Azed provides a plain puzzle this week
I found this be a typical Azed puzzle with the usual meticulously clued entries.
I didn’t realise that PROXIMO meant next month. Presumably if this puzzle appears in an anthology or book in the future, there will have to be a statement saying the puzzle was originally published in March.
I think there was a minor typo in the clue at 13 across. Turnberry Golf Course has two Rs in its location. There was no impact on the wordplay.
| No | Detail |
| Across | |
| 1 |
Protective panel pal’s contrived with barrel in cabin (10) SPLASHBACK (piece of glass, plastic, etc, or area of tiles covering the part of a wall behind a washbasin to protect against splashing) Anagram of (contrived) PALS + (B [barrel] contained in [in] SHACK [cabin]) SPLA* SH (B) ACK |
| 11 |
Scottish git whenever led by copper (4) CUIF (Scottish word for lout or fool; Scottish git) CU (chemical symbol for copper) + IF (whenever) CU IF |
| 12 |
April first traps bovine creature (7) PROXIMO (next month) PRIMO (first) containing (traps) OX (a bovine creature) PR (OX) IMO |
| 13 |
Returning buggies maybe driven from tee at Turnberry? (5) STRAK (Scottish form of the past tense of strike – STRUCK [hit a golf ball from the tee at Turnberry perhaps. Turnberry, one of ex-President Trump’s golf courses in Scotland]) KARTS (go-KARTS; buggies) reversed (returning) STRAK< |
| 15 |
Excess creating start of lipoma in stomach (4) GLUT (excess quantity) L (first letter of [start of] LIPOMA) contained in (in) GUT (stomach) G (L) UT |
| 16 |
Beloved, if old tenor joined in – one such? (7) CHANTER (singer; a tenor for example) (AN [archaic {old} term for if] + T [tenor]) contained in (joined in) CHER (dear; beloved) CH (AN T) ER |
| 17 |
Sandstone came into view with potassium in (6) ARKOSE (a sandstone rich in feldspar grains, formed from granite, etc) AROSE (came into view) containing (with … in) K (chemical symbol for potassium) AR (K) OSE |
| 18 |
To seek possible rentier, make a show of head-rhymes? (13, 3 words) HUNT THE LETTER (affect [make a show of] alliteration; HEAD-RHYME is defined as alliteration) HUNT (seek) + THE LETTER (a RENTIER is person who has, or who lives on, an income from rents or investments., i.e. someone who LETs property) HUNT THE LETTER |
| 20 |
Dishes, alas, I ruined HM swallowed (7) AERIALS (wires, rods, dishes etc exposed to receive or emit electromagnetic waves) Anagram of (ruined) ALAS I containing (swallowed) (ER [Elizabeth Regina, Queen; Her Majesty [HM]) A (ER) IALS* |
| 24 |
Lodestone from North America: gun metal fashioned with art (13, 2 words) NATURAL MAGNET (lodestone) NA (North America) + an anagram of (fashioned with) GUN METAL and ART NA TURAL MAGNET* |
| 27 |
Loose women? They’re popular with sailors (6) BROADS (prostitutes; loose women) BROADS (the Norfolk Broads are a popular spot for yachtsmen and other who like boats of various kinds; popular with sailors) BROADS |
| 28 |
Hard part of cell, on strike, leading to end of enterprise (7) LITHITE (calcareous body present in some animal cells. I thought calcareous related to chalk which is a soft mineral, so I’m a bit confused by the definition using ‘hard’, but I suppose within a cell chalk is relatively hard) LIT (burning; shining; on) + HIT (strike) + E (last letter of [end of] ENTERPRISE) LIT HIT E |
| 30 |
Larval discharge secreted in taller pines (4) LERP (in Australia, a scalelike, waxy, protective, edible secretion produced on the leaves of certain plants by louse larvae) LERP (hidden word in [secreted in] TALLER PINES) LERP |
| 31 |
Dried meat, food without stuffing in a way? (5) VIFDA (in Shetland, meat hung and dried without salt) FOOD excluding the middle letters (without stuffing) OO contained in (in) VIA (road; way) VI (FD) A |
| 32 |
Charger most curse in race running wild (7) ACCUSER (one who brings a charge against another; charger) CUSS (curse) excluding the final letter (most) S contained in (in) an anagram of (running wild) RACE AC (CUS) ER* |
| 33 |
Others addressed by southerners recalled song line (4) Y’ALL (a term used in the Southern United States to refer to everyone, contraction of YOU ALL) LAY (song) reversed (recalled) + L (line) YAL< L |
| 34 |
Around end of reign the loser’s wretched … this? (10) THRONELESS (how an ex-monarch may be described when his / her reign comes to an end) Anagram of (wretched) THE LOSERS containing (around) N (last letter of [end of] REIGN) THRO (N) ELESS* |
| Down | |
| 1 |
Poet’s family shield that includes clubs on the spot (7) SCUCHIN (Spenserian [poet] form of SCUTCHEON or ESCUTCHEON [family shield]) (SUCH [that] containing [includes] C [clubs]) + IN (on the spot) S (C) UCH IN |
| 2 |
Youngster grips us, hot for exercise in gym (6) PUSH-UP (gymnastic exercise performed face down, raising and lowering the body on the arms while keeping the trunk and legs rigid) PUP (youngster) containing (grips) (US + H [hot]) P (US H) UP |
| 3 |
Landed with some long boring list (6) LITANY (a long list or catalogue, evocative or merely boring) LIT (alighted; landed) + ANY (some) LIT ANY |
| 4 |
Treads rashly in paths spoiling one of gaiters (11) SPATTERDASH (an old type of long gaiter or legging to protect the trouser leg from being spattered with mud) Anagram of (rashly) TREADS contained in (in) an anagram of (spoiling) PATHS SPAT (TERDAS*) H* |
