Another weekend, another Azed. It's nice that I seem to have got the hang of them; it's a bit of a shame that it's not an augmentation to my weekend's solving: I made absolutely no progress on the inquisitor. Still, there's hope: although solving this one was absolutely not in the boiled-egg ballpark, it was a two-hour wall-clock-time exercise, so as long as I can start my solving earlier than 9:30 on Sunday evening I should be able to do more than one crossword a week.

Analysis below is reconstructed while on an unexpectedly long train journey: away from books, and increasingly tired. I don't understand the cryptic half of 12ac at all. [ update: fifteensquared on this one suggests UR inside AMOS. (ref Amos Oz) ]

  • 2ac: PRIMP: Tidy pages grasping skirt: PP (pages) outside RIM (skirt)
  • 6ac: APANAGE: Dependent territory, hence absorbing one: APAGE around AN
  • 11ac: AIOLI: Dressing; odd bits rejected by Jamie Oliver, half cut: jAmIe + OLI(ver)
  • 12ac: AMOURS: Old-style sex yielding hesitant utterance in Oz?: ?
  • 14ac: CROSSLET: Pendant perhaps left trapped in tight corsets: *(CORSETS) around L(eft)
  • 15ac: KAPELLMEISTER: E.g. Bach, confusedly losing lines, buried in task, i.e. right frantic: *(IN TASK IE R) around PELL-MELL - LL (lines)
  • 17ac: ACTUATE: Tiptop, reverse of tense inside? So get going: ACE around TAUT reversed
  • 19ac: JUBA: Jacket on the short side? You may see me sell this in jumble sale: *(JUMBLE SALE) - ME SELL
  • 20ac: DAMAR: Artist crazy about a type of resin: RA (artist) + MAD all reversed
  • 22ac: COXA: Bone from farm animal, roughly round: OX (farm animal) inside CA (circa)
  • 24ac: OKIMONO: Oriental figurine, fine one, early reproduction: OK (fine) + I + MONO (early reproduction)
  • 28ac: NUMEROLOGICAL: Silly me, uncool with a girl, making prediction from figures: *(ME UNCOOL A GIRL)
  • 31ac: BIRIYANI: Spicy dish from Iran brought in by exotic bird: IRI (Islamic Republic of Iran) in BY + ANI (exotic bird)
  • 32ac: STOLID: Dull time in firm: T(ime) in SOLID
  • 33ac: MELON: Fruit pieces placed round centre of charlottes: MEN around charLOttes
  • 34ac: VANESSA: Virginia bags a Bill perhaps in this novel: VA (Virginia) around A + NESS (bill)
  • 35ac: LEMAN: Celebrity left back, a darling of yore: NAME + L(eft) all reversed
  • 1dn: RACKABONES: Barack O. upset rising senator, scraggy American?: *(BARACK O) + SEN(ator) reversed
  • 2dn: PYRANA: Fish tucking into tropical plant, voracious one
  • 3dn: ROUPY: A bit off colour, consuming nothing, like Scot with a bad throat: ROPY (a bit off colour) around O (nothing)
  • 4dn: MISLED: Major road vehicle with runners taken for a ride: MI (M1 motorway) + SLED (vehicle with runners)
  • 5dn: PULLMAN: Plush saloon diverted up Mall, last in procession: *(UPMALL) + (processio)N
  • 6dn: AHEM: Attention-seeker, one on fringe: A + HEM
  • 7dn: AMRIT: Baptismal ceremony, part in Malayam ritually: malayAM RITually
  • 8dn: NONSUCH: Wayward nun's admitting love – church reveals this once unique thing: *(NUNS) around O (love) + CH(urch)
  • 9dn: AUNT: Decapitating cow, one provides practical advice: dAUNT (cow)
  • 10dn: GREET: Hail ends in spring weather we like best: sprinG weatheR wE likE besT
  • 13dn: STREAMLING: See activated mangle stir a mere trickle: *(MANGLE STIR)
  • 16dn: JUMELLE: Sweet drink (not soft) with honey in – might it to make you see double?: JULEP (sweet drink) - P(iano) outside MEL (honey)
  • 18dn: CAPORAL: Dad looking up and in the pink – strong stuff drawn on?: PA reversed inside CORAL
  • 21dn: REGIME: Administration that's put settler up exchangine final pair: EMIGRÉ with last two letters swapped and all reversed
  • 23dn: XOANON: Primitive statue? Rising pollutant envelops a number: NOX reversed around A NO (number)
  • 25dn: KURTA: Dressed in clean one? Keralan tunic possibly: *(KERALAN TUNIC) = *(IN CLEAN + KURTA)
  • 26dn: ORRIS: Upholsterer's trim – it smells of violets : Double Definition
  • 27dn: SCALA: Ear part: coiled canals may reveal one, note: *(CANALS) - N(ote)
  • 29dn: MOON: Satellite? Computer device shows use with this: MOUSE (computer device) ON (shows?) - USE
  • 30dn: LIPA: Some Croatian money a twit laid up but without lock: A PILLOCK - LOCK reversed.