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4. Old
cast-offs, one penny for each, grabbed by young ones CKNEAPCB
(FRIPPERY; I p per in fry) The
last clue solved by Dr Watson, after the code had been cracked. Azed rather cheekily provides two misleading indications
that the solution is a plural noun with the definitions ‘cast-offs’ and ‘young
ones’. This led Dr Watson, and probably many other solvers, to try to decode
the CB at the end of the solution to ?S, causing some
difficulty in completing the Playfair square. But all
in all it added to the satisfaction of the eventual solution.
11. Patriarch’s number one à la mode NOACHIC (no. a
chic) A
comical reference to Noah, who’s better remembered for his nakedness than his dress
sense. The solution can be found under ‘Noachian’ in Chambers.
17. Attack
just after circling b-boxer PNAOCG (OPPUGN;
p-pug in on) Dr
Watson spent a little time looking for a 3-letter pugilist, but found nothing
better than ‘Ali’, clearly a poor fit for the required stammer.
19. Staff officer switching divisions in
extreme aversion RED
HAT (halves of hatred switched) This
wordplay has been used many times before, but the opportunity to employ an
unusual device is one that setters won’t lightly pass up.
19. US
flirt, touchy woodworker ISNERW (CHIPPY; 3 mngs.) The
three different senses of ‘chippy’ are spread out in Chambers. The flirt is under its own
headword, chippy1; the adjective is in the subheading ‘chippy’ under chip, and the woodworker is bracketed in the definition
of ‘chips’.
27. Rang off from devastating nerves VAGI ((ra)vagi(ng)) Much easier to explain
in retrospect than to solve from scratch.
31. Randy Scots, reverse of sober after contact
sport RUDAS (RU
+ sad, rev.) Azed is trying to ‘play fair’ by offering an
explicit indication of ‘RU’ that fits well with the main definition. ‘Randy’ defines
the noun, meaning a coarse woman or similar.
34. Monk
quietly returned drink in Italian eatery SKRAENTH
(TRAPPIST; p + sip, rev., all in trat) The easiest of the
encoded solution clues, with ‘quietly’ a nice extra hint at the solution. There’s
good & lit. potential in the clue, but Azed has sensibly avoided it in this instance.
35. Poet’s growl echoed in transept? SNAR (hidden rev.) Dr Watson is a bit dubious about ‘echoed’ as
a revesal indicator, as an echo reflects a sound but doesn’t
reverse it. Extending the metaphor of ‘sending back’ to the letters of a word
is quite a stretch.
4. Like much church music, reduced option
includes bit of Rutter
CHORIC (R in choic(e)) Solvers who avoided the temptation of entering
‘choral’ in the grid before consulting the dictionary acted wisely. John Rutter is a well-known
and frequently performed composer of church music.
10. Elizabeth two times more astute about
society, a know-all BESSERWISSER
(Bess ER + S in wiser) The
two Elizabeths is a nice touch. Chambers only supports S as an abbreviation of ‘Society’ wth a capital S, so Azed is
bending his guidelines to an extent here.
18. Touring abroad (having left Britain), part
needing to be plugged in? ADAPTOR (pt in anag. less B, & lit.) A great & lit. clue with the added ambiguity of whether ‘touring’ or ‘abroad’
is the anagram indicator. Dr Watson notes that these things seem to be universally
called ‘adapters’ nowadays.
20. Fine fabric, quite German, opening mouths ORGANZA (ganz (Ger.) in ora) You won’t find ‘ganz’ in Chambers
or any English dictionary, as far as Dr Watson knows, so for non-linguists a
visit to Google Translate may help.
23. Cap, a bit lacking to the French AMORCE (a morce(au)) The
wordplay is a little tricky, as it’s ‘au’ rather than ‘morceau’
that is indicated as a French word.
24. The old begin as fools, entering college INCEPT (C in
inept) Azed
takes advantage of ‘enter’ being both an intransitive and a transitive
verb. The fact that Chambers also defines ‘incept’ as meaning ‘to complete a degree’ makes
the wordplay even more elusive.
Other solutions:
Across: 1. ICKY (K in icy); 12. POLYPOSIS (anag. in pos); 13. EMEER (’em e’er); 14. LUNARS (l + anag.
less anag.); 15. RUND (run + d); 16. RISING (is in ring); 19. FACTOR (act in for); 26. DAEMON (mead,
rev. + on); 29.
TOP DOG (pd 0 in tog); 32. EUTERPEAN (anag.
in anag.);
33. APPRIZE (Pr in a pize).
Down: 1. INTERPRETESS (anag.);
2. COMMUNE (mun in come); 3. KAREN (2 mngs.);
5. KILERG (l in kier + g); 6. EMPUSA ((h)emp USA); 7. AGONIC (I in anag.);
8. PESANTE (anag.); 9. COIR (hidden rev.); 22. HEDERA (rede in ah, all rev.); 25. SERAPH (rap in anag.); 28. ADMIN (m in a
din); 30. OULK
(0 for s in sulk; see ouk in C.).