AZED CROSSWORD 1013

ALVEARY

1.  T. J. Moorey: Australian’s really fiery 5 for 50 – depression in the pavilion (A + anag. with V for L; pavilion = outer ear).

2.  P. F. Henderson: This item? Buzzing may reveal it (comp. anag. & lit.).

3.  T. E. Sanders: This house does have royal use being the home of a queen (comp. anag.).

VHC

R. C. Bell: Swarming without one always contains queen (al(i)ve + R in ay, & lit.).

C. J. Brougham: Buzzing one abroad takes a short fixed route attaining this (al(i)ve + a ry, & lit.).

C. A. Clarke: A really fantastic victory for the left – a source of sweetness for the workers (anag. with V for L).

E. Dawid: A volume containing Latin, English and then some (L in a v + E + ary, & lit.).

N. C. Dexter: What’s early learner wanting if faced with a Latin verb (a L v + ear(L)y, & lit.).

S. Goldie: Buzzing pitch? A prankish ‘vale’ alas brought about Gower’s end (anag. + r in ay).

J. F. Grimshaw: What spelling bee might have lighted upon? (double mng.; spell³ = rest).

R. J. Hooper: Item listed by Yeats before lake water lapping verse line (v in a l ea + ry, & lit.; ref. ‘Lake Isle of Innisfree’).

A. Lawrie: Where metamorphosis of larvae close to honey may be found (anag. + y, & lit.).

J. C. Leyland: Beehive hairstyle – vain wanton’s one in this (comp. anag.).

D. F. Manley: My larvae metamorphose – male will be unemployed (anag. less m, & lit.).

R. S. Morse: A volume, archaic, permitting translation of Latin (a v early with L transposed, & lit.).

F. R. Palmer: A volume, early, through which Latin would be translated (a v early with L ‘translated’, & lit.).

R. Phillips: Place noted for busyness and Eros packing an arrow has lost circular character (l(o)ve in a ary; ref. Piccadilly Circus).

H. R. Sanders: Where ‘vale’ is translated to ‘adieu’ initially, Greek secondly and ‘good-day’ finally? (anag. + a, r, y, & lit.).

D. H. Tompsett: One’s entered quite at the end of a line – a straight one! (a l + a in very, & lit.; ref. bee-line).

A. P. Vincent: You could make this clean by sprinkling ear valley with can (comp. anag. & lit.).

G. H. Willett: Ave Maria starts off where The Flight of the Bumble-bee stops ((S)alve (M)ary).

D. Williamson: In which you’ll find larvae developing on common factor of royal jelly and honey (anag. + y, & lit.).

HC

R. L. Baker, M. J. Barker, M. Barley, J. R. Beresford, S. Best, Mrs K. Bissett, Mrs F. A. Blanchard, J. M. Brown, E. J. Burge, B. Burton, G. H. Clarke, T. Clement, N. A. Cooley, D. B. Cross, R. V. Dearden, V. Dixon, R. P. Dowling, R. A. England, C. J. Feetenby, Dr I. S. Fletcher, H. Freeman, P. D. Gaffey, S. Gaskell, G. I. L. Grafton, R. R. Greenfield, Mrs B. E. Henderson, V. G. Henderson, J. P. H. Hirst, C. Hopkins, W. Islip, G. Johnstone, C. W. Laxton, J. W. Leonard, J. F. P. Levey, J. D. Lockett, E. Looby, C. J. Lowe, M. A. Macdonald-Cooper, Mrs J. Mackie, P. W. Marlow, H. W. Massingham, J. R. C. Michie, J. H. Moore, C. J. Morse, R. F. Naish, M. Palles-Clark, R. J. Palmer, C. Pearson, D. Price Jones, H. L. Rhodes, D. R. Robinson, W. Rodgers, J. M. Sharman, W. K. M. Slimmings, Ms M. Stokes, G. Telfer, A. J. Wardrop, R. J. Whale.
 

COMMENTS
420 entries, with very few mistakes (mostly WANG for WING). I slipped up twice this month. My clue to CLIP-ON was faulty in that the subsidiary indication led to CILP-ON (no. plic(a) (rev.) ) – pure carelessness, I’m afraid. And I idiotically described the SKIO bit of SKIDOO as a Hebridean hut, exposing my shaky geography yet again. Actually, I do know the difference between the Hebrides and the Orkneys and the Shetlands – one just makes these silly errors because of momentary losses in concentration. The only thing is I’ve an awful feeling I perpetrated this particular howler once before. I hope I won’t again.
 
ALVEARY is an exceptional word, at least in terms of its clueability. There can’t be many words with three distinct meanings each of which instantly suggests ‘& lit.’ treatment. I chose it in the first instance because of its range of meaning but could see that it was also replete with possibilities. The trouble was that these possibilities were perhaps a little too obvious – developing larvae, something involving an ear, an early volume – and it required that little extra touch of wit or subtlety of wording to rise above the crowd. There were, for example, many larvae metamorphosing with the last of the honey – perfectly sound as a way of dealing with the ‘y’ but just lacking that bit of originality. Do larvae get fed with all the honey in a hive? I suspect not. (The other bees have to live on it too, don’t they?) The Lawrie and Manley clues above show how a good idea can be made better by careful wording, and the same applies to other treatments of the most popular ploys. Better still to find a lovely misleading definition like Mr Moorey’s that no one else had found. (‘Fiery’ OK as anagram indicator? Just, I think.) So my advice to those who almost made it is: be self-critical, and don’t be satisfied with a clue that’s passable but mundane or has a weak link.
 
One academic solver thanked me for putting him on to John Baret’s Alvearie of 1580 (‘Azed is so educational’, he remarked!). Although the word alveary is not itself included in the dictionary, one entry includes the following: ‘The place where bees are kept. Apiarium… Locus ubi apes considunt… Le lieu des mouches a miel,’ and a bit of Greek I can’t read, plus a verse which may or may not refer to Baret or (he suggests) posthumously to me:

• Then sith for you young scholers of this land,
• This painfull man, who now with God doth rest
• Hath laboured thus to take this taske in hand,
• With (?)Hiue of his, to feede your longing brest:
• With sundrie honies of the purest sort,
• For paines imploid, afford him good report.

Paul Henderson asks me to include the following appeal: ‘Listener crossword setters (former and current) should by now have received details of the next Setters’ Dinner (on 29 February 1992). If any have not, and would be interested in attending, could they please send Paul a SAE.’
 
And you may like to know that the Azed bookplate is being redesigned. Don Diego has had a good innings, I feel, and it’s time for a change. More anon.