Reviews
index
| & lit. homepage | Try
the puzzle
|
I |
NCLUDING
the Christmas specials of 1979 and 2006, this is the fourteenth competition
puzzle to feature Spoonerisms. For as long as Dr Watson can remember these
puzzles have been prefaced by what he terms
‘the perpetual instructions’, quoted on this website here,
with links to Azeds slips and prize-winning clues for
all previous puzzles of this type. For brevity’s sake, the two types of clue described are referred to as types A and B. It is
notable that all puzzles to date have
required competitors to submit ‘type B’ clues - in which the Spoonerism
employed must be accommodated within
the clue. They are easier to solve, but harder to compose for that reason.
3. Bounder on the periphery deviously let
port gas fish. CATTLE PROD (Type A; prattle cod; anag.
in cad) A few solvers beguiled
by ‘Bounder on the periphery’ may have wasted a few minutes in trying to make
this clue fit ‘cattle grid’, as did Watson.
10. Light crest was still turning gold, seized
by dog. PLAYROOM (A; ray plume; lay, or (rev.), all in pom2) Regular
solvers enjoyed a quick return of ‘was still’ to indicate ‘lay’ in this readily
solved clue …
11. Airs of bold Tyrolean singer will be seen
to contain this. EANS (B; bears of old … ;hidden) … followed by an
immediately recognized Spoonerism and hidden solution.
12. Holding college rite ruined college grass. RECTI (A; Tech rye; c in anag.) Perhaps
a bunch of anatomists showing off their ‘pronounced’ muscles were the
miscreants. Watson was certainly put out for a while before finding the long ‘i’ in RECTI, thus giving ‘rye’ in the Spoonerism, and not
ree2 - not quite meaning ‘grass’ but close enough to tease.
13. Charles with part of fishing gear nearer
old islet. CARNET (A; narre cay; Car., net) The same word was used by Azed in his Spoonerisms competition puzzle No. 1927. The
clue then was: Motor attached to fishing
aid once near islet. Chambers 11th Ed. (2008) is clear in defining
Spenser’s ‘narre’ (adverb) as an old comparative of
‘nigh’. This clue corrects Azed’s former oversight,
if such it was, in respect of the comparative. However, both appear to use the
word as an adjective. Regarding the pronunciation of CARNET, solvers who keep a
note of their Spoonerisms should have written ‘cay’ (kā or kē),
and not key3 (kē),
strictly according to Chambers.
15. Brown fur hat crowning round head of
Russian etc loosely. ATTERCOP (A; otter cap; anag. inc. R, all in atop) The slightly questionable surface here may
have suggested another Spoonerism for
one or two.
18. The woman’s vessel to bake joint. HERSHIP
(A; shirr hip; her, ship)
Dr
Watson had heard ‘shirr’ used in speech, but it took a long trawl through
Chambers to find its spelling, and thus to confirm its meaning as dimly
remembered.
19. Sources of wine full as ship put on power.
PASHMS (B; … fine wool; P, as,
HMS) This clue may have
caused warm glows among some of our
number, but wry smiles among yachtsmen more wary of other gentlemen in smart white hats.
20. Tried duck the French coated in juice.
SALEP (B; fried tuck; le in sap) Perhaps the easiest of all the
clues to solve, once spotted.
21. As dams of yore
mere’s mixed with tarn so it can form artesian one. ÂINÉE (B; as dames of more
years, s.v. dame2; composite anagram) Our solution, when taken with the phrase:
‘tarn so it’, may be reordered as ‘artesian one’.
23. Sore foe makes twelve hearts in a jiffy.
THRICE (B; four so …; h in trice) A
clue for bridge players in more ways than one - ‘twelve hearts’ ‘bridges’ the
gap between the two parts.
25. INFERNO (The competition word, to be clued
as type B)
28. Fat put in stores − fifty do reast badly. LODESTAR (A; lard stow; L, anag.) Sailing north might
reduce the pong, perhaps?
30. Cup wretch knocked back − cause to
empty Scotch. TARGUM (A; gar2 toom; mug,
rat, all rev.) Two
Scots words here in the Spoonerism, wittily phrased, to exploit the alternative
pronunciation of TARGUM (tärg-oom).
The surface may have a particular resonance for one or two competitors - possibly!
31. Inferior bit of ironstone? Cried ‘Fake!’ POORI (B; fried cake; poor, i)
The
only difficulty here is finding a suitable four-letter synonym for ‘inferior’.
32. Set of steps with line left out where pegs
were pinned. STIE (B; where pigs were penned; sti(l)e) The definition obtained
in this ‘type B’ Spoonerism includes a qualification that the solution is an
old spelling of sty1.
33. Describing some of kittens brings container
when taking in a function. CAROLEAN (B; … Britain’s kings; role in can) The surface needs a bit of thought. Watson
suggests a helper, Carole, possibly, tip-toeing around kittens with a food
container whilst giving directions to delegates at a conference, one on
Restoration court painters, perhaps.
