◀  No. 15677 Jul 2002 Clue list No. 1576  ▶

AZED CROSSWORD 1572

SHIELD-MAY

1.  D. F. Manley: A possible representation of M. Hilda, yes? (anag. & lit.; ref. Margaret H. Thatcher).

2.  R. J. Whale: If order not followed, she could cause Hel dismay (anag. & lit.; ref. Norse mythology).

3.  J. R. Beresford: Amazon order mailed with shrink wrapping (anag. in shy; ref. mail-order company).

VHC

D. Appleton: Wild woman, Gerhilde (say) is this (‘Ring’, Wagner) (comp. anag. incl. 0, & lit.).

W. G. Arnott: A lass like Joan of Arc in the king’s absence led his army into conflict (anag. less R).

Rev Canon C. M. Broun: Warring maiden and ‘he-lady’ is … (anag. incl. m, & lit.).

Dr J. Burscough: Tough bird? It’s unknown when Delia Smith’s cooking! (anag. with y for it).

C. J. & M. P. Butler: Feisty female in fling spinning media line (anag. incl. l in shy).

C. A. Clarke: Virago published, there being no bar, raunchy, gay chapter (anag. less pub + May; feminist publishers).

G. Cuthbert: ‘Milady’, she? Not so – hies madly into conflict (anag., anag., & lit.).

R. V. Dearden: Stirring in support, she could give us Hippolyta’s minder (comp. anag. & lit.; ref. Queen of Amazons).

E. G. Fletcher: I need to change to make me ladyish (anag. & lit.).

R. R. Greenfield: Mild? She? That’s unusual, certainly (anag. + ay, & lit.).

J. Grimes: Ali: ‘My daughter, she trained as a fighting woman’ (anag. incl. d; ref. Laila A., boxer and daughter of Muhammad A.).

G. Johnstone: Valhalla opened up for me as I held my ‘slain’ (anag.; Valkyries transported dead heroes from battlefield to V.).

J. McGregor: Email’s handy (but not anonymous), used in order for Amazon (anag. less an.).

T. J. Moorey: No sort for knitting, this lady’s more for hitting (anag. less anag., & lit.).

C. J. Morse: Mailed she – sounds cross-dressed (Spoonerism & lit.).

R. J. Palmer: Maid seen involved with hostility – one tit is possibly cut off (anag. less anag., & lit.; ref. Amazons’ supposed practice of removing one breast to facilitate archery).

D. A. Simmons: She’d fail army manoeuvres? Far from it! (anag. less far, & lit.).

T. Smith: She carries one left dead at the threshold of Midgard to eternity (I in she + l d M ay, & lit.; ref. Valkyrie).

P. L. Stone: Cover girl? Breast reduction improved her pulling power (shield may2; ref. supposed practice of Amazons).

R. C. Teuton: Wild ‘male-ish’ lady? Not half (anag. incl. (la)dy, & lit.).

J. R. Tozer: Britannia? I’m shapely form adorning old penny (not new one) (d in anag. less p).

A. J. Wardrop: Ladyish me? That’s not how I usually appear (anag. & lit.).

HC

Mrs S. Baker, M. Barley, E. A. Beaulah, Mrs F. A. Blanchard, M. J. Bland, J. G. Booth, H. J. Bradbury, C. J. Brougham, E. J. Burge, B. Burton, D. A. Campbell, Mrs M. J. Cansfield, M. Casserley, D. C. Clenshaw, R. Cohen, P. Coles, N. Connaughton, R. M. S. Cork, A. Cox, K. W. Crawford, E. Cross, C. Daffern, D. J. Dare-Plumpton, L. J. Davenport, R. Dean, N. C. Dexter, V. Dixon, A. J. Dorn, C. M. Edmunds, H. Freeman, R. Griffin, C. R. Gumbrell, R. B. Harling, J. Harries, D. Harris, J. Hawkins, P. Hay, R. J. Heald, R. Hesketh, R. J. Hooper, F. P. N. Lake, Dr J. P. Lester, J. C. Leyland, P. R. Lloyd, C. Loving, R. K. Lumsdon, S. G. G. MacDonald, W. F. Main, P. W. Marlow, C. G. Millin, R. Murdoch, W. Murphy, T. D. Nicholl, R. A. Norton, F. R. Palmer, J. Parke, G. Perry, R. Phillips, D. Price Jones, D. Rainford, A. J. Redstone, D. R. Robinson, M. Sanderson, Mrs E. J. Shields, N. G. Shippobotham, D. J. Short, R. Straker, A. Streatfield, K. Thomas, D. H. Tompsett, A. P. Vincent, D. J. Ward, M. J. E. Wareham, W. B. Wendt, P. O. G. White, P. B. G. Williams, D. C. Williamson, M. J. Wright, Dr E. Young.
 

Comments
245 entries, no mistakes that I could spot. The puzzle was generally seen as a little more difficult than average, though several clues were mentioned as giving special enjoyment, including those (in no particular order) to HIGH-FIVE-SIGN, NEEDER, SORTES, HOBBIT, GIDEON, TRANNIE, VERBALS, MONTE and GUINEA GRASS. The first two of these call for further comment: the ‘H. Higgins’ I had in mind when concocting the first was Henry, not Hurricane, since I felt that this curious modem form of non-verbal communication would have interested the professor (comparable as it is to the way in which tennis doubles partners nowadays seem to touch open or closed hands after virtually every point, won or lost). As for NEEDER, I may have got my shepherds and sailors mixed up. I didn’t check it at the time, but Brewer quotes shepherds in both lines of the couplet about red skies. My own hazy recollection is that one of them at least referred to sailors. Does anyone else have similar memories? Clues which gave difficulty included those for BREAD and NAYAR. The first of these used ‘fab’ as a synonym for ‘bad’, drawing on slang usage of the latter (given in C.). The second broke down as ‘nay ar’, the latter word being an abbreviation for ‘annual returns’. Solvers looking for a reversal of some kind were barking up the wrong tree.
 
SHIELD-MAY is an intriguing word, isn’t it? The OED, which spells it as one word without a hyphen, gives no citation for it later than 1870. As many of you clearly felt, it cries out for an ‘& lit.’ clue of some kind, with many enticing anagrams begging to be used. I was in a real quandary over the many entries which exploited the ‘... lady? I’m she’ formula, with a variety of appropriate adjectives, such as ‘embattled’, ‘scrappy’, ‘warring’ and so on, as the first word of the clue. Lovely, no doubt about it, but alas just too popular. Submitters of clues based on this idea will doubtless feel aggrieved that their efforts scored no better than HC, but in the end I had no alternative in placing them there. The HC list this month is consequently a lot longer than usual. That there were plenty of other alleys to explore is clear from the VHC list, but it was the most difficult competition to judge for many months. Incidentally, I don’t care for ‘unlikely’ as an anagram indicator; it turned up quite often this time, but I can’t really accept that it indicates a disturbance of component letters, however nicely it might suit the literal reading of a clue.
 
I am asked what I feel about (sometimes lengthy) explanations of specialist references in clues submitted, by a competitor who thoughtfully included such a note explaining his reference to one of the Valkyries. Please assume ignorance on my part of specialized knowledge of this kind and don’t hesitate to explain such references, at whatever length. This is a help to me in interpreting a clue, but is of course no guarantee of preferment. If a reference is too far-fetched it becomes unfair on the solver, and will probably get the thumbs-down accordingly. A belated apology, finally, to Mr R. Hesketh, for omitting his name from last month’s annual honours list. He should have been among those in joint 17th place, with one prize and two VHCs. The error was entirely mine. RVD is blameless.
 

 

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