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1. Wee onion
spread round near back. SYBOW (by,
rev., in sow). The string of four common word-manipulation indicators at the end
of the clue makes it difficult to see what’s what cryptically. ‘Spread’ and
‘near’ are the definitions, ‘round’ and ‘back’ the manipulations. A sybow, in
various spellings, is a Scots spring onion.
11. Something
maybe left by writer in trenches is interesting. WARMS (i.e. war MS). It took Dr Watson a while to see how this
clue works. The most tempting reference to latch on to is Hemingway’s A
Farewell to Arms, but that doesn’t account for the unchecked first letter.
It’s not clear why a writer would leave their manuscript in the trenches, but
it may refer to a WW1 poet such as Wilfred Owen who died in combat.
19. Waxy stuff
bringing back of hairstyles to the front?
SPERM (s to start in perms). Having put aside thoughts of There’s
Something About Mary, Dr Watson established that this sperm is the
substance (spermaceti) extracted from sperm whales.
22. Forester especially
comprehends such a measure. STERE
(hidden). A cubic measure of timber provides a nice semi-& lit.
opportunity.
31. Describing
treacherous girl, Anacreontic about one ‘speaking properly’? TARPEIAN (a RP in Teian). An amalgam of
Classical references that are explained in their Chambers entries.
Tarpeia betrayed Rome to its enemies in early legend and gave her name to the
Tarpeian rock from which traitors were thrown. The Greek poet Anacreon hailed
from the city of Teos and its name is applied to his work. RP is Received
Pronunciation.
32. Musical
expression, composite, for one historically i/c role calls? MUSTER-MASTER (mus. term aster). A clever charade
splits the solution in a far from obvious way. An aster is a member of the
Compositae family of plants. A muster-master must have mastered musters once.
33. Do they set
exams fool (in pieces) missed in Prestatyn?
ESTYN (Prestatyn less letters of prat).
Azed is careful to indicate that
the subtracted letters are not contiguous. Another semi-& lit. clue, as the
solution is a Welsh education authority.
1. Humperdinck’s
invention – EH’s No. 1 in charts, arranged with REM and timps. SPRECHSTIMME (anag. inc. c(harts)). A highly
improbable arrangement for either of the Engelbert Humperdincks (the original a
composer, his namesake a 1960s pop singer). All is explained under the Chambers
entry for sprechgesang (new to the 2006 edition). All, that is, except
for the role of REM and the timps, and EH’s chart No. 1 (Release Me).
3. Live
through a tough winter? This thing’s unsettling. OUTWEAR (comp. anag.). Dr Watson is an avid collector of Azed’s
devices for indicating a composite anagram. Azed states that there should be
something in the clue to show that the solution and surplus letters (‘this’ +
‘thing’) are derived from the anagram material (‘a tough winter’). Here the
question-mark seems to indicate the clue should be read as “What’s ‘a tough
winter’? It’s the unsettling of the solution and ‘thing’”. ‘Live through’ is
the definition.
4. Process
occurring when core of herring is encased in salt? WRIT ((her)r(ing) in wit). ‘Process’ is a legal term for a writ. ‘Salt’
is sauciness or wit.
9. Trendy
Aussie youth, not old, making the old mutter.
ROYNE (Roy ne). Dr Watson’s response on seeing ‘not old’ is
to look for an O to remove, but using it for ‘ne’ is a trick Azed’s pulled a
few times..
14. Cornish
mineral? Another of those turned up in lake.
ERINITE (tin, rev., in Erie).
Cornwall is known for its tin mines, and erinite (a copper ore) is also
found there.
23. Around Arkansas I pay inordinately for
US gum? APIARY (Ar in anag.). A ‘gum’ in the US may be a beehive.
‘Inordinate’ can mean ‘unrestrained’ as well as ‘excessive’, but not ‘out of
order’.
26. What was
next in line is this. NEIST (hidden). The hidden word
indicator is itself well hidden after the definition ‘what was next’.
27. Murphy’s
rule accepted by one of his countrymen? Yes, initially. PRATY (r in Pat + y). A murphy and a
praty are potatoes, and Pat and Murphy are both Irishmen.
Across: 12. PLEURISY-ROOT (anag. of
role your spit); 13. RUSTICAL
(anag.); 15. ORGANON (org(y)
anon.); 16. CLIENT (lien in ct.); 17. UPSET (hidden rev.); 18. ANADEM;
23. ASSURE (ass + ure); 25. IN
PUP (first p in pin-up ‘buried’); 28.
MINIMS (m in minis; order of nuns); 29.
INERTIA (anag.); 34. STEWY (we, rev.,
in sty). Down: 1. BESHINE (shin in bee);
5. PICOTÉ (cot in pie); 6.
ASARUM (a r in Musa, rev.); 8. ARDAS
(ARD (acute respiratory disease) + as);
10. MONOTREME (not re in mome);
11. STONEMASONRY (anag. in story);
14. PLATINOUS (Latino in pus);
20. PUNIEST (pun I est.); 24.
SMARMY (MS, rev. + army); 30. UPAS (a2
in ups).
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