Notes for Azed 2,772

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 2,772 Plain

Difficulty rating: (2.5 / 5)

A new month, a new Azed. In terms of difficulty, this one struck me as being pretty close to the middle of the Azed range. There were some nice clues, along with a couple of rather strange ones, such as 23a, where the word ‘destroyed’ should surely have been replaced by something like ‘laid waste’.

Clue Writers’ Corner: The good news is that this month’s competition word has not appeared in that role previously – in fact, I can find no evidence that it has ever appeared in an Azed puzzle. It’s the sort of word that makes one wonder how much latitude will be allowed when it comes to the definition, and on this occasion Azed has given us a bit of guidance with his own ‘straight’ definition. He likes, where possible, to use a definition taken directly from Chambers, but in this instance the only one available would have given the answer away. He could have replaced the ‘offending’ noun with something broadly similar, but instead he opted for the very general term ‘space’. This strongly suggests that clues which feature definitions along similarly broad lines will be accepted; it may be that a definition which cleverly pinpoints the area of specialism will earn a brownie point or two, but I would advise competitors to focus on their clue as a whole rather than seeking out a precise definition at the expense of other aspects.

Across

1a Old weapon officer briefly positioned in tropical tree (7)
The two-letter abbreviation for a particular rank of officer (‘officer briefly’, think Uhura, Kijé and Pigeon) is placed inside the name of a tree belonging to the mahogany family. There are two spellings of the weapon which would fit with the checkers, but the tree makes it clear which is required.

11a Snake-lover’s struck when absorbed by subject, first off (7)
A three-letter word meaning ‘struck’ is contained (‘absorbed’) by a word for a subject or theme from which the first letter has been omitted (‘first off’). The apostrophe-s is part of the definition.

12a Old head when taken in by bounder is beguiled (4)
When the four-letter obsolete (‘old’) word for a head which constitutes the answer is contained (‘taken in’) by a three-letter word for a bounder of the despicable kind, the result is a word meaning ‘beguiled’ or ‘coaxed’. I would have liked the wording of the clue to make it a bit clearer that the definition is ‘old head’ rather than ‘beguiled’, eg “When this old head’s taken in by bounder it’s beguiled”.

20a What may infest heated buildings bitumen injected – does it delay rusting? (9)
The familiar three-letter name for a bituminous substance is ‘injected’ into the (3,3) name for a particular insect. There are several related tropical species which can thrive in temperate areas by invading heated buildings; in the UK, at least, the little chappie in the wordplay isn’t one of these, living quite happily in our lawn, in our flowerbeds, under our paving slabs, and taking particular delight in excavating great heaps of sand from under our block paving, not to mention biting and stinging yours truly. However…Chambers tells a different story, saying that the term applies ‘especially’ to a “tiny yellow-brown tropical [variety] which has spread through many countries and infests heated buildings, eg hospitals, restaurants, blocks of flats.” So the bit about the buildings is ok, though I doubt whether one of them, as suggested by the clue, could reasonably aspire to an ‘infestation’ (even if he managed to move a rubber tree plant).

24a Old wagon needing map to get round orient (6)
The answer ‘needs’ a five-letter word for a map to contain (‘get round’) a single-letter abbreviation for the direction equating to ‘orient’; this seems to me an unacceptable degree of indirection, since it certainly isn’t an abbreviation for ‘orient’ itself.

32a Painter coming to Thailand, outcast (5)
The second name by which the Spanish surrealist artist born ???????? Domingo Felipe Jacinto ???? i Domènech was universally known is followed by the IVR code for Thailand.

33a Such as the Colorado Rockies or NE Andes, rugged? (7)
An anagram (‘rugged’) of NE ANDES produces the plural of a word for a group with a specific number of members; when the Colorado Rockies baseball team takes the field for a game, it comprises that number of players. Whatever else you might think about this clue, there’s no doubting that it’s imaginative.

Down

1d Taps excessive for shallow lake, often drying up (5)
The letters that you would see on the tops of taps in English-speaking countries (the one on the right coming first) are followed by a three-letter abbreviation meaning ‘excessive’, which I still associate with the late-night ‘adult’ version of Tiswas. It ran from early 1982 until…slightly later in early 1982, quite long enough.

4d Flat cake pa disposed of in carriage (5)
The seven-letter name for a flat round cake of unleavened bread often encountered – stuffed or otherwise – in Indian restaurants is deprived of the consecutive letters PA (‘pa disposed of’).

14d Skin marking in tailless dog, e.g. Oscar? (9)
A four-letter spelling for the sort of ‘skin marking’ which is very popular these days is contained by the six-letter name for a particular breed of dog (the sort that produces crosswords) shorn of its last letter (‘tailless’).

19d Prince taking lead in customary hunting (7)
The two letters of the abbreviation for ‘Prince’ are placed either side of the first letter (‘taking lead’) of a five-letter word for ‘customary’.

21d Heraldic beast in Egypt and Turkish province (6)
The name of a four-letter mythical creature, a Royal Beast (no, not that one) also known as a centicore (and sharing its name with an American university) is contained by the IVR code for Egypt. Well, it’s what Chambers gives as the IVR code for Egypt, but, as a regular correspondent points out, last year that code was changed to EG. This raises an interesting point – abbreviations don’t change, so even if all territorial armies ceased to exist the abbreviation TA would still have meaning in a historical context, but a superseded code is simply invalid. Chambers can be excused regarding Egypt, but it also gives K for Cambodia (formerly Kampuchea) – this was replaced by KH in 2009. Since the current edition of Chambers is the primary reference for the puzzle, using these old codes in clues is certainly not unfair, but it isn’t entirely satisfactory either.

22d Skin disease the old face, temperature included (6)
A five-letter Spenserian (‘old’) spelling of a four-letter word meaning ‘face’ or ‘face up to’ has the usual abbreviation for temperature inserted (‘included’).

25d Wader in deep river, covering US acre at first (5)
The seven-letter name of one of the rivers of the Greek underworld (‘deep river’), as well as a river in the Epirus region of Greece, has the two-letter US abbreviation for ‘acre’ removed from its start (‘covering US acre at first’).

26d What makes Scot’s expression of disapproval for beloved (5)
I don’t know why Azed felt the need to include the first two words in this double definition clue, since they don’t appear to add anything to either the literal or the cryptic reading. The ‘expression of disapproval’ is a Scots form of a familiar three-letter interjection.

28d NZ aboriginals with a local bird (4)
The three-letter word for “a Maori gathering” (ie ‘NZ aboriginals’, perhaps a somewhat loose indication) is followed by the letter A (from the clue), the result being the name of a bird from New Zealand (ie ‘local bird’) which (unfortunately in terms of its continuing co-existence with modern man) had striking black and white tail feathers. It was hunted both for fashion and for collections, and its habitat was destroyed, leading to its extinction in the early 20th century.

(definitions are underlined)