Azed No 2261 Plain (4 Oct 2015)

reviewed by Dr Watson for & lit. – The Azed Slip Archive

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F

OUR easy ‘hidden’ clues, at 19ac, 31ac, 1dn and 25dn should get solvers off to a flying start in this straightforward competition puzzle. An atlas may help with two geographical references, though Azed’s description of one German city would appear open to question.

Notes to the clues:

ACROSS

11.     Slight speech defect  SLUR (2 mngs)  It’s pleasure to see two different meanings (albeit from the same headword) combined quite so deftly.

13.     Precautionary parade getting back up  STAND-TO (stand + to)  The definition ‘precautionary parade’ is straight from Chambers. Azed selects less obvious meanings of ‘stand’ and ‘to’ to create the charade.

14.     Pope, maybe? If I can’t he may modify pontificate  POET (comp anag.)  It’s a word that Azed has clued many times over the years, so the allure of a comp. anag. to create something new is understandable. ‘He’ in the wordplay stands for the solution – women poets are also available of course, though a female pope is more of a rarity.

21.     A doctor taking time in circumlocution  AMBAGE (a MB age)  The solution is interesting mainly for appearing under the headword for its plural ‘ambages’ in Chambers…

30.     Recipe with offal – shows one’s hungry!  RUMBLES (r + umbles)  is and followed shortly by a clue involving another plural headword ‘umbles’. There doesn’t appear to be a singular form ‘umble’ except in compounds like ‘umble-pie’, which elicited some tortuous clues when Ximenes set it as a competition word in 1949.

 

DOWN

4.       One embraced by muscular Christianity  THE WAY  (a in thewy)  Very neat wordplay and vivid surface make this Dr Watson’s favourite clue of the puzzle.

6.       A lough that’s e.g. pine-fringed? Roses are famous here  TRALEE (a L in tree)  A reference to the 19c ballad ‘The Rose of Tralee’, which gave rise more recently to the annual Rose of Tralee Festival.

20.     Final, with captain miffed  NETTLED (nett + led)  ‘With captain’ provides ‘led’ to the charade, so there are no wasted joining words in this short clue.

22.     Battalion includes regiment going aboard in seaport  BREMEN (REME in Bn)  Dr Watson struggled a bit with the wordplay and definition here. If ‘going aboard’ is not part of the definition of REME (and there’s no apparent reason why it should be), there appear to be two contents indicators in the clue. Perhaps ‘includes … going aboard’ can be counted as a single indicator, but it’s unusual if so. And Bremen the city is surely some way inland from Bremerhaven, the North Sea port.

25.     What’ll be needed to be got through, a helping of Häagen-Dazs  AGENDA (hidden)  The improbably-named ice cream seems to have a hidden agenda.

27.     What’ll give a bird, clipped and trussed, little latitude? BRAIL (anag. of a bir(d) + l)  ‘Truss’ used here in the sense of ‘bundle up’.

 

Other solutions:

Across:  1. CAPSTAN TABLE (st ant in capable);  10. EARTHWORK (anag.);  13. TANIWHA (win, rev. in taha);   16. ANNEXURE (Anne + ux, rev. + re);  17. DISHY (d + I shy);  19. DENTIN (hidden);  24. CRATE (comp. anag. & lit.);  26. SARPANCH (s + pan in arch);  28. PREX (p + rex; see reak1);  29. DEAREST ((i)dea rest);   31. ANIL (hidden);  32. HEN-PAIDLE (anag.);  33. GANGSTERLAND.

Down:  1. CESTODA (hidden);  2. PRUNUS (r in sun-up, rev.);  3. STRIM ((ala)strim);  5. NOTANDA (no. tan DA);  7. BED OUT (ode in tub, all rev.);  8. LATERITE (it for r in la terre);  9. EMOTE (E tome, rev.);  15. SIMARUBA (amis, rev. + rub + a);  18. PENDENT (end in pent);  23. GABLES (B in gales);  24. CHADAR (had in car);  26. SPRUG (spru(n)g).

 

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