AZED CROSSWORD 1156

TERPSICHOREAN

1.  P. D. Gaffey: What’s prancer – and his toe, if fantastic? (anag. & lit.; ref. Milton L’Allegro ‘light fantastic toe’).

2.  D. A. Campbell: Do chorines prate about their ‘art’? (anag.).

3.  D. P. Shenkin: With grace of movement that could make carthorse pine (anag.).

VHC

D. Ashcroft: Pinter’s playful about edition of Horace, dealing with rhythmic feet (anag. in anag.).

Mrs P. A. Bax: Dancing routine, ten pairs dancing around (chore in anag.).

C. J. Brougham: What’s the art of Widow Simone? Crashing chopins à terre (anag.; ref. ‘La Fille mal gardée’; chopin²).

Ms S. C. Cockburn: Re art involved with arrangement of nice hops (anag. & lit.).

E. Dawid: Re chorines tap dancing? (anag. & lit.).

J. H. Dingwall: So Charpentier’s arrangement – of ballet music for ‘Louise’? (anag.; ref. Gustave C.).

M. Earle: Chinese parrot, sick as a canary, perhaps (anag.; canary dance).

Dr I. S. Fletcher: Re art with hips once twisting? (anag. & lit.).

C. R. Gumbrell: So one might dub the Twist novel re orphans etc Dickens’s second (anag. incl. i; ref. ‘Oliver Twist’).

A. J. Guy: Routine with ten pairs gyrating around might be this (chore in anag., & lit.).

P. F. Henderson: Like a ball (less clearly rendered as ‘near to spheric’) (anag.).

A. Hodgson: Like Nijinsky? Out of pointer’s reach (anag.; ref. racehorse and dancer; pointer = point-to-point horse).

R. M. Luty: How ice partners blend, lacking touch of wit defining T & D performance (anag. less w; ref. Torvill and Dean).

D. F. Manley: Is heretic parson out of step in Lambeth (anag.; ref. L. Walk / Palace).

H. W. Massingham: Painter’s ochre in reproduction of canaries etc? (anag. & lit.; canary dance).

D. Pendrey: Finishing first at Ascot, Chester and Ripon, like Nijinsky (anag. incl. A; ref. racehorse and dancer).

Dr I. Torbe: Descriptive of Nureyev’s performance as the Prince or in ‘Variation’ (anag.; ref. Rudolf N.).

A. J. Wardrop: As pert chorine in lively style of dancing (anag.).

D. Williamson: So the prancer, I mused (anag. & lit.; mused = fuddled).

Dr E. Young: Style I so the prancer? (anag. & lit.).

R. Zara: Dancing, caper to shrine of dance (anag.).

HC

F. D. H. Atkinson, Mrs B. Ayre, M. Barley, J. R. Beresford, Mrs F. A. Blanchard, B. W. Brook, B. Burton, C. J. & M. P. Butler, D. P. Byrne, Mrs M. J. Cansfield, P. Cargill, I. Carr, J. Coleman, G. Cumming, R. Dean, N. C. Dexter, D. Drakeford, R. P. C. Forman, H. J. Godwin, E. Gomersall, Mrs E. Greenaway, Miss C. Halliday, D. Harris, P. Harrison, I. A. Herbert, R. Hesketh, A. W. Hill, W. Jackson, J. H. C. Leach, C. Lees, J. P. Lester, J. C. Leyland, R. K. Lumsdon, Mrs J. Mackie, L. K. Maltby, G. McStravick, T. J. Moorey, C. J. Morse, R. A. Mostyn, C. J. Napier, S. L. Paton, A. J. Pinel, Dr T. G. Powell, Mrs A. Price, D. Price Jones, A. J. Redstone, B. Simon, W. K. M. Slimmings, A. St Quintin, C. Steele, P. L. Stone, R. C. Teuton, C. W. Thomas, D. H. Tompsett, Mrs M. P. Webber, R. J. Whale, Mrs B. J. Widger, I. J. Wilcock.
 

COMMENTS
435 entries, very few mistakes. Some of you failed to understand the clue to MERC (i.e. MERC(Y), see ‘quarter’ in C. ), but I don’t think there were any other major problems. The clue word was a bit of a monster but it offered plenty of possibilities. Anagrams were understandably to the fore, with variations on I CHOSE PARTNER and (to a lesser extent) CHAPERONES TIRE proving rather too popular. I decided that the word could probably be used to describe dancers as well as dancing so ‘dancing’ and variants was OK as a definition. It also appears that some dictionaries (notably Collins) give TERPSICHOREAN as a noun as well as an adjective (though neither the OED nor Webster do), so here too I was lenient. One or two of you noticed the remarkable one-word anagram CHEIROPTERANS, though no one was able to use it effectively. There were also attempts to work CHRISTOPHER DEAN in, but again without total conviction. The superfluous h and d proved just too tricky to dispose of.
 
I’ve received a general inquiry about when I am due to overtake Ximenes’ total number of puzzles. His last competition puzzle, appearing shortly before his death, was No. 1,167, but he clearly left a substantial number of completed puzzles because his last published puzzle was No. 1,200, which appeared on 6 February 1972. There was a suggestion that the next Azed get-together should be timed to mark the publication of Azed No. 1,200. I’ve decided however to stick with tradition and plan it for No. 1,250 (assuming I’m still at it by then). That will be some time in the late spring of 1996
 
I’m sorry for the continuing delay in the publication of competition results. I’m doing all I can to reduce this to three weeks, but it may not be possible. The problem is that the deadline for copy in the magazine (where the results now appear) is normally eleven days before it actually appears and this leaves me very little time to get the judging done properly. Please bear with me. The new arrangement for slips should take effect from next month. Look out for an announcement about this shortly.