{"id":4644,"date":"2024-07-07T12:53:38","date_gmt":"2024-07-07T11:53:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.clueclinic.com\/?p=4644"},"modified":"2024-07-21T12:40:59","modified_gmt":"2024-07-21T11:40:59","slug":"notes-for-azed-2716","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/07\/notes-for-azed-2716\/","title":{"rendered":"Notes for Azed 2,716"},"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\r\n\r\n\r\n

Azed 2,716 ‘Spoonerisms’<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

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Difficulty rating: \"5.5 (5.5 \/ 10)\r\n

‘Spoonerisms’ is one of my favourite variations, giving Azed full rein to exercise both his skills and his wit, though I know that it is not everyone’s cup of tea. This one produced several smiles along with the occasional “D’oh!”.<\/p>\r\n

Most Azed solvers will have encountered a Spoonerisms puzzle before, since the most recent one was only last Christmas. The hardest things with these puzzles are (i) getting your head round how the two different clue types work, and (ii) dealing with the occasional oddity (see below). For the type ‘A’ clues, always remember to write in the answer (which will normally have no definition), not the spoonerized version. What I term a ‘type A’ clue (‘definition’ is a spoonerism of the answer) is one like this:<\/p>\r\n

Sailor pub crawl<\/span> to wind up in exchange deal (9) – BARTENDER [END in BARTER, ‘definition’ leads to ‘tar bender’ a spoonerism of the answer)<\/p>\r\n

while a ‘type B’ (definition part of clue must be spoonerized) is like this:<\/p>\r\n

Eat up messily what could be made of shoal<\/span> (5) – TAUPE [anagram of EAT UP, un-spoonerized definition is ‘what could be shade of mole’)<\/p>\r\n

Generally, the spoonerisms are consonantal and involve two words exchanging sounds, but occasionally they can be vocalic (eg 17a), involve just one word (eg 22d) or involve more than two words (eg 20d) – these exceptions can be hard to spot and therefore to solve. A little bit of creativity in pronunciation will be required every so often. And just sometimes the ‘subsidiary indication’ in a type A clue can simply be a definition of the answer (eg 23d).<\/p>\r\n

The wordplays (subsidiary indications) always<\/em> lead to the answer to be entered in the grid.<\/p>\r\n

The way to approach the clues is to look at whether there is anything on view that can readily be spoonerized (and probably looks a little unusual) – so in “Jean\u2019s to mock such as Dixie going topless”, we can be pretty sure that “Jean’s to mock” will translate to “Means to Jock” (ie a Scots word for ‘means’), and we have a type B. If we can’t find anything spoonerizable in the clue, then it’s going to be a type A. In general, the type B clues are easier to solve because once you identify the ‘real’ definition they can be treated as normal clues.<\/p>\r\n

A few notes on individual clues follow, after which there is a list of clues showing clue types.<\/p>\r\n

Clue Writers’ Corner<\/em><\/strong>: Competitions of this type invariably result in some clues being submitted which are of the wrong type and will therefore stand no chance of success. For Spoonerisms puzzles, Azed always requires a type B clue. Let’s assume that the word to be clued was DASHER. What is needed is a spoonerized definition of the answer, and a wordplay which leads to the answer. So our real definition could be ‘One scooting about’, the spoonerized version being ‘One booting a scout’, with the associated wordplay ‘has red curls’ (anagram of HAS RED). The full clue is ‘One booting a scout has red curls’. Not likely to garner any laurels, I grant you, but it does satisfy the brief. Note that the treated words do not have to be consecutive in the clue, and other words (here the ‘a’) can also get involved.<\/p>\r\n

The key to a good spoonerism clue is coming up with an original definition. It doesn’t have to be succinct or show pinpoint accuracy – if you look at the published clues for comp 2551<\/a>, you will see the sort of thing that is likely to do well. If you are setting a complete spoonerisms puzzle, the wordplays should generally be relatively straightforward, but when it comes to competitions Azed’s judgement is influenced by the quality of a clue rather than its ready solvability (as long as it’s sound, of course), so I would avoid anything which is trivial to solve.<\/p>\r\n

