Notes for Azed 2,722

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 2,722 Plain

Difficulty rating: (2.5 / 5)

There were perhaps not too many really difficult clues in this puzzle, but there weren’t many easy ones either, so overall my rating is right in the middle of the range. After last week’s faulty clue, this week we have something more akin to a misprint, the word ‘Gentlemen’ in 9d appearing where ‘Gentleman’ is required.

Setters’ Corner: This week I’m going to look at clue 33a “No expert, one following reverse of witchcraft (6)”. The wordplay here has a two-letter word for ‘one’ following a reversal of a four-letter adjective meaning ‘relating to a form of witchcraft of African origin, practised in the West Indies’. Adjectives of a relatively technical nature can be tricky to define in a way that is conducive to an interesting clue. An approach that setters often take is to use ‘of’, so ‘relating to witchcraft’ becomes ‘of witchcraft’, while ABOMASAL, for instance, would be ‘of stomach’. Sometimes the clue writer goes a step further, with ABOMASAL being “stomach’s” – because the possessive apostrophe-s could also be a contraction of ‘is’, this offers even more creative possibilities, although you do have to ask yourself whether the particular adjective can legitimately be indicated in this way. I think “stomach’s” for ABOMASAL is fine, though I would wonder about, say, “flat surface’s” for PLANAR.

My initial view was that the clue here doesn’t quite work, because the ‘of’ appears to be doing double duty in the wordplay – ‘of witchcraft’ is necessary to indicate the adjective, but while ‘reverse’ on its own could be an imperative, when preceded by ‘following’ it would seem to be a noun, which would also have pressing claims on the ‘of’ which cannot be ignored. RJHe has suggested that ‘reverse’ could be functioning as an adjective in the wordplay, something that I hadn’t considered. If one accepts the adjective ‘reverse’ as an indication that the group of letters to which it applies must be turned around, then the clue is sound.

Across

1a Hemichordata engage in work, and a tune’s being played (13)
A five-letter word meaning ‘engage in’ and the familiar two-letter abbreviation of the Latin word for ‘work’ are followed by an anagram (‘being played’) of A TUNES.

12a Tailless seabird in stormy air? Such as destroy fish (6)
A four-letter seabird of a generic kind has its last letter removed (‘tailless’) before being enclosed in an anagram (‘stormy’) of AIR.

15a Bull to urge along with front of lash (6)
A five-letter word for ‘to urge along’ is followed by the first letter (‘front’) of LASH. The answer is not an animal, although etymologically it relates to the output of just such a beast.

16a Sound as a machine ran with chug roughly (7)
I was in two minds about how much of this clue to underline. The last four words constitute the wordplay, an anagram (‘roughly’) of RAN and CHUG, but the first four on their own are inadequate as a definition. I think therefore that it must be treated as a ‘semi &lit’, albeit rather a weak one, since I’m not sure that putting the whole lot together produces a great improvement in the definition. If you were ever unlucky enough to hear a head crash – somewhat euphemistically known as a ‘head-disk interaction’ – occurring on a disk drive back in the 1980s, you will know what this word really means.

18a Decoration showing signs of decay I removed (4)
A five-letter word meaning – among many other things, including ‘departing’ – ‘showing signs of decay’ has the letter I omitted (‘I removed’). The answer is the pseudonym which Jonathan Crowther (aka Azed) used for the sixteen Listener puzzles which he set between 1965 and 1972, prior to taking up his role with The Observer.

21a When special food is preferred, cook replacing recipe with version of a dish (7)
A three-letter word meaning ‘to cook’ (in a particular way) has the usual abbreviation for ‘recipe’ replaced by an anagram (‘version’) of A DISH. The answer is hyphenated, 4-3.

25a From Chesterfield, that’s back to front? (4, 2 words)
A word for the sort of thing which is exemplified by a Chesterfield (and nothing to do with crooked spires) has its last letter moved to the start.

32a Crown requiring support in carriage reversing (7)
The type of support regularly used by golfers is contained by a four-letter word for ‘carriage’ in the sense of ‘bearing’, and the whole lot is reversed.

34a Plunder from Scotland Welsh unloaded from barge (5)
A six-letter word for a sort of boat traditionally used for carrying cargo and passengers, particularly on the Thames and the Norfolk Broads, is deprived of the usual abbreviation for ‘Welsh’.

36a Dad, filled with energy, given notice about jingle, frivolous (13)
A six-letter word for ‘dad’ containing (‘filled with’) the usual abbreviation for ‘energy’ is followed by a four-letter word for ‘notice’ or ‘attention’, itself containing (‘about’) a two-letter informal term, here indicated by ‘jingle’ (perhaps a slight stretch) but often seen as ‘notice’ or ‘commercial’.

Down

3d Chemical component forming drug that has to go round (6)
The single-letter abbreviation for a drug with a very long name has a word of Scandinavian origin meaning ‘to go’  (an anagram of INERT, which could have led to an alternative treatment) outside (’round’).

10d Soaring pastorale choir held – this measures speed (5)
A reversal of a three-letter word for a musical pipe made from the stalk of a particular grass, hence a shepherd’s pipe, and hence pastoral song generally, contains the usual abbreviation for ‘choir’ (‘choir held’).

11d Holy book I had concealed, gift wrapped (9)
I’ve seen Azed use ‘concealed’ as an anagram indicator before, presumably based on the ‘disguised’ sense given by Chambers, but I’m not convinced by it. Here an anagram of I HAD has a word for a gift or an allowance contained within it (‘wrapped’). The answer is hyphenated, 3-6.

19d China crown to examine by hand (7)
If you see ‘China’ in a cryptic clue there’s a good chance that via the rhyming slang ‘china plate’ it will either lead to MATE or the three-letter word here. The ‘crown’ is the top of the head.

22d Old bucket to dig up with nothing in (6)
One of those clues where the answer and the principal element of the wordplay may both be unfamiliar. The word for ‘to dig up’ which contains the usual single-letter representation of ‘nothing’ could have been cryptically indicated by ‘halt English’.

23d Like Azed occasionally, what you may like to take a dip in (6)
A (3,3) expression for something that you might want to take a dip in if you were on the Côte d’Azur, say (but not an option in Skegness) leads to the adjective which describes a few Azed puzzles each year, always including the Christmas one.

24d Looked well in college? Most looked happy about that (6)
The usual abbreviation for ‘college’ is contained by a word meaning ‘looked happy’ without its last letter (‘most’).

26d I’ll have left late party – rail required (5)
The letter I (from the clue) is to be omitted from a word for an evening party, possibly of the pretentious kind. As we would expect from Azed, when it comes to defining the answer the ‘rail’ has nothing to do with train travel.

28d Hard on the heels of many Americans turning up to default (5)
The usual abbreviation for ‘hard’ follows (‘on the heels of’) a reversal (‘turning up’) of a North American informal term for a large number or amount.

30d Against missing recital? Sure thing (4)
A seven-letter word for a recital has  a word for ‘against’ removed (‘missing’).

(definitions are underlined)