AZED CROSSWORD 1367

SANBENITOS

1.  J. Mortleman: Clobber to ban sins (once seen around Spain) (E in anag., & lit.).

2.  C. R. Gumbrell: Covering things in an auto is a bonnet’s work (anag.; work vb).

3.  C. J. Morse: To be in wrong, without admitting it: these robes might signify that (anag. in sans).

VHC

D. Appleton: Stricken Bosnia sent old clothes with Red Cross relief (anag.).

M. Barley: Fateful dress with stains on leads to Bill’s eventual undoing? (anag. incl. B, e; ref. Clinton / Lewinsky).

Mrs F. A. Blanchard: Sabines not prepared for the habits of a sorry lot of men (anag.).

C. J. Brougham: Bonniest models with sex-appeal up top in gear for the really hot (SA + anag.).

P. Cass: Might these garments be on sinners, and, after conversion, be on saints? (anag.).

C. Clarke: Baffled sensation born of habits acquired when confronted by Ximenes perhaps (anag. incl. b; of = consisting of).

V. Dixon: Amalgamating, Nissan to be ‘Auto Investments’? (anag.).

R. R. Greenfield: Must stains be on dress to show guilt? (anag.; must⁴; ref. Clinton / Lewinsky).

R. Heald: Running sensation Black’s packed in – see rags expressing regret (b in anag.; ref. Roger B.).

R. J. Hooper: Special fashion for ones bastin’? (anag. & lit.).

F. P. N. Lake: ’S true – they could be set about sinners in a sorry state (comp. anag. & lit.).

C. J. Lowe: Dressed up a son in best clothes for a sizzling send-off! (anag.).

D. F. Manley: Breakdown of one substantive stain in attire to signal condemnation or acquittal? (anag. incl. sb.; ref. Clinton / Lewinsky).

C. G. Millin: Garments for penitents – ones tortured with bastinado, eliminating trouble (anag. less ado).

R. J. Palmer: One with such garments could have been obeisant, sin being purged (comp. anag. incl. I, & lit.).

T. R. Phillips: Sinners’ garments could be altered to be on saints (anag.).

D. R. Robinson: Ximenes’ victims were stuck in these – all cracked sans one bit (anag.).

J. R. Tozer: Executing Albigenses not converted calls for e.g. 50 ——? (comp. anag. incl. L, & lit.).

L. Ward: More than one heretic’s scapular bone is found mingled with saints’ (anag.).

R. J. Whale: Strict Ximenean dress-code bans ties with no cross! (anag.; cross = hybrid).

D. Williamson: Banesto star’s lead in tours providing yellow garments formerly (anag. incl. s; ref. Tour de France).

HC

B. Balfour, E. A. Beaulah, R. E. Boot, Mrs A. Boyes, Rev Canon C. M. Broun, E. J. Burge, C. J. & M. P. Butler, D. A. Campbell, R. M. S. Cork, D. J. Dare-Plumpton, R. V. Dearden, P. Dippnall, J. Dorey, L. K. Edkins, Dr I. S. Fletcher, H. Freeman, M. Freeman, N. C. Goddard, J. Hastie, R. Hesketh, M. D. Laws, J. C. Leyland, P. R. Lloyd, Mrs J. Mackie, P. W. Marlow, G. M. Neighbour, M. A. O’Hagan, J. Pearce, G. Perry, R. Phillips, H. L. Rhodes, N. G. Shippobotham, A. J. Wardrop, M. H. E. Watson, M. Whitmore, Dr E. Young.
 

Comments
348 entries, no noticeable mistakes. A straightforward puzzle, by all accounts, and a relatively friendly clue word, with echoes of Ximenes and Torquemada, but one which proved stubbornly difficult to produce something outstanding with. (As one competitior put it, it ‘seemed to offer more than it delivered’.) The word clearly lent itself to anagrams, and variations on the SAINT’S BONE theme were legion and not always convincing. Being a victim of the Inquisition was no automatic qualification for sainthood!
 
Among my own clues, that for SUTURAL provoked a few mutterings in that ‘stitching’ seemed to require a noun. But surely a present participle can be regarded as adjectival? Likewise ‘supporting’ as a definition for SUSTENANCE was intended to be read as a gerund. DOWNLE is nastily concealed in Chambers but no one got it wrong. Let’s hope the new edition (now imminent) will deal with these obscure forms more helpfully. Another query concerned the reference to ‘one of five’ in my clue to JACKSON. Devotees of pop music will recall that Jacko started his career as the youngest member of the family group The Jackson Five.
 
No time for much more this month, except to respond to a request for guidance on whether and when to indicate special or restricted usage in clues. Specifically this was in the context of last month’s clue word MAVIN (with one-word definition of THONG),which Chambers classifies as American slang, though a number of the clues quoted in the slip did not imply this. Well, yes, in general I think clues should attempt to indicate such usage restrictions if possible. I myself certainly try if at all possible to show if a word is, say, obsolete or Scottish (dear old Jock), these two types being the commonest. Differences between British and American English are somewhat less clear-cut. American words have a tendency to creep into British use (less so the other way round, I think). Dictionaries also often disagree about register. The Shorter Oxford, for instance, doesn’t even label MAVEN (its preferred spelling) colloquial, let alone slang. So I approve of attempts by clue writers to capture the special flavour, currency and geographical restriction of a word’s usage. Part of the problem last month was that only a small percentage of competitors made such an attempt and of those that did many failed to impress for other reasons, so a good clue that did not indicate American slang scored higher than a flawed one that did. That will always be the case.