◀  No. 12641 Sep 1996 Clue list No. 1273  ▶

AZED CROSSWORD 1268

ARGIE-BARGIE

1.  C. R. Gumbrell: Clay with left wiped out energy Joe put into raw set-to (argi(l) E + GI in bare; ref. Cassius C., J. Frazier).

2.  N. C. Dexter: We find this mars the dissolution of Bigears’ marriage (comp. anag. & lit.; Diana’s nickname for Charles).

3.  M. Barley: Rowing gives dismal GB a rare glimpse of gold (i.e. one) (anag. incl. g, I; ref. Olympics).

VHC

Rev Canon C. M. Broun: Inebriated aggro could produce this – don’t! (comp. anag. & lit.).

E. J. Burge: Sun rises over Eiger, a big overciouded object, making quite a scene (Ra (rev.) + anag.; object verb).

C. A. Clarke: I hold, contrariwise, English to be inferior to Argentine beef (I grab (rev.) + E, all below Argie).

V. Dixon: When Greek meets Greek, spouting volumes, what’s born between ’em (b between Argi(v)e twice, & lit.).

A. Hodgson: South American lawyers admit (Scotch) beef (Argie Bar gie).

R. J. Hooper: Ringing changes in bigger area, I could produce really annoying ding-dong (anag.).

T. Jacobs: Unpopular with Stanley, Rod, Joe, Eric (initially) and Barney? (Argie bar GI E; ref. Port S., Falklands).

J. C. Leyland: Rowing boat No. 1 comes in after Joe snaps ‘Time up!’ (GI in era (rev.) + i in barge).

R. K. Lumsdon: Foreigners being derogatory about British beef (B in Argie, Argie).

M. A. Macdonald-Cooper: Development of bigger area around Ireland’s capital – Donnybrook, perhaps (I in anag.; D. = a brawl).

Mrs J. Mackie: E.g. what Iliad starts with, rabid umbrage being unloosed, not silent (anag. less dumb, & lit.).

M. J. G. Millgate: Rowing a brig, I agree, is difficult (anag.).

T. J. Moorey: Damn with ‘trouble and strife’ can be settled in a good marriage-bed (comp. anag. & lit.; g = good).

C. J. Morse: If Barbara leads you to BR, the row you want is AR (i.e. Argie bar gie = Ar).

F. R. Palmer: Words are inadequate to embody the primordial features of God Immortal, God Invisible (GI, GI in are bare).

J. Pearce: Slyly, I grab last bit of parking-space. One’s consumed by form of rage – this follows! (anag. incl. e + I in anag., & lit.).

Mrs E. M. Phair: ‘Right, I agree’ – a big change from this (anag. incl. r, & lit.).

D. Price Jones: Disposition of e.g. Britain at S. Georgia – not merrily toasting battle (comp. anag.; ref. Falklands campaign).

D. R. Robinson: Dispute when Greek meets Greek (very put out, both) with some bickering between them (b in Argi(v)e Argi(v)e).

R. J. Whale: Wranglers’ forte? This lot obtain algebra and trig, i.e. with nothing wrong (comp. anag.; ref. Cambridge exams).

HC

W. Anderson, D. Appleton, R. E. Boot, J. M. Brown, C. J. & M. P. Butler, J. W. Cairns, Mrs M. J. Cansfield, D. B. Cross, E. Cross, D. J. Dare-Plumpton, R. V. Dearden, R. P. Dowling, J. Dromey, C. M. Edmunds, Dr I. S. Fletcher, M. Freeman, P. Giaccone, N. C. Goddard, G. I. L. Grafton, J. E. Green, J. Grimes, R. Hesketh, F. P. N. Lake, M. D. Laws, B. J. Leatherbarrow, J. F. Levey, P. Long, Ms M. D. Maitland, D. F. Manley, Mrs W. A. Marlar, G. L. McStravick, Rev M. R. Metcalf, J. R. C. Michie, Dr E. J. Miller, C. G. Millin, T. D. Nicholl, R. J. Palmer, Dr T. G. Powell, Mrs D. M. C. Prichard, H. L. Rhodes, G. Robinson, M. Sanderson, D. P. Shenkin, N. G. Shippobotham, R. J. Stocks, P. L. Stone, W. Swift, C. W. Thomas, B. W. Tilling, J. R. Tozer, M. Vodrey, L. Ward, A. J. Wardrop, M. J. E. Wareham, I. J. Wilcock, D. Williamson, W. Woodruff.
 

Comments
287 entries, very few mistakes. Not, I think, a particularly difficult puzzle, so why the low turn-out again, I wonder? Were many of you taking a late summer holiday (as I’m doing next week) or was the prospect of cluing another ‘double’ word (after OUT-AND-OUT recently) off-putting. I always, or almost always, pick the clue word before cluing the rest of a competition puzzle and try very hard to select one that will offer plenty of scope for invention. Sometimes, admittedly, my calculations don’t work out and an attractive-looking word proves to be less productive than I’d hoped. I can only apologize when this occurs. I should add that many competitors this month said they found ARGIE-BARGIE a nice word to wrestle with. Inevitably, I suppose, references to the Falklands campaign were very thick on the ground, reviving memories of that unhappy episode, and very few of the clues which used this idea were sufficiently superior to the rest to achieve distinction. As always, originality was worth striving for (easier said than done when you don’t know what others are planning, but a point worth stressing again). I do urge frustrated also-rans to study the printed clues, and especially the prizewinners, to see what I’m getting at.
 
Having nothing more to say about this puzzle, let me deal with two queries which have come up recently. (i) ‘How concise does the explanation of clues have to be? Can we ramble or will that affect your final decision when it comes to printing VHCs?’ Two things to say here: I often edit your explanations for the slip to make the style of these reasonably consistent, or add an explanation when none has been supplied by the competitor. I do like you to supply an explanation, even if you think it hardly needs spelling out, but prefer this to be as brief as absolute clarity will permit. It just helps to make the judging process quicker and easier. And, as I’ve said before, if a clue needs a paragraph or more to explain it, it may be over-complex, a weakness in itself. (ii) ‘How far can we stray from the dictionary definition for the set words?’ I don’t think I can give any useful guidelines on this and must leave the matter to your own judgement. Last month I criticized some clues for being too vague in their definition, and that is always something to watch for. Many of you use thesauruses to find synonyms for the clue word, and there’s no harm in that either. All I can say is that if you have any nagging doubts about the acceptability of the definition part of your clue it would probably be worth looking for something better. Lack of self-belief has a way of communicating itself to the judge!
 
And now for my holida
 

 

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