Notes for Azed 2,665

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 2,665 Plain

Difficulty rating: (3 / 5)

Those of us dependent on the availability of the puzzles online have had an interesting few weeks.  After the recent no-shows of 2,659 and 2,662, last week we had 2,664 masquerading as 2,663, and this week we get not only 2,665 but also next week’s puzzle, 2,666. The correspondent who asked last week “What will they think of to confuse us next?” now has their answer.

Regarding 2,665, this struck me as quite tricky, with not too many easy starters. I almost rated it as 3.5/5, but on reviewing the clues prior to writing these notes I decided that it wasn’t that far above the average difficulty of recent times. It perhaps lacked the élan of Azed’s finest, but it was still an entertaining solve.

Setters’ Corner: This week I’m not going to look at a clue but a book! Eric Chalkley was a one-off when it comes to crossword setters, a carpenter who started setting in his 50s and was the first compiler to receive an honour specifically for it (the MBE). He was inspired by Ximenes, in particular his book Ximenes on the Art of the Crossword, and chose the pseudonym Apex as he hoped to imitate Ximenes (ie ‘ape X’). He became a prolific setter of themed puzzles, the subjects of which were often people whom he admired. For 30 years he sent out his Christmas crossword (A Puzzle Every Xmas) to a group of friends, including Stephen Sondheim and Leonard Bernstein.

He corresponded regularly with Derek Harrison, creator of the Crossword Centre web site, who drew the illustrations for a number of the Christmas puzzles. Derek kept all the letters from Eric, and has used many of them as the basis for ‘The Apex Letters’. I received my copy last week and enjoyed reading it very much; for anyone interested in crossword history, it is a worthy addition to their library. More details, including how to order a copy, can be found at The Crossword Centre: The Apex Letters.

Across

12a Soak English tux, shabby, then comb, given dry-cleaning treatment? (10)
The three-letter word meaning ‘[to] soak’ that is a boon to setters – and appears again later in this puzzle – is followed by the usual abbreviation for ‘English’, an anagram (‘shabby’) of TUX, and another favourite, a ‘chiefly Scot’ word meaning ‘to comb’ or ‘to tidy’.

14a What’s assumed in address? In this is example (6)
When the answer is preceded by IN (‘in this’), a word meaning ‘example’ is produced. The definition is mildly oblique, and refers to the position assumed by a golfer when addressing the ball (“Fair fa’ your honest, sonsie face…”).

15a The old aim for vehicle operated remotely to partake of? (6, 2 words)
A three-letter abbreviation for a remotely operated vehicle is followed by a word meaning ‘partake of’ (such as one might when faced with a blackberry and apple crumble or a chocolate roulade, say), producing an archaic (4,2) phrasal verb. I was initially slightly puzzled by the apparent conflict between aiming and shooting at random, but I think it’s probably just a question of the size of the target, and that King Harold was a victim of the latter. This quotation clarifies the ‘random’ usage:

A certain man drew a bow without any aim or intention of any speciall marke but only ???ing in common at the army.

17a Piece of outstanding Italian art? Cheers (loudly) about position (7)
A four-letter exclamation heard at Elizabethan revels and drinking-bouts (of which, I suspect, there were many) is set about a word for position such as might be used in connection with a golf ball that has strayed into the rough.

20a Small fish, one nibbling on end of simple line (8)
A six-letter word for someone who eats a little at a time is followed by the last letter (‘end’) of SIMPLE and the usual abbreviation for ‘line’.

24a Scrubbing return of TV in nightclub (8)
A reversal (‘return’) of a four-letter (informal) word for TV  is contained by a word which could not fairly be applied to all nightclubs, although a disreputable one could be thus described. The definition is an adjectival noun (as in ‘scrubbing brush’).

29a One endlessly waited for party having learnt about it (5)
Note how Azed has crafted an accurate definition which integrates seamlessly with the remainder of the clue – he makes it look easy, but then he is a master of the art. It’s worth trying a few definitions for yourself to see how you have to play around with words and word sequence in order to get something that does the job.

32a Has (briefly) death-notice around life’s end provided as once (6)
A shortened form (‘briefly’) of ‘has’ is followed by a short form of a word for a death notice containing (‘around’) the last letter (‘end’) of LIFE.

33a Lewdness free? Aged, released from that, cheer about it (6)
A seven-letter word meaning ‘free’ has the consecutive letters AGED removed (‘Aged, released from that’) before being put inside a three-letter word meaning  ‘cheer’, a shortened form of a six-letter interjection which I associate particularly with Prince George in Blackadder III.

35a One rarely holds whip to improve defence in being surrounded (7)
Azed has stretched things a little with the phrasing of this wordplay, which has the letters IN (from the clue) being surrounded by a verb meaning to improve (or reinstate) one’s weaponry.

Down

3d Its flowers never fade, I see, in the country (7)
I (from the clue) and the letter with the name ‘see’ are contained by a word for a country or nation.

4d Army or navy in its natural element (4)
The standard abbreviation for ‘navy’ is contained by a word for the thing without which they would have a few mobility issues.

5d Unstable left embracing Conservative (7)
A six-letter word for ‘left’ in the ‘went out’ sense is set around (’embracing’) the usual single-letter abbreviation for ‘Conservative’.

7d Rodent involved with making hole in wall as of old (6)
A two-letter word meaning (among many other things) ‘involved with’ is put inside (‘making hole in’) an obsolete word for a wall. The solution brings to mind Colin Dexter’s clue for MICKEY-TAKING in Azed 827, “(M)urine-extraction?”, which I must confess that I’ve never been entirely convinced by.

10d Grating, adorned, see, I love relaxing inside (12)
An anagram (‘relaxing’) of C I LOVE is contained by a word meaning ‘adorned’ or ‘carved’, albeit an archaic one.

21d Monitor? Pin gold up on one (7)
A three-letter word for a pin, stump or peg is followed by a reversal (‘up’) of the chemical symbol for gold and a two-letter word meaning ‘one’.

25d See west-country river infuse from below (6)
A slightly sub-par clue, I felt, the three-letter river being followed by an inversion of the infuse/soak word also seen in 12a to produce…the name of a cathedral city that takes its name from the aforementioned river.

31d Part of an erg, directly divisible by unit of measurement (4)
We’re looking here at erg² in Chambers, and a wordplay which has a three-letter word meaning ‘directly’ being divided by a unit of measurement from the printing trade.

(definitions are underlined)