Azed 2190

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[If you’re attending York S&B please see comments 32&33] - here

A medium-difficulty Azed (for me) this time. As usual, no problems with the excellent clues (apart from a slight eyebrow-raise at 1d), but there were a few mistakes/misprints in both the online and PDF versions (I don’t know about the actual newspaper) that really shouldn’t have slipped through the editorial net. (By Muphry’s law, this criticism means that there are probably several typos or other errors below.)

 
 
 
 
 
 
Across
1. BEAT-UP A ram must ____, much the worse for wear (6) 
A ram must BE A TUP”, tup being a dialect word for ram. The word “must” is missing in the online versions (not the PDF), which spoils the cryptic reading.
5. SISALS Rope-makers having lives restricted by endless cut back (6) 
IS (lives) reverse of SLAS[h]. This is presumably the “logical but somewhat questionable” plural referred to in the notes. This was incorrectly shown as 6a in the PDF, and the next clue as 11a.
10. ENDURO Long-distance race – messed up Round One, on dropping out (6) 
(ROUND ONE)* less ON – Enduro is a long-distance off-road motorcycle race
12. OUTLIE Dark blue tile, cracked, to remain in the open? Rarely (6) 
OU (Oxford University, whose traditional colour is dark blue) + TILE*
13. PARRYING Railway enters cutting, turning aside (8) 
RY in PARING
14. ASTRAGAL Moulding of a star with investment of a grand (8) 
A G in ASTRAL (of a star)
15. SMILE I’ll cut trees back to make a beam (5) 
I in reverse of ELMS. An example of Azed’s care in avoiding the dubiously grammatical “I cut trees..” where “I” is the letter rather than the personal pronoun
16. FINCH E.g. Peter, one of many demonstrating charm? (5) 
Double definition: Peter Finch, actor; and “charm” is a collective noun for finches
18. TUTELAGE Charge made by leader of Trinovantes as Roman eagle wavering (8) 
T[rinovantes] + UT (Latin “as”) + EAGLE*
21. TETCHIER Bite inside layer that’s increasingly peppery (8) 
ETCH in TIER
24. RAKEE Inclination around start of evening for something like ouzo (5) 
E[vening] in RAKE. An aniseed-flavoured drink (as is Ouzo) from Turkey and thereabouts, more commonly (I think) spelled “raki.”
26. STERN Hard old gang leader causing a fair bit of consternation (5) 
Hidden in conSTERNation, and two definitions: “hard” is obvious; the other is from a Zionist group called the Stern Gang
28. KNACKERS King’s English penned by cranky, doddery old hack ends up here? (8) 
K + E in CRANKS*, showing that “cranky” in the clue – which in any case makes no sense – must be a mistake. In the online versions the apostrophe of King’s is misprinted as a semicolon.
29. SNUB NOSE After backward rolls one’s damaged part of pug’s face? (8, 2 words) 
Reverse of BUNS ([bread] rolls) + ONES*
30. SAPEGO Former skin disease to drain self-confidence (6) 
SAP EGO. A Shakesperean spelling of “serpigo”, used for various skin diseases
31. SHELTA Travellers use this – such tips are given by spiel that’s rendered deviously (6) 
Composite anagram: (SPIEL THAT’S)* = SHELTA TIPS. Shelta is a language used by (particularly Irish) Travellers
32. SHADOW Trouble experienced with slut around? (6) 
HAD (experienced) in SOW (“abusive term for a fat, lazy, greedy or sluttish person”)
33. HAREEM You’ll find wives congregating here are absorbed in a bit of sewing (6) 
ARE in HEM – variant spelling of “harem”
Down
1. BEPESTER Annoy greatly, as tiresome fellow interrupting pub drink? (8) 
REST in BEER. I think the clue is rather weakened by tha fact that, although “pest” and “[be]pester” seem not to be etymologically related, the modern sense of “pester” is influenced by “pest”
2. A DROITE Keep this on the autoroutes? Roadie’s worried about it (7, 2 words) 
T (dialect “it”) in ROADIE. A DROITE is French for “to/on the right”, which drivers in France should be.
3. TURTLE-NECKED Tenter lucked out, reaching top of crag? (12) 
(TENTER TUCKED); “crag” here means the neck, which a turtle-necked sweater would cover
4. POISHA Some Bangladeshi cash, I, in old money one quarter of an anna (6) 
I in POSH (old slang for money) + A[nna]. A unit of currency on Bangladesh, also spelt “paisa”
5. SONTAG Knitted cape (from Sweden on label) (6) 
S ON TAG
6. STRAIGHTENER Bung the last of veg, cooked, in sieve (12)
(THE [ve]G)* in STRAINER. This word and “bung” are both slang for a bribe
7. ALIGN Ditzy gal with ‘in’ dress (5) 
(GAL IN)*
8. LINACRE College: learner having entered one must accept rule (7) 
L + IN (entered) + R[ule] in ACE (one). A recently-founded Oxford college, named after a 15/16th century scholar, and not a similar-sounding footballer.
9. SEIL Colander remains upside down (4) 
Reverse of LIES (remains). This is Chambers’ seil1, cross-referenced to “sile”, a strainer
11. NAAM Seizure of a kind starts on nerves and activates muscles (4) 
First letters of Nerves And Activates Muscles. The word means “distraint”, so a seizure in a legal rather than medical sense
17. HORNBEAM Hardwood tree, note, coated with old frostiness in the morning (8) 
NB in HORE (Spenserian form of hoar [frost]) + AM
19. UM AND AH Speak hesitantly, as genial pop, first to last (7, 3 words) 
HUMAN (genial) DA (father = pop), with the H moved to the end
20. FIESOLE English well in line for Tuscan location (7) 
E + SO in FILE. Fiesole is a town near Florence
22. ERENOW Partners at the table holding dab up earlier (6) 
Reverse of ONER (an expert = dab) in E + W. I would have expected this to be ERE NOW, but Chambers gives both one- and two-word versions
23. THRUSH Mavis, displaying fungal disease, hurts badly – hospital follows (6) 
HURTS* + H, and two definitions, mavis being another name for the thrush (rather more attractive than the Latin name of the genus: Turdus)
25. KALPA A pal’s shattered after end of work – a very long day! (5) 
[wor]K + (A PAL)*. In Hinduism, a “day of Brahma”, equal to 4320 million years. So, yes, quite a long one.
27. RAST Cur is cut with this, once scratched (4) 
With R AS T, “cur” becomes “cut”.
28. KISS Bites of ___ etc melting could show softest bickies (4) 
Composite anagram: (SOFTEST BICKIES) * = BITES OF KISS ETC. A kiss can be a “melt-in-the-mouth biscuit”, so the blank itself is the definition.

2 comments on “Azed 2190”

  1. 28ac should be KNACKERY, (KE+CRANKY*). Cranky in the clue is another adjective modifying the “old hack”. Admittedly this means that the King’s English is ending up in the knackery, but perhaps that’s why there’s a question mark?

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