AZED CROSSWORD 1242

KNOCKERS

1.  C. J. & M. P. Butler: Innings goes wrong – run out – for those who call unexpectedly (knock + er(r)s).

2.  D. P. Shenkin: English ‘Nickels’? ‘Tanners’ perhaps (2 mngs.; see derivation of nickel in C.).

3.  Dr E. Young: Pink Lady’s not the first: commonly, we’re in our cups (knock (h)ers).

VHC

S. Armstrong: Embracing neck or bust, kiss is out. Bust, especially (anag. in k(is)s).

M. Barley: Innings ends in collapse; thereafter Athers boobs – more ammunition for us, perhaps? (knock + e, r, s, 2 defs.).

E. A. Beaulah: Nuts are gone, with nothing in lieu for the tits (0 for a in knackers).

Mrs K. Bissett: Smashing ——? Funny conk and kisser is ignored (anag. less is).

B. Burton: Canny ore-diviners, these wee fellows ken rocks inside out (anag. & lit.).

D. Buxton: Salient points assaulted as preliminary to penetration (double mng.).

C. A. Clarke: New Australians following Keating’s lead, these detractors might slump without support (K n ockers, 2 defs.; ref. Paul K.).

K. W. Crawford: Flipping ’eck – norks! (anag. & lit.).

N. C. Dexter: Naughty necklines risk ‘Coo!’, if these are silicone-enhanced (comp. anag. & lit.).

V. Dixon: Kevin K’s (acting) heroes may confound his negative —— (comp. anag. & lit.; ref. K. Keegan, Newcastle United).

H. Freeman: Attributes of doors one hears! (2 meanings & lit.; ref. Diana Dors).

S. Goldie: Keegan at kick-off blithely reckons outstanding two up front will take some holding (K + anag.; ref. Kevin K.).

R. R. Greenfield: Smackers? Smart deal with them could secure Ken Clarke’s stardom (comp anag.).

C. R. Gumbrell: We’re to fill cups? Top tip of Khayyam’s, drunk reckons (K + anag.).

R. Hesketh: After King, turn up second King, then twist – receiving the Queen would make you bust (K + ER in K con (all rev.)).

T. M. Hoggart: Critics are plain: with Cork’s knee injured English should be knocked out (anag. less E; ref. World Cup).

M. Laws: Dammit! With income of zero, one’s gone bust (0 for I in knickers).

Mrs M. D. Maitland: We criticize one appearing for a ball in underwear (0 for I in knickers).

D. F. Manley: Ex-leader of party not in may sink along with Queen’s – down under (K(in)nock + ER’s, & lit.; ref. Neil K., P. Keating).

M. Owen: Bristol City’s strikers (2 mngs.; rhyming slang).

R. J. Palmer: Bristol City’s strikers, source of much disparagement (3 mngs.; rhyming slang).

C. Pearson: Essential page 3 ingredients, Kelvin reckons (crudely) (K + anag.; ref. K. Mackenzie, ex-editor of the ‘Sun’).

Mrs M. P. Webber: Callers seeking entry after lead of king reckon on playing last of trumps (k + anag. + s).

HC

W. G. Arnott, Ms C. Bacon, M. J. Balfour, M. J. Bath, S. J. Best, Mrs F. A. Blanchard, C. Boyd, H. J. Bradbury, C. J. Brougham, Rev Canon C. M. Broun, G. C. Brown, E. J. Burge, Ms S. C. Cockburn, D. B. Cross, E. Cross, E. Dawid, R. Dean, R. V. Dearden, A. J. Dorn, R. A. England, M. Freeman, N. C. Goddard, H. J. Godwin, B. Grabowski, G. I. L. Grafton, P. F. Henderson, T. Jacobs, G. Johnstone, R. E. Kimmons, F. P. N. Lake, Dr D. R. Laney, R. M. Luty, W. F. Main, P. W. Marlow, H. W. Massingham, Dr E. J. Miller, W. L. Miron, T. J. Moorey, T. Morris, C. J. Morse, G. Murray, F. R. Palmer, H. L. Rhodes, D. R. Robinson, W. J. M. Scotland, Mrs E. J. Shields, D. J. Short, P. L. Stone, A. Streatfield, J. B. Sweeting, K. Thomas, D. H. Tompsett, R. Veall, A. J. Wardrop, R. J. Whale, M. C. Whelan, I. J. Wilcock, D. Williamson.
 

Comments
373 entries and no mistakes. Well, I suppose I asked for it. ‘Haven’t we had enough boobs recently?’ asked one regular pointedly. (Thank you, Tom Swifty!) Another (male) competitor said his wife had suggested I should award two cups and a booby prize. I did hesitate more than somewhat before giving you KNOCKERS, for obvious reasons, and I apologize to any solvers, ladies especially, who were offended by my decision. In fact no one professed even slight outrage and few clues had to be rejected as unacceptably coarse or sexist. Many were mildly indelicate but none the worse for that in these liberal times. I chose to give you KNOCKERS not just because of its slang meaning but because it has a good range of others besides, is a plural (which you don’t often get), and (I admit) because it looked quite tough and I don’t see why you should always have easier words to clue! (Actually I’m familiar with another meaning of the word, not in Chambers, and I wonder if any of you have come across it. My maternal grandmother, now dead, who came from Lancashire, referred to plates with dry crumbs etc on after a meal as knockers, i.e. ones which could be ‘knocked’ clean without needing to be washed up. Her own invention, perhaps, or dated regional usage?)
 
There was less unsoundness than usual in clues submitted this month, but a lack of real inspiration too, probably because of the unhelpful structure of the word (those two K’s). I changed my mind several times before settling on the three prizewinners. Some of the VHCs came very close and others were distinctly borderline. Mrs Bissett’s anagram (less is) is nice (and funny) but does not really need two anagram indicators (‘smashing’ and ‘funny’). Mr Dexter’s anagram & lit. I also liked but found over-ellipted syntactically: it needs something like ‘You’ll find’ initially or some rewording in the middle to make it read smoothly in the cryptic reading. And I was much taken by Mr Freeman’s ingenious ‘& lit.’, with its unusual use of the old standby ‘one hears’, before deciding that the definition in the cryptic reading was rather too general. Despite Diana D’s obvious and renowned prominence in this department, she shared her attributes with the rest of adult womankind. Mr Gumbrell’s ‘top’ worried me a little. Can the first letter of a word be called its top, even when it’s to be used in a down word? And the use of the blank in Mr Manley’s clue is rendered awkward by having ‘down under’ (important for the literal reading) tacked on behind it.
 
Finally, an explanation (sort of) for the odd beta-like character that appeared in a clue in puzzle No. 1,241 recently. It should have been (and was in the proof I OK’d) ‘½’ (a special symbol on the keyboard). A fault in the computer typesetting/printing system subsequently made nonsense of it. I’m assured It won’t happen again, but I remain uneasy about the possibility of such electronic hiccups recurring from time to tim