A friendly offering from Azed this week.
Almost a write-in, rare for me.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | BACK STRAIGHT |
Winger maybe, balanced in part furthest from finishing (12)
|
| BACK (winger, maybe) + STRAIGHT (balanced), referring to a racecourse. Listed as two words in Chambers (4,8) | ||
| 9 | UPREARED |
A rude rep out of order, on his high horse? (8)
|
| Anagram of (out of order) A RUDE REP. Something of an extended definition clue. | ||
| 12 | SLAIN |
Health, disposing of last two bumped off (5)
|
| SLÀIN[TE]! (health!, i.e., Gaelic toast) minus last two letters (disposing of last two) | ||
| 13 | MALAX |
To macerate, man cut with chopper (5)
|
| MAL[E] (man) minus last letter (cut) + AX (chopper) | ||
| 14 | TUTSAN |
After temperature, aunt’s treated – some thought it cured anything (6)
|
| T (temperature) + anagram of (treated) AUNT’S. A plant “once regarded as a panacea,” according to Chambers. | ||
| 15 | IN RIXA |
Cross letters, cross one following up in the heat of the moment (6, 2 words)
|
| INRI (cross letters, i.e., the placard posted above Jesus, John 19:19) + X (cross) + A (one) | ||
| 16 | TASS |
Mow middle of pitch when sun is following (4)
|
| Middle [letter] of [PI]T[CH] + AS (when) + S (sun) | ||
| 17 | LIPID |
Fatty stuff Greek character enclosed in cover (5)
|
| PI (Greek character) inside (enclosed in) LID (cover) | ||
| 19 | GONENESS |
Dead head giving one a sinking sensation (8)
|
| GONE (dead) + NESS (head) | ||
| 22 | OSTEITIS |
Pain in the joints: is it involved with toes? (8)
|
| Anagram of (involved with) {IS IT + TOES}. “Inflammation of a bone,” according to Chambers, so conceivably “pain in the joints.” | ||
| 25 | TRUMP |
A dependable guy? A view not universally held! (5)
|
| Presumably a reference to Donald Trump | ||
| 27 | PEWS |
Seats mostly searched from back to front (4)
|
| SWEP[T] (searched “mostly”) reversed (from back to front) | ||
| 29 | BARAZA |
Meeting in Nairobi requiring bazaar being moved (6)
|
| Anagram of (being moved) BAZAAR | ||
| 30 | ALHAGI |
Desert plants, hot inside, a gila demolished (6)
|
| H (hot) inside anagram of (demolished) {A GILA} | ||
| 31 | OCULI |
Oil freely edging copper round windows (5)
|
| Anagram of (freely) OIL around (edging) CU (copper) | ||
| 32 | BIRLE |
Pour out Scotch, bitter fluid when dash of rum’s included (5)
|
| BILE (bitter fluid) around (when . . . included) first letter of (dash of) R[UM]. Scots, thus “Scotch.” | ||
| 33 | DIOCESES |
Some circuits I cede so, struggling, second to finish (8)
|
| Anagram of (struggling) I CEDE SO + S (second) | ||
| 34 | BANK INTEREST |
Depositor receives this mound to bury, set apart (12, 2 words)
|
| BANK (mound) + INTER (bury) + anagram of (apart) SET | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | BUST A GUT |
‘Strain every sinew’? Objection limits American refrain (8, 3 words)
|
| BUT (objection) around (limits) {US (American) + TAG (refrain)} | ||
| 2 | CRATE |
Rattle-trap achieving constant speed (5)
|
| C (constant) + RATE (speed) | ||
| 3 | KEISTER |
Safe as in US, set out protected by Labour leader (7)
|
| Anagram of (out) SET inside (protected by) KEIR (Labour [Party] leader, referring to Keir Starmer) | ||
| 4 | TRANSE |
Rest dithering around, one heads north making way across border (6)
|
| Anagram of (dithering) REST around {A (one) + N (north)}. Scots for “a through passage,” according to Chambers. | ||
