AZED CROSSWORD 1024

PRESENT (3 defs + sub. ind. of wrapping)

1.  Dr E. Young: Book records offering after a heavenly sign (A(PRES ENT)RIES; def.).

2.  E. A. Beaulah: Losing his head (‘To be succeeded by a child!’) despot scents a competitor in the offing (CHY(PRES ENT)RANT; ch for first letter of tyrant).

3.  C. G. Millin: After French douceur, tempt one with diamonds (A(PRES ENT)ICE; a + ice).

VHC (extra prizes)

M. Barley: Kings, after offering Son small tokens of adoration, return home East another way (A(PRES ENT)HRONES; anag. incl. ar, h E; king vb).

P. F. Bauchop: Round actor in farce is directed to exhibit emotion throughout (SEM(PRE SENT)IMENT; mime in sent).

Mrs K. Bisset: Always languishing, showing disturbing signs of ailments – me? (SEM(PRE SENT)IMENTAL; anag.).

Mrs D. Colley: Tense, with no energy available for work after one’s got in a bad state (A(PRES ENT)ROPY; a + ropy).

N. C. Dexter: Major battle against Germans cut current Tory EEC revolt (Y(PRES ENT)RECOTE; anag.).

C. M. Edmunds: ‘Gym-sore’, being shattered, beat, tender throughout (SEM(PRE SENT)RY-GO; anag.).

R. A. England: People trapped by recessionary conditions always prompt an emotional response (SEM(PRE SENT)IMENT; men in times (rev. )).

Dr I. S. Fletcher: Yeomen of the Guard? Stage musical always set around verge of moat? (SEM(PRE SENT)RIES; m in series).

D. Harrison: A succession of cigars smothering your spirit fragrances – what you get at Christmas? (CHY(PRES ENT)RAIN; yr in chain).

V. G. Henderson: Work out chimney details, give scent, set out with ‘mush’ (CHY(PRE SENT)IMENTALISED; anag.).

J. C. Hobbs: Rose-water perfume gift – it clashes with my Chanel (CHY(PRE SENT)IMENTAL; anag.).

J. G. Hull: Romantic gift, scent, it blends with my Chanel (CHY(PRE SENT)IMENTAL; anag.).

A. Lawrie: Maxim ready throughout times men are in tumult (SEM(PRE SENT)IMENT; anag.).

M. A. Macdonald-Cooper: Mysore: Gavaskar’s opening batting, always a tense duty (SEM(PRE SENT)RY-GO; anag. incl. G).

Miss P. Malcolm: Perfume? Soppy gift – manly ethic is compromised (CHY(PRE SENT)IMENTAL).

H. W. Massingham: Yes, rich exotic perfume certain men with boxes bring in with ceremony (CHY(PRE SENT)RIES; anag.).

T. J. Moorey: Puzzle time immense – always thought one should show generosity at Christmas! (SEM(PRE SENT)IMENT; anag. incl. t).

C. J. Morse: Immense crackers, given time, always deliver a maxim (SEM(PRE SENT)IMENT; anag. + t).

D. Pendrey: Noah’s final pair mustering (Forget last to play) in Paris after spellbinding display (A(PRES ENT)HRALLING; ah + rall(y)ing; ref. tennis, Yannick N., Guy F.).

J. T. Price: Remember, old battle followers, it’s years since you were born (Y(PRES ENT)OURAGE; your age).

L. G. D. Sanders: Weave after gift – a liquor (A(PRES ENT)WINE; a wine).

Mrs E. J. Shields: Gift perfume – emotional thought – brought down chimney on time (CHY(PRE SENT)IMENT; anag. + t).

P. L. Stone: Waite’s central character released from pounded misery, a guard being there throughout (SEM(PRE SENT)RY; anag. less I; ref. Terry W.).

HC

C. J. Brougham, Rev Canon C. M. Broun, B. Burton, D. A. Campbell, E. Chalkley, C. A. Clarke, R. M. S. Cork, R. V. Dearden, M. Earle, R. K. Eastwood, D. S. Fielker, R. P. C. Forman, B. Franco, H. Freeman, G. I. L. Grafton, D. Harris, P. Heap, P. F. Henderson, M. J. Hickman, A. W. Hill, R. J. Hooper, G. Johnstone, Mrs S. Jordan, R. E. Kimmons, Dr P. D. King, C. Loving, S. G. G. MacDonald, J. A. Macleod, W. F. Main, D. F. Manley, P. W. Marlow, H. S. Mason, R. S. Moody, R. S. Morse, R. F. Naish, S. J. O’Boyle, F. R. Palmer, D. Price Jones, Miss I. M. Raab, H. L. Rhodes, E. R. Riddle, R. Rogan, T. E. Sanders, W. J. M. Scotland, D. M. Stanford, P. A. Stephenson, J. B. Sweeting, R. C. Teuton, A. J. Wardrop, G. H. Willett, D. Williamson, and an unnamed entry beginning ‘Composer’s always to deliver judgement’ – R. Phillips?.
 

COMMENTS
437 entries, no mistakes. I fear I miscalculated a bit with this one. Though a fair number enthused about the puzzle, it was clearly tough going for everyone and many found it downright wearisome. It was an attempt to vary and improve on an idea I’d used once before, but I obviously haven’t got it quite right yet. The downs in particular, to be fully understood, required extensive searching in Chambers, never the mark of a satisfactory clue. Ah well. Perhaps I’ll give it another go some time, with further modifications, but not for a while, I think.
 
PRESENT wasn’t exactly the most tractable ‘contents’ word either. It was theoretically splittable as P/RESENT, PRE/SENT, PRES/ENT and PRESE/NT (using IMPRESE and NTH), though I tended to prefer wrapping words which contributed at least two letters each. This left relatively few left-hand wrapping words at your disposal, all of them (with the exception of some proper names) represented in the clues quoted above. (I did not, incidentally, object to the use of a common proper name like Ypres.) Ideally you should have had a much wider range to choose from. Nevertheless quite a number disqualified themselves by either interspersing the subsidiary indication of their wrapping among the definitions of the three words involved in their parcel, or introducing additional functionless verbiage, something I assiduously avoided (though it was permissible in the DLM acrosses). Perhaps I should have asked you to try your hand at an across-type clue. Incidentally, I apologise about A LEVEL. The old edition of Chambers (and therefore Chambers Words) show it as hyphenated and I failed to notice that the 1988 edition has dropped the hyphen.
 
All that said, there were some very neat concoctions. The task was to contrive a clue which made reasonable sense, was not too long, and presented the solver with a reasonable challenge. All the clues quoted above meet these criteria, and it was quite a struggle for me to isolate the top three. (Simply reading through 437 4-part clues took an age to start with, but I have only myself to blame for that!)
 
Anyway thank you all for taking part in such an exacting Christmas tester – and my thanks also to the handful of competitors who pointed out that it was Azed No. K, or 2¹⁰. Had I spotted this I might have devised a puzzle involving Kriss Kringle in its theme. Now he’ll have to wait until 2K!
 
P. S. I expect to take delivery of the new Azed 1000 ties any day now. Would-be buyers who have still not placed an order are urged to do so soon. Write for details enclosing an s. a. e.