AZED CROSSWORD 1459

GREATEST (Spoonerisms)

1.  G. Perry: Top tip nobbled at St Leger – length short (tip-top: anag. less l).

2.  C. R. Gumbrell: What must feature bit of gunplay on a screen? Oater must (uttermost; g re a test).

3.  M. Barley: Stars teem, twinkling endlessly, following evening’s last ray over the west (way … rest; g + anag. less s, m).

VHC

D. Appleton: Hirst in fight gets English art in a tizzy (flrst … height; anag. incl. E; ref. Damien H.).

J. R. Beresford: Massed croaking about – a first sign of toads in romance (most cracking; re a t in gest).

Mrs F. A. Blanchard: Boast like The Mayor starting to gloat about a showdown (most … Bear; g re a test; ref. K. Livingstone).

C. A. Clarke: Pest of the back street gang not half mixed up (best … pack; anag. incl. ga(ng)).

N. C. Dexter: In his own opinion, clot was way way behind at Greek – endlessly confused (what was Clay; anag. less k + St.).

A. J. Dorn: Blow nest egg at the races, picking outsiders at random (noblest; anag. of first and last letters).

J. Dromey: What Bally scene labelled RTE stage Irish? (Ali’s been; anag.; ref. TV series ‘Ballykissangel’; Irish (offensive) = ludicrous).

R. R. Greenfield: Ex-magistrate flounders in this maxi law test (tallest; comp. anag.).

T. Jacobs: In camper, Rob’ll get a rest travelling (incomparable; anag.).

D. F. Manley: After gallery’s opening see foremost of twentieth-century art works this one’s seemed to be a Dali (deemed to be as All; g + anag. incl. t).

E. J. S. Nuttall: Last part of ‘Charley’s Aunt’ get extra (not unknown) involved (Ali’s chant; anag. less x).

Mrs E. M. Phair: It’s good about new Tate’s rating of Dali. Who ever stated any opposition? (Ali who devastated; g re + anag.).

A. Roth: Put shilling in compound rate, get rest in bank (best in rank; anag. incl. s).

J. B. Sweeting: Get English star playing part of Charley’s Aunt (Ali’s chant; anag. incl. E).

J. R. Tozer: My host integrates stranger not at home (highmost; anag. less in).

A. P. Vick: After uncontrolled rage, match waxy mum in mirth (maximum in worth; anag. + test).

R. J. Whale: Oast associated with barley? Taken with gin, I get strange brew! (boast … Ali; comp. anag.).

W. Wynne Willson: Authorities chose parity as this criterion of eligibility for pension, we hear (pose charity; ‘grey test’; ref. Corinthians 13).

Dr E. Young: Host my PC bug locks on to, screening ‘love’ (most high; re in Gates + t(0); bug = important person; ref. recent computer virus).

HC

W. G. Arnott, A. Barker, P. Bartlam, P. Biddlecombe, Mrs K. Bissett, R. E. Boot, C. Boyd, H. J. Bradbury, E. J. Burge, B. Burton, Mrs M. J. Cansfield, C. W. Clenshaw, D. C. Clenshaw, M. Coates, D. J. Dare-Plumpton, L. K. Edkins, C. M. Edmunds, A. S. Everest, P. D. Gaffey, J. Grimes, R. Haddock, R. J. Heald, R. Hesketh, B. Hitman, J. R. H. Jones, F. P. N. Lake, J. P. Lester, H. M. Lloyd, R. K. Lumsdon, G. Maker, N. J. Maynard, C. G. Millin, T. J. Moorey, R. J. Palmer, R. Perry, D. Price Jones, D. R. Robinson, D. Roseveare, H. R. Sanders, M. Sanderson, R. G. Smith, R. Stocks, Ms M. Stokes, P. L. Stone, C. W. Thomas, K. Thomas, S. J. J. Tiffin, B. Timmins, A. J. Wardrop, G. H. Willett.
 

Comments
Only 217 entries, but very few mistakes, though rather too many for comfort submitted the wrong sort of clue. The commonest fault involved defining a Spoonerism of GREATEST, e.g. ‘tray guest’, but others found a Spoonerism of GREATEST and then defined that, e.g. ‘Fall down drunk, tears get spilt’, in which the first three words define ‘flop tight’, a Spoonerism of ‘top-flight’. An extreme example of such wilful waywardness was ‘Some choirs develop a hoarse trial, so to speak’. The ‘definition’ here is ‘Some choirs develop a’ for ‘ream soup’ (developer = soup), a Spoonerism of ‘supreme’. I think the puzzle’s preamble was pretty clear. It’s the one I’ve always used and I don’t see how it could be made any clearer. Perhaps it was unwise to choose a clue word which was itself Spoonerizable, but I find it desirable when constructing the diagram to have a few extra candidates for the alternative treatment if possible. Anyway, all that said, most of you seem to have welcomed the return of ‘Spoonerisms’ as adding an extra dash of fun to the solving and cluing process. I’m sorry I was forced to include three words not in Chambers, though I did my best to compensate by giving them relatively easy clues. I apologize also for ‘pissed’ in the NIEFE clue and am relieved (!) that no one expressed disapproval.
 
Judging provided me with a lot of amusement. As a superlative adjective GREATEST presented a stern test for cluing (though I see Chambers includes the greatest as a noun phrase, just about legitimate for crossword purposes without the definite article), and I tended to be relatively lenient towards Spoonerisms which were not quite exact (e.g. when voiced and unvoiced ‘s’ and ‘th’ were interchanged. Some went too far, however. I was not favourably disposed towards Spoonerized monosyllables (e.g. ‘tops/pots’), and found it hard to see how ‘chop knot’ could result from Spoonerizing ‘top-notch’. A nice near-miss was ‘manly statues’ for Stanley Matthews but there were flaws elsewhere in that particular clue. The same went for ‘merry events’ (‘very immense’, not really a superlative?). The commonest general weakness in otherwise sound clues was the introduction of linking words between the Spoonerism and the subsidiary indication, regardless of which order these were presented in. It seems to me wrong to imply (as the use of such linking words usually does) that the subsidiary indication indicates or leads to the Spoonerism itself when it clearly does not. I carefully avoided such words in my own clues and expected you to do the same.
 
Several of you kindly responded (often at length) to my query about ISO(S)THENURIA in last month’s slip. There is no doubt at all that ISOSTHENURIA is the correct form, being derived from Greek isos, equal, sthenos, strength, and ouron, urine, and means (I quote) ‘excretion of urine of a molecular concentration approaching that of blood’, a symptom of chronic renal failure. Chambers thus misdefines a non-existent word. I’ll pass this on when next I’m in touch with the editors. Look out, incidentally, for the new Chambers Crossword Dictionary, which is due for publication in the next few months and to which I have made a modest contribution.
 
Another new publication, whose co-author David Dare-Plumpton kindly sent me a copy, is Latin Crosswords by DD-P and Peter Jones, who lectures in classics at Newcastle University and writes regularly on the subject for a number of newspapers etc. It’s a witty and entertaining collection, even for non-classicists, and I recommend it. It’s published by Constable & Robinson Ltd at £4.99, ISBN 1-84119-113-2.