AZED CROSSWORD 1076

PARLOUR GAMES

1.  D. F. Manley: What could give Xmas group real excitement with kiss as forfeit? (anag. less X, & lit.).

2.  R. J. Hooper: Popular romp Sega’s displaced (after dad’s bought it)? (anag. less pop, & lit.).

3.  P. F. Henderson: Norm L – some argue endlessly – must be moved: party managers may arrange such (par + anag. less e; ref. N. Lamont).

VHC (extra prizes)

C. J. Anderson: Pastimes of some party members demonstrate need for a morals purge in reshuffle (anag.).

M. Barley: Play us (e.g. morra) – no end of party fun? (anag. less y, & lit.).

B. Burton: These can degenerate into party-goers’ maul, last shreds of dignity abandoned (anag. less ty & lit.).

C. J. & M. P. Butler: Inside activities destabilised ERM and alas our GNP suffered – Norman’s head’s for the chop (anag. less N; ref. N. Lamont).

Miss L. Eveleigh: Homely fun using crumpets or maple-sugar waffles (anag.; crumpet = head).

Dr I. S. Fletcher: What, with millions involved, regular soap’s done for? (m in anag., & lit.).

H. Freeman: Christmas fun? That could be embodied by ‘pleasur-o-gram’ (anag.).

S. Goldie: —— with both sides flushed with excitement can become rampageous (anag. incl. r, l, & lit.).

B. Greer: Group amusements residents play – including funny arrangement of first, second, and third parts (anag. of gro amu res pla, & lit.; ref. game of Head, Body, Legs).

F. P. N. Lake: You may get Ma luring party-goers into trying them (comp. anag. & lit.).

J. P. Lester: These getting out of hand might make a gal rue romps (anag. & lit.).

P. R. Lloyd: Dad has rums galore playing charades, forfeits and so on (pa + anag.).

R. K. Lumsdon: Festive indulgence, seeing year in and end of one out rampageously tiddly (anag. with r for y).

Mrs J. Mackie: What a sumo grappler isn’t playing, but might turn to on turning out soft (anag. less p, & lit.).

C. J. Morse: What house-party gets up to might make super alarm go off (anag.).

R. S. Morse: Amid the old speeches, the Queen’s my speaker for traditional Xmas entertainment (our gam (= mouth) in parles).

F. R. Palmer: Queen showing bravery in very worrying diversions for the family (R game in parlous).

A. J. Redstone: Pastimes like musical bumps might give gal a sore rump (anag.).

P. L. Stone: Merrily our players may take two unknowns and add a third bit of figure (anag. less y, y incl. g, & lit.; ref. game of Head, Body, Legs).

Dr E. Young: Room at the inn is short, animals put to bed: crib lies among them (game in parlour ’s; crib = cribbage).

HC

J. C. Abernethy, M. J. Bath, E. A. Beaulah, F. Benson, J. R. Beresford, Mrs K. Bissett, Mrs F. A. Blanchard, Mrs A. Boyes, E. J. Burge, I. Carr, G. P. Conway, D. B. Cross, R. E. Crum, N. C. Dexter, V. Dixon, C. M. Draper, M. G. Elliott, L. E. Ellis, G. & J. Ferris, J. Ford, F. D. Gardiner, S. Gaskell, N. C. Goddard, G. I. L. Grafton, Mrs E. Greenaway, R. R. Greenfield, C. R. Gumbrell, A. W. Hill, A. Hodgson, R. F. A. Horsfield, J. Horwood, W. Jackson, J. S. Johnson, G. Johnstone, Dr D. R. Laney, J. H. C. Leach, J. C. Leyland, J. D. Lockett, E. Looby, D. J. Mackay, W. F. Main, P. W. Marlow, H. W. Massingham, C. G. Millin, Dr R. Moore, T. J. Moorey, I. Morgan, A. C. Morrison, R. F. Naish, R. J. Palmer, R. Phillips, M. J. Pinches, B. Pitt, D. Price Jones, Miss I. M. Raab, H. L. Rhodes, L. G. D. Sanders, M. Sanderson, A. Scott, Mrs E. J. Shields, N. G. Shippobotham, M. Small, B. Smith, C. Spate, D. G. Tallis, D. H. Tompsett, E. Vaughan, R. Vaughan-Davies, Mrs J. Waldren, A. J. Wardrop, J. Webster, W. F. N. Wedge, R. J. Whale, D. Williamson.
 

COMMENTS
528 entries, virtually no mistakes. As a diversion for Christmas the puzzle seems to have presented about the right level of difficulty. It provoked lots of appreciative comments and only one resounding ‘no’ vote. It was actually a reworking of an idea I used many years ago in the dear old Listener (as Gong) before the Azed series began. Then the acrosses were not jumbled (though there were many short words, some reversed and some split lights) and solvers were given limited help in the placement of the downs, being told only that one portion of each word was to appear in the column at which it was clued. One or two of you suggested that I should have toughened the current challenge a bit by some such ploy – and I certainly considered it – but in retrospect I’m glad I didn’t. Extra difficulty purely for its own sake is hard to justify, especially at Christmas! Besides, I soon realized that if I did not give the precise location of the downs, many alternative placings would be possible.
 
Another idea (which might be worth exploring another time) would involve some reference to the curious hybrids created in the down columns, thus linking the puzzle a bit more closely to the game on which it was based. One solver suggested asking competitors to choose their favourite non-word, giving his as ANTICARDRAPE. One drawback of the puzzle was that with no unchecked letters in the acrosses it was theoretically possible to complete the diagram without solving or even looking at a single across clue. In practice, however, I guess it’s unlikely that anyone would solve twelve twelve-letter words with no cross-checked letters to help.
 
Just what is (or was) a parlour game? I doubt whether the term is much used these days, any more than ‘parlour’ itself is. But any vaguely competitive diversion played indoors and involving more than one or two people seems to qualify, card games included. I certainly received an interesting selection of examples, some of them unknown to me (though brought up in a keen games-playing family), and was prepared to accept some fairly broad definitions, though activities involving playful manipulation of PARAMOUR’S LEG struck me as distinctly borderline! Anyway thank you all for the fun, and thank you too for the many Christmas cards and good wishes for the new year you sent me and my family. I return them warmly and hope that you will continue to derive pleasure and amusement from Azed puzzles in the coming year.
 
(P. S. I’m sorry the traditional announcement of extra prizes for VHCs in the Christmas competition didn’t appear with the puzzle itself. No penny-pinching intended.)