| 5 | REMISS |
Derelict, touching failure (6)
|
| RE (touching) + MISS (failure) | ||
| 6 | IMARI |
Oriental porcelain I found by the sea, timeless (5)
|
| I + MARI[TIME] (found by the sea) minus TIME (“timeless”) | ||
| 7 | GALIPOT |
Type of resin discerned around spilt pail (7)
|
| GOT (discerned) around anagram of (spilt) PAIL | ||
| 8 | TAXA |
Certain categories? Lot once accepted (4)
|
| TAX (lot, indicated in Chambers as “obsolete,” thus “once”) + A (accepted) | ||
| 10 | PLUTOCRACY |
Affluent rulers, smart, left court rolling within (10)
|
| {L (left) + anagram of (rolling) COURT} inside (within) PACY (smart) | ||
| 11 | MAXI-SINGLE |
Radical in medley creating super record (10)
|
| AXIS (radical, apparently in the shared sense of “root”) inside (in) MINGLE (medley) | ||
| 18 | DUSTIEST |
Mixed studies with time seen as extremely old-fashioned (8)
|
| Anagram of (mixed) STUDIES + T (time) | ||
| 20 | NAURUAN |
Pacific islander unchanged after being brought up (7)
|
| Indicating a palindrome | ||
| 21 | DISHIER |
Better-looking woman’s one captivated after James turns up? (7)
|
| SID (James, an actor in the Carry On series) inverted (turns up) + {I (one) inside (captivated [by]) HER (woman’s)}. An apt surface. | ||
| 23 | SPAVIN |
Évian added to wine? It damages hock (6)
|
| SPA (Évian, i.e., in France) + VIN (wine, i.e., in France) | ||
| 24 | TEAPOT |
Cadogan maybe, earl wearing ’Arry’s topper uptilted (6)
|
| E (earl) inside (wearing) TOP [H]AT (‘Arry’s topper) inverted (uptilted) | ||
| 26 | MALIK |
Village head (5)
|
| The competition word | ||
| 28 | FARSE |
Explanation of Latin text (section in course) (5)
|
| S (section) inside (in) FARE (course) | ||
| 29 | BOOB |
Dug round in dock (4)
|
| O (round) inside (in) BOB (dock) |
Pretty straightforward as you say Cineraria. The only raised eyebrow for me was that the competition word was one that had appeared before in 2131, albeit in a “right and left” setting.
Very enjoyable puzzle and a neat and detailed blog!
Thanks both!
Liked UPREARED, DISHIER and TEAPOT!
Thanks for the blog, virtually no notes with my clues and my grid is pristine even though I solve without Chambers for a Prize puzzle. Azed is being kind to us , 1Ac and 1D very helpful to get started.
IMARI is actually the port for the export of Arita ware but the name Imari still used to some extent and Chambers does give support.
For TRANSE we have “across border” as the Scottish indication.
Roz@3: Thanks for the note on TRANSE. I read the clue as a whole as indicating Scots (since at least one of us is heading north), but your reading makes a finer distinction.
Cineraria@4 I was not criticising the blog , it is fine. It is just that Jay is fairly new to Azed and has been listing all the different ways that Azed indicates a Scottish term.
I also found this straightforward. Enjoyed TEAPOT.
Roz@5, thanks! I’ve recorded 16 Scottish indications over the last year and will keep the list going.
Having just read today’s preamble, I suspect this week’s may prove more challenging.
Thanks to Azed and Cineraria.
Re 32ac, personally, I deplore the use of ‘Scotch’ to mean Scottish, but it is supported by Chambers. My C98 says it’s a term used outside Scotland “and by many Scots” – but I can’t recall ever hearing a Scot use it except to refer to whisky or, appropriately, Scotch mist!
