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HERE’S something about
Latinisms that makes them stand out as competition words. Perhaps it’s their
distribution across the comps. Azed gave MARGINALIA and AUXESIS close together
is 2007, and VIDENDA and FACETIAE two months apart in 2017. Now we have LITERATIM
and PLACITUM separated by the same short gap. These words tend to offer
friendly letters for wordplay, but less scope for inventive definitions, having
precise meanings.
The grid-fill this month is
median Azed, with no especially tortuous wordplay. There seems to be an
abundance of boats, sailors and seafood catches in the clues and solutions, but
the only unfamiliar reference is likely to be the Irish-born writer at 20
across.
1. System
of poetic correspondence I extracted from bobbing dinghy dance CYNGHANEDD (anag. less I)
Azed sets himself a
challenge with a Welsh loan-word. The shortage of (English) vowels forces an enhanced,
and improbable, anagram. Competitors will be relieved that Azed chose to tackle
this one himself.
11. Greeting
that’s international, accepted in company CIAO (I a in Co) This solution is a regular visitor to barred cryptics, and Azed gives it a very neat clue that’s close
to & lit. in its surface reading.
14. Citizen of
sultanate, returning very soon? OMANI (in
a mo, rev.) It’s satisfying when the word allows a whole phrase
to be indicated in the wordplay.
16. Marine
invertebrates chippy’s half rejected in a foreign street, sent back ECHIURA (chi(ppy) in a
rue, rev.) Dr Watson
wondered if the ‘chippy’ was intended to be one of the oyster-eaters from The
Walrus and the Carpenter, but it’s more likely Azed had in mind a fish-and-chip
shop rejecting the spoonworms.
20. English
engraved in tablet for Irish-born writer
STEELE (E in stele) The reference is to Sir Richard Steele,
best known as one of the founders of the original Spectator and Tatler
periodicals in the early 18c.
28. Lad excited
with bust shown round for all to see, not quite fully developed SUBADULT (U in anag.) The combination of sexuality and underdevelopment
here is a little uncomfortable.
30. XI gutted
with victory likewise treated as grudge? ENVY (e(leve)n v(ictor)y) The double evisceration makes for an original and less than
obvious wordplay. ‘Grudge’ is an old meaning of envy as a verb.
4. Bird
arranged twig to tidy up nesting GODWIT (do, rev., in anag.) One of the cleverest surfaces in the puzzle,
making good use of ‘nesting’.
6. Drains
on each side going into hospital that’s erected NALLAS (all in san, rev.) ‘On each
side’ often points to RL or LR in clues, but here it’s a synonym for ‘all’, as
in ‘nil all’.
8. Glen, David
or Jonathan dropping by? DIMBLE (Dimble(by)) It’s the sibling broadcasters you
need, not the biblical best friends.
19. I’m
served in the manner of the bargeman’s wife, mustily dressed MYTILUS (anag.) More
marine invertebrates, though this time more palatable than the echiura. Mussels may be served ‘à la marnière’,
which can mean a female sailor or bargee (not necessarily the wife of one,
of course).
23. Keep quiet
about debt settlement in historical bailment MUTUUM (utu in mum) A couple of handy Scrabble words. Utu is a Maori term for
a debt repayment, and the solution is an old legal agreement involving the loan
of goods.
25. Appearing in
pink in dance that’s a bit informal KINDA (hidden) A
great opportunity to disguise the definition, i.e. ‘a bit’ informally.
29. Loud greeting
preferred in ‘yoofspeak’ FAVE (f ave) What
is this ‘yoofspeak’ that Azed mentions? OED traces ‘fave’ back to 1938, while ‘yoof’
is more associated with Janet Street-Porter’s
stint as the BBC’s Head of Youth Features in the late 1980s.
Other solutions:
Across: 12. PLACITUM; 13. PREDY (d in prey); 15. WELL BOAT (anag.
incl. l); 18. SMITHY
(anag. incl. i); 21. SYNCOM (comp. anag. incl. go, (spac)e); 24. COSTER (2 mngs.); 27. URICASE (ur(t)icas + E); 28. LIGNITIC
(anag. + I C); 30. ELVEN (L in even); 31. ARIAN (aria n; see Aries); 34. FLAME TREES (metre in anag.).
Down: 2. YIRK (y + irk); 3. NAETHING (h in anag.); 5. ALMERY (LM in aery; see ambry); 7. E COLI (eco + il(ls),
rev.); 9. TUNABLE (nab in anag.); 10. SMITHEREEN
(mither in seen; see moider); 13. PRESS
FLESH (press + h(ER)self, rev.); 17. PETALINE
(a in pet line); 23. CUNEAL (un in anag.; i.e. wedge shoe);
24. CRIBLÉ (comp. anag.); 25. SCORER (C in sorer).
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