A standard Azed this week with its usual mix of everyday and obscure words, all delivered from precise cluing.
There’s always a few clues that give you a foothold, even for some of the less common words in the grid, as the wordplay is clear. Later though you get onto the more difficult but very fair clues leading to words that you are unlikely to use when chatting to friends. I started in the lower left with REASONER, CONIN, FENT and FRAY.
The clue that really stood out for me today was the one for PITON with the phrase MOUNTAINEER’S PEG serving as both the definition and the compound anagram. It was only when writing the blog that I saw how clever this was. When I solved the puzzle, it was obvious that the entry was going to be PITON but I didn’t get the wordplay until I started the blog.
There were though some fairly simple constructions in the cluing,
none more so than he clues for WELTERING and COUNTESS which each simply involved deleting a letter from another word refereed to in the wordplay.(SWELTERING and COUNTLESS).
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
|
1
|
Solid player’s half miscued ace, unbeatable? (8)
|
Anagram of (miscued) (SOLID and PLA [half of PLAYER])
|
SPADILLO (the ace of spades in the games of ombre and quadrille; an unbeatable card)
|
|
7
|
Hump on a toad? It’s pear-shaped (4)
|
PIPA (a toad of the PIPA genus of S American toads, the female being noted for carrying her developing young on her back. Hump can have a variety of meanings but in this case it can be taken to be mean carrying something on its back)
|
PIPA (a traditional Chinese pear-shaped lute) double definition
|
|
10
|
Member of Oxford hall – university lecturer leads song in one (8)
|
(U [university] + L [lecturer] + ARIA [song]) all contained in (in) AN (one) A (U L ARIA) N |
AULARIAN (at Oxford University, a member of a hall, as distinguished from a collegian)
|
|
11
|
Party to love, held in local? (4, 2 words)
|
O (zero; love score in tennis) contained in (held in) INN (local [pub]) IN (O) N |
IN ON (party to)
|
|
12
|
Sale: don’t start it in Nov., I scribbled (9)
|
(END IT [don’t start]) contained in (in) an anagram of (scribbled) NOV I V (END IT) ION* |
VENDITION (sale)
|
|
13
|
Area for passengers (cases cooler) (5)
|
CA (cases) + BIN (a stand or case with compartments in which to store bottled wine in a wine cellar; cooler)
|
CABIN (area for passengers)
|
|
14
|
It has edible flowers a worm chewed up (5)
|
Anagram of (chewed up) A WORM
|
MOWRA (variant spelling of MAHUA [a kind of butter-tree with edible flowers; an alcohol distilled from its flowers)
|
|
16
|
Sort of balance that’s summoned skill when going backwards (8, 2 words)
|
(PAGED [summoned] + ART [skill]) all reversed (when going backwards) (TRA DE GAP)< |
TRADE GAP (the amount by which a country’s visible imports exceed its visible exports in value; a sort of [economic] balance)
|
|
18
|
Lengthy US screed badly penned by very good husband (8)
|
ILL (badly) contained in (penned by (MEGA [very good] + H [husband]) MEG (ILL) A H |
MEGILLAH (a lengthy or tedious account, a screed in American [US] slang)
|
|
21
|
Aubergine mum marked with spots (8)
|
MA (mum) + DAPPLE (mark with spots)
|
MAD-APPLE (an aubergine)
|
|
26
|
Grand lady Luxembourg picked out from very many (8)
|
COUNTLESS (innumerable; very many) excluding (picked out from) L (International Vehicle Registration for Luxembourg)
|
COUNTESS (lady of the same rank as an earl; grand lady)
|
|
27
|
Not in favour of being involved with poisonous liquid (5)
|
CON (not in favour of) + IN (involved)
|
CONIN (a liquid, highly poisonous alkaloid found in hemlock)
|
|
29
|
Silverstone laps – such a distance? (5)
|
VERST (hidden word in [laps] SILVERSTONE)
|
VERST (a Russian measure of length, approx 1.07km )
|
|
30
|
Open, and spurt may result when you do it (9)
|
Anagram of (may result) OPEN and SPURT
|
UNSTOPPER (take the cork or other STOPPER out of jar, vessel, bottle etc to OPEN it and a SPURT may result)
|
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31
|
Modern poet, not on crack (4)
|
FENTON (reference James FENTON [1949 – date; {modern}], English poet) excluding (not) ON
|
FENT (slit or crack)
|
|
32
|
Refinement, as in ‘cast’ (8)
|
EG (for example; as) contained in (in) ELANCE (throw as a lance; cast) EL (EG) ANCE |
ELEGANCE (refinement)
|
|
33
|
Extremes of fervour always apparent in brawl (4)
|
FR (first and last letters of [extremes of] FERVOUR) + AY (always)
|
FRAY (brawl)
|
|
34
|
Crazy, like old kitchen after modern make-over? (8)
|
A RANGE is an enclosed kitchen fireplace fitted with appliances of various kinds, suggesting that a RANGE is associated with an old kitchen. If an old kitchen is given a modern makeover it could be said to have been DE-RANGED. However, I think many modern kitchens also contain products marketed as RANGE cookers.
