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Archive for September 23rd, 2007

Azed 1842 - tut tut (again!)

Posted by linxit on 23rd September 2007

linxit.

Solving time - about 45 mins, with Chambers and Bradfords

After the two uncharacteristic faux pas the previous week, I was surprised to see yet another error creep into this one (see 6 down). I wonder if Azed’s puzzles ever go past a test solver or editor’s gaze before publication. Obviously not, judging from the last couple of weeks! Just standard Grauniad/Observer editorial policy I guess…

Across
1 BO(DYPO=dopy*)PPER
13 TA,TIE - a chat is a small potato of poor quality.
14 BI(DO)N - French word for a container of liquids, e.g. an oil drum. Under the entry in Chambers is an interesting word, bidonville, meaning a shanty town where the dwellings are made from oil drums.
18 SE(YFERT GALA=”gay falter”*)XY - a galaxy with a bright nucleus and inconspicuous spiral arms.
20 BRUTE - a type of spotlight, and Caesar’s last word (in Shakespeare): “Et tu, Brute?”
24 RATTLE,BRAINED=”in beard”* - ref. the conductor Simon Rattle.
25 C(RIN)OIDS - RIN is a Scots form of run, inside disco*
28 A,LAM,ORT
29 W(on),ALER(t) - strange but perfectly acceptable wordplay which improves the surface reading. W would normally represent “won” in a crossword without specifically removing “on” - although according to Chambers, not as in Won, Drawn, Lost etc. but for won (Korean currency).
32 S(EAMANSH)IP - (Means - ah)* inside SIP

Down
1 B(ABY’S BRE)ATH - (by bears)* inside BATH. A pattern’s emerging here. That’s the fourth clue I’ve commented on so far that’s (definition) = (anag) inside (clued word).
2 OLI(oil*),VER(rev rev!)
4 (s)PIN - Monty being Monty Panesar, England cricketer.
5 OD(FOR)CE - there’ve also been a couple of (clued word) inside (anag) clues.
6 PU(up up),L.I. - from the clue, you’d expect there to be 100 afghanis in a pul, but actually there are 100 puli in one afghani. Oops.
8 P(TIS=sit rev)AN - I was surprised to find that to sit can mean to bear.
10 DELAYED DROP (pale,doddery)*
12 P.O.S.,TO BITS
19 G(ARDEN)A - (and,er)* in GA. Never heard of it, but it’s in LA County.
21 U-TRAPS - PART rev inside U/S - I’d always thought that was an abbreviation for useless, but I suppose it’s the same thing.
27 B((ow)L)AH
29 WON - double def, and another meaning of won - an obsolete word for a dwelling. Very confusing, as it’s also a verb meaning to dwell, with past tense wonned or wont. No wonder it’s obsolete.

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