Azed 2076

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Sorry for the late posting. I had completely missed the fact that it was my turn, until Gaufrid gently reminded me this morning, but I was out most of the day so couldn’t do it till later. A very “manly” one here, with the amusing swapping of answers and definitions in 1ac and 17ac, and the related steroid at 34a (not to mention a red herring at 17dn). From what I remember it wasn’t too hard on the Azed scale, but of the usual high quality. In view of the lateness I’ve kept commentary to the mimimum. Definitions are uinderlined in the clues below.

 
 
 
Across
1. Cobblers restyled my jellies fawn, not navy (12, 2 words)
FAMILY JEWELS (MY JELLIES FAWN)* less N.Cobblers and Family Jewels are both slang for the testicles.
9. Fish heads for lake, usually carrying eggs (4)
LUCE Initial letters
10. Nothing is omitted from pedestal for African chiefs (4)
OBAS O + BASIS less IS
12. Move slowly having entered church (4)
INCH IN (entered) CH[urch]
13. Where hacks write and yearn, as of old, for investment in share of lucky strike (9)
GRUBSTAKE GRUB ST. (where hacks write) + AKE (old form of “ache”)
15. Life story on a large scale? Nothing in it (4)
BIOG O in BIG
16. Minor gripe about Spanish town American has left (5)
CAVIL C + AVIL[a]
17. Family jewels left in protection of friends down under (8)
COBBLERS L in COBBERS (Australian friends)
19. Boyfriend attending fancy do with men in high society (9, 2 words)
BEAU MONDE BEAU (boyfriend) + (DO MEN)*. The two meanings of BEAU are a bit close for comfort here
21. I’ll be received by Asian priest, alas, in his large tent? (9)
SHAMIANAH I in SHAMAN + AH (alas)
25. Runs laps limpingly – they’ll reduce one to a standstill (8)
SNARL-UPS (RUNS LAPS)
27. One John Faraday, distinctly snooty (5)
ALOOF A + LOO (= toilet = John) + F[araday] (electrical unit of charge)
28. Puzzler: odd word in Shakespeare (meaning plausible?) – all thrown (4)
PROB PROBALL (Shakesperean dubious word probably meaning “plausible”) less ALL
30. Savoury dish served in liner badly done – it’s greasy and orangey (9, 2 words)
NEROLI OIL OLIO in LINER*
31. Without starter cooks something for lunch? (4)
EATS I presume this is HEATS less its “starter” of H, though Chambers doesn’t give heat=cook as far as I can see.
32. Angus from Swiss Cottage? (4)
SCOT Hidden
33. Part in Seraglio going round English music halls (4)
ODEA E in ODA (a room in a harem). ODEA is a plural form of ODEON
34. Try bucking estro with the same steroid (12)
TESTOSTERONE TEST (try) + ESTRO* + ONE (the same)
 
Down
1. Start to booze after viral infection – a mistake (4)
FLUB FLU + B[ooze]
2. No fan of poor recordings died amid distortion of ‘hip’ Louie A (10)
AUDIOPHILE D in (HIP LOUIE A)*
3. Crowd accepting Our Lord brought up in menial occupation (5)
MCJOB J[esus] C[hrist] reversed in MOB. McDonalds famously tried to get the OED to change its definition of “McJob”
4. Femme fatale lost old wreath (7)
LORELEI LORE (past of LEESE, a Spenserian version of “lose”)
5. Stork joyful as baby is reaching us initially (6)
JABIRU Initial letters
6. Organized ladies thrash old councillors (5)
WITAN W.I. + TAN
7. Forward, tireless worker following wing up (7, 2 words)
EN AVANT VANE reversed + ANT
8. Cutting tress badly he left for retreats (8)
SHELTERS HE L in TRESS*
11. Sources of astringent bottled in a tube (5)
BUTEA (A TUBE)*
14. Family retreat housing special fair, offering helpful words? (10)
KIND-SPOKEN SP[ecial} OK (fair) in KIN DEN
17. Pet maybe swallowing pebble in Perth, for the knackers (one only) (8)
CASTANET STANE in CAT. I was expecting this to be another one on the lines of 1ac and 17ac, but “knackers” here is just a word for castanets (which I think is not [yet] slang for testicles)
18. Even page in two-wheelers maybe frolics (7)
CAVORTS V[ers]O in CARTS
20. Child trapping limb in cooking pot (7)
MARMITE ARM in MITE
22. Opposition limiting Conservative tricks, extraordinary (6)
ANTICS C in ANTIS
23. Number one and number two dead in the trenches? (5)
NAPOO N (number) + A (one) + POO (as in “number ones and number twos”). NAPOO is a WWI word meaning dead, from French “n’y a plus”)
24. What promoters do is making mockery of fight’s end (5)
BOOST BOOS (is making mockery) + [figh]T
26. Form of rust partly coloured orange (5)
UREDO Hidden
29. Pound fine, by the sound of it, in Scottish bank (4)
BRAE Homophone of BRAY2: ”to break, pound, or grind small, as in a mortar”

7 comments on “Azed 2076”

  1. Thanks Azed for the puzzle and Andrew for the blog. Time taken reduced my previous record low by over 20% indicates either a straightforward puzzle or just luck.

    You seem to have missed the explanation of 31ac: [h]EATS.

  2. Thanks Andrew

    This was the first time I have completed an Azed – helped, I must admit, by my recent purchase of the latest edition of Chambers.

    Nothing particular to add to your blog – just feeling chuffed, and encouraged to have another go!

  3. Further to 1 re 31ac: the explanation has now appeared. Chambers 2011 gives cook¹ to subject to great heat, which I think covers it.

  5. Thanks all
    No comments about 1ac/17ac?
    A very weird idea which I have never seen before. I am not sure I like it.
    What makes it more strange is that most setters would coss-reference between the clues but Azed rarely uses such devices,for which I am grateful.
    Otherwise on the easy side, perhaps helped by 1ac/17ac.

  6. Thanks, Andrew. I’d completely forgotten the phrase, ‘Grub Street’, (haven’t heard it for years) so I couldn’t parse that one.

    Like RCW, I wasn’t happy with the definition/solution switch of 1a, 17a although I had an embarassed chuckle at their surface readings, particularly 17a.

  7. Like RCW, my first thought on solving 1Ac and 17Ac was: “Why didn’t he cross-reference?”. My second thought was: “Why should he?”.

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