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UST AS last month, Azed has avoided too much complicated wordplay in the clues
of this puzzle, with four straight anagrams and an unusual three hidden words,
only one of which is more than lightly disguised. And, perhaps unwittingly, he
displays a surprising knowledge of obscure prog rock acts in another of them.
Competitors recovering from November’s SPASMODICAL may wonder how many more
long, classically-derived competition words Azed has
in store after EPILIMNION.
14. Lassie’s
prim, turning pinker about first of jokes PREJINK (j in anag.). A quick look in Chambers will show that the solution is
an alternative spelling of PERJINK, which also fits the clue, so solvers must
rely on checking letters for the correct answer.
18. Drains baths
needing a going-over
SAPS (spas, rev.) ‘Needing a going-over’ is an orginal indicator for a reversal.
23. Cats getting
left out in Irish festival
FEIS (Fe(l)is). Felis is the genus
of cats. Feis
is an Irish or Scottish cultural festival similar to
the Welsh Eisteddfod.
28. Leg breaks
keep a tight hold – tampering with nature?
CLONING (on in cling). Although the cricketing synonym of ‘on’ is
used in the surface reading, the wordplay is nicely disguised to look like
‘keeping’ is the container indicator.
33. Noted
Marxist, divine spirit for secret police CHEKA (Che ka). Che escapes his usual
‘revolutionary’ tag in this clue to the original predecessor of the KGB and FSB.
1. Diarist very
informally suggests this porridge? SAMP
(i.e. Sam P.). It’s most unlikely even friends of Samuel Pepys would have
referred to him in this way.
3. Old
boy got up, interrupted by a very rowdy party RAVE-UP (a v in puer,
rev.). ‘Puer’ is the
Latin root of words like ‘puerile’, but isn’t given directly in Chambers, as
the footnote explains.
5. Where to
find piggy-wig’s ring? It’s cracked by Lear – snap! PRENASAL (anag.). The ring that the
piggy-wig sold to the Owl and the
Pussycat was ‘at the end of his nose, / His nose, / His nose’, and the
solution is a bone found just there in pigs.
13. Warm
surface water
EPILIMNION. This is probably not the competition word to give
encouragement to new competitors, though regulars may see more potential in it.
20. One
that doesn’t even get a third in finals or anything ALSO-RAN (hidden). A beautifully
worded and not immediately obvious hidden clue. Dr Watson would certainly have preferred
ALSO-RAN to EPILIMNION as the competition word.
22. Models of
early Christian donations? One’s seen in silver copy AGAPAE (a in Ag ape). The solution is
slightly obscured in Chambers by appearing as a plural form at the entry for
agape2.
26. Bit of cash
once pocketed by Abel Ganz
BELGA (hidden). Abel who? you ask. Surely Azed’s
misspelt the name of Abel Gance, the pioneering silent film director responsible
for the 1927 multi-screen epic Napoléon?
Well, possibly, but a search will reveal that Scottish prog rock band Abel Ganz
appeared as a support act at the Rites of Spring
Festival in Gettysburg, Pa. in 2015; they are otherwise pretty much lost
even to internet history. You can’t fault Azed on his
rock musc trivia.
Other solutions:
Across: 1. STROPPY (port, rev., in
spy); 6. POIND (I in pond); 10. À MERVEILLE (anag.
inc. E); 11. MEVE (hidden); 12. MALLEE (m. + allée); 16. BOATSWAIN (anag.
& lit.); 19.
RADDLE (R + addle); 21. PLANTA (l in pan
+ ta); 25. HIGH-BLEST (anag. in HT); 30. REPULP (anag.); 31. ANIL (a Nil(e)); 32. ILANG-ILANG (an gila
in anag.); 34.
SYNTONY (t(i)ny, rev., in
Sony).
Down: 2. THERMALITE (the + anag. less a); 4. PERIOST (r I OS in pet); 6. PEARS (a in pers(on)); 7. OILY (alternate letters of jovially); 8. ILLIAD (ill I ad); 9. DEEPNESS (anag.); 15. ASPHERICAL (anag.
inc. cir(cle));
17. TREE LILY (comp. anag.); 24. ERINGO (rin(d)
in ego); 27. LUNK ((s)lunk); 29. GLEY (g
ley).
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