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10. Who’ll accept trendy modern type of salad? TIN HAT (E; salade;
in in that) Azed
finds the historical item of headgear that exactly meets his requirements.
13. Most pick clothing seen unravelling, being
frank? FREENESS (S; spick; anag. in fres(h)) With
the misleading ‘clothing’ in the clue and the possibility of ‘most’ indicating
a superlative, the insertion point for the missing letter is very hard to spot.
17. Army unit take in pens, historically CORPS (O; peons; r in cops) Although the solver can guess the solution is
likely to be ‘corps’ or ‘cadre’, ‘peons’, an old name for policemen, takes some
finding.
18. Spear fruit in SA? His gets e.g. inside ASSEGAI (T; this;
e.g. in assai) One
of the weaker letter omissions, simply replacing ‘this’ with ‘his’. You’ll need
to find ‘assai’, an alternative spelling of the ‘superfood’ fruit açai.
21. Airborne soldier given pint following windy
plain PARAMO (O;
point; Para mo) ‘Windy
plain’ is the definition disguised as an anagram indication. ‘Mo’ is ‘moment’,
defined in Chambers as a ‘point in time’.
24. Ask supervisor in mine down one with money invested OVERMAN (T;
task; M in over an) An
unexpected definition of ‘over’ is ‘down from’, as in ‘hanging over the edge’. ‘Down’
on its own seems a bit of a stretch.
25. Inuit may travel with this cow, one
kilometre behind KAIAK (H; chow; kai + a
K) It’s not easy to discover
the Maori ‘kai’ for ‘chow’, especially with the various spellings of the
Scottish ‘kye’ providing a distraction.
30. Debt written off, Met create recast addition ETCETERA (U;
debut; anag. less M)
Azed finds a very neat way
to remove the U from part of the wordplay instructions.
24. Roll, say, coated in edible fish mites ACARI (S; Rolls;
car in ai) The
first use of ‘ai’ meaning the fish rather than the
sloth. A rather unappealing surface in more than one sense.
32. Hungry? Camper maybe is heading for that,
faint as before VANISH
(A; Hungary; van is H) Dr
Watson was puzzled by ‘heading for’. It seems unnecessary, as H is the IVR code
for Hungary, and ‘heading for’ appears to indicate a first letter, which would
apply to either ‘hungry’ or ‘Hungary’. The explanation is probably that ‘is heading
for’ indicates ‘comes ahead of’, and Azed was
concerned that the surface reading should make enough sense after the A is
inserted.
33. College lie about a Councillor LINACRE (N; line; a Cr in line) This is the proper noun mentioned in the note
after the clues, a reference to Linacre College, Oxford – which has not, as far
as Dr Watson knows, ever hosted an Azed celebration
lunch.
2. One raising e.g. mugs, record very much
superior to medium tin cans SHEEP-FARMER
(H; thin; EP far M in sheer) Having spotted ‘farmer’ in the solution Dr
Watson spent some time looking for one who might cultivate mung beans, but mug6
in Chambers is defined as a ‘woolly-faced sheep’.
9. Old copper sizing wayward Susie, the old
enemy! AUSSIES (E; seizing; anag. in as3) Regular
solvers will know that Azed can often drop in cricket
references like this. The puzzle appeared on the third day of the Ashes Test at
Lord’s (where England were being soundly beaten), which gives the clue an extra
degree of topicality. The previous ‘missing letters’ puzzle, no. 2168, also came
out in the middle of an Ashes series and many of the competition clues were inspired
by it.
16. Fish decline? Bet set includes that islander TAIWANESE (N;
bent; ai wane in anag.) The second appearance
of the Japanese fish. The surface reading after the N is added is slightly
strained.
23. Luther might
have fashioned this blend of oil in wine
VIOLIN (I; luthier; anag. in vin) About the best
penny-drop of the puzzle as ‘luthier’ is discovered.
26. Old judge in female underwear, ties ailing SCAN (F; failing;
scan(ties)) Azed manages to stay fresh and witty right to
the last few clues.
29. The lad pulled up about 500 thorns EDHS (Y; lady;
D in she, rev.)
Dr Watson had thought of thorn (þ) and
edh (ð) as distinct characters with distinct phonemes, but Chambers indicates
they were used interchangeably in early English writing.
Other solutions:
Across: 1. AMISS (A; coat; amis + s); 5. SESTINA (Z; hazy; anag. inc. E); 11. KUDZU (D; seed; Z in kudu); 14. CREEPERED (N;
adorning; père in creed); 20. NIRLIE (W; down; rin, rev. + lie); 27. MILESTONE (O); 34. AGNES (D; lady; hidden rev.).
Down: 1. ATOC (T; stinks;
hidden); 2. MICROWAVE
(W; warm; anag.); 3. INJERA (O; sourer; J in in era); 5. STREAM (U;
housing; R in steam);
6. EWER (N; number; (f)ewer); 7.
SKEESICKS (D; ward; sick in seeks, rev.); 8. IDEA (R; truck; I + dea(l)); 12. UNDERRATING (D; danger; anag.);
15. PSAMMITIC (A; about; a in anag. + tic); 19. APOGEAL (D;
body; a + go, rev. in peal);
22. ENERVE (F; flag; E + r in névé); 28. LEAR (T; teach;
L + ear).
Hidden
message in clues: Azed’s
no. two thousand two hundred and fifty
Hidden
message in grid: AZED’S NO. MMCCL