| 5 |
Arab covering to hitch to the ears (4) HYKE (alternative spelling of HAIK [oblong cloth worn by Arabs on the head and body]) HYKE (sounds like [to the ears] HIKE [both HIKE and HITCH can be defined by jerk]) HYKE |
| 6 |
Crane or rook interrupting a festival (6) ARGALA (the adjutant stork of India. Storks and cranes are similar types of bird) R (rook) contained in (interrupting) (A + GALA [festival]) A (R) GALA |
| 7 |
Old bloke accepts new form of retrial linked to another (11) CORRELATIVE (mutually linked) COVE (old British slang for a man [bloke]) containing (accepts) an anagram of (new form of) RETRIAL CO (RRELATI*) VE |
| 8 |
George is one working without control, independent in scheme (5) PILOT (George is Royal Air Force slang for the automatic [one working without control] PILOT of an aircraft) I (independent) contained in (in) PLOT (scheme) P (I) LOT |
| 9 |
Entertain American in almost half his home (5) AMUSE (entertain) US (United States; American) contained in (in) AME (3 of the 7 [almost half] of the letters of AMERICA [home to an inhabitant of the United States]) AM (US) E |
| 10 |
Unfinished anthem, a very small thing (4) MOTE (speck of dust; anything very small) MOTET (anthem or church cantata) excluding the final letter (unfinished) T MOTE |
| 14 |
Latticework structure made of timber, badly fitted inside (7) TREILLE (trellis; latticework) ILL (badly) contained in (fitted inside) TREE (a source of timber) TRE (ILL) E |
| 19 |
Jockey Lester, accepting tribunal’s conclusion, gives fresh account (7) RETELLS (gives a fresh account of a story) Anagram of (jockey) LESTER containing (accepting) L (final letter of [conclusion] TRIBUNAL) RETEL (L) S* |
| 21 |
A tricky fence? Point for each (6) RASPER (in hunting, a difficult fence) RAS (headland; point) + PER (for each) RAS PER |
| 22 |
Seaside clan, swimming? This with seals possibly can impart stings (6) CNIDAE (nematocyst [a stinging organ in jellyfishes, etc]) CNIDAE (the phrase SEASIDE CLAN* in the clue is an anagram [swimming] of the entry CNIDAE a [with] SEALS [another word in the clue]) CNIDAE |
| 23 |
Training requires such sustenance, spanning time (6) METALS (rails of a railway; training requires this) MEALS (sustenance) containing (spanning) T (time) ME (T) ALS |
| 25 |
Show concern (as some do) when ring’s concealed in palm (5) ARECA (a tree of the betel nut genus of palms) ARE CARING (if you ARE CARING you show concern) excluding (when … concealed) RING ARECA |
| 26 |
Link husband added to necklace (5) TORCH (in Chambers LINK2 is defined as a TORCH of pitch and tow) TORC (a necklace or armband in the form of a twisted metal band) + H (husband) TORC H |
| 27 |
Book one doing time for robbery (4) BLAG (theft from the person, aggravated by violence or intimidation; plundering) B (book) + LAG (convict; prisoner; one doing time) B LAG |
| 29 |
Fellow (with terrible reputation?) removing daughter from bed (4) IVAN (reference IVAN the Terrible [1530-1584], the Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584) DIVAN (bed) excluding (removing) D (daughter) IVAN |
Thank you for the blog, definitely needed Chambers this week, quite a few obscure words. STRAK and LITHITE not in my edition but clearly had to be correct.
Thanks, duncanshiell. I had a very slow start with this, then took off after CORRELATIVE. I have seen an = if before, but forget it from puzzle to puzzle. I did not know the phrase HUNT THE LETTER, so did not understand the definition, but guessed from the cryptic part of the clue. “Training” is a bit of a stretch, but not unfair, and gettable from the clue. I still have not finished the previous week’s carte blanche–too much going on in real life. We are finally getting widespread distribution of vaccine in the US, after the calamitous response (?) of last year.
I thought there was something familiar about the clue for NATURAL MAGNET but I’ve been unable to find it on this website. Has Azed used it before, I wonder?
Not as I can recall but I have only been doing Azed since 1995, it may have cropped up in other crosswords maybe ?
Also, unlike some of Azed’s purported American colloquialisms, I actually hear and use “y’all” all the time.
Don’t blame Azed, Cineraria: most of us Down Under have no idea where Chambers gets its info from when it says (Aust) or (NZ). Time for a tinnie…
Azed on top form here. Online led me to both Turnbery and Turnberry. As golf is second only to tennis in the pantheon of lunatic human pastimes, I wasn’t bothered checking. Besides, we all slog each Sunday with the fact that Scottish gits can’t spell. Apologies to loonapick and others.
Stefan
I had a total mental block with 16ac. Only one letter to get at the end and CHANTER turned up on a web search but I totally failed to see what it had to do with the clue.
Thanks Duncan. A couple I could not fully parse this week (METALS and ARECA) so thank you.
Made a mess of MOTE and PROXIMO, having PROXIME instead; and gave up on CNIDAE. Apart from that fairly plain sailing with some interesting new words such as SCUCHIN and VIFDA. Thanks to Azed and duncansheill.
VIFDA is one of those words that you cannot believe exists when you solve the clue and then you find it in Chambers.