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HIS puzzle was quickly solved, but the
process of coming to a better understanding of each clue, essential to writing
a review, was a slow burner, to say the least. This was not helped by the
emergence of the phrase: ‘Desperate Dan, adieu!’ in the first three lights. It
may mean something to some, and next to nothing to others. One who knows has
advised that despite the closure of the comic itself, the comic strip hero may
still be found
on the Internet. For his part, Dr Watson was more exercised by the
necessity of determining for several clues whether any could be deemed a true
‘&lit’. As that possibility receded he experienced increasing pleasure in
revisiting many clues, notably those for PINOLE, HORSERADISH and INTEGER.
7. Buoy for tub and at sea reducing risk by
half. DAN (2 subsidiary indications: anag. & dan(ger), s.v.
dan2) Solvers
may have noticed the entry for dan3 defined as ‘a box for carrying
coal; a tub’ and wondered whether Azed has intended
that this clue should carry two
definitions as well as the two subsidiaries, an extremely rare occurrence if
true. The clue’s surface suggests not,
however, and our solution is held to be the type of dan carried on boats (i.e. ‘buoy
for tub’) to be used whenever it becomes necessary to mark a particular area of
water, most often for safety reasons. Details of the many types of buoy also known as dans
may be found here.
13. In Senegal, a mahwa
butter place. GALAM (hidden)
Both
the Shea tree, Vitellaria paradoxa,
and the mahwa or mahua
tree, Madhuca longifolia,
are trees of the Sapotaceae
family, both having butter-yielding fruits. Our solution, Galam,
is the district in Senegal which lends its name to the local Shea tree butter. It
therefore seems not to be a mahwa butter as the
clue’s surface would suggest if it were an ‘&lit’. The definition
is just ‘butter place’.
15. Explain art reproduced round Spain in style
of classical sculptor. PRAXITELEAN (E in anag,)
The reference is to the Athenian sculptor Praxiteles.
19. Ground meal eaten with milk in a bowl, say –
or olpe? PINOLE (i.e. ‘p’ in olé) Another of those perplexing
clues in which solvers must scan the solution
for its explanation. Here, if ‘p’ is placed within ‘olé’
one might (note Azed’s
question mark) obtain ‘olpe’. Not a bad way to get a
Greek jug, or ‘’ople(ss)’ more likely.
23. Out of time with food to be eaten:
condiment required. HORSERADISH (hors, era, dish)
Not, as many may have thought at first,
the inclusion of a word meaning ‘food’ within another meaning ‘out of time’,
but a very fine charade, difficult to spot even when the solution is known. The
thought that Azed must surely know how to spell ‘thyme’
is a bonus tease.
26. Severe action ruined one. CATONIAN (anag.,
an) Our solution refers to Cato the Elder, whose name has become a
byword for severity.
29. Two or three maybe get bowled over in
limitless finery. INTEGER (get(rev.) in (f)iner(y)) Cardinals
and England cricketers, seemingly,
though considerably more of the latter on the first day of the Dunedin Test
Match. Plus ça
change!
30. Musical bar, home territory for Dame Kiri in the main. SENZA (NZ in sea) A witty clue with the definition disguised in
a phrase that seems to suggest either a bar-line or a nitery
with live music, both being ‘excepted’ by our solution, the Italian word used
in scores to indicate ‘without’ – (say) oboes, repeats, or the like. The
reference is, of course, to Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, the New
Zealand soprano.
31. E.g. sirloin certainly needs turning. SEY
(yes (rev.)) Azed
departs from his usual practice here by not hinting at the Scottish origin of
our solution.
32. She’ll hear car lock. AUDITRESS (Audi,
tress) A simple, concise
charade-type clue.
1. Cow died with very old woman in
attendance. DAUNT (d, aunt) Another
charade, but more elaborately indicated, ‘in attendance’ dangling the
possibility of a homophone.
2. Description of mountain group
encapsulated in ‘easier range’. SIERRAN (hidden) The
surface meaning of this clue may be true for many Sierras, but the defining characteristic
appears to be the Spanish naming of them.
3. Author
Sean maybe entrancing mum. PENMAN (ma in Penn) A
reference to the American actor and director Sean Penn.
6. Make possible collar with jellied eel
around? ENABLE (nab1 in anag.) The
listed definition for ‘collar’: ‘a piece of meat rolled up and tied’ is surely
the one to consider for the true meaning of this rather bizarre clue.
8. Maid has to accept angry tirade – it goes
on forever. AMARANTH (rant in amah) Azed’s
definition is not just a gardener’s complaint. As Chambers
puts it: ‘a fabled never-ending flower, emblem of immortality.’
11. Excited about farm coming up, given similar
openings? ALLITERATED (till3 (rev.) in aerated) Long
forgotten dreams of taking a farm may have been evoked
for a few by this clue’s surface,
Watson’s favourite in this puzzle.
15. North Pole ice is melting – what’s
prehistoric in part is revealed. PLIOCENE (anag. inc. N)
Solvers
may read here about the Pliocene period when, it is believed, the Arctic Sea
was unfrozen.
20. Ohio trail mostly does for natives? OSTREA
(O, strea(m)
s.v native) Our solution is the
name of the genus of edible oysters which includes the species Ostrea edulis.
The definition given here is listed in Chambers under ‘native’ as ‘a native
oyster’ and, amongst the adjectival definitions, thus: ‘(of an oyster) raised
in a (British) artificial bed’.
22. Whale, increasingly sensitive about end of
harpoon. FINNER (n in finer)
Chambers
gives ‘finner’ and ‘finback’ as alternative names for
the fin whale. It is grouped with the rorquals as the common rorqual.
Other solutions:
Across:
1. DESPERATE (The Competition word) 10. ADIEU (I in ‘à deu(x)’) 11. ADENOMA (0 in anag.) 12. URENT (‘u’, rent) 14. NORMALLY
(o’, r, mall, all in NY) 17. EYEING (ye, I, all in Eng)
27. SERRY (s(h)erry; s.v. serried) 28. INGAN (hidden)
Down:
4. EUTAXY (i.e. “you taxi”) 5.
ADULTERATOR (adult, anag.)
7. DOLT (do, l(is)t) 9. NAMINGS (man(rev.),in,G,S) 16. APHESIS (I in anag.) 18. INSIGNE (I, anag.
less E; s.v. insignia) 21. IDOIST (‘do’, is, all in
it) 24. ANNAS (anag., s.v. pie5) 25. ARTY
((he)arty)