{"id":2571,"date":"2022-01-16T13:11:27","date_gmt":"2022-01-16T13:11:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.clueclinic.com\/?p=2571"},"modified":"2022-01-30T13:24:43","modified_gmt":"2022-01-30T13:24:43","slug":"notes-for-azed-2588","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/2022\/01\/16\/notes-for-azed-2588\/","title":{"rendered":"Notes for Azed 2,588"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

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<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\r\n

While I \u2013 of course \u2013 believe that the views presented are valid, I realize that (i) I am not infallible, and (ii) in the world of the crossword there are many areas where opinions will differ. I say what I think, but I don\u2019t intend thereby to stifle discussion \u2013 I would encourage readers who disagree with the views that I express, whether in the blog posts or in response to comments, to make their feelings known\u2026I shall not be offended!<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Azed 2,588 Plain<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

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Difficulty rating: \"2.5 (2.5 \/ 5)\r\n

I’d put this puzzle right in the middle of the difficulty spectrum – no particularly difficult clues, but not too many easy ones either. More than one clue for an obscure solution also involved an obscurity in the wordplay, and several wordplays required careful untangling. A couple of definitions struck me as questionable, and I have turned the spotlight on them below.<\/p>\r\n

Setters’ Corner<\/em><\/strong>: This week I’m going to take a look at clue 2d, “Like a crystal Archibald’s sculpted – not bad (6)”. A subtractive anagram, where the solution is obtained by rearranging the letters of ARCHIBALD without BAD (I remember enough from my Chemistry degree to know that not all crystals are chiral, but we’ll let that pass). The point of interest here is that the letters BAD are not consecutive in ARCHIBALD – is that a problem? Not in my view – both the raw anagram material (ARCHIBALD) and the element to be removed (BAD) are in plain view in the clue, and any solver who really didn’t want to remove non-consecutive letters could rearrange ARCHIBALD to produce CHIRALBAD (“Archibald’s sculpted”) and then<\/em> remove the BAD (‘not bad). If the last part of the clue had read “not unskilful”, requiring a synonym of ‘unskilful’, ie BAD, to be removed, I think that would be a bridge too far. In this latter situation, the letters removed must be consecutive in the raw material, as in say “Piece of furniture Archibald assembled – not simple” for CHAIR ((ARCHIBALD – BALD)*).<\/p>\r\n

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13a<\/strong> When imbibing I desist from vintage Scotch perhaps<\/span> (7)<\/span>
The wordplay involves a two-letter word meaning ‘when’ containing (‘imbibing’) I (from the clue) and an obsolete (‘vintage’) word meaning ‘to desist from’ (Chambers shows it as Spenserian, but it pre-dated him by several hundred years). The spelling here of the solution (a Scots word for ‘perhaps’) is that favoured by Burns, but there are several alternatives, including the rather charming ‘yibbles’.<\/p>\r\n

15a<\/strong> Old woman<\/span> in truth abandoning husband (4)<\/span>
A ‘formal or archaic’ (according to Chambers) interjection meaning ‘in truth’ (although I suspect that the ‘formal’ aspect applies only to the noun and not the interjection) missing (‘abandoning’) the usual abbreviation for ‘husband’. I would have preferred to see ‘Old crone’ rather than ‘Old woman’ as the definition – the word, which means ‘old woman’ or ‘crone’,\u00a0 is itself obsolete, and therefore ‘Old’ on its own is somewhat overworked.<\/p>\r\n

16a<\/strong> Garrison commander<\/span> a month after defeat (8)<\/span>
The name of the twelfth month in the ecclesiastical year of the Jewish calendar follows a four-letter verb meaning ‘to defeat’ in a pretty final sort of way.<\/p>\r\n

19a<\/strong> Part of chair back<\/span> was in place at fringes of town library? (5)<\/span>
A three-letter word meaning ‘was in place’ is put around (‘at fringes of’) the two-letter abbreviation for ‘public library’. In line with the views I expressed last week regarding indirect indications of abbreviations, I’m not entirely happy with ‘town library?’ here.<\/p>\r\n

23a<\/strong> Treasury chap<\/span> I found in heart of in-tray, looking back (5)<\/span>
A three-letter word for ‘I’ is contained by the central letters (‘heart’) of IN-TRAY, the whole lot being reversed (‘looking back’). The solution is the last name of the British physician, natural scientist and lexicographer known to all crossword solvers for his magnum opus, first published in 1852, which has been regularly expanded and reprinted and which appeared in an abridged form as his Treasury of Words<\/em>.<\/p>\r\n

25a<\/strong> Eggs<\/span> arranged and put in grades as before (8)<\/span>
An anagram (‘arranged’) of AND is put inside an obsolete (‘as before’) word for ‘degrees’ or ‘ranks’; the ‘Eggs’ in the definition refers to bombs, although I’m not sure they are quite the same sort as the ones that constitute the solution.<\/p>\r\n

