AZED CROSSWORD 1463

REVERSIONAL

1.  A. J. Dorn: Leo arrives and Tony could be ——, playing with toy? (comp. anag. & lit: ref. Blairs).

2.  C. J. Morse: As Rover line is rejigged, it’s making a comeback (anag.; ref. sale of carmaker).

3.  A. J. Wardrop: Account in sterling relation to sum payable on death (version in real).

VHC

D. Ashcroft: Getting back to normal: Observer’s ‘Plain’ puzzle; no signs of Spoonerisms, praise be! (anag. less S, p, b).

M. Barley: Dorsal nerve damaged, one’s in for a bit of discomfort bending back (anag. with I for d).

E. A. Beaulah: With No. 2 gone, Lara in – ever so out of form making comeback (anag. less a; ref. Brian L.).

J. R. Beresford: Irons played in broadcast as the hero of Brideshead Revisited (anag. in reveal; ref. Jeremy I.).

H. J. Bradbury: Diseased liver: reason for showing regressive disposition (anag.).

K. A. Brough: Working on a lever? RSI’s returning (anag.).

Mrs M. J. Cansfield: Ginger ale in ‘Rover’s Return’ may be so described (anag.; ginger vb.).

C. A. Clarke: Recurrent source of violence in Sierra Leone, endlessly in turmoil (v in anag. less e).

V. Dixon: See here: natural order is right at all times, but this is overturning it! (la NO is r ever (all rev.), & lit.).

R. R. Greenfield: Dodgy loan after game of cards? It might be coming back (reversi + anag.).

J. Grimes: Slipping back iron leaves jockey clutching racehorse’s head (r in anag.; iron = stirrup).

C. R. Gumbrell: Going back in history, Stephenson’s foremost character seen to be in on rail’s development (ever S in anag.).

D. A. Harris: The refrains from ‘Three Lions’ rave exuberantly, ‘It’s coming home!’ (anag. less the; ref. England football anthem).

R. J. Heald: King eclipsed by rising Aussie tennis-player holding racket like a boomerang? (R in noise in Laver (all rev.); ref. Billie Jean K. and Rod L.).

I. A. Herbert: Getting back a serve right on line I scrambled (anag. incl. r,).

J. R. H. Jones: Condition left overs are in (anag. incl. l, & lit.).

D. F. Manley: Serving an alienor possibly wanting arrangement for children’s ultimate gain (anag. less anag. incl. n, & lit.).

T. D. Nicholl: Rover, in sale reborn as Phoenix (anag.; ref. carmaker sold to P. Consortium).

C. W. Thomas: It’s turning contrariwise: Iverson moving one in, on a length (Iverson with I repositioned, in re a l; ref. Jack I., cricketer).

G. Willett: Improvised in oral verse, like Homer’s Odyssey? (anag.).

HC

C. J. Anderson, D. Appleton, M. Bath, R. E. Boot, C. Boyd, C. J. Brougham, E. J. Burge, C. J. & M. P. Butler, M. Casserley, B. Cheesman, M. Coates, S. Collins, E. Cross, G. Cuthbert, E. Dawid, R. Dean, N. C. Dexter, A. G. Fleming, Ms E. Forbes, H. Freeman, M. Freeman, G. I. L. Grafton, D. A. Hardy, R. Hesketh, J. Horwood, F. P. N. Lake, P. Lloyd, W. F. Main, Mrs M. D. Maitland, P. W. Marlow, Dr E. J. Miller, C. G. Millin, T. J. Moorey, W. Murphy, D. Newbery, F. R. Palmer, S. L. Paton, D. Price Jones, H. R. Sanders, M. Sanderson, V. Seth, N. G. Shippobotham, D. A. Simmons, C. M. Steele, P. L. Stone, J. R. Tozer, A. P. Vick, R. J. Whale, M. Whitmore, Ms B. J. Widger, J. Woodall, Dr E. Young.
 

ANNUAL HONOURS LIST (13 COMPETITIONS)
1. C. R. Gumbrell (3 prizes, 7 VHCs); 2 (equal). M. Barley (4, 4), N. C. Dexter (3, 6); 4. D. F. Manley (2, 7); 5, C. J. Morse (2, 6); 6. C. A. Clarke (1, 7); 7. J. R. Tozer (1, 6); 8 (equal). J. R. Beresford (0, 7), V. Dixon (1, 5), A. J. Dorn (2, 3), F. P. N. Lake (1, 5); 12 (equal). E. Dawid (1, 4), R. J. Heald (0, 6), T. J. Moorey (0, 6), A. J. Wardrop (2, 2); 16 (equal). H. Freeman (1, 3); R. K. Lumsdon (1, 3), F. R. Palmer (1, 3), R. J. Palmer (0, 5), R. J. Whale (1, 3); 21 (equal). E. A. Beaulah (1, 2), C. J. Brougham (0, 4), E. J. Burge (1, 2), D. R. Robinson (0, 4), W. Wynne Willson (0, 4). CONSOLATION PRIZES J. R. Beresford, R. J. Heald, T. J. Moorey, R. J. Palmer, C. J. Brougham, D. R. Robinson, W. Wynne Willson.
 

 
Comments
 
285 entries, no noticeable mistakes. Though disappointingly low this was an excellent entry, the best for some time. Clues submitted were clever and amusing, very varied and on the whole sound. The choice of word may have had something to do with this, presenting as it does a nice set of component letters and a relatively broad definition. The only treatment which struck me as uninspired involved isolating the word VERSION in the sense of ‘turning’ in the cryptic part. This is too close in meaning and derivation to REVERSIONAL itself and should therefore have been avoided – as indeed it was by most, though it’s a point worth noting for future reference.
 
Several of you commented generously on my clue to EBURNATION. Such ‘anag. & lits’ turn up very infrequently but they are always especially satisfying. I don’t think I’ve seen this one before though it’s hard to imagine any setter not spotting it when faced with having to clue the word. Two other clues of mine provoked both favourable and unfavourable comments: those to BRAIN and LITERAL. Interestingly both involve the use of the personal pronoun ‘I/me’, and on reflection I think both could have been better worded without sacrificing their basic ideas. ‘Organ I offered as lucky-dip prize?’ suggested in the cryptic reading that I the setter am concealed in the bran-tub, hardly a credible notion. This can readily be dealt with by changing the clue to ‘Organ, one offered as lucky-dip prize?’ Again, in ‘It could make me into liberal!’ both ‘it’ and ‘me’ refer to the answer, grammatically impossible in any straight reading of the clue. What’s needed is something like ‘I could make myself into liberal!’ The exclamation mark still helps to indicate that something pretty outrageous is going on. I know some people dislike this sort of self-referential personalization of inanimate things or concepts, but it’s a well-established convention and one which, used sparingly, seems acceptable to me. One final point arising from the puzzle: was my reference to Berni Inns in the clue to TORBERNITE a bit unfair, especially to younger solvers? I don’t know when they disappeared from the scene or were taken over, but it must be quite a while now. Hands up who’s never heard of them.
 
Congratulations to Colin Gumbrell for making it three in a row at the top of the twenty-eighth annual honours list, though he was pressed very close this year, and to all those on the list. My thanks as usual to Ron Dearden, whose help with the scoring is invaluable to me. He has pointed out that Mr M. Casserley’s VHC was unaccountably omitted from last September’s slip. My sincere apologies to that gentleman. And finally, special congratulations to that other Colin (NCD) for his OBE in the recent Birthday Honours, a richly deserved reward for all his endeavours!