34. Fools trapped in a tangle of reeds witness
seizure. REASSESSED (A; see arrest; asses in anag.) From
an episode of The Bloggers, perhaps.
1. Wages dropping? Beg quietly with very
kind person around? SPRAY-PAINT (Type A; pay spraint;
pray, p, all in saint)
Otters
make a further contribution to our delights.
2. What becomes evident as e.g. rare pot’s
left in punt? BLET (B; … pear rots; l in bet)
The first thought of a good few solvers
may have been of punters still in a ‘rare pot’, i.e. those still having a
chance of winning an accumulative Tote pool with a large value. Very often it’s
a pair of rotters with a pound ticket on every likely
winner of the last leg.
3. A cut deflected in Civil Service − one ’s accustomed to parry darts. CACTUS (B; … arid parts; anag. in CS) According
to the perpetual
instructions one should expect a consonantal Spoonerism of ‘parry
darts’ to sound like ‘darry
parts’. This clue shows that its how the phrase
sounds when spoken, rather than how it’s written, that provides the opportunity
to be inventive. Dr Watson’s firs t clue solved.
4. Frost affecting woodland? Experiment with
many sheets, we hear. TRIREME (A; tree rime; i.e. ‘try ream’) In many of the ‘type A’
clues the cryptic part leads to two words (not necessarily connected) in the
order indicated, but here, the reverse order is needed in the entry. As there
is no entry for ‘tree rime’ in Chambers, acknowledgement of this licence is
shown by the question mark.
5. Heat or charm that hurts after
hypnotist’s ending. TOUCH (B; cheat or harm; t, ouch!) ‘Cheat’ and ‘harm’ are
both listed as definitions of ‘touch’.
6. Digger carried weight, see, teaching boys
and girls. LOCOED (A; ko load; lo! co-ed) For some reason, Watson contrived not to
find a homophone of ‘ko’ for the Spoonerism (there
are no others) until long after the puzzle was finished. He had ‘coll. owed’ penciled in. That (unsatisfactory) phrase could have been a
possible meaning of ‘digger, carried
weight’ but was clearly not a Spoonerism. Leaving it like that would have been
of no consequence to any solver but one having to write a review.
7. Reduce intervening space in gardens for
some stuff holding father up. PERISARC (A; serry park; sire in crap,
all rev.) Those otters, again.
8. Where rat’ll
comb? Such bran (chesil) stores.
RANCH (B; where cattle roam; hidden) Another
clue easily solved, but one providing the reviewer with another opportunity to
give a less than pleasing Spoonerism. Dr Watson’s first thought was ‘where cat’ll roam’, puma and the like - true of any ranch, but
not the obvious answer.
9. Love sort of mint glacé with end of flake stuck in? Bairn matter.
ONE-PIECE (A; wean pus; 0, nep, e in ice)) A
clue for the old-fashioned sort of male, especially in its definition. Pass the
humbugs.
14. Composer
called name for d-dish with tell-tale flavour around. TAPPET-RING (A; Tippet
rang; P-Petri in tang) Watson has waited for ages
for a proper name to come along, and two
come at once. Sir
Michael Tippet is standing in for garage duties, and J.R. Petri
provides lunch.
16. Stoop manner in a tread that’s jerky.
RAINDATE (A; deign rate; anag.) That’ll be The Ashes.
17. Cotton bargain in US, yipee,
beginning to sell around England. WHEENGES (A; jean whizz; Eng
in whee, s) Let’s
hear it for the Poms.
20. Woman put on large-scale series of events,
vegetable exhibitions. SHEEPOS (A; pea shows; she, epos) And
then there’s The Ashes.
22. Rampant mange round dog’s middle - sever
claws? GNOMAE (B; clever saws; o in anag.) Know me, know my dog.
24. One part of Bible with God being sent up,
having street fête? By no means. IN-TOED
(B; having straight feet? By no means; 1, NT, Deo
(rev.)) Walk ye in the way of the
Lord or else, perhaps.
26. I’m toff in Rome - that’s some titfer I adopt. FERIA
(B; time off in Rome; hidden)
Azed’s
note that our solution appears as an etymology only is doubly true. It is given
at the entries for ‘ferial’ and ‘fair’. The surface of Azed’s
clue is a delight.
27. More than one stiff from the weights finish
up with horse? Not he. ODORS (B; … whiff from the States; do (rev.) (h)ors(e)) The surface here seems
somewhat odd. Perhaps it is intended that the ‘he’ is the exception amongst a number of visitors to the gym in which case the
‘he’ might have been better in italics.
29. Bard who’s one that’s boxed? ARAK (B; hard
booze; a in ark) That’s
enough flippant comments. (Ed.)