Azed 2100

by

I was wondering whether there might be some kind of special for this, as the first round(ish) number since 2000 and happening to coincide with a competition week, but it turned out to be just a Plain, and a fairly easy one at that, especially after a lucky guess for 1ac got me off to a very good start. Writing up the blog I seem to have put “[x] in [y]” a lot, especially in the down clues: I’m sure it’s unusual for Azed to use the same device so many times in a puzzle, but presumably the words just called out for that treatment. Also rather unusually there are no composite anagrams or &lits.

 
 
 
Across
1. Timely precaution
A STITCH IN TIME The phrase to be clued for the competition – I guessed this at once, checked that it fitted and pencilled it in. Fortunately I was right, giving me a very good start (especially in an 11×13 grid)
11. Strong home-brew, not bad in a saki mixed before noon
SKOKIAAN OK in (A SAKI)* + N
13. Jock’s hanging border given the thumbs-down, we hear
PAND Homophone of “panned” (criticised, given the thumbs-down)
14. Wind in sequence overturned perennial
TROLLIUS ROLL in SUIT<
15. Sepia container, trendy – then drum rolls?
INK-SAC IN + CASK<. Sepia – as used to colour old photos – comes from cuttlefish “ink”
16. Scottish isle ay denied short stops
COLONS COLONS[ay]
18. Whist excursion, for crying out loud
SHOUTING SH (whist, be quiet!) + OUTING
19. Divine sun outside in Cannes, but with half of us inside
HORUS U[s] in HORS (French for “outside”) . Horus seems to have appeared in several different forms in ancient Egyptian religion, including as a personification of the sun.
22. Take that (last one going to head)! It could render you senseless
ETHER THERE (take that!) with the last E moved to the front
24. Very sorry journey ends prematurely in story
CONTRITE TRI[p] in CONTE
28. Lecturer on ancient Greek capital – such should not be hurried
LARGOS L + ARGOS. Argos was only the capital of part of Greece, but still an “ancient Greek capital”
30. Take a turn off for commuters’ short cut?
RAT RUN R (take) + (A TURN)*
31. White crystalline mineral: see iron mixed with it (early English cladding)
ERIONITE (IRON IT)* in EE
32. Group with common purpose housed in pueblo compound
BLOC Hidden in pueBLO Compound
33. Jeweller’s mineral, quartz-like, I tackle as of old in washing trough
TIGER EYE I GERE in TYE
34. Bamboos requiring little depth with calm sea round rippling
DENDROCALAMUS D + (CALM SEA ROUND)*. A genus of “giant clumping bamboo”, from Greek dendros=tree and kalamos=cane
 
Down
2. Reggae dance: special skill’s being given upward jerk, not constant
SKANK KNACK’S< less C
3. As regards clue coming up – this one’s a belter!
TONKER (RE KNOT)<
4. Might such frontal markings represent Sakti?
TIKAS SAKTI*
5. Memorable colt ridden by Kate
CATCHY C in CATHY. “Memorable” as in a catchy tune.
6. Opponent of dualism in chair uneasily creating consonance?
HARMONISTIC MONIST in CHAIR*
7. Riparian? Steersman goes into one, both losing heads
NILOTE [p]ILOT in [o]NE. A Nilote is an inhabitant of the banks of the Nile
8. Hardened clay, fired, seen in e.g. azulejo
TILLITE LIT in TILE (an azulejo is a Spanish painted and glazed tile)
9. Batting twice bags duck – it does stick out somewhat at the top!
INION O in IN IN. Chambers defines INION as “the external occipital protruberance”. It might help to add “.. of the skull”
10. Scotch has to fill a chap with a hint of uplift
MAUN U in MAN. Scots for “must”, related to “mun”, whichis used a lot by the deepest-Sussex characters in Cold Comfort Farm
11. Asthmatic’s stand-by: nutty pralines, hard inside
SPINHALER H in PRALINES*. An asthma inhaler that uses a kind of propeller to help with the delivery of its contents,
12. Self-confidence shown by e.g. American leaping over bar
ASSURANCE AS US< RANCE (“a prop, shore; a bar”, says Chambers)
17. Mouldy game I found in store
FUNGOID FUN + I in GOD
20. Addict run aground and abandoned, one taken in
STONER ONE in STR[and]
21. Liqueur: take sample from costliest regardless
STREGA Hidden costlieST REGArdless
23. Left in place sacred to Muslims, wherein blacks predominate
HARLEM L in HAREM
25. Male for head left off helmet? He’s belted!
ORION [m]ORION
26. Stand? Eton turns to pop superstar with this
EASEL With “E AS EL”, Eton becomes Elton [John]
27. Mandarin (of a kind) one in this country has reared
KUO-YU YOU in UK, all reversed. Kuo-yü, meaning “national language” is “a form of Mandarin taught all over China”
29. Make down payment on what goes into strong ale (not by round)
ARLE BARLEY less the surrounding BY

9 comments on “Azed 2100”

  1. chris
    #1 - Sun 9th Sep 12, 08:34

    I couldn’t find INK-SAC in my (2008) Chambers. Is that just me being thick, or is this the first occasion when the 2011 edition is needed for an Azed word?

  2. Brian-with-an-eye
    #2 - Sun 9th Sep 12, 08:47

    Chris – ink-sac is in my 1998 Chambers, but out of sequence, coupled with ink-bag.

  3. chris
    #3 - Sun 9th Sep 12, 09:27

    Thanks Brian-with-an-eye. It’s the same in the 2008 edition (so it was just me being thick). This means that, as far as I can tell, there has so far been no need to splash out on buying the 2011 edition. I wonder when the first “new” word will appear in an Azed.

  4. RCWhiting
    #4 - Sun 9th Sep 12, 14:36

    Thanks all
    This was rather too easy for a Sunday struggle!
    Like Andrew I guessed 1ac immediately due to the ‘four words’. This led quickly to ‘harmonistic’ which opened the whole thing and it collapsed without too much effort.
    It might have been so, due to some rather obvious anagram indicators (rippling, nutty etc).

  5. LW
    #5 - Sun 9th Sep 12, 15:39

    17d is [GO (game) + I] in FUND.

  6. Jan
    #6 - Sun 9th Sep 12, 17:32

    Thank you, Andrew – I’ve been doing Azed’s for a while now and I still never notice the contrivance used in 26d! However, I do look out for compound anagrams.

    re. 3d, I couldn’t see why ‘clue’ = KNOT. Have I missed something in Chambers, or am I just being a bit dim?

  7. Bob Sharkey
    #7 - Sun 9th Sep 12, 18:15

    Jan, you have just missed the second listing in Chambers. Clue(2) redirects to clew.

    Andrew, I think the ‘s’ in SKANK is indicated by ‘special’.

  8. RCWhiting
    #8 - Sun 9th Sep 12, 19:12

    2d I prefer Andrew’s since a knack is a special skill and the ‘s’ is there.

  9. Bob Sharkey
    #9 - Sun 9th Sep 12, 20:36

    You’re right on that, RCW, my mistake.

Comments are closed.