29a<\/strong> Passionate person once<\/span> displaying energy in pursuit of fabulous bird (4)<\/span>
The usual abbreviation for ‘energy’ appears here following (‘in pursuit of’) a “fabulous bird (by Europeans commonly called the ph\u0153nix), one of the symbols of the imperial dignity in China.” Someone who was in the grip of irritation or anger would be described as being ‘in a ****’, and the word was consequently used as a noun, describing someone apt to get into such a state.<\/p>\r\n

32a<\/strong> Drive<\/span> former president out of party? (4)<\/span>
The middle name of the 32nd President of the United States has the usual crossword term for a party (in the usual Boris Johnson sense) removed from its fringes (‘out of party’).<\/p>\r\n

3d<\/strong> Island fast revealing hostility to poet<\/span> (9)<\/span>
A five-letter island (a recipient of the George Cross) and a four-letter word often deceptively indicated in clues by ‘fast’ combine to produce a word for ill-will or malevolence used by (among others) Edmund Spenser (‘hostility to poet’).<\/p>\r\n

6d<\/strong> Scots miserly<\/span> – about right? Love it (6)<\/span>
Going ‘about right’ (ie around the usual single-letter abbreviation for ‘right’) are a three-letter word for ‘love’ (in the Novak Djokovic sense) and the letters IT (from the clue). I can find no evidence to suggest that the definition here is correct – Chambers shows this word (rather than the similar word ending in E) as meaning ‘stunted’ or ‘pinched with cold’, it’s not in OED, and I can’t find any support in the Scots dictionaries available online.<\/p>\r\n

Additional note: the comment from Ray Jennings (below) prompted me to look at the entries for NIRL in both the electronic and paper versions of Chambers. I use the electronic version when solving, and in there the subheads for ‘nirled\/nirlit’ and ‘nirly\/nirlie’ are clearly separate; in the paper editions a tiny full stop is the only thing that divides them I can quite see why Azed thought that the meanings given for ‘nirly\/nirlie’ were also applicable to ‘nirled\/nirlit’.<\/p>\r\n

7d<\/strong> Highlander<\/span> set about opening of area (4)<\/span>
A three-letter verb meaning ‘[to] set’ containing (‘about’) the first letter (‘opening’) of ‘area’, but the definition here is very much by example – such a person could (according to Chambers) come from Ireland or the Isle of Man, so there needs to be a ‘maybe’ or similar in there.<\/p>\r\n

8d<\/strong> How drought affects region<\/span>, always restricting clear lake (6)<\/span>
A horrible word to define, formed by a two-letter word for ‘always’ containing (‘restricting’) a three-letter word meaning ‘[to] clear’ and the usual abbreviation for ‘lake’; I think it is only ever used to describe a manner of speaking, as in this example from Hardy’s The Dynasts<\/em>:<\/p>\r\n

Were I as coarse a wife
As I am limned in English caricature\u2014
[Those cruel effigies they draw of me!]\u2014
You could not speak more aridly.<\/p>\r\n

9d<\/strong> What raja may accompany<\/span>, always full of energy? Reverse of that (4)<\/span>
That word for ‘always’ that appeared in the previous clue pops up again, this time containing (‘full of’) a two-letter word for ‘energy’ or ‘pep’, the whole lot being reversed (‘Reverse of that’) to produce the name applied to various systems of physical and\/or mental discipline, of which ‘raja’ is one form.<\/p>\r\n

18d<\/strong> Last bit of lunch left for pet<\/span> (3)<\/span>
The final letter (‘Last bit of’) ‘lunch’ is followed by…well, somehow we have to get ON from ‘left’ or ‘left for’, but I can’t see it myself. Chambers gives ‘with respect to’ as a meaning of both ‘for’ and ‘on’, but even if we accept this rather tenuous synonymity the issue of that ‘left’ remains. Could H be ‘[the] last bit of lunch left’? I don’t think so – the solver would have to infer “…when the first four letters have been deleted”, which is asking too much. All suggestions will be welcomed.<\/p>\r\n

21d<\/strong> Fall on<\/span> bottom, end of cord coming away (6)<\/span>
A three-letter word for ‘bottom’ (such as a river has), followed by a four-letter word for ‘cord’ with the last letter removed (‘end…coming away’). The grammar of the second part of the wordplay is questionable – I would prefer the cord to be the subject, as in say “cord lacking end’ – but the definition of the solution is impeccable, ‘fall’ on its own being inadequate.<\/p>\r\n

27d<\/strong> Old but<\/span> scent-free, growing white (4)<\/span>
A nine-letter word meaning ‘growing white’ has the letters SCENT removed (‘scent-free’), to produce an archaic (hence the ‘Old’) conjunction. The solution is a contracted form of the phrase ‘All though it be that’, invariably seen nowadays spelt with six letters but in the past sometimes further abridged by the removal of the pronoun. However, I don’t think that ‘but’ is accurate – I realize that ‘although’ is uncomfortably closely related to the solution, but it would surely be better.<\/p>\r\n

(definitions are underlined<\/span>)<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/span> Post Views:<\/span> 1,962<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n

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<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A puzzle of mid-range difficulty with a few mildly contentious moments<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1376,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-azednotes"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2571"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2582,"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2571\/revisions\/2582"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}