Notes for Azed 2,699

There are usually one or two points of interest in an Azed puzzle, and here we pick them out for comment. Please feel free to add your own questions or observations on any aspect of the puzzle (including clues not listed below) either by using the comment form at the bottom of the page or, if would prefer that your question/comment is not publicly visible, by email.

Azed 2,699 Plain

Difficulty rating: (1.5 / 5)

For the first time in several years, I had the pleasure of solving an Azed puzzle in the newspaper itself, since we were staying within walking distance of a newsagent. I say ‘pleasure’, though actually I think the usual printed PDF is probably a bit easier to read and is nice and flat when attached to my crossword clipboard. Anyway, this one seemed to me probably the easiest for some while, helped by all four of the twelve-letter answers being anagrams. 

Setters’ Corner: This week I’m going to look at clue 13a, “Kitchen essential maiden kept in range down under (5)”. The usual abbreviation for ‘maiden’ (as in ‘He appeared at Lord’s and bowled a maiden over’) is contained by a Tasmanian term for a mountain range, producing a generic term for what I still think of as a ‘Pinger’ (we had a red one at home). A few weeks ago, a correspondent in Scotland queried, very reasonably, the use of ‘over the border’ (or the like) to indicate a Scots word. So what about ‘down under’ to suggest an Australianism, since if you are solving the puzzle in the US (or, indeed, Australia) then Tasmania is far from being diametrically opposite. However, a quick look in Chambers should allay any concerns: ‘down under’ is given as ‘in or to Australia and New Zealand’, so even in the global cruciverbal village there is no problem with a clue like this.

Across

1a Leaving vessel for a quick break? (9)
A three-letter word meaning ‘leaving’ and a six-letter vessel (a small one with a single mast) combine to produce a 3-6 term for a quick delivery at cricket which ‘breaks’ back at a right-handed batter.

14a Pub device next to Scotch, we hear (4)
A somewhat unconventional homophone clue, where the answer is a common word while the ‘sounds-like’ word is a Scots (ie ‘to Scotch’) one meaning ‘next’, most commonly heard as the last part of a (4,4,4) phrase which is sung whilst linking arms in quasi-masonic fashion.

15a A hydrous sulphate, one found in Morocco? (7)
A four-letter word for ‘one’ or ‘a single thing’ is contained by a three-letter term exemplified (hence the question mark) by ‘Morocco’ (see Chambers) or ‘mild’.

19a Two measures (large then small), component of stiffeners (6)
The first measure relates to 500lb of cotton, such as was picked by Lonnie Donegan and many others, while the second is a small unit of measurement from the printing trade, surely familiar to all crossword solvers. Is the answer a component of stiffeners? Corset is!

20a Volume to fail thus will make one sick (4)
When the usual abbreviation for ‘volume’ is followed by the solution (ie ‘to fail thus’), it makes a word meaning ‘sick’ (probably the noun is intended, although it could be the verb).

24a Last of tail, I’m out bowled, in the last period (6)
An anagram (‘bowled’) of the last letter (‘last’) of TAIL and I’M OUT, though I feel that ‘bowled’ (‘rolled or trundled’) is a little questionable as an anagram indicator.

33a To eat carefully, I avoided beef and cut out unhealthy stuff (5)
A four-letter word meaning ‘to eat carefully’ is deprived of the letter I (‘I avoided’) and followed by a two-letter word for ‘beef’.

Down

2d One of biblical trio, I’ll be welcomed by padre without hesitation (5)
I (from the clue) is contained (‘welcomed’) by a six-letter word (the English translation of the Spanish or Italian ‘padre’) from which a two-letter ‘hesitation’ has been removed. The other members of the trio could be Good and Sweet.

4d Ancient tele needs adjusting with this – it makes a grumbling sound (12, 2 words)
The point of interest here is that the anagram fodder which ‘needs adjusting’ is ANCIENT TELE plus the single letter equating to the answer. This question is of purely academic interest, but since that letter appears at the end of the entry, is it necessarily part of the anagram fodder? As the clue is written, yes, because of the main verb ‘needs’; if the clue started ‘Ancient tele adjusted with this’, then it wouldn’t have to be.

6d Position of first in field, not second notice phoned in (6)
A (3,4) phrase describing the position of a runner (say) who is ahead of all the others in a race has its second letter omitted in order to produce the solution.

10d Mourn about a term sadly, Dido’s end in pyre? (9)
A three-letter word meaning ‘[to] mourn’ contains an anagram (‘sadly’) of A TERM followed by the last letter (‘end’) of DIDO.

12d Insects sank (so it’s said) with age (7)
I’m no fan of the partial homophone where the part of the answer contributed by the homophone is not a real word. Where it is a real word, I’m a little happier – so I can live with ‘said to observe heather’ for SEALING, but not for CEILING. Here the homophone for ‘sank’ provides a non-word constituting the first four letters of the answer, with a synonym for ‘age’ responsible for the remaining three.

16d Junior journo is in team, to help with grant (9)
A three-letter informal term for a journalist who typically writes, edits and proofreads articles is followed by the letters IS (from the clue) inside a four-letter word for a team.

21d Master that is holding children up for history error maybe (7)
Here we have the usual abbreviations for ‘master’ and ‘that is’ (in its Latin form), with the latter containing (‘holding’) a reversal (‘up’) of a four-letter word for ‘children’ – not one of the obvious ones like ‘kids’, but the plural of a word given by Chambers as an informal, especially North American, term for ‘a little lad’.

23d Regular tried a little, second (or third) coming first (6)
A six-letter word meaning ‘tried a little (bit of something)’ has the usual abbreviation for ‘second’ moved to the start (‘coming first’). The alternative ‘fork’ in the wordplay sees the third letter of the word moved to the start, the effect being exactly the same.

29d Eye up European badgers as a group (4)
The ‘eye’ that must be reversed (‘up’) ahead of the usual abbreviation for ‘European’ is of the private sort, being an informal term for an investigator.

(definitions are underlined)