Notes for Azed 2,668
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 2,668 Plain
Difficulty rating: (2 / 5)
A significantly easier puzzle this week, with just a few longer entries that could pose a few problems. I note that Azed has got his way regarding the ‘Rules and requests’ section, which has been restored to its earlier form, minus the bits that had been included without his agreement. I think it’s a shame that email entries are not allowed from UK competitors, but there we are.
Nowhere in the online version of the puzzle does it say that the requirement is to write a clue for the word indicated by the asterisked clue at 5d, but that is what (as usual) is required. Unusually, the definition which Azed has provided for the competition word is not explicitly given by Chambers, but he didn’t have much choice without almost giving the answer.
Clue Writers’ Corner: The top-notch setter Monk was the subject of a ‘meet the compiler’ article published on the FT website in May this year. In the interview he is kind enough to mention this site in favourable terms, but there are other reasons to recommend the article – not only is it an entertaining read, but Monk makes a number of points about setting with which I almost entirely concur. A relevant observation that he makes about clue writing is: “Be objective: if a clue idea looks like it is leading you into an increasingly convoluted execution, back out and pursue another, simpler path.” This is a lesson that I learnt the hard way, on several occasions spending a long time working on what originally seemed like a brilliant idea before ending up with a clue that was horribly stretched, and then when I used the clue feeling as though I’d totally wasted the idea. No matter how good the concept, if you can’t make it work, give up and try something different – you may even be able to use a variation on the original idea on another day for another word. This is particularly relevant to clues for competitions, because if you, the writer, know that you haven’t done justice to the concept, then the judge or judges certainly aren’t going to be wowed by it. As soon as you find yourself thinking “I just can’t make this work”, it’s time to cut your losses and try a completely different tack.
Across
11a Student gaining qualification, part of reading list unfinished, only partly educated (5)
A bit of a ‘sound and fury’ clue, where a familiar-two letter abbreviation designating a person who has achieved a particular degree is followed by the word for the sort of thing that would be on a reading list, without its last letter (‘unfinished’).
13a Fashionable idols I embarrass leaving train (5)
The letter I (from the clue) is followed by a nine-letter word meaning ’embarrass’ (in its sense of ‘impede’ or ‘encumber’) from which the consecutive letters TRAIN have been removed (‘leaving train’).
14a Mime urbanites? Mixing in a —— set possibly (7)
A composite anagram &lit, albeit perhaps one drawn from somewhere closer to the trousseau than the top of the chest. The letters of MIME URBANITES when rearranged (‘mixing’) can potentially (‘possibly’) produce IN A, plus the solution (represented by the blank), plus SET.
16a Lose head in sin – hateful (4)
The name of a deadly sin (the one that hangs upside down) loses its head (first letter). The ‘hateful’ sense of the solution is given by Chambers as ‘obsolete’, so the definition here really should have been qualified by something like ‘once’ or ‘abandoned’.
18a Israelite maybe chopping tree, half tubular in shape (10)
The term for a person descended from a specific son of Noah, possibly the eldest and possibly not depending on how you read Genesis 10:21, is followed by an anagram (‘chopping’) of TREE.
20a Neckband securing fidgety mule, touching on small ear bone (10)
The wordplay here has a familiar six-letter word for a neckband containing (‘securing’) an anagram (‘fidgety’) of MULE. The answer exemplifies the sort of words that I try to avoid in my own puzzles, horribly difficult to define accurately let alone interestingly.
22a Flowering bulbs, for instance fringing seascape (8)
A two-letter word meaning ‘for instance’ is put around (‘fringing’) a term for a seascape which is often seen indicated (somewhat inaccurately) in cryptics by ‘jolly’. The plants in question are recent hybrids of nerine bowdenii and amaryllis ‘Belladonna’. As advertised, the solution is not to be found in Chambers.
26a Vandal turned bloodshot going round snack bar (7)
A three-letter word for ‘bloodshot’ is put outside (‘going round’) a term for a snack bar and the whole lot reversed (‘turned’).
Down
4d Chest without central square beam (4)
The word ‘central’ is not necessary here, but it specifies the position in the word for a chest (in a human context) whence the usual abbreviation for ‘square’ must be removed.
7d ME island dwelling (small) protected by rail (7)
An ‘archaic and poetic’ three-letter word for a small dwelling is contained (‘protected’) by a name for the sort of rail that might be observed walking or swimming through the marshes of North America. The island is part of the Republic of Yemen and is to be found in the Indian Ocean.
12d Scuttled round mine entrance, unable to see (10)
A seven-letter word meaning ‘scuttled’ (in the way that Alexander presumably went about) contains (’round’) a three-letter word for a mine entrance (or a wire ring for a hook), the result being a 6-4 hyphenated solution.
15d Kay’s neighbour sitting on strange secrets – she has voting rights (9)
“Kay’s neighbour” is to be found in the alphabet, and is followed by (‘sitting on’) an anagram (‘strange’) of SECRETS.
21d Change characters in company appearing in old tale (6)
The usual two-letter abbreviation for ‘company’ is contained by (‘appearing in’) an archaic term for advice or a tale. The answer is a transitive-only verb, presenting a trap which Azed has neatly sidestepped by the addition of ‘in’ to the definition.
23d A member of the herd has dropped in as mentioned before (5)
A (from the clue) is followed by a six-letter word for a beast that might be a member of the herd, missing the consecutive letters IN (‘has dropped in’).
25d Saucy ex not appearing in buff (4)
Similarly to 23d, here a six-letter word for a ‘buff’ has the consecutive letters EX omitted (‘ex not appearing’).
(definitions are underlined)
I agree that this stood out as fairly easy after quite a few tough ones (there have now been so many “harder than average” ratings, one wonders if the average is in the wrong place!), so it’s a pity that Azed didn’t select, say, 28a as the competition word. That might have perhaps encouraged a few newbies for once.
The word he did choose seems an odd one to single out as being full of possibilities, but maybe that’s just me!
Hi CG
I’m not going to recalibrate the difficulty meter yet, since we haven’t had a puzzle that went outside its range, but I might need to replace the term ‘average’ with ‘mid-range’.
A very strange choice of competition word – none of the longer words seemed pregnant with potential, but several of the shorter ones (including the one you mention) would surely have offered more encouragement to those who are not old stagers.
I seldom start on Azed until Sunday evening, so wine is consumed and I don’t finish until Tuesday. I finished this one soon after 10pm on Sunday, so 2/5 seems about right. It’s not one of Azed’s best; there are some laboured clues. I sort of wanted 15d to have referred to Princess Sophia of Hannover and 26a made me sing a certain Pixies song to myself.
Hi Mark, and welcome to the blog
I agree about the puzzle, certainly not one of his finest.
I had to look up your Princess Sophia reference, so I’ve learnt something there (although I probably won’t remember it!). I see that Black Francis said about the song in question that “It was an attempt to introduce a new word into the lexicon, but I don’t think it’s been successful, else I would have heard about it.” He clearly doesn’t have a copy of Chambers, ‘cos it’s in there.
Hello. As you state, a significantly easier puzzled which I fairly breezed through. I came here to verify 22, having completely ignored the caution about 8 and 22. Will do better next time, sir. Honest!
Not sure what Azed is getting at with 14, though the solution is obvious from the wordplay.
Best regards, as usual. J.
Hi John
Re 14, I suppose that if you want to mimic urbanites you might choose to mix in a B?????e set, but IMHO the clue was eminently forgettable.
But not the natives!
Let me be clear here – while the clue for 14a was – frankly – mingin’, any person who can be described by the answer to that clue is bostin’ 🙂