Azed 2734

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Thanks to Azed for another quality puzzle.

 
Across
1 GRAITH Scottish dress (old-fashioned) one kept in sanctuary once (6)
A (one) in GRITH (sanctuary)
7 YACCA Evergreen causing hard grind for Aussie by the sound of it (5)
Sounds like “yacker” (Australian word for physical work)
12 BOARDROOM Where directors convene to get on with reversal of dock? (9)
BOARD (to get on) + reverse of MOOR (to dock)
13 SMOUT Printer’s odd-job man returned written work at fault (5)
Reverse of MS (manuscript) + OUT (at fault)
14 GROOVE Dance to jazz stuff – nothing found in music authority? (6)
0 in GROVE (the “Dictionary of Music and Musicians”)
15 TALLAGE Get behind in changing late tax rate (7)
LAG in LATE*
17 RILE Bug heads for roughage in linen etceteras (4)
First letters of Roughage In Linen Etceteras – bug meaning to annoy, irritate
18 LAUWINE Bubbly maybe after endless praise for poetic deluge (7)
LAU[d] + WINE (which may be “bubbly”) – a word coined by Byron from German Lawine, meaning an avalanche
19 CHEERLESS Like a sourpuss dancing reel in the grass in America (9)
REEL* in CHESS (US name for a type of grass)
22 PANDEMIAN Vulgar goatish fellow sullied maiden (9)
PAN (god, depicted as part-goat) + MAIDEN*
24 SEA-WALL Part of coastal defence, one to interrupt a swell, heaving (7, 2 words)
A in (A SWELL)*
26 DURE No longer last, race’s leader coming in directly (4)
R[ace] in DUE (directly, as in “due north”)
28 CLUTTER Mess left in small vessel (7)
L in CUTTER
29 ERIACH Account’s settled in return of price paid – in this? (6)
AC in reverse of HIRE (price paid, as in “the labourer is worthy of his hire”). This is a variant form of “eric”, which comes up occasionally as a kind of fine
30 MATAI Evergreen timber, lustreless, of prime quality (5)
MAT (dull, lustreless) + A1
31 PLAGUE-PIT Age with pulpit rumbling? It’s filled in time of pestilence (9)
(AGE PULPIT)*
32 TYNED Edmund’s lost – he’s following fringes of Tipperary (5)
T[ipperar]Y + NED (form of Edmund)
33 INGRES Painter accompanying crumbling residence (6)
Hidden in crumblING RESidence
Down
1 GAS-TRAP Rat’s scuttling in opening? This deals with foul smell (7, 2 words)
RATS* in GAP (opening)
2 ROMAIKA Dance a Maori tripped around king (7)
K in (A MAORI)*
3 APOLLINARIAN A parrot in song, note, referring to ancient deity (12)
A POLL IN ARIA + N
4 TOTAL HEAT Measure in physics child on a lathe got wrong (9, 2 words)
TOT (child) + (A LATHE)*
5 HAGGLE Mangle leg twisted under hole in bog (6)
HAG + LEG*
6 URGE Some of the grub turned up as egg (4)
Hidden in reverse of thE GRUb
8 AROW Lined up as rolls of wadding, showing first bits only (4)
First letters of As Rows Of Wadding
9 COOKIE‑CUTTER Smart person with small bottle of Scotch – one may fashion dough in US (12)
COOKIE (smart person) + CUTTER (Scots word for a small whisky bottle)
10 COVIN Conspiracy against getting involved in a bit of cash (5)
V[ersus] in COIN
11 AMENE Chaps putting away litre in content of tankard? Rarely pleasant (5)
ALE (content of tankard) with L replaced by MEN
16 BURAKUMIN Japanese ‘untouchables’ I’m getting muddled with bunraku (9)
(I’M BUNRAKU)*
20 SPREAZE West country chap in what sounds like merry frolics (7)
Sounds like “sprees”
21 SHERIFS This woman chopped firs for Muslim rulers (7)
SHE + FIRS*
23 ILLUPI Tree yielding both oil and nuts? Draw up between two (6)
Reverse of PULL (draw) in II
24 SWEPT Ranged west in clan (5)
S in SEPT
25 EARLY Like a king or queen abandoned by prince beforehand (5)
PEARLY (as in Pearly Kings and Queens) less P
27 MAGE Wizard picture I dashed off (4)
IMAGE less I
28 CHEZ Domiciled by Bohemia as was, wherein His Excellency resides (4)
H.E. in CZ (code for the Czech Republic, formerly Bohemia, roughly speaking)

8 comments on “Azed 2734”

  1. I can’t see any comments – so apologies if it’s my PC and I’m repeating things already said. I thought there were some lapses in quality here. 33ac: does “accompanying” really indicate a hidden word? 17ac & 8dn: two clues using the same device of initial letters. 28ac & 9dn: two uses of “cutter”, albeit with different meanings. 31ac: not a great anagram, with “PIT” remaining intact – and the surface reading makes little sense.
    Generally, I found this very straightforward to solve. The one that held me up most was CHEZ – and I kicked myself when I got there, after staring at CHE- for too long!

  2. Good point about 33a, MunroMaiden, and “accompanying” could so easily have been avoided. Yours is the only comment I can see so far (11 am). Where is everybody?

  3. Thanks Azed and Andrew

    As usual with Azed, not a lot to say. I fell into the trap at 13ac of entering SMOOT unparsed and without looking across to the next page of Chambers for the alternative spelling.

    33ac: Definitions for accompany in Chambers (2016, p 9) include “to go or be in company with; to attend; to go along with”, which are in my view not far off the required meaning. If we go to Collins (2023, p 11), we can find “to occur, coexist, or be associated with”, which I would think is easily good enough for the purpose. We should remember that Chambers is only recommended, not stated as the sole authority for meanings of words. My considered opinion is that only with a setter as strict as Azed can there be any doubt as to the legitimacy of this indicator.

  4. I’m afraid I don’t think “be associated with” really works to indicate a hidden word – and, as Brian-with-an-eye@2 points out, it could easily have been avoided. The surface, as it stands, doesn’t actually make good sense. Something like “Painter filling in crumbling residence” would be an improvement on both counts and I’m sure some of the usual commentators on here could come up with something much better.

  5. Just popping in after completing 2735. It’s a shame that there aren’t more joining in, even to have a moan.
    Thanks as always to Azed and to Andrew. I don’t recall many glitches last week.
    I was puzzled to learn that the celebratory luncheon for the 2750th, which should be on March 2nd, is to be held in early May but , very sensibly, it is being moved to after the hour changes and when we can hope for Spring weather.

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