After the challenge of last week, a pretty gentle Azed. This was mostly solvable from the wordplay alone, though I needed Chambers to check a few things.
Blogged rather in haste, as I am getting ready to go to Cheltenham, so comments are minimal and there might be the odd mistake.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | SPACE | S = contraction of ‘has’ (‘has short’); PACE = walk | |
| 5 | ODYSSEY | [b]ODY’S; ‘yes’ reversed. Homer’s Odyssey | |
| 11 | PUSH-START | *(rash putt’s) | |
| 13 | IFTAR | Hidden in ‘Shift arrangements’. The meal, taken after sunset, that breaks the daily fast during Ramadan. | |
| 14 | LEMURS | *(slumer). Lemurs are primates native to Madagascar. | |
| 15 | SWANKPOT | *(PT knows A). A is an abbreviation for ‘acting’. | |
| 16 | SARSEN | *(Nasser). Sarsen stones are sandstone blocks found in quantity on Salisbury Plain, the Marlborough Downs, in Kent, and in smaller quantities in Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Dorset and Hampshire. | |
| 17 | JAPE | JAP = Easterner; E = east, home in this case. Both ’jape’ and ‘cod’ can mean ‘jest’. | |
| 19 | TORSION BAR | ON = being served; in *(bistro a r). A metal bar which absorbs force by twisting, used in vehicle suspension. | |
| 21 | ROUND-NOSED | ROUND = plain-spoken (given in Chambers); NOSED = pried. | |
| 25 | BORD | BOR[e]D. Old spelling of board | |
| 28 | UNREST | Anagram of ‘into insurrection’ minus ‘it’s ironic’ | |
| 30 | ONE-ON-ONE | NEON = gas; ON = continually; in OE = Old English. ‘Head-to-head’ is the definition. | |
| 31 | RIBAND | RIB = knitting pattern; AND = also | |
| 32 | CAGOT | AGO = since; CT = court. One of an outcast class found scattered in the western Pyrenees, supposed to be the descendants of lepers. | |
| 33 | CALENTURE | CURE = remedy; A LENT = a period without food. A tropical fever or delirium caused by heat; heatstroke. | |
| 34 | OSSETER | RETES SO, reversed. | |
| 35 | WEETE | If this were put in SN (Sn = tin), it would give ‘sweeten’. An old spelling of wit | |
| Down | |||
| 1 | SPINS | SINS = ‘notable septet’ (seven deadly sins); P = piano. ‘Record plays’ is used in the sense of ‘plays of records’. | |
| 2 | PUFTALOONIES | *(fat up); LOONIES = nuts. In Australia, a fried scone, are popular with children in winter. It is made from flour, salt, butter, milk and it is traditionally fried in dripping. It is also known as a ‘Johnnycake’. | |
| 3 | ASTERT | ASTER = flower; T = lust’s ending. Also spelt astart | |
| 4 | CHANSON | C = contralto; HANSON = the tenor John Hanson | |
| 6 | DALASI | I SALAD, reversed. The standard monetary unit of Gambia (100 butut) | |
| 7 | YRENT | Y RENT; ‘traditionally’ means it’s an old word. | |
| 8 | STUPA | ST = stone; UP = completely; A = acre. A dome-shaped Buddhist memorial shrine, a tope | |
| 9 | EURO-PASSPORT | *(prosperous at) | |
| 10 | YESTERN | YE = ‘the’ old; STERN = hind part. Dialect word for ‘last’ | |
| 12 | TOWNS | TO = near; WNS = all quarters except E | |
| 18 | ARBORIO | OR = alternatively; in *(rabi); O = nil. Arborio rice | |
| 20 | NERVATE | *(veteran). (Of a leaf) having veins | |
| 22 | NOODLE | OODLE[s]; N = little new. Both vamp and noodle can mean ‘improvise’ (in a slightly pejorative sense) in jazz. | |
| 23 | OUNCE | A name for several big cats, including the jaguar. Pounce (on) is what it might do to its prey. | |
| 24 | DENGUE | ENG = English; DUE = deserts. Dengue fever | |
| 26 | REBUS | 1. An enigmatical representation of a word or name by pictures representing the component parts of the word, as in a puzzle or a coat of arms; such a puzzle. 2. Detective Inspector John Rebus, a favourite of mine. 3. SUBER (cork) reversed. | |
| 27 | ANNAT | ANNA = a former unit of currency in India, worth 12 pies; T = in short, ‘it’. In Scotland, from 1672 to 1925, the half-year’s stipend payable after a parish minister’s death to his widow or next of | |
| 29 | TUTEE | [as]TUTE = clever without ‘as’; E = start of exams. | |
I didn’t like RETES in 34: Chambers clearly says that the plural of rete is retia.
As Jane says, an easy stroll; my only query is 6dn – can ‘mixed vegetables’ define ‘salad’?
Nick
Thanks jetdoc. I’ve only just noticed that there’s a Nina related to the number of the puzzle in the top row…
Nick – Chambers defines salad as “a cold dish of vegetables or herbs, … generally mixed.”
What’s a Nina (presuming you are referring to “2001 : a space odyssey”)?
David – see http://www.crosswordunclued.com/2009/10/what-is-nina.html
(1) re 26 down ‘reverse of Cork’
I noted that Cork was spelt incorrectly with an upper case ‘C’. I wondered if this was because rebus (= cork) is Rebus, the fictional cop, with an incorrect lower case ‘r’
(2) Like Andrew, it was only after completing the puzzle that I noticed that the answers to the first two across clues read “Space Odyssey” and made the connection with 2001, the puzzle number. I used to do the first two clues in the simple Daily Telegraph puzzles to see what was pun-of-the-day. Lettuce + Spray, Aside + Oppress, Scene + Enemies etc., so I often look at the first two answers of other puzzles unconsciously.
Norman
Late to the party but for 17a, I was trying to fit CAPE (heading~CAP, E=homeward for an easterner, CAPE COD=def, but it didn’t feel like a proper fit), so thanks for the explanation.