The usual solid workout from Azed. In his clue-setting competitions, there is an extraordinary preponderance of comp. anags. but in his own crosswords he has apparently only had one or at most two. Until now, and I don’t remember three before.
Definitions underlined.
Across
1 Violent novels portraying charger in spirit (12)
SPLATTERPUNK
s(platter)punk
10 Streaks in coal? Could be such sets, OK, when mined (7)
CLARAIN
A comp. anag. &lit. where [clarain sets OK] … [streaks in coal]
11 Pale, like a gannet that’s deprived of half feed (4)
GREY
gre{{fe}ed}y
12 Aussie bird? A hearty sport, twice (4)
RURU
RU [Rugby Union] repeated — I think: Azed’s judgement that Rugby Union is a hearty sport is no doubt true, but is there something else going on here?
13 Edrich batting, a combative fellow of old (6)
CHIDER
(Edrich)*
15 Less hard work than a hammer? See chippy align one (7, 2 words)
NAIL GUN
(align)* un
17 Commoner section of people believe (giving his word contentiously!) (4)
PLEB
Hidden in peoPLE Believe — I’m not quite sure about that bit in brackets but it seems to be a reference to the fact that the word is informal, though what the exclam is doing I can’t see
18 Object in fur that can be shipped (8)
SENDABLE
s(end)able
21 Not seated? That may be disturbing to one (7)
STANDEE
Another comp. anag. the details of which escape me slightly, but it seems to be [not seated] … [standee to], with the last word as a definition — the trouble with this interpretation is that the anagram indicator (disturbing) is in the middle of the words to be anagrammed, which doesn’t seem right, so I wonder
23 Die, peace replacing speech as part of honouring (7)
DECEASE
decoration with oration replaced by ease
25 Investigation methods soon entering tangled gorse mostly (8)
ORGANONS
anon in (gors{e})* — this is the dodgy plural to which Azed refers: in Chambers it is given as ‘organa’
26 Footballer from number kept in reserve (4)
INCE
i(n)ce ref Paul Ince, the footballer who retired in 2007, but I suppose that doesn’t stop him from being a footballer
28 Hush when foreigner comes in, striking (7)
SALIENT
s(alien)t
31 Soup? Half of what it’s in, left simmering, female ignored (6)
TURTLE
tur{een} (le{f}t)*
32 Steps formerly displaying charm if half cut? Exactly (4)
GRIS
grisgris cut in half — I’m not clear about the need for ‘Exactly’, or for the question mark
33 Like some drums? See one beside backing (4)
OTIC
(c 1 to)rev. — ref the eardrum
34 Small ship, obscure in a way before one joins company (7)
MISTICO
mist 1 co — again I can’t see the relevance of ‘in a way’. If I was setting these clues they’d be rather shorter. And probably unsound as a result.
35 I’ll acquire interest in estate ditch – general fell in? (12)
REMAINDER-MAN
re(main derm)an — fell = derm, both in their skin connotations
Down
1 Film editor cited poor crits hammered, i.e. rejected (12, 2 words)
SCRIPT DOCTOR
(cited poor crits – ie)*
*2 Stopper (4)
PLUG
The word for which we have to set a clue
3 Wealthy Springbok (not Habana) nearly ruined (6)
LARNEY
(nearly)* — Bryan Habana the Springbok rugby player is black, and larney refers to white South Africans
4 Amulet in metal is man-made (8)
TALISMAN
Hidden in meTAL IS MAN-made
5 Lacking bit at the end/, like a disgruntled waiter? (7)
TIPLESS
2 defs — if a waiter had no tips he would be disgruntled
6 What gets Hindu trembling with fear – this fiend? (4)
RAHU
Yet another comp. anag. with [Hindu fear] … [Rahu fiend]
7 Pointed bean appearing before end of July (4)
URDY
urd {Jul}y
8 Are they pointless? Not quite, or not at all (7)
NEEDLES
needles{s}
9 Crowning garlands worn irk eye badly in part of mass (12, 2 words)
KYRIE ELEISON
Above [indicated by ‘crowning’] leis on is (irk eye)* — on = worn
14 Endlessly senseless hullabaloo ensuring good breeding? (7)
INANDIN
inan{e} din — this defeated me for a while because there was no word ‘inandin’ in Chambers, but it’s ‘in-and-in’ (see under ‘in’)
16 Rule circumvented by a copper keeping in line (7)
ABREAST
a b(r)east — circumvented = surrounded
19 Ballerina? That’s her in English habit (8)
DANSEUSE
dans (the french for ‘in’, so her — i.e. the danseuse’s — ‘in’) E use
20 Crafty poems about ‘do’ (as it was called) (7)
VERSUTE
vers(ut)e — ut is an early version of do [-re-mi]
22 Like a US ferret I catch, brought up on fish (7)
TENIOID
The US ferret is a strip or band — (I net)rev. o’ id
24 I turn out with maiden free of ornamental extras (6)
UNTRIM
(I turn)* m
27 Make a face when losing top card, depressing (4)
GRIM
grim{ace}
29 Face having to exchange portions in supermarket (4)
ALDI
dial with its two halves reversed — I had dial initially, the clue apparently leading to both dial and Aldi, but I had forgotten that Azed is happy to use names like this in his answers
30 Rock-forming mineral, not for surfacing material (4)
MICA
{for}mica
*anagram
Thanks for the blog, John. At 17 ac, I think there is a reference to the Andrew Mitchell M.P, controversy – did he call police officers plebs? As an MP he could be called a commoner…
I also think STANDEE is an & lit clue (Azed’s comp. anags usually are), and Paul Ince’s son Tom is also a footballer.
Thanks Azed and John
21ac: Further to bridgesong@1, I read the cryptic grammar as “That” = “NOT SEATED” and “one” = STANDEE, so that the clue effectively reads [NOT SEATED] may be disturbing [TO STANDEE].
I accidentally hit Submit instead of Preview on my previous comment, so apologies for the italics staying on when I meant to turn them off after “That“.
In this week’s notes AZED still has Rowe, not Roe, as the streaker’s surname.
Quick warning about today’s AZED.
There is a mistake in the numbering of the across clues i.e. there is no no 29 across on the grid, though there is a clue for it. I’m assuming 29 should be 30, 30 should be 31 and so on, though I haven’t yet completed the crossword, so can’t guarantee that this is a valid assumption.
Never mind the numbering, I can’t get it from the site at all.
Claire (5): I agree that seems to be how the clue numbering works (or not). What should be 30 has been listed as 29 and the error propagates through the rest of them. Not that I’ve completed it yet, either, but I’ve got most of the sw corner, which confirms your assumption.
sidey (6): me neither, so for once I’ve bought the paper. Well, got it free in Waitrose, if we’re being picky.