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deslyxic

7th October 2019, 22:35
Managed to finish, though it took a while, but I'm left with one that I can't fully parse, 13d.
I'm fairly confident I have the answer right (it's something you play with, but can't hold steadily in your hand when you're nervous :-D), but I can't work out the non-Spoonerism part. Does 'pair' refer to the double letter... or is it a truncated version of a word meaning 'to pair'... is alembic a three-letter word that appears in the solution? All possibilities, but maybe I'm way off.
Any gentle non-giveaway hint welcome, please.
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jacknatter

7th October 2019, 22:52
The first three words indicate the spoonerised solution. The wordplay is “is briefly” (one letter) + [“left” (one letter) inside a word for an alembic (7 letters)]
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jacknatter

7th October 2019, 22:56
(I’m very confident that you have the answer right!)
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deslyxic

7th October 2019, 23:42
Many thanks, JackNatter.

Chambers has sent me cross-eyed over this one. I've never come across that word as an alembic before, although I wouldn't be surprised if it had cropped up in Azed before. As you probably worked out, I was fixating on the last three letters. I think I still have the gist of the Spoonerism right, despite overlooking a word. *crosses fingers*

Now to write a clue and make arrangements for someone to be in to accept delivery of the cup. Just kidding, obviously, but while you're here: as a multiple winner of the competition, can you tell me how the cup system works? Does each monthly winner post the cup to the next month's winner? Do you pay postage and buy the packaging yourself, or is that supplied?
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mattrom

8th October 2019, 00:18
Hi deslyxic, The spoonerism is (driller's pipe) + pair.

Hi jacknatter, I can only find 8 and 9 letter words for 'alembic'. Does the wordplay give a spare 'I"?
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deslyxic

8th October 2019, 00:31
Hi Mattrom.

I was just about on to the Spoonerism (Ned... Grace etc) and with JackNatter's help and a trawl of Chambers got the alembic. (Synonym lists didn't help!) It's a certain type of alembic named after what it slightly resembles, presumably. It includes one 'l'. Extra hint: I hope the crossing letters help!
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mattrom

8th October 2019, 01:12
Oops.. My capital "eye" looks like. an "ell". I have the grid entry but can't see where the (I for India) fits
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deslyxic

8th October 2019, 01:38
Apologies if I've got the wrong end of the stick, but the word for a type of alembic includes one L for Lima and one I for India next to each other in that order.
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mattrom

8th October 2019, 04:19
Ah! I get it. I was looking for an extra I from "is briefly" rather than an S. Thanks, deslyxic.
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jacknatter

8th October 2019, 12:21
deslyxic - thank you for mentioning my successes, few and distant though they be. The cup (which is of modest size) arrived in a cardboard box covered in parcel tape, with a small amount of bubble wrap for padding. There was also a little notebook wherein the victor would record their winning clue, which already seemed rather charmingly old-fashioned given the visibility of the clues online. The winner is responsible for identifying the next recipient (and their address) from the Azed slip, packing the cup in its box and paying the cost of postage, Normally you'd get to keep the cup for a month, but the time I was lucky enough to win the Christmas competition I only had a couple of days to savour the trophy before I had to send it on to the winner of the January comp!

Incidentally, whilst I have always enjoyed the spoonerism puzzles, I approached them with a certain trepidation in my blogging days because I knew (i) that they gave the greatest scope for errors in parsing, and (ii) that my hopes of any such errors going unnoticed would swiftly be dashed by Richard Heald...!
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