Azed 2023

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Another reasonably straightforward Azed, as far as I remember, helped by an easy 1 across to get me started, though as usual a fair bit of Chambers-trawling was needed to confirm all the details for this blog. (Apologies for the late posting, which is due to me having got my dates muddled.)

 
 
 
Across
1. Oldies’ get-together that has Bess and ma tangling with a sort of eel (12) 
ASSEMBLAUNCE (BESS MA)* + LAUNCE (a sand-eel). It’s always nice to have a relatively easy clue for a long 1 across – at least the ASSEMB… part was easy and Chambers provided the rest
10. Anticoagulant needed in a mucro wound (8) 
COUMARIN (IN A MUCRO)*. Coumarin comes from the wonderfully-named Tonka beans
12. Goal for American body-builder? (4) 
HUNK Double definition “(US) goal or base in boys’ games” and “a strong or sexually attractive man”
13. Way, first to last, for one opening another’s closet? (5) 
OUTER ROUTE with the R moved to the end. One who “outs”, in the sense of revealing that someone is gay, as oppoed to letting the “come out of the closet”
15. Constituent of bauxite bits oddly found in scoff (8) 
GIBBSITE BITS* in GIBE
16. Ailment in a face that’s distinctively pronounced (7) 
MOUILLÉ ILL in MOUE (a pout – as in “don’t make that face at me!”). MOUILLÉ is a term from phonetics
17. Spyhole, one set into masses of coal (5) 
JUDAS A in JUD. The doors of prison cells, for example, have a Judas hole for warders to look through.
18. Scotsman’s box is kept in his outer room (5) 
BUIST IS in BUT. Readers of The Broons may remember that they had a cottage called the “but an’ ben”. The but being an outer room, the ben an inner.
20. Dance, hard for whales to take in, lots abandoned (6) 
CHACHA H in CACHA[lots]
22. Percussion instrument rarely used to fluster conductor (6) 
RATTLE Three definitions – ratte-used percussion instrument, fluster and the conductor. For the instrument, Wikipedia gives this, though I thought it was one of these, similar to the old-style football rattles.
24. Burning log, good in part as Yuletide warmer (5) 
GLOGG Hidden in burninG LOG Good – a Swedish spiced drink
26. Grandpa’s pipe (not getting snuff out) alight as of old (5) 
AVALE AVAL (grandpas’) + PIPE less PIP3, meaning “kill”, i.e. “snuff out”. AVALE is an old word for the verb “alight”, e.g. from a train (or perhaps a stagecoach..)
28. Flivver in air, fuel running out (7) 
FAILURE (AIR FUEL)*. Very easy, as anyone looking up “flivver” would see it means “failure”
30. In hearing is informed about prohibited part of bridle (8) 
NOSEBAND Homophone of “knows banned”
32. Stout after 50, I abandoned tight suit, last bit of ‘trendy’ (5) 
LUSTY L (50) + anagram (“tight”=drunk) of SUIT less I + [trend]Y
33. Stay away from work, finally denied parking place (4) 
LIEU LIE U[P] (I originally guessed “situ” here, until it made 25dn unsolvable, and anyway “sit up” doesn’t really work)
34. Subaqueous variety of emeralds (8) 
DEMERSAL EMERALDS*
35. Edge Reds out, allowing crowd in post-apartheid? (12) 
DESEGREGATED GATE (crowd, as in football macthes) in (EDGE REDS)*
 
Down
2. A couple of very small amounts in savings scheme (6) 
SOU-SOU SOU twice. Sou-sou, or susu, is a (mostly West Indian) communal savings scheme
3. New among West Africans, it’s scanty summer outfit for kids(7) 
SUNSUIT N in SUSU + IT. Another meaning of SUSU – an African people in Mali and elsewhere
4. Talk in archaic slang? Chap’s good in that (4) 
MANG MAN + G
5. Bit of rope in ship’s bucket? It’ll secure furled sail (5) 
BRAIL R in BAIL. “Bail” as a bucket is the origin of the term “bail out” (a boat)
6. Old-fashioned distiller, I’m on northern stream below loch (7) 
LIMBECK L + I’M + BECK. Spenserian form of “alembic”, which is a distilling apparatus
7. Dawn not quite rising, university friend appears rarely (9) 
UNUSUALLY Reverse of SUN-U[P] + U + ALLY
8. Merry nest as of old includes rumpy-pumpy (5) 
NITID IT (sex, or rumpy-pumpy) in NID (nest), amd NITID means “merry”
9. Big cat, he-cat that’s savaged horse? (6) 
CHETAH HE-CAT* + H (=horse=heroin). Variant of CHEETAH
10. Architectural decoration (10) 
CHAMBRANLE  The competition word
11. A free gulp’s abused – it’s distinctly ominous (10) (1)
PRESAGEFUL (A FREE GULP’S)*
14. What goes up at Xmas? Distribution of cards – husband leaves the lot wretchedly for stuffing (9) 
MISTLETOE (T[H]E LOT)* in MISE (layout of cards in card games)
19. Vandal maybe, radical holding cheap eatery up (7) 
DEFACER CAFÉ in RED, all reversed
21. Company suite adapted for one into auto-suggestion (7) 
COUEIST CO + SUITE*. Follower of the psychotherapist Émile Coué
23. Opener dismissed, give support to English declaration as before (6) 
AVOURE [F]AVOUR + E. Another Spenserian spelling, of “avowal”
25. Sea-goddesses, Greek, doubly aged (6) 
GRAEAE GR + AE (aetatis =aged) twice
27. Judge cut short ninnies (5) 
ASSES ASSES[S]
29. What can make this resin pay? A pine may (5) 
ANIME Composite anagram – A PINE MAY is an anagram of ANIME (this resin) + PAY
31. Trace holding in Land Registry (4) 
DREG Hidden lin lanD REGistry

4 comments on “Azed 2023”

  2. Thanks Andrew. Needed your blog to understand 33ac. The definition “place” is now staring at me – duh! Agree with AJK about today’s offering.

    Cheers…

  4. I certainly didn’t know that meaning of “aval” (and don’t have a Chambers at home) and spent a lot of time trying to justify “Avale” (26a) via the plant Callisia Fragrans, aka Grandfather’s Pipe. I have to warn you that googling Avale + Pipe is rather shocking if you know French…

    I liked trying to clue Chambranle because of the presence of “am bran” in the middle – a very healthy start to the day.

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