Notes for Azed 2,679

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 2,679 ‘Right and Left’

Difficulty rating: (3.5 / 10)

This week we have a non-competition ‘special’, probably one of the most straightforward of Azed’s variations to deal with (he ‘inherited’ the format from Ximenes, who introduced it in the 1940s). The key is to focus on the twelve-letter entry across the top, as without this you cannot enter any solutions into the grid; bear in mind that it invariably has some connection to the forma of the puzzle – in recent times we’ve had DOUBLE-DEALER, DOUBLE-FORMED and HITHER AND YON – and the definition usually makes reference to that fact, eg “Greetings to those who are excited about how remaining clue answers are distributed?” for the last of these. Having entered that solution, you then have the initial letters of both the solutions for the first five down clues, so if you can solve either half of one of these clues there’s every chance that the answer will only fit in one half of the grid, so you can confidently write it in and move on from there. The second challenge that solvers face is progressing from the top half of the grid to the bottom, as only the four eight-letter entries protrude from one half into the other – I’ve provided hints on the relevant clues.

It’s an interesting variation on the standard puzzle, the only difference being that all but one of the clues are presented as pairs. It made for an enjoyable solve, the clues being generally very friendly, although there were a few mildly jarring repetitions (‘alongside’, ‘the French’). I have provided notes on selected clues, below which I have put a checklist of where the breaks in the clues come.

Setters’ Corner: This week I’m going to look at clue 13d, “Woman boarding coach for plane parking exactly on the hour may have featured in dance? (6, 6)”. The wordplay for the second part of the clue has the usual abbreviation for ‘parking’ being followed by a (2,3) phrase which one might associate with ITV’s late evening news programme, complete with bongs, but the point of interest is the definition, ‘may have featured in dance?’. This would appear to define the past tense of a verb, but in fact the answer is a noun. This is in line with Azed’s own ‘rules’, made clear in a slip from 1979:

I’ve said before that an adjective is an inaccurate (because unfairly misleading) way of indicating a noun (and vice versa of course). I do accept however that a verb (in the appropriate person) can indicate a noun. ‘Barks and is man’s best friend’ defines DOG far more clearly than, say, ‘Furry and domesticated’.

I’m not entirely convinced, and I think the definition here is a lot less explicit than the example Azed gives above, but had such indications been disallowed we would have been deprived of JPH Hirst’s classic clue for VINEGAR (AZ 27), “Given unconventionally for Jack’s head”.

Across

1a What’s going on here? Low dive put on enterprise (but without ad) (12, 2 words)
As I mentioned, the one normal clue always has a link to the nature of the puzzle, and so it proves here. The wordplay has a five-letter word for a ‘low dive’ being followed by a nine-letter word for an enterprise, from which the consecutive letters AD have been removed (‘but without ad’).

11a Chap to glug sauce, wine from pubs, cases turned over (6, 6)
The three-letter ‘chap’, who might well be a jazz fan (perhaps of the ‘hep’ variety), is followed by a three-letter word meaning ‘to drink’. The second subclue has a word for ‘pubs’ being followed by a reversal (‘turned over’) of the usual abbreviation for ‘cases’.

15a The French backs in control making their (narrow) way, confusion fills crowd, hoarse, round Murrayfield? (6, 6)
In part one, a French word for ‘the’ is reversed (‘backs’) into a word for ‘control’. Then a two-letter word for confusion, a regular visitor to crosswords as well as being a Greek letter, is put inside (‘fills’) a word for a tumultuous crowd or the sort of defeat England’s cricketers suffered at the hands (or should I say bats?) of South Africa. The solution is a Scottish word, hence the ’round Murrayfield?’.

18a Those driving e.g. tumbril for tragic heroine the French held loved, one in business? (6, 6)
In the past Azed has indicated the first answer by ‘RAC?’ or the like; here it is the plural of an archaic (implied by the archaic ‘tumbril’, a military cart) word which provides the name of the ‘heroine’ who was, frankly, a bit of a schemer. The second wordplay needs to be interpreted as ‘the French held by loved’ (ie with a comma between ‘held’ and ‘loved’).

Down

1d Swamp dweller from a bog in Jamaica cowers trembling, put into computer system, encoded (6, 6)
In the first part of this clue, the letter A (from the clue) and a word for a bog in the ‘bogs and basins’ sense are inserted into the IVR code for Jamaica.

2d Very cruel, not old, brandished an iron chopper, with old father on scent (8, 8)
Initially, a two-letter, obsolete form of the word ‘not’ (‘not old’) is followed by an anagram (‘brandished’) of AN IRON. The second part of the clue could be interpreted in two ways – it starts with the usual single-letter abbreviation for ‘old’ and a three-letter informal word for ‘father’ (or a fizzy drink) and ends with a two-letter word meaning ‘chopper’. The fifth and sixth letters could either be the indefinite article (so the chopper is AN ??, and has the old father on top) or an obsolete form of ‘on’ (so the chopper is with the ‘old father on’). For the former it really should be ‘a chopper’ (but that wouldn’t work in the surface reading), and for the latter it ought to be ‘once on’ or the like – since Azed could easily have worked this into the clue, I am confident that the intended reading is the first one.

5d Wise maybe at length, having time with high flyers, in part gives selectively for plate (6, 6)
The ‘with’ in the first part of this clue is used (as would be required by 2d-II if the second interpretation is chosen) to indicate that the usual abbreviation for ‘time’ follows the five-letter ‘flyers’ (large birds also known as fish eagles). The ‘at length’ indicates that the answer is the full version of a diminutive name associated with a famous person of like stature.

9d Marsh plant, albeit wild in south-east, churned up with olives in rainy month (8, 8)
A pair of anagrams here – the first (‘wild’) of ALBEIT, contained by the standard abbreviation for ‘south-east’, the second (‘churned’) of UP and OLIVES.

11d One that’s conscientious with car’s dodging fox, wounding part of gate underside (6, 6)
The abbreviated form of ‘conscientious objector’ is followed by an anagram (‘dodging’) of CARS. A three-letter part of a gate (there are often five of them) then precedes a word for an underside or bottom.

12d Treat for budgie, see, almost given fly without limit in large tree or ericaceous shrub (6, 6)
Probably the trickiest clue of the lot. The word SEE (from the clue) without its last letter (‘almost’) is followed by the name of ‘a small but very troublesome Brazilian biting fly’ (a samba-loving version of the midge, I assume), while a three-letter word meaning ‘without limit’ or ‘completely’ is contained by the name of a large northern Indian tree.

(definitions are underlined)

Breaks in clues occur at:

Across

6: river/rock; 7: cabbage/inclined; 8: varied/eggs; 10: innings/can; 11: sauce/wine; 15: way/confusion; 16: Siam/carriage; 17: shifting/artist; 18: heroine/the.

Down

1: Jamaica/cowers; 2: iron/chopper; 3: clip/I; 4: church/free; 5: flyers/in; 9: south-east/churned; 11: fox/wounding; 12: fly/without; 13: plane/parking; 14: US/check.