AZED CROSSWORD 1000

ONE THOUSAND

1.  D. F. Manley: The Sun. No. specially launched with a do (anag. & lit.; ref. AZ 1000 lunch).

2.  R. K. Lumsdon: What Azed’s up to’s concealing ode – a hunt’s on (anag.).

3.  G. H. Willett: No Huston should be confused with a de Mille (anag.; ref. film directors).

VHC

K. J. Abbott: What are AZ’s puzzles up to now? Here’s another, sound in composition (and not Crowther’s last!) (anag. less r).

J. Abernethy: M1 Junction? Drive round it! (one T + SA in hound).

M. Barley: Hick, outshone by England’s three tailenders – score in fifties required (anag. + a, n, d; 20 × 50; ref. Graham H.).

C. J. Brougham: Millenary is not on upper-class heads going racing (anag. incl. U; cf. millinery).

V. Dixon: A grand total! You must be girt with singular firmness of character (thou between one and sand).

B. Franco: Azed’s great total and he’s not out – batting with no sign of tiring (anag. less t).

B. Greer: Product of ’91 and X’s successor, it’s just passed by (i.e. 91 × 11 = 1,001).

P. F. Henderson: A grand Azed puzzle? Note excited addict tackling it (anag. + SA in hound).

J. Horwood: Rah! Cheer Azed. This is threatening to Haroun and Scheherezade (comp. anag. & lit.; ref. 1001 Nights).

K. W. Johnson: No. done thus far, diverse, frequently outstanding (anag. less fr. & lit.).

F. P. N. Lake: I.e. what he’s done. Anon, to astound us, he may make twice that with ease! (comp. anag. & lit.).

T. J. Moorey: A number just honoured with zest could be our Jonathan’s first ——! (comp. anag. & lit.).

C. J. Morse: How much Azed has contributed to the Observer – and Oxford University hasn’t done badly, too (anag. incl. OU).

R. A. Mostyn: A milestone for Azed – an ace with puzzling hand-outs (one + anag.).

R. F. Naish: M1 has no U turns between either side of the road (one + anag. in t, d).

R. J. Palmer: Present output of Azed, primarily sound puzzling, following on the cryptic power of X (anag. + anag. incl. A; 1000 = 10³).

R. Phillips: Universal invested in shoot, Anne wound up dead: thus her days are numbered (U in anag. + d; ref. film ‘Anne of the Thousand Days’).

M. Rich: Nth done cryptically – enthralled composer forgets beginning ((S)ousa in anag.).

A. J. Wardrop: He’s out? No – bats on and makes a very big score (anag. + and).

Dr E. Young: So many are impressed as Azed runs off another sound puzzle (anag. less r; impress = print).

HC

D. R. Appleton, Mrs G. M. Barker, M. J. Barker, Dr P. M. J. Bennett, Mrs K. Bissett, Mrs A. Boyes, Mrs A. Bradford, Rev Canon C. M. Broun, J. M. Brown, E. J. Burge, C. J. & M. P. Butler, Mrs M. J. Cansfield, G. P. Conway, M. D. Cooke, D. J. Dare-Plumpton, E. Dawid, R. Dean, R. V. Dearden, Dr V. G. I. Deshmukh, N. C. Dexter, P. Drummond, J. R. du Parcq, M. Earle, R. A. England, C. J. Feetenby, Mrs C. Firmin, Dr I. S. Fletcher, H. Freeman, S. Gaskell, S. Goldie, J. F. Grimshaw, R. Haddock, J. Henderson, V. G. Henderson, P. D. Hinchliffe, R. J. Hooper, C. L. Jones, A. Lawrie, J. C. Leyland, C. J. Lowe, M. A. Macdonald-Cooper, D. J. Mackay, P. W. Marlow, H. W. Massingham, G. D. Meddings, J. R. C. Michie, A. C. Morrison, J. J. Murtha, A. Nash, G. M. Neighbour, F. R. Palmer, C. Pearson, F. Pender, Mrs A. Phillips, D. Price Jones, D. R. Robinson, T. E. Sanders, W. J. M. Scotland, Mrs E. J. Shields, G. Smith, D. M. Stanford, P. A. Stephenson, J. B. Sweeting, D. Tompsett, Mrs M. Vincent, Ms J. Ward, J. F. N. Wedge, J. West, Mrs B. J. Widger, D. Williamson.
 

COMMENTS
354 entries, with only a handful of mistakes, mainly the result of failing to spot the unchecked letter in TEME. I had hoped for a bigger entry overall but can see that the puzzle presented a rather special challenge, as it was meant to. Most who commented seem to have enjoyed following the thread. You may be interested to hear how the idea for it developed. I decided on the maze idea right at the start, for obvious reasons but blithely unaware that (as I have since learned) 1991 had been officially decreed The Year of the Maze by the British Tourist Board. It soon became apparent, once I’d found a quotation which would serve my purpose, that I couldn’t make this meander round a normal grid. I then thought of misprinted acrosses and straight downs. This didn’t work either. Only then did I consider misprints in words that crossed or joined the quotation, and the thing started to fall into place. Could I get a reference to 1,000 in as well? It seemed I could, but it had to be ONE THOUSAND since Ximenes got competitors to clue THOUSAND when he reached the same milestone (and eleven letters suited me just fine). I didn’t tell you it wasn’t misprinted because that would have given too much away at the start about the course of the quotation. Solving the puzzle would give you most of the letters of the message. Identifying the others and determining the direction of the quotation shouldn’t have been too hard with the ODQ index to help you. I can only apologise to those few who had no access to this indispensable work of reference. A small footnote on the diagram construction: I changed ‘o’er’ to ‘over’ because despite repeated efforts I couldn’t make the quotation do what I wanted with its correct complement of letters. I’ve no idea why. The reason may be mathematical. A perfectionist’s blemish, but a minor one, I feel.
 
My sincere thanks for all the generous comments on my passing the 4-figure mark. The celebratory lunch in Oxford was a joyous occasion, blessed by beautiful weather after some spectacular storms the night before. I much enjoyed meeting so many old and new friends and was greatly touched by the presentations made to me. (These included a smart new set of golf clubs and a leather-bound volume of Chambers.) The delicious meal was preceded by the following grace spoken by the Rev Canon Claud Broun: ‘Oculi omnium in te Deus spectant; Tu das illis escas tempore opportuno. Aperis manum tuam et imples omne animal tua benediction. Mensae caelestis nos participes facias, Deus rex aeternae gloriae’. Afterwards there were, in the words of one guest, ‘coruscating speeches’ from Richard Morse, Catherine Schwarz (of Chambers), David Ashcroft, David Randall (of the Observer) and Chris Brougham, followed by a pedestrian effort by myself and a surprise extra from Mrs AZ. All the speeches were recorded and will be available on cassette. Price and method of ordering will be announced as soon as possible, in the slips and in the Observer. Also available will be a photograph of the assembled company on the terrace outside St Hugh’s College. The whole occasion was masterminded and stage-managed by Don and Sue Manley and it is entirely fitting that Don’s clue should have won first prize. Warmest thanks to them both, and to you all.