As Roz@3 says, IMARI is the name of a port, but the porcelain wasn’t directly exported from there; it was taken to Nagasaki, which was one of the few ports that interacted with the outside world during Japan’s closed period.
I enjoyed learning about the Cadogan teapot – a pot without a lid!
I had (ironically enough) an unparsed PARSE for 28d. I see that FARSE is related to “farce”, from the French sense of “stuffing”, hence extrapolation, explanation.
I’d agree it was an easy one except I missed FARSE, putting parse which seemed obvious and not checking the parts.
A few oddities along the way: the enumeration for 1a did delay getting that one; surprised not to find cadogan in Chambers, though it is in Collins – I’d never heard of it; the consecutive clues for IN RIXA and TASS, both straightforward charades, both with a superfluous ‘following’ to indicate the placement of the last elements which are already placed last by virtue of being listed last.
MunroMaiden @7, apart from ‘pour out (Scot)’, BIRLE (both transitive and intransitive) is given as ‘ply with drink’ so possibly ‘pour out Scotch’?
Thanks, James@9! My Chambers 98 gives birl/birle as Northern, rather than Scottish, but I see another meaning is ‘carouse’, which could certainly refer to pouring out Scotch 🙂
32ac: birl² or birle is marked as “(Scot and N Eng)” in Chambers 2016, which is the recommended edition.
Further on 32ac, it should be noted that the definition of Scotch from Chambers 1998 has been changed in later editions and now (2016 edition) reads “of or belonging to Scotland or the Scots, a form regarded as incorrect by many Scots, who prefer Scottish or Scots“.
I don’t normally get to look at the blog ’til Monday but felt I must today. I know comments on the current wonder are off-limits but what a treat to see an old favourite “Give & Take” today. My 1950 “Oxford Dictionary of Quotations” was an old friend and overdue for a delve.
Thanks to Azed and to Cineraria.
Like most of previous entrants FARSE caused a late readjustment in my entry.
Kenan Malik is a regular contributor to the comment columns, presumably from a line of village elders.
The prizes listed in today’s lucky openers’ Observer list include Ken Manley,-any relation to the Don?
Ok – if that’s an easy Azed then I am sure I am not ready for a difficult one. I had IMORI (Timor Sea less T for time) which screwed up top right corner – and just blanks at bottom left.
I will definitely give the next plain one a better try but will also give this week’s madness a wide berth.
Thanks Roz for suggesting.
Thanks Setter for challenge (not met) and Blogger for much needed explanation
Matthew Newell@14: After many years of looking in baffled wonderment at the Azed puzzles, I completed my first one in 2020, and now over three years later, I have posted my 12th Azed solution blog. That makes me a very recent arrival to the format, but I have come to enjoy it very much. There are still a few specials that I cannot complete, and a few clues that I cannot always parse, but with some practice, Azed’s style has become familiar, and the puzzles are eminently solvable (including this week’s ‘Give & Take’ special). I have attempted some other puzzles that to my taste were unfairly hard/obscure, and I would not classify Azed that way. Having access to Chambers is probably the biggest limitation.
Matthew @14- don’t give up. I am possibly the “oldest inhabitant” (first Ximenes on a train to Swindon around 1956) and claim to have solved every Azed. They can be a lot easier than some black & whites as there are always more letters once you get a start (I hate 5 letter words with only two checked). I don’t use Google checkers but have an ancient Chambers alternate letter aid (1988) which saves a lot of page-turning. Bonne chance!
@ Keith Thomas & Cineraria. Thanks yr encouraging words and advice. I will keep plugging away and I hope to improve.
I hope you enjoyed it Matthew , most puzzles are called Plain. When I first started I would never do the specials, I would work on the plain puzzles for 2 weeks. The answers were in the paper then on a 2 week cycle , no blogs.
Azed is mainly a matter of practice and familiarlty with style, I wolud say Chambers is essential , even if just for checking at the end , I use a 1993 edition but it is very similar to the 2016.