This puzzle was published on the same day that AZED celebrated 40 years of setting (congratulations Jonathan). I don’t know if Don deliberately made it easy so that we could all concentrate on the AZED revue themed puzzle but I raced through it in very short order.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | ARID – anagram of ARID plus N – from (terrai)N – gives Indra; |
| 4 | PHIALLED – sounds like “filed”; |
| 10 | METALANGUAGE – (get eg a manual)*; a language used to analyse and facilitate discussion of another language; |
| 11 | ADAMIC – A-DAM-I-C; see=C; seeking to impress Eve; |
| 13 | DULSE – DUL(l)-SE(a); seaweed that is eaten in Iceland – say no more; |
| 14 | PIARIST – musician=pianist then change “n” in the middle to “r”; oldest Catholic education order dating from 1617; |
| 15 | OCHERY – O-CHER(r)Y; old=O; brownish yellow colour; |
| 17 | CHANGE – CH-ANGE(l); pounds=libra=l; |
| 18 | CALCITE – CAL(vin)-CITE; calcium carbonate also known as Iceland Spar; |
| 20 | GRIFFON – GRIFF-ON; about=ON; both a breed of dog and a mythical monster; |
| 23 | RATINE – hidden (aristoc)RAT IN E(ngland); a coarse cloth; |
| 24 | ZEATIN – ZEA(l)-TIN; dosh=money=TIN; growth hormone found in coconut milk; |
| 25 | ABASING – ABA-SING; camel hair garment=ABA; grass=divulge secrets=SING; |
| 28 | GRYDE – G-RYDE; G from G(ood); RYDE is on the Isle of Wight; a grating noise; |
| 29 | LAICAL – (g)LACIAL reversed; hostile=glacial; |
| 30 | MONSTRE,SACRE – (cameron rests)*; literally a sacred monster. A public figure allowed to get away with outlandish behaviour because they are a national treasure. Princes Di, perhaps; |
| 31 | ABSTAINS – A-B(STAIN)S; B=bishop; |
| 32 | NAND – NAND(i); Nandi is a bear infested forest in Bangalor; NAND and NOR gates are the two basic logic circuits; |
| Down | |
| 1 | AMADOU – A-MAD-OU; OU=Oxford University; a spongy flamable substance; |
| 2 | REDUCER – RED-U(l)CER; |
| 3 | DAMSELFISH – DAM-SELFISH; brightly coloured, tropical specimen; |
| 4 | PLIERS – P(L)IERS; line=L; for pulling teeth?; |
| 5 | INDICAN – INDICAN(t); time=T; the precursor of indigo dye; |
| 6 | AGRA – AG(o)RA; |
| 7 | LATINIST – L(A-TIN)IST; nice clue; |
| 8 | EGIS – (th)E-GIS; |
| 9 | DEBTEE – DEB-TEE; there’s no “may” about it – a creditor as in bond holder and Greek government; |
| 12 | TRACTARIAN – T(R)ACT-ARIAN; rector=R; The Oxford Movement that saw Anglicanism as a subset of Catholicism; |
| 16 | HUITAINS – (his aunt)* surronds I; French poetry. Each verse has 8 lines so the plural form has 16 lines minimum; |
| 18 | COENURI – (no cure I)*; parasitic larval stage of a tapeworm; |
| 19 | TRIDARN – T(RID)ARN; a Welsh cupboard circa 1700, don’t you know; |
| 20 | GRAMMA – GRAMMA(r); one of many types of grass; |
| 21 | MEGASS – M(EG)ASS; dry residue of crushed sugar cane used to make pulp; |
| 22 | ANELED – A-NE(L)ED; litre=L; old word for anoint; |
| 26 | BLOB – B-LOB; bowled=B (cricket); a score of zero in cricket and stapleford golf; |
| 27 | IOTA – (A-TOI) all reversed; |
The only thing I didn’t understand was the “term” bit in 1ac, so thanks for clearing that up.
A tiny point but “may” does seem apt in 9ac because a debt doesn’t necessarily arise from lending.
The situation was corrected and since then in my opinion Mephisto and AZED Plain have been of about the same level of difficulty within the usual week to week variations.