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AVING noted that last
month’s competition puzzle wasn’t too difficult, Dr Watson is loath to repeat
the same observation this time, but if anything this is an easier puzzle than
2447. Dr Watson entered nineteen solutions on a first pass through the clues
(the usual hit rate is five to ten), and completed the
puzzle with little effort from there. The mix of clues isn’t very different
from normal, but Azed helps to solver with many
easy-to-spot cryptic devices and, once again, little that needs to be confirmed
outside of Chambers. Dr Watson also noted how many clues are made up of two
sentences, the first of which is a short, verbless
question. There are six in the acrosses, which may
not be unusual, but begins to feel a little repetitive.
11. Half crazy
(exactly!) about aged goddess
GAEA (ae in ga(ga)) This was probably
the hardest clue to parse in the puzzle, and the last Dr Watson solved. ‘Gaga’
didn’t spring to mind for ‘crazy’, and this meaning of ‘ae’ didn’t spring to
the fore in a search of the Chambers app, where it’s listed under ‘ae.’ with a
dot, as an abbreviation of the Latin ‘aetatis’ (of a certain age). The
‘(exactly!)’ is something of a red herring – it simply points out that the
halves of ‘gaga’ are identical.
15. Production
of Tosca, new? —— 2 is fantastic! SCENA
(comp. anag. incl. two, & lit.) Azed occasionally makes anagrams slightly indirect by
converting number words to numerals, which may throw the unwary solver.
20. Not a major
thoroughfare? That’s obvious
BROAD (i.e. B road) Offering a small penny-drop in the wordplay.
25. Catlike
creature, one member of the Felidae – certain about that? SURICATE (I cat in sure) Azed
seems to have struggled with an oversupply of cats in this clue. A suricate isn’t a cat, and even its etymology isn’t clearly
related to ‘cat’.
31. Excessive
devotion that is shown by press back in May?
PIETISM (i.e. + sit, rev., in PM). Azed was bold to
make this reference to the PM, given Mrs May’s tenuous position this year, and
right to add the question mark!
32. People
exercise them sometimes – leads required!
PETS (initial letters & lit.)
A very neat and not at all obvious initial letters & lit.
9. Prance
about – what you do when hanging a picture?
TITUP (i.e. ‘put it’ up) A rather unusual reverse cryptic, made the more difficult
because ‘put it up’ is palindromic, and it’s not clear whether it’s going up or
down in the solution.
6. Showy
plant: see red one ran wild in rose garden SEGO (comp. anag.) The
anagram material is hard to spot first time, with the roles ‘see’ and ‘one’ unclear.
The anagram equation is ‘red sego ran’ ~ ‘rose garden’, and ‘see’ is just an
instruction.
8. Support
drink – Islam working for what supports the opposite TEETOTALISM (tee tot + anag.) The pro and anti-alcohol elements are
cleverly combined in the surface reading of this semi-& lit. clue.
9. Fan
of film clubs alight over endless festival CINÉASTE (C in Easte(r)). Chambers gives ‘in’ as meaning ‘alight’ in
relation to a fire. Dr Watson’s view is that Clubs needs a capital C when abbreviated
this way.
17. A head CAPUT It’s a pleasure to have a short normal
competition word. This one has an abundance of colloquial definitions and should
offer many different approaches.
19. ‘Beloved
brave’ encompasses Longfellow’s leading character DARLING (L in daring) An original route to an oft-clued word. The
reference is to Hiawatha.
21. Such
as Turpin of old, affected by Bess’s end SCAMP (s + camp2) The solution is an old name for a highwayman.
Dick Turpin supposedly galloped
Black Bess from London to York to create an alibi.
26. Of
use to joiners – or railway workers?
ELMEN (i.e. El men) Workers on Chicago’s
elevated railroad might be called El men. ‘Elmen’ describes
elm wood.
29. Doss
down with English historian
BEDE (bed + E) The
solution points to the prolific
medieval writer.
Other solutions:
Across: 1. TUMBLER-SWITCH (tumblers
witch); 10. IMARI (mar in II); 12. TEIL (hidden; lime3); 14. TALIPOT (a lip in tot); 17. COASTER (a in coster); 18. PIERHEAD (anag.); 24. COPRA (op. in anag.); 27. ANIMIST (anag.
incl. m); 30. MENUS
(men US); 33. CRAN (alternate letters); 34. DESSE (d(r)esse(r)); 35. BROTHER-GERMAN (anag.).
Down: 2. MAL DEL PINTO (anag.; see pinta); 3. BRIERY (b + i.e.
in RR + y); 4. LIPA (lip + a.); 5. EGOLESS (e.g. + anag.); 7. WASABI (hidden); 13. LARDY (r in lady); 16. TIMONEER (one in timer); 22. TAISCH (is in anag.); 23. SCOTER (t(h)e(m) in anag.); 28. SURE ((ton)sure).
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