|
DERANGED (insane; crazy)
|
| Down | |||
| No. | Clue | Wordplay | Entry |
|
1
|
If old, court goes into chief points in private room (7)
|
(AN [archaic form of if; if old] + CT [court]) contained in (goes into) SUM (chief points) S (AN CT) UM |
SANCTUM (private room)
|
|
2
|
Hindu festival (NB not found in one Indian state) (4)
|
PUNJAB (an Indian state) excluding (not found in) NB
|
PUJA (Hindu festival)
|
|
3
|
A research place soon going round Director recklessly (9, 3 words, apostrophe) |
A + LAB (laboratory; research place) + (ANON [soon] containing [going round] D [Director]) A L’AB AN (D) ON |
À L’ABANDON (recklessly) Is this really 3 words? Does that imply that IT’S would be 2 words?
|
|
4
|
Help offered up inveigles greedy Chinese native (7)
|
(AID reversed [going up; down clue]) containing (inveigles) AVID (greedy) D (AVID) IA< |
DAVIDIA (a shrub or small tree native to China)
|
|
5
|
String of tinsel in a genipap tree (pretty old) (6)
|
LINAGE (hidden word in [string of] TINSEL IN A GENIPAP)
|
LINAGE (ancestry; reference ancestral tree; tree pretty old)
|
|
6
|
Mad when banged up inside, convict displays place for pin-ups? (6, 2 words)
|
Anagram of (when banged up) MAD contained in (inside) LAG (convict) LA (D MA*) G |
LAD MAG (a magazine aimed at young men interested in drink, sport, adventure, etc, usually illustrated by photographs of semi-nude young women; place for pin-ups)
|
|
7
|
Mountaineers’ peg? This gear men use possibly (5)
|
This is one of Azed’s compound anagrams. MOUNTAINEERS PEG is an anagram of (possibly) GEAR MEN USE and PITON
|
PITON (a mountaineer’s peg)
|
|
8
|
Hands round contents of pool, right and left? They assist the needy (8, 2 words) |
PAWS (hands) containing (round) (OO [middle letters of {contents of} POOL] + R [right] + L [left]) P (OO R L) AWS |
POOR LAWS (LAWS relating to the support of the poor; they help the needy)
|
|
9
|
Delicious food is served up in this former French protectorate (5)
|
MANNA (delicious food for body or mind) reversed (served up; down clue) ANNAM< |
ANNAM (ANNAM was a French protectorate encompassing the central region of Vietnam
|
|
15
|
Rolling about in the sea, very hot when topless (9)
|
SWELTERING (very hot) excluding the first letter [when topless] S
|
WELTERING (rolling about in the sea)
|
|
17
|
Participant in debate? It’s rare one’s trounced (8)
|
Anagram of (trounced) RARE ONE’S
|
REASONER (participant in debate)
|
|
19
|
Relating to church of Rome. I’ll yield to age in what’s spoken therein (7)
|
LATIN (language of the Church in Rome, and people in olden days) with I replaced by (yielding to) ERA (age) LAT ERA N |
LATERAN (relating to the Church of St John LATERAN at Rome, the Pope’s cathedral church)
|
|
20
|
Lutes broadcast in sharp focus, crowded together roughly (7)
|
Anagram of (broadcast) LUTES contained in (in) HD (high definition; sharp focus) H (USTLE*) D |
HUSTLED (hastened roughly; crowded together roughly)
|
|
22
|
Oar, very soft inside, getting to heave in rough water? (6)
|
PP (pianissimo; very soft) contained in (inside) POLE (oar) PO (PP) LE |
POPPLE (heave choppily; heave in rough water)
|
|
23
|
Casual worker evading tax maybe, member breaking rule shockingly (6)
|
MP (Member [of Parliament]) contained in (breaking) an anagram of (shockingly) RULE LU (MP) ER |
LUMPER (one who operates within the system of using self-employed workmen for a particular job, especially in order to evade tax and national insurance payments)
|
|
24
|
Graze sheep initially on place for links? (5)
|
S (first letter of [initially] SHEEP) + CUFF (the place where [CUFF] links go on a man’s shirt)
|
SCUFF (graze)
|
|
25
|
Disjointed, near to ringing communications giant (5)
|
BY (near to) containing (ringing) ITT (International Telephone & Telegraph Corporation; communications giant) B (ITT) Y |
BITTY (disjointed)
|
|
29
|
Chauffeur locating carbon in filter (4)
|
SYE (strain; filter) containing (locating … in) C (carbon) SY (C) E |
SYCE (chauffeur)
|
Thanks duncan. I’m going to have to buy some more fingers as I miscounted in 7d and couldn’t work out the wordplay although I was sure it must be a compound anagram.
7a has yet another bit to it, hump as in ‘he had the hump with his boss’ can be substituted with ‘pip’. I’m not sure the carrying of young is relevant.
13a
CA + BIN
I note that BIN and COOLER are both slang words for prison.
I had a problem with 25 down, as these days the telecoms giant (in the USA, anyway) is AT&T. ITT is an engineering conglomerate, although it did start life as a telephone company.