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ZED’S first December
competition offering is on the difficult side, perhaps limbering us up for the
Christmas special, with some wordplay and definitions that reward extra
research or lateral thinking or both. A few things come in pairs: there are two
currencies, Tajik and Peruvian; two months, April and May; a pair of East End
double acts; and a couple of clues (see below) that could probably have benefitted from
more scrutiny at the checking stage.
12. Flow
of old from poet perishing early RAYLE
(anag.) Very straightforward, but with the first
letter in place, Dr Watson got carried away with the idea that ‘poet perishing
early’ must be Rilke,
and the solution must be some variant of ‘rill’, thus ignoring the number 1
rule of cryptic crossword solving, which is basically ‘apply Occam’s razor’.
14. A
Metro siège I adjusted for senior Parisians? TROISIÈME AGE (anag.) A well-spotted and apposite anagram (down to
the grave E) from Azed in a clue that has the potential to be entirely in
French.
15. Ill-tempered
fellow, I’m often tastily dressed CRAB
(2 mngs.) A dressed crab follows last month’s moules marinière. Dr Watson anticipates a full lobster
thermidor for the Christmas special.
26. Invertebrates?
Tern tribe’s mixed in with these AVES
(comp. anag.) Dr Watson isn’t
sure what to make of this. The second sentence is sufficient
definition, but that doesn’t make the clue & lit., as the full wording
would imply terns are invertebrates. Unless there’s a better explanation, it’s
something Azed and his checker appear not to have noticed before publication.
28. Bud
yielding infusion? It was of value in Peru INTI (inti(mate)) Two
devious synonyms in this original approach to the frequently-clued ‘inti’. Bud2
is the short form of ‘buddy’ and mate3 or maté
is the S. American hot drink.
33. Typical
of (mostly young) learners (adj)
STUDENTY An unusually long and explicit
definition for the competition word, to avoid the chance of clues being
submitted to STUDENTS. There will likely be one or two anyway. Competitors have
been offered a good synonym for ‘stud’ at 17 across as well a somewhat studenty surface to 31 across.
1. Who
often joined Daisy having tea? Come off it! GERTCHA (Gert + cha) Two comedy musical duos are referenced here. Gert and Daisy
were a music hall double act who made the transition to radio during WW2 and
then to the early days of TV. And Chas and Dave, from the same East End roots,
popularised ‘gertcha!’ with their 1979 hit single.
3. What’s left penned by composer, unfinished,
that can be erased DELIBLE (l in Delibe(s)) Léo Delibes enjoys
far less crossword action than Bach or Arne or even Azed’s
favourite Adès, so it’s good to see him here.
9. Ready
for engagement? What Mr and Mrs share is embodied by mostly expensive rings
coming up ARMED
(Mr in dea(r), all rev.) At 75 letters and
16 words, a long clue for Azed, and another that Dr Watson thinks could have
done with a second read-through. The indication of ‘Mr’ is good, as is the
misleading surface, but having both ‘embodied’ and ‘rings’ to indicate the
container-contents looks like an oversight.
19. Uproar once created by telly
doctor on rearing owls WHOOBUB (Who + Bubo,
rev.)
There’s an intersection of Doctor Who fans and solvers that’s prone to
huff when ‘Who, for instance’ is used to indicate ‘Dr’ and not ‘Doctor’, but
they have no cause for complaint here. Bubo is a genus of owls.
22. Sneery,
I maligned those labelled ‘kindly’ ERINYES
(anag.) Azed brings his great Classics knowledge to the fore in
this difficult definition. Erinyes
are the Furies of Greek myth, also known more euphemistically as Eumenides or
‘kindly ones’
25. Seaweed
rising up from below grating IRON
(nori, rev.) This nice reversal has probably been used before, though
it’s the first time Dr Watson has seen it. Iron means ‘grating’ in an
adjectival sense of both words.
Other solutions:
Across: 1. GUM DRAGON (gum drag on); 11. EPILATOR (anag. in rote, rev.);
13. DIRAM (I in dram; capital of Tajikistan); 16. SLOE (sole with ol
rev.); 17. STUD (stud(y); boss2); 18. HOWLET (how3 let); 24. SUMMAR (m in ramus, rev.); 25. SMOG (hidden); 29. POOR RELATION (alt. letters of honour in prelation); 31.
OUBIT (OU bit); 32. FIRRY (first
letters); 34. ELAEAGNUS (anag.).
Down: 2. MAYO (May + 0); 4. APRIL (p in aril); 5. GIDEONS (anag.); 6. OLD MEN (lads less as in omen); 7. STRATUM (rat in stum(m)); 8. COAGULATORY (O in anag.); 10. PARROT MOUTH (0 in anag.
less I); 20. TAVERNA (aver n in
TA); 21. SMITING (I’m, rev., in
sting); 23. CARTEL (i.e. car tel(ephone)); 25. SPOSH (s in hops, rev.; ref. US ski
resort); 27. ELITE ((p)elite).
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