◀  No. 15004 Mar 2001 Clue list No. 1506  ▶

AZED CROSSWORD 1502

RAPPEL

1.  C. R. Gumbrell: What’s given by drum if end of truce is approved? (app. for e in reel, & lit.).

2.  N. C. Dexter: A tense drop from parapet possibly with line (anag., less a t + l, & lit.).

3.  R. J. Whale: Sort of rock exercise with additional line? (rap + PE + l, & lit.).

VHC

D. Arthur: Use of snare drum perhaps, with no hint of truce on either side ((t)rap pel(t), & lit.).

M. Barley: The end for mountaineer false move in descent of rockface (r + appel).

E. A. Beaulah: With drumbeat sounding offensive I’m going off rock (2 mngs.).

J. R. Beresford: The ‘Unfinished’ conductor returns for ‘Drumroll’ (Leppar(d) (rev.); ref. Raymond L., Schubert and Haydn symphonies).

C. J. Brougham: ‘Unfinished’ conductor’s rolling drumbeat. (Leppar(d) (rev.); ref. Raymond L., Schubert symphony).

E. J. Burge: Let oneself down losing head in viva about degree course (PPE in (o)ral).

Dr J. Burscough: Whereby Prince in ‘Rapunzel’ clears one impedance (P for un Z in Rapunzel, & lit.; ref. fairy tale).

C. A. Clarke: Eminem’s music accompanied by endless rage is a pulsating invitation to violence (rap + pel(t)).

E. Cross: Alarming rattle, or tremulous rale, leads to pulmonary pneumonia (anag. incl. p, p).

E. Dawid: What’s tapping centres of traps spelt? ((t)rap(s) (s)pel(t), & lit.; traps = drums).

V. Dixon: Call to fight crime exercises Left; hanging most wouldn’t consider (rap PE l, 2 defs.).

R. R. Greenfield: Climb-down by agency in Middle East state is repudiated (pp in (Is)rael; pp = on behalf of).

R. Hesketh: Prince and Pearl Jam bound to go down as Masters of Rock? (anag. of P, Pearl; famous rock performers).

T. M. Hoggart: Leap regulated with bits of rope and pulley? (anag. incl. r, p, & lit.).

E. M. Holroyd: King’s call with only one answer? (R + appe(a)l, & lit.).

W. Jackson: Crap PE lesson involves shinning up ropes? Quite the reverse (hidden).

W. F. Main: Plan with rope in disarray? Possibly on this descent (comp. anag.).

D. F. Manley: Play out rope when moving? That gets you to —— (comp. anag. & lit.).

C. Pearson: Army call-up: most of shower on charge (rap pel(t)).

G. Perry: On making comeback famous conductor lacks depth in ‘Drum Roll’ (Leppar(d) (rev.); ref. Raymond L.).

M. Taylor: Nearly smooth leaves around jazzy bower drop down rock face (Grappelli less gli(b); bow-er; ref. Stefan G., jazz violinist).

K. Thomas: Kite’s accompaniment – twisted tail of floral paper (anag. incl. l; ref. Sergeant K. in Farquhar, ‘The Recruiting Officer’).

J. R. Tozer: What Eminem’s music is: furious rant, endless belligerent beat (rap + pel(t)).

HC

R. L. Baker, Mrs F. A. Blanchard, C. Boyd, Rev Canon C. M. Broun, B. Burton, D. C. Clenshaw, S. Collins, R. M. S. Cork, F. H. Cripps, M. Cutter, L. J. Davenport, R. V. Dearden, Mrs P. Diamond, A. J. Dorn, J. Dromey, D. Durrance, C. M. Edmunds, A. S. Everest, A. G. Fleming, H. Freeman, M. Freeman, P. D. Gaffey, D. Godden, G. I. L. Grafton, R. Haddock, Dr G. Hambleton, D. Hazeldine, F. P. N. Lake, J. C. Leyland, R. K. Lumsdon, D. W. Mackie, Mrs J. Mackie, B. MacReamoinn, P. W. Marlow, G. T. McLean, C. G. Millin, T. J. Moorey, C. J. Morse, R. Murdoch, R. J. Palmer, D. Price Jones, D. R. Robinson, G. C. Rosser, M. Sanderson, W. J. M. Scotland, S. & J. Shaw, D. J. Short, R. G. Smith, Ms S. Wallace, L. Ward, A. J. Wardrop, P. H. Watkin, Dr M. C. Whelan, G. H. Willett.
 

Comments
343 entries, almost no mistakes. Favourite clues: those for ORCHESTRALIST and REMEN (the latter one of those ‘it-has-to-be’ windfalls that very occasionally fall into one’s lap and one that may perhaps have been used before, though I don’t recall seeing it). The only clue which caused any real difficulty was the one for SUPPED (‘Drank up and was quick about it’), with NIPPED as a possible but inferior solution. Looking at it again I can’t quite see what the problem was. On the whole this was an easy-to-middling prize plain, it seems, after all the maritime excitements of recent competitions. Clues submitted exploited both main definitions of RAPPEL in roughly equal proportions, with several of course using both. It wasn’t the easiest word to do very original things with and there were understandably a lot of Alpine ropes in evidence. A few definitions implied that the technique of abseiling can be used to get up a rock face as well as down it, but I could find no justification for this. Some of the definitions used were also rather too vague for acceptability. As a general rule, the more precise you can be in this area, the better your chances will be. Given the vertical connotations of RAPPEL (an across word), I think it’s worth making the point that I am not well disposed to the use of ‘top’ and ‘bottom’ (or close synonyms of these words) to indicate initial and final letters. Early in the Azed series I think I once allowed myself ‘top’ to mean ‘initial letter’ on the analogy of the phrase ‘top of the morning’ (a supposedly Irish greeting), but I was never happy with this and have avoided it ever since. So be warned. Here too are a couple of nearly good clues from seasoned competitors which struck me on close inspection as grammatically flawed. (i) ‘Soon descend thus by using ropes on alp.’ An attempted ‘comp. anag. & lit.’, but the ‘by using’ bit does not adequately indicate that ‘soon rappel’ can be rearranged to form ‘ropes on alp’. (ii) ‘Blow clipping side of temple follows sharp blow lower down the face.’ The problem here is in the word ‘lower’, which as a verb (which it needs to be for the literal reading of the clue) is only transitive, whereas ‘abseil’ is only intransitive.
 
The dinner to mark Azed No. 1,500 (combined with the annual dinner for Listener crossword setters) was a most enjoyable event (at least for this rather biassed writer) and wonderfully well organized. It was a major sadness, however, that Michael Macdonald-Cooper, who had planned the whole thing, was unable to be there because his wife Celia had been involved in a nasty car accident only days before the event. I am pleased to report that she is recovering well at home, but both of them were sorely missed. The excellent four-course dinner was served in the large and imposing dining-hall of St Catherine’s College, Oxford, and followed by various speeches culminating in one by Colin Gumbrell proposing my health, and my own reply. The company then adjourned to the JCR bar where animated (even slightly bibulous) conversation continued until well after midnight. Three generations of my family were there, including my parents, my elder son Tom, and of course my wife Alison, and we all enjoying meeting many old and new friends. I was greatly cheered by all the kind and enthusiastic remarks I received, and shall press on with undiminished vigour to keep you all amused for as long as I can. My warmest thanks to Michael Macdonald-Cooper for all his work in organizing the dinner, and to Don and Sue Manley, who nobly stepped in to handle the last-minute arrangements and keep things running smoothly on the night.
 

 

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