This is the final Azed of 2023 with the usual mix of known and lesser know entries.
I know this blog precedes the blog for the Spoonerism Competition Puzzle Azed 2688, but I understand that the closing date for that puzzle was extended after publication. The blog for 2688 will appear just before midnight tomorrow (8th January)
I have struggled a bit with some of the definitions in the clues and decided to add some extra words to my original ideas of the definitions. I have added ‘large’ to my initial thought of just ‘houseplant’ for ASPIDISTRA 13 down and I have included ‘generally avoided’ in the definition for the congenital condition at 19 down.
The definition of ‘loose fish’ in the wordplay for 29 across was new to me.
I don’t think I have parsed TOURBILLON correctly at 33 across as I can’t work out how the final two letters ‘ON‘ are clued.
I don’t see how one D taken out of TEDDY at 35 across is only half’ of stuffing’. To me the stuffing of TEDDY is EDD and we are removing only one-third of it. Probably I am missing something here and with TOURBILLON above, so I will be interested to hear solvers’ views.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1 | Left-overs to arrange, starter coming last (4)
ORTS (fragments, especially ones leftover from a meal) SORT (arrange) with the first letter (starter) S moving to the end (coming last) to form ORTS ORTS |
| 5 | Monoxide of a kind? Charm incorporates reverse of it (8)
MASTICOT (alternative spelling of MASSICOT [yellow lead monoxide]) MASCOT (talisman; charm) containing (incorporates) IT reversed (reverse of) MAS (TI<) COT |
| 11 | Blow received in ruck? That’ll be a buckeroo (10)
COWPUNCHER (cowboy; buckeroo) PUNCH (blow) contained in (received in) COWER (ruck, definition 4 in Chambers) COW (PUNCH) ER |
| 12 | Long arm in car protecting judge (5)
FJORD (long narrow rock-bound inlet; long arm) FORD (brand of car) containing (protecting) J (judge) F (J) ORD |
| 14 | Diner some defaced from back to front (4)
CAFE (small inexpensive restaurant; diner) CAFE (reversed [from back to front] hidden word [some] in DEFACED) CAFE< |
| 16 | Plug giving tip after show’s opening (7)
STOPPLE (plug) S (first letter of [opening] SHOW) + TOPPLE (to overbalance; giving tip) S TOPPLE |
| 17 | Only a few compete in it, swimming in oily gloop (9)
OLIGOPOLY (a situation in which there are few sellers of a particular product or service, and a small number of competitive firms control the market; only a small number compete in it) Anagram of (swimming in) OILY GLOOP OLIGOPOLY* |
| 18 | Prat abandoning European supporters of home rule (4)
NATS (Nationalists; supporters of Home Rule) NATES (the buttocks; PRAT is defined similarly) excluding (abandoning) E (European) NATS |
| 20 | Man embarrassed about poetic effort, bright red (6)
MODENA (a shade of crimson [deep red colour], I was doubtful about ‘bright’ but some shades of crimson on the web do look bright red) Anagram of (embarrassed) MAN containing (about) ODE (example of poetic effort) M (ODE) NA* |
| 22 | Was stuffing left out? Very disappointed (6)
GUTTED (very disappointed) GLUTTED (ate beyond capacity; was stuffing food down one’s throat) excluding (out) L (left) GUTTED |
| 24 | Northerner’s clever, adding gallons to pin (4)
GLEG (Scottish and North of England word for clever; Northerner’s clever) G (gallons) + LEG (pin) G LEG |
| 26 | Clownish slap we stand up to, absorbing blow (9)
WHITEFACE (white make-up [slap], especially as worn by a traditional type of clown) WE FACE (we stand up to) containing (absorbing) HIT (blow) W (HIT) E FACE |
| 29 | Scaly eels wriggling round loose fish? (7)
LEPROSE (scaly) Anagram of (wriggling) EELS containing (round) PRO (prostitute; LOOSE FISH is also a term for a prostitute) LE (PRO) SE* |
| 31 | Number one dictionary (shorter), an evergreen (4)
ILEX (holly; an evergreen) I (Roman numeral for one) + LEX (abbreviation for [shorter] lexicon [dictionary]) I LEX |
| 32 | Massage therapy auntie endlessly applied (5, 2 words or 1)
TUI NA or TUINA (Chinese therapeutic massage system in which vigorous hand movements are applied) Anagram of (applied) AUNTIE excluding the final letter (endlessly) E TUI NA* or TUINA* |
| 33 | Whirlwind outing with notification of what’s owed in advance (10)
TOURBILLON (whirlwind) TOUR BILL (notification of what is owed for the TOUR or outing) + ON (?) TOUR BILL ON |
| 34 | Mum attending matins properly dressed, a regular flag-flyer (8)
MAINMAST (part of a ship where a flag is flown regularly) MA (mother) + an anagram of (properly dressed) MATINS MA INMAST* |