Note:<\/strong> As correspondent John has pointed out, the competition word appears as two separate headwords in Chambers, the second one being an alternative spelling of a word more often seen with four letters. The first thing to say is that whilst Azed has chosen in the puzzle to define the first entry, this is irrelevant when it comes to the competition; the requirement is to supply a clue to the grid entry, and competitors can choose whether they with to use the first or the second headword when producing their definition (just as with, say, BUNG in comp 2495). But if you do choose the second, be careful to get the right meaning of the four-letter word of which it is a variant. The point John makes is that the alternative spelling is not listed at the entry to which readers are referred. The lack of the cross-referring entry is of no significance – typically Chambers only groups variants with similar spelling (presumably in order to save space) and rarely (for the same reason, I suspect) refers back to variants that have their own entries. If one looks, for instance, at basil2<\/sup><\/strong> in Chambers, one finds ‘same as basan<\/strong>‘, but the entry for basan<\/strong> makes no reference to ‘basil’. So you can choose either of the two distinct senses of the word at 26d. Incidentally, the definition which Azed has given us seems to be lacking an ‘or’ in the middle.<\/p>\r\n

Across<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

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1a<\/strong> Silly fool is working at last<\/span>, evasive about lines, slow ebb restored (12)<\/span>
An excellent clue to start with. The wordplay has a three-letter word for ‘evasive’ containing the usual abbreviation for ‘lines’, this combination being followed by an anagram (‘restored’) of SLOW EBB, while the definition leads to words of 5 and 7 letters\u00a0 which are a spoonerized form of the answer (so it’s a type A).<\/p>\r\n

10a<\/strong> S. African male, one attacking<\/span>, regretted advance (5)<\/span>
The wordplay in this type A is straightforward, a charade of a four-letter word meaning ‘regretted’ and the usual abbreviation for ‘advance’. The next step when solving the clue is almost certainly to look up the pronunciation of the resulting word in Chambers and then work back to the (2,6) phrase produced by the elements either side of the comma. However, as a correspondent has kindly pointed out, the two-letter word in this phrase is not pronounced oo<\/strong> or u\u02d0 <\/strong>as in ‘zoo’ but \u014d<\/strong> or \u0259\u028a<\/strong> as in ‘beau’, so the spoonerism is faulty. I’ve come across that word many, many times in puzzles and never considered that it might be pronounced in other than the obvious way, so I’ve learnt something today! A clue along the lines of ‘I declare attacker regretted advance’ would work.<\/p>\r\n

12a<\/strong> Maybe Mort\u2019s found<\/span> hanger with front missing? (5)<\/span>
The definition in this type B isn’t too hard to work out, but you may not be familiar with the last meaning of ‘hanger’ given by Chambers which leads to the six-letter synonym that must lose its first letter (‘with front missing’).<\/p>\r\n

16a<\/strong> A lot of planned<\/span> devious items will hide them (4)<\/span>
The wordplay in this type B is slightly odd – the ‘them’ makes it clear that it isn’t a ‘hidden’, but the alternative – an anagram (‘devious’) of ITEMS without (‘will hide’) M – would require “‘m” to be a short form of ‘them’, and Chambers doesn’t support this. I refuse to believe that Azed intends us to ‘lift and separate’ THEM to produce THE M.<\/p>\r\n

25a<\/strong> Gold I<\/span> found concealed in mine stores (6)<\/span>
All the difficulty here is in identifying that it is a type B and then working out that only the first two words are involved in the definition.<\/p>\r\n

