is a kind of opaque subtsance used to treat uniform belts etc.
23 CHEWET
Cut going into what’s mixed etc, old-style pie thereof? (6)
HEW (“cut”) into *(etc) [anag:what’s mixed]
26 HAVEREL
Dim northerner needing to grasp difference ultimately between right and left (7)
HAVE (“to grasp”) + (differenc)E [ultimately] between R (right) and L (left)

A haverel is a simpleton in Northern English dialect.
28 FELIS
Cats forming line in Irish festival (5)
L (line) in FEIS (“Irish festival”)
29 SLIMLINE
Love making flip in second fruit tonic? (8)
<=NIL (“nothing”, making flip) in S (second) + LIME (“fruit”)
30 SECKEL
Pear yielding dry unit (not vin) (6)
SEC (“dry”) + KEL(vin) (“unit” (of heat), not VIN)
31 TONGS
Secret societies? They can make your hair curl (5)
Double definition
32 SWEETISHNESS
Senses we stirred with this result of adding a modicum of sugar? (12)
*(senses we this) [anag:stirred]
DOWN
1 PARTAN
Young salmon, light brown, feature of Mull seafood restaurant? (6)
PAR (variation of PARR (“young salmon”)) + TAN (“light brown”)

Partan is a Scottish word for an edible crab.
2 PRANG
Bomber attack sounded clearly under power (5)
RANG (“sounded clearly”) under P (power)
3 PAGURID
One bit of carpeting taken up in flat for hermit (7)
<=(I (one) + RUG (“bit of carpeting”), taken up) in PAD (“flat”)

A pagurid is a hermit crab.
4 REDSTART
Get going again, including start of dating bird (8)
RESTART (“get going again”) including [start of] D(ating)
5 GUSTABLE
It’s no longer tasteful, when cast ‘bust a leg’ (8)
*(bust a leg) [anag:when cast]

Gustable is an old word for flavoursome, hence the “it’s no longer…” in the clue
6 HASTY
Eager hoe-down circling street (5)
HAY (“hoe-down”) circling St. (street)
7 ORFE
Fish from Spain circling river (4)
OF (“from”) E (IVR symbol for “Spain”) circling R (river)
8 TOASTY
Sandwich that’s appetising, with egg in (6)
TASTY (“appetising”) with O (egg) in
10 RHODOPHANE
Cause of red eyes poor hen had treated (10)
*(poor hen had) [anag:treated]

Rhodophane is a red pigment in the retinal cone of birds etc
12 THRUTCHING
Crushing formerly hurt struggling clubs in grip of problem (10)
*(hurt) [anag:struggling] + C (clubs) in grip of THING (“problem”)
16 UNDERSET
Prop not yet solid admits bloody lifting inside (8)
UNSET (“not yet solid”) admits <=RED (“bloody”, lifting) inside
17 LOBELIAS
Flowers showing trouble rising in leaf divisions (8)
<=AIL (“toruble”, rising) in LOBES (“leaf divisions”)
19 MAMELON
Rounded lump mother found on fruit (7)
MA (“mother”) found on MELON (“fruit”)
20 SCHUSS
Find out about Switzerland for feature of downhill skiing (6)
SUSS (“find out”) about CH (IVR symbol for “Switzerland”)

A schuss is a fast downhill ski run.
22 OBSESS
Bug, obscure, appearing on opening of speedwell (literally) (6)
Obs. (obscure) appearing on ESS (the letter S, the opening of S(peedwell), literally)
24 WELKE
Our lot will trap deer in decline (old) (5)
WE (“our lot”) will trap ELK (“deer”)
25 CLINE
Measure of species changes lecturer showed in film (5)
L (lecturer) shown in CINE (“film”)

Cline is a term in biology for the gradation of differences in a species over time.
27 VICE
A rag banned from local benefice as depravity (4)
A RAG banned from VIC(a rag)E (“local benefice”)

7 comments on “Azed No. 2,669 Plain”

  1. Enjoyed this one. I was held up slightly by confidently entering REDSHANK for 4d on the basis that Chambers has to shank as “to take to one’s legs”, until I realised that nothing would fit in 23a.

    Thanks to Azed and loonapick

  3. My C98 gives THRUTCH as a dialect word, rather than obsolete. I know it as a climbing term (neither dialect nor obsolete), with a slightly different meaning. I was never quite sure exactly what it meant until I found a rather desperate way to make a particular move (that was fairly straightforward for taller climbers) and a friend said,”Ah, the thrutching solution!”

  4. Minor quibble with your explanation of 25d. A cline is a change in the characteristics of a species across its geographical range, not over time

  6. Thanks for the blog, quite easy to demonstrate Pepper’s Ghost with a candle and a plain sheet of glass. They found the images were far more ghostly using plain glass which does not reflect nearly as well as an actual mirror.
    Quite a lot of easier clues here to get started and the grid was very helpful.

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