| 35 | Nursery favourite losing half of stuffing, tiresome for Walter (4)
TEDY (A word for tiresome used by the author Sir Walter Scott [ 1771 – 1832]) TEDDY (TEDDY bear; a favourite toy in the nursery) excluding one of the two [half] letters D forming the central part [stuffing] of the word) – surely the stuffing of TEDDY is the three letters EDD and we are only removing one third? TEDY |
| Down | |
| 2 | Bits of rocky ornamentation, Japanese, in garden design (4)
ROJI (form of Japanese garden design incorporating a path of stepping stones which are sprinkled with water to concentrate the viewer’s eye and mind on objects in the immediate field of vision) ROJI (first letters of [bits of] each of ROJI, ORNAMENTATION, JAPANESE and IN) R O J I |
| 3 | Young girl holding knot of ribbon up, cheap in US (6)
TWOBIT (American term for cheap or paltry) TIT (derogatory term for a young woman; young girl) containing (holding) BOW (knot of ribbon) reversed (up; down entry) T (WOB<) IT |
| 4 | Mine prop right inside passages seen from below (5)
SPRAG (a mine prop) R (right) contained in (inside) GAPS (passages) reversed (seen from below – down entry) SP (R) AG< |
| 5 | Volcanic feature, form of mound, one-third pumice, after eruption (7)
MUD-CONE (CONE formed by a MUD volcano) Anagram of (form of) MOUND and CE (2 of 6 [one-third] of the letters of PUMICE) MUD-CONE* |
| 6 | Duck when catching book? This may detect visual defects (10)
SCOTOMETER (instrument for identifying defects in the visual field) SCOTER (any of several northern sea ducks of the genus Melanitta, with black or mainly black plumage in the male) containing (when catching) TOME (book) SCO (TOME) TER |
| 7 | What’s analogous to alcohol? Some components extracted in this school (5)
THIOL (mercaptain [a substance analogous to an alcohol, with sulphur instead of oxygen]) THIOL (first three and last two letters of [some components extracted] THIS SCHOOL) TH IOL |
| 8 | Old nag having short run within grasp no longer (6)
CRAPLE (Spenserean [no longer] term for grapple [grasp]) CAPLE (obsolete [old] term for a horse) containing (having R (abbreviation for [short] run) C (R) APLE |
| 9 | With respect to fee paid, pound included not connected (7)
OFFLINE (not connected) OF (with respect to) + (FINE [penalty fee paid] containing [included] L [pound sterling]) OF F (L) INE |
| 10 | Tiresomely precocious kid, eager, went off the rails (9)
TWEENAGER (A child who, although not yet a teenager, has already developed an interest in fashion, pop music, and exasperating his or her parents; tiresomely precocious kid) Anagram of (off the rails) EAGER WENT TWEENAGER* |
| 13 | House plant, large: one sags from below, stair disturbed (10)
ASPIDISTRA (an evergreen plant of the Aspidistra genus of the Liliaceae family, often grown indoors, having long, tough leaves and brownish-purple flowers; large houseplant) A + DIPS (sags) reversed (from below; down entry) + an anagram of (disturbed) STAIR A SPID< ISTRA* |
| 15 | Congenital condition, generally avoided: suffering in gloom’s medium (9)
MONGOLISM (former name [now generally avoided] for Downs Syndrome [congenital disease caused by chromosomal abnormality, in which there is mental deficiency and a broadening and flattening of the features]) Anagram of [suffering] IN GLOOMS + M (medium) MONGOLIS* M |
| 19 | Jellyfish that is core of jelly quivering in luminous glow (7)
AURELIA (type of jellyfish) (Anagram of [quivering] [IE {id est; that is} and L {central letter of (core of) JELLY}]) contained in (in) AURA (luminous glow) AUR (ELI*) A |
| 21 | Countryman’s bird? Do please let it out (7)
OVENTIT (dialect name [countryman’s name] for various birds, including the willow warbler) O VENT IT (do please let it out!) O VENT IT |
| 23 | Foreign rabbit, indulged, tucked into exotic fish (6)
TAPETI (Brazilian rabbit; foreign rabbit) PET (indulged) contained in (tucked into) TAI (Japanese sea bream; exotic fish) TA (PET) I |
| 25 | Liable to change (6)
LABILE (unstable; apt to slip or change) Anagram of (to change) LIABLE – &Lit clue LABILE* |
| 27 | Routine, broad imposition (5)
HO-HUM (routine) HO (American slang for prostitute; broad is a similar term) + HUM (an imposition) HO HUM |
| 28 | University initially limited in money, providing unacceptable service? (5)
FAULT (an unacceptable service in tennis) (U [university] + L [first letter of {initially] LIMITED]) contained in (in) FAT (slang term for money) FA (U L) T |
| 30 | Fellows turning up in highland trim (4)
SNOD (Scottish [highland] term for trim) DONS (university fellows) reversed (turning up; down entry) SNOD< |
Thanks duncanshiell.
