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3. Fool inhaling choice bits of old shag
intemperately – it ruins the lungs. ASBESTOSIS (best, o, s, i,
all in ass)
At an early stage Watson struggled to satisfy himself that ‘choice’ may
mean ‘best’ and not merely ‘better’ as Chambers’ definition ‘of superior
quality’ suggests. The association drawn between asbestosis and the folly of
smoking tobacco is regrettable.
12. It has power supplied by deployment of oar.
PROA (P, anag. &lit) Our
primary reference, Chambers, includes the phrase ‘or rowing boat’ in its
definition, thus justifying the whole clue definition of our solution. This extensive article has two references
to ‘oar’ in connection with steerage, and one to ‘paddle’ in connection with
propulsion.
13. Sly nip drunk with cocaine – regular
feature of Top of the Pops? LIP-SYNC (anag., c)
The surface of this clue might seem wittily apt were it not for other
sly goings-on known to have occurred.
15. Face this dormouse hides – for Alice? LOIR
(Composite anagram; c.f. hide1 & 2) The
composite anagram is comprised of our solution
(this dormouse) plus ‘face’. That is found to be an anagram of ‘for Alice’,
indicated by the question mark. The composite anagram is presumably indicated
by ‘hides’ which is transitive with respect to the surface reading, meaning
‘conceals’. However, in its role as a letter jumbler, it needs to be
intransitive which hide2 is not.
18. Local timber cart – is it loaded from this
glen? GILL (2 meanings, s.v. gill5, gill3)
The clue at 26 Across is a typically crisp,
2-word double definition clue. This one has a bit of padding, albeit perfectly
apt, making it more difficult to recognise. For serious solvers, needing to be
sure that they have not misunderstood its workings, this is perhaps the
trickiest clue in the puzzle. Watson is prepared to be surprised by an
alternative explanation.
23. Rations distributed will be found to
contain a bit of this oxide. STRONTIA (t(his) in anag.) The
solution refers to strontium
oxide which was used as a (highly dangerous) component of cathode ray
tubes. One trusts that it does not get into rations of any kind.
29. Scots engineer followed herd? RANKINE (ran,
kine, s.v. run (v.t.)) The reference here is to William Rankine, noted in his day for doing it his way. ‘To follow’ is listed amongst
many meanings of ‘run’.
30. Heave, as of old – strain by the sound of
it. SIGH (‘sye’) ‘Heave, as of old’ may be understood as a
reference to Chambers’ listing: ‘a sigh (Shakesp)’ at its entry for
‘heave’, a rare instance in an Azed puzzle of a
definition confirmed by reference to a word in the clue, rather than to the
solution.
31. Quantitative easing maybe serves IOU in
trouble? OVERISSUE (anag.) Azed has hit upon a brilliantly apt anagram
here, referring, of course, to the now famous Government deficit.
1. Ham’s pig cooked in halls serving
liverwort leaves. AMPHIGASTRIA (anag. in atria, s.v. atrium) Regular solvers may
have been reminded of the first solution in the last Azed
competition puzzle – AMPHITHEATRAL, a case, seemingly, of having one’s pig and
eating it (s.v. ‘amphi-’).
In the surface, ‘ham’ may be understood as meaning ‘hamlet’ whose poor folk did
not get to eat their own pig,
apparently.
5. Frothy stuff from beer? Not always but
with power. BARM (beer less e’er, arm1)
A few cheers might be raised amongst
regular solvers if Azed should report one or two
cases of ‘BALM’ in the ‘slip’. Absolutely barmy! For the benefit of new
solvers, that refers to guessing the unchecked letter in the grid, and doing so
incorrectly. The ‘slip’ refers to Azed’s reflections
on competition entries and solver’s comments and published on this website.
6. Lice wriggling round yardbird
recalling abnormal growth? ELLAGIC (lag in anag., s.v. gall2) Chambers’ entry for our solution makes
interesting reading, particularly for the etymology: ‘Fr galle gall, spelt backwards’. Oxford’s account (available in the Concise
edition under ‘ellagic acid’) has it, rather
bizarrely, as an anagram, but also
explains that the word was coined thus because ‘gallique’
was already in use and, of course, referred to something far more important than gallnuts. Wriggle out of that!
9. Greek Philosopher in translation I
conned. IONIC (hidden) A simple clue
referring to any of the earliest Pre-Socratic
Greek philosophers.
10. Crafted afresh discs first seen in Egypt -
these may be depicted thereon. SACRED FISHES (anag. inc. E) The anagram is formed from ‘afresh discs’ and the first letter of ‘Egypt’. Our
solution is defined in Chambers as meaning ‘oxyrhynchus’
(q.v.) The entry for that word is
reflected in this
article about the Egyptian town of that name.
17. Painter’s home in late time of day showing
clearly. EVINCIVE (Vinci in eve) Watson wasted some time
trying to understand this clue by reference to Vincent before
remembering Leonardo
da Vinci. Not thinking too
clearly.
20. Deny centre of Paris raised Ionesco?
RENEGUE (r, Eugène (rev.)) The reference here is to Eugène
Ionesco ...
25. Slow movement? More than one may be found
in Flemish composer. LASSU (i.e. ‘lassus’)
... and here to Orlande
de Lassus whose music is never particularly
jolly.
Other solutions:
Across: 11.
MASHALLAH (mash1, all, ah!) 14. HORN-MAD (anag. in hord(e)) 17. EGG DANCE (anag., CE) 19. RETARD (ret, ’ard) 21.
ADAMIC (a, dam(e), ic(e))
22. TREF (tref(oil)) 26. TWIG (2 defs, twig1
& 3) 27. INTAKES (i.e. ‘... in takes’) 32. ANTHERSMUT (ant, anag.)
Down: 2. CAROTID (roti in
cad) 4. SHANG (hangs, ‘s’ to front) 7. TAPADERA (pad in anag.) 8.
SAYONARA (The Competition Word) 16.
CLARINET ((w)in(e) in claret) 19. RUINERS (U in anag., s.v. ruin) 24. TWAIN (t, wain) 28.
TRIM (t, rim)