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11. Have a snooze before love, lumpy cross
love-making. NODO(SE)X (nod + 0; x) What a swell party this is.
12. Skill in turning shoe for athlete granted
backing before second passivity. TRA(INER)TNESS (art
(rev.); sent(rev.) + s) The
collision that occurs here in the clue seems
to be between the boot and making sense of the rest. As for the solution, being
bawled at by gym teachers will be familiar to all.
13. Bit of US verse, troublesome thing greeting
newspaper writing in the Far East. HIRAG(ANA)PEST
(pest; hi + rag) The US reference specifies the US spelling of ‘anapaest’, a foot of two
short (or unstressed) syllables followed by a long (or stressed) syllable. Doubtless
this is problematic for Japanese typographers to render in Hiragana. That’s just a guess.
14. Champion goat, clever Alberta. AB(LE)CH (Ch; AB) A collision between a goat’s horns and a
lecher’s backside, presumably.
16. Cured pork steamer maybe stirred etc right alongside viscous mixture - scale required. PANCET(TA)RTAR (pan + anag; r +
tar) One imagines Azed’s distaste at discovering his pancetta contaminated with tartare
sauce.
18. Some gourds or butternuts accumulate on the
surface fruits that split open, a germ bursting with temperature. REGMAT(A)DSORB (hidden; anag. +
t) The process by which
some fruits split into dehiscent parts does not seem to be directly contrary to
adsorbtion,
except by analogy.
23. Balletic leap, little breadth - Nureyev’s
first extended upward. B(RISE)N
(b; init.) A reference to Rudolph Nureyev. A
brisé involves a leap and striking the legs together
in the process, hence our collision whilst risen.
25. Old khan with a summons to parley, soldiers
backing it (a contradiction) CHAMA(DE)MENTI (cham1
+ a; men + it(rev.)) Au contraire
for a game of soldiers, perhaps?
27. Crusader hero, captive of Sultan, causing
state of readiness for e.g. war, later released. TANC(RED)
ALERT (hidden; anag.) The Tancred referred to here does not appear to be the great crusader of that name but to the hero of a novel by Disraeli. A warning:
his captivity lasts for several chapters.
28. King, lord in French southern town on the
Somme. K(AMI)ENS (K; en + S) Azed may have intended the context here to concern the Mise
of Amiens (1264).
29. Vagrant canary to withstand extremes of
easterlies in Rhode Island. RESI(ST)ROLLER (ROLLER; e,s in RI) Hoboes
of one sort or another are frequent visitors to Azed’s
puzzles, perhaps representing the antithesis of the great discipline of his
art.
1. More than one such old taxman could be
terribly strict with the poor. TITHE-PROCTOR anag. less s) This clue is notable
for indicating the solution by referring to its plural in the definition part.
3. Great group getting together in the
afternoon? TEARING (i.e. ‘tea ring’) The
definition: ‘great’ takes a bit of spotting in this game of hide and seek.
7. Defensive stakes a chap’s put up in Dee,
possibly? ESTACADE (‘a cat’s’ (rev.) in anag.
&lit.) ‘Defensive stakes’ could serve as a definition but lacks precision. The indicative
remainder corrects that deficiency in this very fine ‘&lit.’ clue.
8. Release for Macbeth? King
without right ends in the ultimate opprobrium. EXEEM ((r)ex + inits.) Those solvers confidently expecting a
Shakespearean solution will have been put out, as was Watson, to find it marked
as an obsolete Scottish word.
19. Gas
giving little energy (the brackets on no longer) ETHANE (e + an3 in
the) A witty clue evoking
memories of shivering over a weak flame with apparatus in improvised mode..
20. Little bird catching fish, to take
advantage of ebb and flow. TIDE IT (ide in tit; s.v.
id1) This sweet clue reflects
one of the many pleasures of sailing: watching birds as they exploit their
ever-changing world . Our solution may be found at the entry for tide1
- ‘... vi ... to make one’s way ... (etc) ... (also vt with it)’
21. Take pre-main course (not second) – not
something you want in grand volume. RETREE (r + e(n)trée) The
definition of our solution, meaning slightly damaged paper, is disguised with
aplomb in a clue about anxiety over one’s weight.
22. Accommodation in Sing Sing
was fetid, top to bottom. TANKS (‘stank’, first letter moved to end) A reference to Sing Sing maximum security prison in New York
State. ‘Tank’ is a US slang term for a prison cell.
24. It’s observed by Jews taking up old tales. SEDER (redes (rev.) &lit.) The feast of Passover Seder, one of
various meanings of our solution, is one of a number of Jewish festivals in
which the retelling of a significant historical event is a central feature.
Other solutions:
Across: 1.
TITAN(IC)EBERG (The competition ‘collision’)
Down: 2.
INRIXA (INRI + x + a) 4. NONG (hidden (rev.)) 5. IDEAL (anag.) 6. CORNET (C + anag., s.v. cornet2) 9. RUSSIA (odd letters (s,i) in rusa1) 10. GASTARBEITER (‘a star’ in anag.)
15. BEAR ARMS (rar(e) in beams; s.v. bumpkin2)
17. TONNELL (tonne + ll) 26.
MANO (initial letters).