AZED 2,222

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I solved this rather quickly (for me) and didn’t find myself abusing Chambers.  A relatively healthy number of &lits but I struggled to understand the definition of DAFT until an email friend helped me out of my misery.

completed grid
Across
*1 OBJECT LESSON
Salutary warning (12, 2 words)
Did you submit a clue?
10 CROQUIS
Sketch Queen among unruly corgis? Not good (7)
qu in (cor[g]is)*. This time it’s not ER for queen, just “qu”.  French for “sketch”.
12 HOWK
What Scot’s to do, making his hollow with end of pick? (4)
&lit.  Scots “dig” and “how”=Scots hollow so the wordplay is HOW,[pic]K and the whole thing is the definition as well.
13 FREEMEN
They’ve special privileges, returning lake in boggy ground (7)
MEER=alt. spelling of mere=lake.  so rev(meer) in FEN.
14 ANATTO
~Amber tincture~ getting a solicitor half cut? (6)
Orange colouring (from a fruit). AN,ATTO[rney].  In the cryptic world, the indefinite articles “a” and “an” are interchangeable.
15 ACTORS
Men in cast possibly (6)
Nice &lit.  OR=men (ordinary ranks in the UK army) in cast*.
16 PASTURAGE
Grass as fodder like veg (nip off) in leaf (9)
Had to reverse engineer my way into understanding the wordplay — which is a bit awkward.  Anyway, P(AS,TUR[nip])AGE so “as turnip” = “like veg”.
17 FLIC
Who’ll render France lawful when it strays? (4)
My favourite word in French — disdainful but not rude (like the French in general?).  F,LIC[it] and I suppose an &lit since les flics are policemen.
19 STONED
In Mideast one duly made to suffer barbaric punishment (6)
Hidden — and given the Saudi association quite a good surface.
21 FAMINE
If with mean scraps…you may have got this (6)
Does one ever really “have famine”?  (if, mean)* — and I suppose another &lit.
24 TATE
Small portion in Scotland? South denied something similar (4)
Scots “small portion”.  I think our “something similar” (to Scotland) is a “state” — almost became an independent one at that in September. So wordplay is [s]TATE.
26 BRASSWARE
At least four cups once cursed that’ll need polishing (9)
BRAS,SWARE. My favourite clue once I realized that 2 cups would be for a single bra and plural bras would thus require at least 4.  SWARE is archaic “swore”.
28 AVIDIN
Opera star making comeback by way of protein (6)
rev(diva),IN – “protein found in egg white”.
30 USENET
American anger once over online depository for world news (6)
US,rev(TENE=archaic anger).  Not sure I’d describe online newsgroups as actually publishing world news but it’s still a workable definition.
31 PALADIN
Suffering that boy’s held in, a paragon of good behaviour (7)
Easiest clue — worthy of a daily cryptic even (as in, no need to check a dictionary).  PA(LAD)IN.
32 FAVE
Following greeting Top of the Pops? (4)
F,AVE – ave=greeting and F=abbrev(folliowing).  My last clue – I was misled into thinking that “Top of the Pops” indicated P.
33 STILTER
Let out in prison, one walks tall (7)
STI(LTE*)R.  I’ve never heard anyone actually refer to prison as the stir but they do in crosswordland.  And STILTER defining someone who walks tall seems a bit stilted to me.
34 CENTROSPHERE
Crepes hornet spoilt – it’s beneath the crust (12)
(crepes hornet)*
Down
2 BROND
Old sword as goad, end of weapon going in (5)
Archaic brand=sword.  And BROD=(dialect) goad.  So [weapon]N in BROD.
3 JOWARI
Grain hostilities? Combine mostly limits that (6)
JO(WAR)I[n].  Indian durra=grain.
4 CURTAINSIDER
Lorry of a kind? Short answer: one that’s gained access (12)
CURT,A,INSIDER.  A type of lorry which is, well, sided with curtains.
5 TIFOSI
Fans of sport, lives belonging to it when brought up (6)
A lovely description of polite soccer fans of the Italian persuasion.  rev(is=lives,of=belonging to, it)
6 EXECUTORSHIP
Court unusually dividing river vessel, being responsible for performance (12)
EXE,CUTOR*,SHIP – ref. River Exe.
7 SHET
Group capturing hearts, once close (4)
Archaic shut=close.  S(H)ET
8 SAMOAN
Pacific islander with nothing sheltered in rain tree (6)
SAM(O)AN – saman is the rain tree.
9 OVERGET
Recover from being pale, entering form of therapy (7)
Archaic “get over”=recover.  So O(VERGE=pale)T where OT=[occupational] therapy.
10 CHAUFF
Irritation for old poet – he’s taken in by clown using dialect words (6)
Our poet is Spenser of course and this is how he spelt chafe.  CHUFF is archaic clown and A=dialect he.   So it all fits together as CH(A)UFF.
11 IN SE
Being so makes car drive off, instinctively (4, 2 words)
Latin “in itself”.  So if car is put in itself=IN SE, then you get S(car)E which is “drive off, instinctively” so I guess “being so” is the definition.
18 LARVATE
Disguised, travel round Austria in a mask (7)
LARV(A)TE* so A=abbrev(Austria) in travel* and larvate=masked.  So “disguised” is the anagrind and “in a mask” the definition.
20 DEXTER
Spectator’s left entranced by grand exterior (6)
Hidden.  ”The spectator’s left” in heraldry.
22 MAILIN
Circulation of survey, say, Liberal one in general (6)
MAI(L,I)N
23 HAUNTS
Resorts which anyone can go to in southern county (6)
HA(U)NTS – Hants=Hertfordshire (or Hereford or Hampshire…).  And U=Universal film certificate allowing anyone to go and see it.
25 ADNATE
Worried about genetic identifier attached to another organ (6)
A(DNA)TE – “attached to a different kind of organ.”
26 BAPU
Spiritual father, last to take lead in a hostelry (4)
“A pub” with B (the last letter) moved to the front.
27 BEVER
Snack between meals, always with a slice of bacon on (5)
B,EVER – (dialect) intermeal snack (which I feel I deserve as we speak).
29 DAFT
Reynard’s tail behind, brushlike? (4)
[Reynar]D,AFT – the wordplay makes sense to me.  And I finally understood the definition.   Once it was explained to me.   A Briticism too far: apparently “daft as a brush” is a familiar idiom.  To some of you.
*anagram

5 comments on “AZED 2,222”

  3. Thanks Azed and ilancaron.

    11dn: I took the definition to be “instinctively”, with “drive off” a sufficient definition for sCARe. “Being so” is part of the wordplay as you have indicated.

    23dn: Hants is Hampshire not Hertfordshire.

  4. I just vaguely remembered My Fair Lady and hazarded Hants=Hertfordshire. Yes I could have checked 🙂

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