31a<\/strong> Sum involved in crime \u2013 bit of cash for bloke in Fed once?<\/span> (6)<\/span>
A three-letter word meaning ‘[to] sum’ is contained by a word for an offence, particularly of the moral variety. Have the European Football Championships improved your knowledge of Slovenian geography? If not, then – like me – you may find yourself googling a four-letter proper name to check the definition in this type B.<\/p>\r\n

32a<\/strong> River showing signs of slick, sleep in dhow?<\/span> (5)<\/span>
The usual abbreviation for ‘river’ is followed by a word which could mean ‘showing signs of slick’. Initially I was a bit dubious about the spoonerized definition in this type B, but the OED gives ‘muddy’ as the first meaning of the answer.<\/p>\r\n

34a<\/strong> Be informed of end of Scotch<\/span>, finished with life finally (5)<\/span>
This is a type A, where a charade of a word meaning ‘finished’ and the last letter (‘finally’) of ‘life’ combine to produce a word which can be spoonerized as a (4.3) phrase. The ‘of Scotch’ equates to ‘for Scots’.<\/p>\r\n

Down<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

2d<\/strong> Such pints\u2019ll spoil one pugilist \u2013 not sign to the fight once<\/span> (6)<\/span>
Here we have a type B, and a composite anagram, where the answer plus PINTS can be rearranged (‘spoil’) to form ONE PUGILIST.<\/p>\r\n

3d<\/strong> Entrance in meadow having sheep on the sheltered side<\/span> (7)<\/span>
The wordplay has a four-letter word being contained by a three-letter one, while the type A ‘definition’ leads to a (3,4) phrase comprising a word for a sheep in its second year and a nautical term meaning ‘on the sheltered side’.<\/p>\r\n

6d<\/strong> Worker demolished loaf? Very weak to be in debt<\/span> (7)<\/span>
A three-letter word for a proverbially busy creature is followed by an anagram (‘demolished’) of LOAF in this type A clue. Chambers suggests that the answer contains only two syllables, but when the answer is spoonerized it leads to a (6,3) phrase where the syllable (and hence the word) at the end remains unchanged .<\/p>\r\n

8d<\/strong> Rock bed with sex<\/span> to importune? Not so (5)<\/span>
This spoonerism of the monosyllabic answer here is a little bit strained, with the second element of the (4,2) ‘definition’ being its last two letters. The wordplay has a seven-letter word meaning ‘to importune’ being deprived of the consecutive letters SO (‘not so’).<\/p>\r\n

19d<\/strong> Tea urn\u2019ll<\/span> answer Scotch for John, one brewed inside (7)<\/span>
A cracking definition in this type B, where the usual abbreviation for ‘answer’ and a Scottish form of ‘John’ have an anagram (‘brewed’) of ONE inserted (‘inside’).<\/p>\r\n

20d<\/strong> Amateur appearing in short run, dark as tongue?<\/span> (7)<\/span>
The usual abbreviation for\u00a0 ‘amateur’ is contained by a word for a short run, and the definition, which owes everything\u00a0 to Henry Williamson, is my favourite type B of the lot.<\/p>\r\n

(definition parts of clues are underlined<\/span>)<\/p>\r\n

Checklist of types<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Across<\/p>\r\n

1: type A (spoonerized entry); 10: A; 11: A; 12: type B (spoonerized definition); 13: A; 15: B; 16: B; 17: A; 18: B; 21: A; 25: B; 29: B; 30: B; 31: B; 32: B; 33: A; 34: A; 35: A.<\/p>\r\n

Down<\/p>\r\n

1: A; 2: B; 3: A; 4: B; 5: B; 6: A; 7: B; 8: A; 9: B; 14: A; 19: B; 20: B; 22: A; 23: A; 24: A; 26: definition of competition word; 27: B; 28: A.<\/p>\r\n

\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/span> Post Views:<\/span> 6,001<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n

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

The rather Marmite-like Spoonerisms special makes an early reappearance<\/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-4644","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},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4644","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=4644"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4658,"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4644\/revisions\/4658"}],"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=4644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clueclinic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}