I found this one of the hardest Azed plain puzzles for a long time, with, I think, a higher-than-average proportion of obscure words. I ended up with some rather tedious dictionary-searching to get the last few answers, and also to confirm out a lot of the explanations. I can’t fully explain 12dn – help needed!
| Across | |
| 1. OLFACTRONICS | (SNORT COCA LIF[e])* |
| 10. SOL-FA | L in SOFA, and “what do starts” is “do re mi” or tonic SOL-FA |
| 11. MINAR | Hidden in “rooM IN Arab” , with “houses” being used as a verb |
| 13. PEA-BRAIN | BEAR* in PAIN. Winnie the Pooh described himself as “a bear of very little brain”, which, as the clue says, is roughly the same as being a PEA-BRAIN |
| 14. ARNA | Composite anagram – (ARNA FRIEND I’M)* = (INDIAN FARMER)*. The arna is a water-buffalo, from whose milk one might get ghee. |
| 15. GRASSUM | GRASS (lawn) + U (open to all, as in films) + M[oney]. GRASSUM is, in Scots law, “a lump sum paid … by a person taking a lease … called in England ‘premium’ or ‘fine‘. |
| 16. RIGGALD | Homophone of “wriggled”. This is a variant of “ridgel”, “a male animal with only one testicle in position or remaining”, so “deficient in knackers” |
| 17. BUTTE | BUTTER less R. “A conspicuous and isolated hill”, as seen in the Wild West |
| 18. ONE-HANDED | [lov]E in (DONNE HAD)*, and presumably Donne wrote with one hand |
| 20. GODLESSLY | LODGES* + SLY |
| 24. RICHT | RICH TOWN less OWN (proper). Scots for of “right”, and East is (usually) on the right side of maps. |
| 26. SPANIEL | AN in SPIEL. “Spaniel” is an adjective meaning “fawning” for the definition |
| 27. ALAWITE | A WIT in ALE (archaic beer festival) giving a member of a Shiite sect based in Syria |
| 29. ABLE | AB (sailor) + LINE with IN removed(i.e. “cast”). AB means “able-bodied seaman” so this seems a bit weak to me. |
| 30. COCCULUS | C (100 again) + OCULUS, with another C inside |
| 31. SULKY | Double definition – farouche can mean sullen, or sulky; and barouche is a carriage, as is a sulky |
| 32. EWERS | WE “served in” ERS (bitter vetch) |
| 33. SPEAR PYRITES | PEAR (pear brilliant is a type of gem) in SPY RITES. I knew iron pyrites, known as “fools’ gold”, so at least the second word was easy to guess with a few crossing letters |
| Down | |
| 2. LOERIE | Alternating letters of LEI and ORE |
| 3. FLANGED | L in (FAG END)* (lit=drunk) |
| 4. CARCANET | ARCANE in CT |
| 5. TEAGLE | T (Latin equivalent of the Greek letter tau) + EAGLE (lectern) |
| 6. RAIRD | R in RAID |
| 7. NIBS | Double definition – crushed coffee beans and toffs (cf “his nibs”; and “nobs”) |
| 8. INUST | N in SUIT*. The word means “burnt in” |
| 9. CANUTE | AN in CUTE. Contrary to the popular version of the story of Canute and the waves, he understood tides very well, though the story is probably apocryphal anyway. |
| 10. SPARRAGRASS | SPAR A GRASS (one who “sings” to the police, say) |
| 12. REMEDILESS | (IS LED)* in MERE* + S[tring]. I don’t know who H King is – maybe a literary reference? – but I’m sure someone will enlighten me. |
| 17. BALANCER | LANCE in BAR |
| 19. DRIBLET | Reverse of BIRD + LET |
| 21. OIL-CUP | COIL* + UP |
| 22. SPECKY | PEC in SKY |
| 23. VELURE | [E]VE + LURE |
| 25. CABLE | CABINET TABLE less TABINET*, &lit, referring to Vince Cable |
| 26. STOMP | M in STOP |
| 28. WAKA | W[ith] AKA (alias) |
Hi Andrew. After a slow start, I finished before noon last Sunday, so a bit easier than average in the end. I think 12 is a reference from a Dickens novel- not sure which one. Not a great fan of Dickens.
Henry King is from one of the Hilaire Belloc Cautionary Tales, which starts
The Chief Defect of Henry King
Was chewing little bits of String.
At last he swallowed some which tied
Itself in ugly Knots inside.
Physicians of the Utmost Fame
Were called at once; but when they came
They answered, as they took their Fees,
“There is no Cure for this Disease.
HK has turned up a fair bit in puzzles due to the final verse which offers repeated thematic possibilities. Go and check it out – while no-one would claim the Belloc verses are astonishing literature, they do deserve to be remembered as good light verse.
Just 2 typos, Andrew. 8D missing anag./*. 26D Should be ‘M in STOP’
Thanks Phi. I will look it up. The only Belloc verse I know of is ‘keeping hold of nurse, for fear of something worse…’ which I think is also from cautionary tales.
Thanks Phi – I know the Belloc verses but didn’t spot the (rather indirect) allusion in the clue. One of my favourites, as well as the one Andrew K quotes, is the one that ends “It is the business of the wealthy man/to give employment to the artisan”.
Bob – thanks for pointing out the typos: now corrected.