‘In advance’ is given as one of the definitions of ON in Chambers.
Quite a toughy I thought. Thanks as ever to Azed.
On in 33a is simply “in advance” (one of its many meanings).
I agree with Gonzo@1 about “on.” I did not even notice the issue with TEDY, but I think that your observation is correct. Nice blog, as usual. Thanks for the note about Azed 2,688. Not that anyone cares, but I finally went back and completed Azed 2,672 “Carte Blanche,”which I had skipped when it originally appeared–a pleasant degree of extra difficulty involved, but not unattainably hard.
Thanks Azed and Duncan
33ac: I took this slightly differently as TOUR (outing) + (with) BILL (notification of what’s owed) + ON (in advance)
Thanks for the blog, MODENA was sneaky with the poetic effort making me try to think of words for effort used by a poet. I agree with you for MONGOLISM , I think Azed is noting that the term is offensive. No such luck for LEPROSE or HOHUM.
TEDY seems to be a slip, MUDCONE seems to have two anagram indicators and only one required.
We have highland and Walter this week for our Scottish words.
5dn: I am completely happy with “form of … after eruption” as a single anagram lead, if perhaps an unnecessarily elaborate one. Whether that was Azed’s intention is, of course, not for me to say.
Many thanks for the blog which cleared up a couple of points for me. The meanings of both “loose fish” and “ho” escaped me!
@Roz, thanks for pointing out the Scottish indicators, “highland” is already on my list so it must have appeared at some point earlier this year (or rather last year!)
Quite tough as Gonzo says, needed some help with the linked CRAPLE, MODENA, OVENTIT.
I don’t know how TWEENAGER is generally used, but Collins defines it simply by age bracket. I wonder if the extra features of the Chambers definition were meant to be taken as essential to its meaning.
‘generally avoided’ is perhaps an unfortunate way of indicating disliked usage. I thought it was referring to medical practice until I read the blog, and wonder if that was also intended.
I agree with James @8 that “generally avoided” is hardly a clear way of indicating that the term is now considered offensive. I would also add TWOBIT to Roz’s list of LEPROSE and HOHUM; C98 marks the meaning of TIT as “girl or young woman” as derogatory. But it seems to me, increasingly, that Azed has no qualms about using offensive terms, perhaps especially in relation to women.
Jay@7: “Highland” actually appeared in AZED 2687 (at 1dn). I agree that “for Walter” is worth noting, but perhaps on a separate list of indicators that relate to use by a named individual. I do not recall Azed using “Walter” for a word simply marked as Scottish (as he does with “Jock” or “Sandy”), but I am of course open to correction if someone can point me to an instance where he did just that.
Pelham B, I agree, I don’t think Walter is a Scottish indicator, perhaps Roz was being “jocular”?
I agree that Azed seems to use Walter Scott only for words where Chambers explicitly mentions him, as he does with eg Spenser.
That seems to be confirmed by 2d BROOSE in Azed 2391: “Jock’s (not Walter’s) wedding contest? Sounds like several bevvies! (6)”.
Chambers has the solution as ‘(Scot)’, alongside citing ‘(Walter Scott BROUZE)’.
Usually too busy with the current one to join in so expect no-one will read this.
I found it straight-forward. Thanks to Azed and to duncanshiells for the thorough blog. Can’t understand the TEDY problem though a slight change in wording might have appealed to the pedants.
Azed does sometimes show a bit of insensitivity over words which were readily used in my childhood but is not deliberately “smutty” like at least one Guardian setter.
Autre temps autre moeurs.