AZED CROSSWORD 1277

NOVE(M)BER

1.  Dr J. Burscough: Instant beverages save a lot of time – no brewing! (anag. less ages; comp. held in Nov).

2.  P. L. Stone: Period in which we remember brave ones listed as lost (anag. less as, & lit.; ref. Remembrance Day, 5 Nov).

3.  C. R. Gumbrell: In which we find the end of autumn again about to occur (n + be in over, & lit.).

VHC

E. A. Beaulah: This is instant drama: the final day of war, with Berlin half razed (no⁴ VE Ber(lin); comp. held in Nov).

J. R. Beresford: It’s never confused with Bravo and Oscar (anag. incl. B, O, & lit.; ref. NATO phonetic alphabet).

B. Burton: ‘Bend over!’ – its day gone to be reconsidered this month? (anag. less d; ref. corporal punishment debate).

C. J. & M. P. Butler: Never book trips in —— OK? (comp. anag. & lit.).

N. C. Dexter: No bee, nor touch of vernal spring; no leaves (anag. incl. v less no; ref. Hood’s poem ‘No!’).

V. Dixon: Instant denial by bishop implicated in deviance (no + b in veer; comp. held in Nov).

D. A. Ginger: During which we remember the fallen, as this may become brave ones (comp. anag.).

R. R. Greenfield: Budget time’s traditional drama: we have to pay out about a billion (no⁴ + b in veer).

F. P. N. Lake: Now shift out of Britain to escape winter? (no(w) + B in veer, & lit.).

C. Loving: It’s an icy period in Russia – Ob never flows (anag.; ref. River Ob).

M. A. Macdonald-Cooper: Perennial number eleven, brave one batting without a hint of apprehension? (anag. less a).

D. F. Manley: Knight has got to be in higher than a No. 11! (N + be in over; ref. Nick K., England opener).

P. W. Marlow: It’s initially indicated by nightfall occurring very early (by European regulation) (first letters & lit.).

T. J. Moorey: Certain communication between Juliet and Romeo must be over Nurse’s head (anag. incl. N; must⁴ adj.; ref. NATO phonetic alphabet).

C. J. Morse: Dismal season? No, spring (as Horace said) is about to happen (no + be in ver (L.); ref. Horace Odes 4, 7, 9).

M. Sanderson: In which brave ones are recollected as departed? (anag. less as, & lit.).

Mrs J. E. Townsend: Time for home-fires to be recalled or even lit around Britain (B in anag.; lit = drunk; ref. Remembrance Day).

J. R. Tozer: Poll of businessmen takes negative swing about Budget time (b in no veer).

Dr E. Young: Moon: one verb is to wander (anag.; moon = month).

HC

D. Appleton, D. Ashcroft, M. Barley, Mrs F. A. Blanchard, C. A. Clarke, D. B. Cross, E. Cross, R. V. Dearden, R. A. England, Dr I. S. Fletcher, P. D. Gaffey, E. Gomersall, G. I. L. Grafton, R. S. Haddock, Mrs B. E. Henderson, R. J. Hooper, Mrs D. B. Jenkinson, J. P. Lester, J. D. Lockett, W. F. Main, C. G. Millin, G. M. Neighbour, F. R. Palmer, D. Price Jones, J. Saynor, V. Seth, N. & M. Sharp, J. B. Sweeting, D. H. Tompsett, L. Ward, A. J. Wardrop, Mrs M. P. Webber, R. J. Whale, Dr M. C. Whelan, D. Williamson.
 

Comments
259 entries, not many mistakes. A few of you failed to trace the quotation, and I may be partly to blame for this. It appears in both the editions of the ODQ that I possess: the third, dated 1979, and (still my favourite) the second, dated 1953. More recent editions — and I need to check the number of the current one — seem to have dropped it. I must obviously extend my library, and I apologize for my misleading preamble. Perhaps I was unduly carried away at finding such an appropriate quotation with just the right number of letters. Despite this problem it was clearly an enjoyable if testing competition and I’m grateful for all the appreciative comments. The clue that caused most difficulty, and such mistakes as there were, was the one to Z(I)NGAR(I). I thought I Zingari, the wandering amateur cricket club founded in 1845, would be widely enough known, but perhaps I was wrong. Mr Moorey tells me it is mentioned in Barclays World of Cricket, edited by E. W. Swanton, and it’s also in the Oxford Companion to Sports and Games (1975), edited by John Arlott but I think now out of print. The choice of the ‘5th of November’ as the latent letter was very last-minute; the connection with Bonfire Night only really occurred to me after I’d chosen which letter to ask you to drop for the purposes of cluing. Perhaps I was guided there by some unconscious linguistic association! But full marks to those who sought to build recognition of this link into their clues. I realized that Nove(m)ber would be a tough word to clue (as well as being the second proper noun in successive months) but your ingenuity triumphed as ever.
 
My apologies again for the delay in announcing the results for this competition (though I did send them in over a week before they finally appeared). Another business trip was to blame, this time in Taiwan and Hong Kong, mercifully the last for the foreseeable future, so things should now revert to normal.
 
An interesting point has been raised by a regular competitor, in connection with Sir Jeremy Morse’s witty third-prize-winning clue to SIPOREX last month: ‘“DI IN SEX ROMP” could furnish material for artist with twisted mind’. Ought this not, he suggests, have ‘this’ or ‘such’ before ‘material’ in order to indicate that it is the type of material that the solver is looking for. Clues without such a grammatical pointer are common enough, but on reflection I think this is a fair criticism and I would myself tend to phrase such a clue in the way suggested. Do others feel likewise? I’d welcome views. Clues should always, I think, include a clear indication of the part of speech required, though there may be some debate as to what constitutes a ‘clear indication’.
 
The AZ 1300 dinner mentioned last month will of course be on Saturday 12 April, not the 13th (a Sunday