Notes for Azed 2,749

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 2,749 Plain

Difficulty rating: (2 / 5)

A puzzle that seemed to nudge the needle of the difficulty meter just into the orange zone – not too many ‘gimmes’, but nothing really tough either, the relatively straightforward (5,8) anagram across the top potentially the key to a flying start. I detected signs of cryptic egocentric ubiquity from Azed, with him being found among herrings in 17a and in hollows in 4d, held in the middle in 7d, and (most worrying of all) caught in two bits of ladies’ underwear at 11d and involved in men’s ‘self-administered massages’ at 26d.

I suspect that this is not a grid that Azed has used before, since it breaks his own rules of ‘unching’ – the entries at 16a/29a have two unchecked letters, although no more than one ‘unch’ is normally allowed in a five-letter light.

Setters’ Corner: This week I’m going to look at clue 27d, “Harrow fern thicket”. This is a triple definition clue, each word in the clue indicating a different meaning of the answer. Here each definition leads to a different headword in Chambers, so the words indicated are entirely separate. This is the ideal situation in multiple definition clues, and is almost certain, even with only two definitions, to eliminate any possible ambiguity, as in “Put up with pain in the neck” for BORE [past tense of ‘bear’; noun].

However, as long as the meanings are different enough to pin down the answer, using senses that appear under the same headword is acceptable. So “Screen cricket match” for TEST [verb; noun = ‘test match’] is fine, as is the triple definition clue “Complete accurate model” for PERFECT [verb; adjective; adjective]. An example of a double definition that would not pass muster would be “Live with bear” for SUFFER [verb; verb], which could equally well be a clue for ENDURE or ACCEPT. 

Multiple definition clues are generally succinct and – in moderation – can enhance a puzzle. That said, it’s a near certainty that if you come up with a combination of single-word definitions that seems particularly appealing, eg ‘China tea’ for MATE [noun; noun], a Google search will confirm that there is indeed nothing new under the sun.

Across

11a Lake-shore mineral artist crated? (5)
Just as ‘having retired’ can indicate that another element of the wordplay is ‘in BED’, so here the ‘crated?’ tells us that the usual abbreviation equating to ‘artist’ is to be put inside a different three-letter word.

15a Devout prankster in Amazonian craft? (7)
A charade of a two-letter ‘informal’ word that always used to be indicated in cryptics by ‘sanctimonious’ and a term for a prankster or a rascal, leading to the French spelling of a word for a South American dugout canoe.

19a Rainy borders of Hungary and elsewhere (6)
The first and last letters (‘borders’) of ‘Hungary’ are followed by a (2,2) abbreviation for two different Latin phrases meaning ‘and elsewhere’ / ‘and others’, neither of which quite works in the surface reading, where something like ‘and other places’ is what’s really needed.

20a Stoup’s content? Namely ‘overflowing’, about to go fast (9, 2 words)
The usual two-letter (Latin) abbreviation meaning ‘namely’ is followed by a three-letter informal term (all capitals) containing (‘about’) a word meaning ‘to go fast’ (often round and round). Azed clearly acknowledges that ‘overflowing’ is a bit of a stretch by putting it in inverted commas – the first thing that it puts me in mind of is still Chris Tarrant’s short-lived (three months) ‘adult’ version of Tiswas, broadcast at 11pm on twelve Saturday nights in early 1982. A look at its Wikipedia entry suggested that the article’s author and I may have been watching different programmes – it does come with the caveat “This article may be written from a fan’s point of view, rather than a neutral point of view”, but I think perhaps ‘a fan’ should read ‘the fan’.

24a Like heavy type whenever included, of two kinds (6)
A four-letter word which could describe a heavy typeface contains a conjunction meaning ‘whenever’ or ‘provided that’ (ie ‘whenever included’). The required sense of the answer is shown by Chambers as ‘Shakespearean’, although Azed has chosen not to indicate this. Troilus says:

O madness of discourse, that cause sets up with and against itself!
?????? authority, where reason can revolt
Without perdition, and loss assume all reason without revolt.

27a Sprinkle all over set scattered in beer? (7)
An anagram (‘scattered’) of SET is contained by the sort of thing that Brummies and yamyams of a certain age will associate with Mitchells & Butlers and their beer ‘for the men of the Midlands’, which went under the name ???? XI (“that’s the beer to hurry for”). I was one of many ‘boys of the Midlands’ who consumed a fair amount of the stuff, largely from the four-pint or seven-pint ‘bumpers’ that were regular attendees at parties back in the day. I think we’d have got drunk quicker on Vimto.

33a Take as a precaution (one might assume) what may run along river? (5)
Rather like the artist being ‘crated’ in 11a, here the position of the usual single-letter abbreviation for ‘take’ is cryptically indicated by a (2,4) expression meaning ‘as a precaution’.

34a Abjure former race forever (5)
A variant spelling of a familiar word meaning ‘[to] race’ or ‘[to] go swiftly’, qualified by Chambers as ‘formerly’, is followed by a two-letter word meaning ‘forever’. Since I solved this clue, a Four Tops earworm, involving walking away (or not), has been my constant companion.

Down

2d Shoot on grouse moor? There’s nothing in what’s to cook (4)
The usual representation of ‘nothing’ is contained by the name of a vessel used for cooking. The answer is given by Chambers with the required spelling, although I think that in practice the verb is invariably spelt with a U.

5d Knock to indicate needing lift? Tapping noise (6)
Two three-letters words, one meaning ‘knock’ and the other ‘indicate’, are reversed (‘needing lift’) to produce the answer.

8d Tinware in its material, hot (6)
A four-letter word for painted or lacquered tinware is contained by the chemical symbol for tin (ie ‘its material’). The definition could relate to goods which fell off the back of a 29a.

10d Charm with minor switch, English copy (7)
A six-latter charm having two letters exchanged (‘with minor switch’) is followed by the usual abbreviation for ‘English’.

13d Old gold coin to cheer buckaroo, not the first (9)
A four-letter word meaning ‘to urge on by shouting’ is followed by a six-letter ‘buckaroo’ deprived of its first letter (‘not the first’).

18d One travels via Amtrak, arrival affected, velocity becoming constant (7)
The letters of ARRIVAL, with the usual abbreviation for ‘velocity’ being replaced by the abbreviation for ‘constant’, are rearranged (‘affected’) to form the name of something that might travel on a railway line. The word is classified by Chambers as ‘US’, which is implied by the presence of Amtrak in the definition.  

21d Stiff rule in wood (6)
The usual single-letter abbreviation for ‘rule’ is contained by a five-letter wood or dense thicket, with the definition putting me in mind of a definition of AUTOPSY on very similar lines which I used in one of my early puzzles (possibly my first blocked crossword).

(definitions are underlined)