AZED CROSSWORD 1026

LET-OFF

1.  D. F. Manley: Aid denied to oft-failed bats? (anag. less aid, & lit.).

2.  T. E. Sanders: Not quite leg before – did it constitute a reprieve for the batsman? (le(g) to ff (= fecerunt)).

3.  R. S. Morse: What makes Hamlet rant? Missed opportunity (i.e. let off Hamlet = ham).

VHC

M. Barley: What sees wallet of fisherman filled – catch landing on the deck, perhaps? (hidden; ref. cricket).

R. C. Bell: What’s introduction to literature, English – Dandy, Beano? (l E toff).

C. J. Brougham: The holding, or the dropping, of a ball? (2 mngs.; ball^1,2).

B. Burton: Switch for English League forward following failure to take chance (E L (rev.) + to ff).

B. E. Chamberlain: Fire escape (2 mngs.).

E. Dawid: What’s very loud lot thrown with energy (anag. of ff lot E, & lit.).

N. C. Dexter: Chance missed by aged inside left a bit out of condition (of in anag.).

R. A. England: This could derive from the fluff of a slipper made of felt (anag.; slipper = slip fielder (OED)).

E. G. Fletcher: This party, perhaps, needs renewed effort with change from right to left (I for r in anag.).

Dr I. S. Fletcher: Felt shaky round by hole and missed sitter, perhaps (of in anag., 2 mngs.).

P. F. Henderson: A chance wasted by inside left, possibly (of in anag.).

R. J. Hooper: Fire escape (2 mngs.).

F. P. N. Lake: Bonfire night? Do it properly with fireworks and some treacle toffee (2 mngs., hidden).

I. D. McDonald: Fire escape? (2 mngs.).

I. Morgan: Fire escape (2 mngs.).

C. J. Morse: Fiesta’s spare part, exhaust-pipe perhaps (3 mngs.).

R. J. Palmer: What to do with a banger when you have a blow-out? Spare is needed (3 mngs.).

R. Rogan: A failure, this, or is it producing lots of fire crackers? (comp. anag.).

A. D. Scott: Fire escape (2 mngs.).

D. H. Tompsett: Piece of felt could be missing dolly (anag.; piece vt).

M. R. Whiteoak: Failure to take advantage of play makes Hamlet overact (i.e. let off Hamlet = ham).

Dr E. Young: Having which, a cove is still batting! (i.e. let off inlet = in, & lit.).

HC

E. A. Beaulah, J. R. Beresford, Mrs A. R. Bradford, Rev Canon C. M. Broun, J. M. Broun, E. J. Burge, Mrs M. J. Cansfield, C. A. Clarke, F. H. Cripps, D. B. Cross, M. Earle, M. G. Elliott, B. Franco, H. Freeman, S. Goldie, Mrs E. Greenaway, D. V. Harry, A. W. Hill, E. M. Holroyd, R. Jacks, G. Johnstone, A. Lawrie, C. W. Laxton, H. R. Lockhart, C. J. Lowe, R. K. Lumsdon, M. A. Macdonald-Cooper, Mrs J. Mackie, H. W. Massingham, C. G. Millin, J. J. Moore, R. F. Naish, S. H. Ollerenshaw, S. J. O’Boyle, J. Pearce, G. Perry, R. Phillips, D. Price Jones, W. Richards, T. Russell, A. J. Shields, D. J. Short, M. Small, P. L. Stone, J. B. Sweeting, Dr I. Torbe, R. Veall, A. J. Wardrop, M. H. E. Watson, Mrs M. P. Webber, G. H. Willett.
 

COMMENTS
503 entries, about 30 failing on ALED. I was anxious to avoid ALEE, ALEW and ALEC, all of which I’ve clued several times, and while my clue to ALED may have been somewhat oblique I think it was fair enough. A few complained that they’d never heard of Aled Jones. I’ll admit that he’s slipped from public view since his voice broke, but in his heyday only a few years ago as the finest boy treble of his generation (some might say ever) he was very hard to miss, and many of his recordings are still available. So I really thought he was fair game.
 
LET-OFF proved an interesting choice, if not the easiest to deal with. More than one of you suggested that Chambers has got its sporting meaning slightly wrong, in that the focus of its use is normally the person who is let off rather than the person or people doing the letting off (i.e. failing to take an advantage). It all amounts to the same thing, I suppose, since both active and passive participants are required, but I agree that the definition could be better phrased. The Concise Oxford Dictionary gives ‘being allowed to escape something’, which is better, though not brilliant, suggesting as it does that the plural form is not found. And on the matter of pluralization it was also pointed out by one competitor that Chambers’s definition of LET-OFF as ‘a festivity’ (surely a dated use) is not matched by its definitions of FESTIVITY, which are all uncountable (i.e. non-pluralizable) terms, suggesting that ‘a festivity’ is incorrect English.
 
I wasn’t too sympathetic towards clues that clued LET OFF rather than LET-OFF. If I’d intended to widen the range of choice thus I’d have said so. The six-letter indication of word length covered 3-3 but not 3,3. (It was legitimate of course to use the two word phrasal verb as a subsidiary indicator of the clue word, as several did, most notably in the neat ‘Fire escape’.) Rather too many of you (the northern contingent mainly) went for the treacle toffee. I was, I confess, unaware of the traditional eating of treacle toffee at Bonfire Night parties. Is it confined to the north (whence I myself hail)?
 
The new book-plates are now ready. The design is of a wise owl perched on top of a book (a dictionary, one assumes) and framed by a crown of laurels. The engraving is printed on excellent (if ungummed) paper and looks very elegant. I hope future winners will agree.