AZED CROSSWORD 1576

FACADE

1.  R. Phillips: It’s a ‘rocking-horse’ movement Lambert delivered (falcade less L, & lit.; ref. W. Walton’s musical ‘entertainment’ with words by Edith Sitwell, originally performed by Constant L.).

2.  N. C. Dexter: Female, half clad, outstanding around front, with just a little behind (f + (cl)ad in ace).

3.  D. C. Williamson: Elevation derived from Sandy’s drive checked by late slice (ca’ in fade; ref. golf).

VHC

R. M. S. Cork: Brit with this ‘public image’ might be fabricated using spin (comp. anag.).

B. Costin: Pairs of falsies can deceive. They could be just a front! (initial pairs of letters).

R. V. Dearden: This mask could be exposed as faked – a scam (comp. anag. & lit.).

A. J. Dorn: Walton’s masterpiece: account delving into hobby with energy (a/c in fad + E; ref. Izaak W. and work by William W.).

L. K. Edkins: It’s all paint and powder – as suggested by ‘mutton’ and ‘lamb’ (FA + cade²; ref. ‘m. dressed as l.’; see Fanny Adams).

B. Grabowski: A chapter Alexandre Dumas initially penned in ‘Iron Mask’ (a c A D in Fe).

R. R. Greenfield: Front line annihilated in swift action of horse (fa(l)cade).

C. R. Gumbrell: A character abandoned by king must wear iron mask (a ca(R)d in Fe; ref. Dumas novel).

G. Higginbotham: Fancy architectural construction and decorative elements visible from the front only (first letters & lit.).

J. C. Leyland: A finish in shellac stops dulling veneer (a c in fade).

P. R. Lloyd: Outward appearance of a cadet denied officer training initially ((o)f a cade(t)).

C. G. Millin: Fine row of shops possibly, lacking rear (front only) (f a(r)cade, & lit.).

W. Murphy: Following military school, my passing out’s a showy display (f acade(my)).

G. Perry: In Golf Academy Show Montgomerie’s drive is restricted by slice (hidden, ca’ in fade; ref. Colin M.).

N. G. Shippobotham: Account based on Alexandre Dumas’s leading characters in ‘Iron Mask’ (a/c AD in Fe).

T. Smith: Drop in intensity occluding a cold front (a c in fade).

C. W. Thomas: Peter hooks drive at Troon. Fore! (ca’ in fade; peter¹).

S. J. J. Tiffin: Poorly backed front horse’s motion throws apprentice (fa(L)cade).

J. R. Tozer: Furore over head of Enron admitting accountant’s ‘window-dressing’ (CA in fad E; ref. US accounting scandal).

A. P. Vick: Work with origins in foremost composer arranging Dame Edith’s art (anag. of first letters, & lit.; ref. W. Walton’s work with words by E. Sitwell).

A. J. Wardrop: What has more style than substance? A decaf, frappé (anag.).

G. H. Willett: A revolting type in pursuit of a bit of full frontal (f + a Cade; ref. Jack C.’s rebellion of 1450).

HC

W. G. Amott, D. W. Arthur, D. Ashcroft, M. Barley, E. A. Beaulah, W. A. Bentham, J. R. Beresford, Mrs F. A. Blanchard, J. G. Booth, C. Boyd, H. J. Bradbury, A. H. Brooker, C. J. Brougham, E. J. Burge, B. Burton, C. J. & M. P. Butler, D. A. Campbell, Mrs M. J. Cansfield, C. A. Clarke, D. C. Clenshaw, N. Connaughton, K. W. Crawford, E. Cross, M. Cutter, D. J. Dare-Plumpton, L. J. Davenport, R. Davies, V. Dixon, E. G. Fletcher, P. D. Gaffey, A. George, J. Gillies, Mrs E. Greenaway, J. F. Grimshaw, R. Haddock, Mrs S. Harries, D. A. Harris, D. Harrison, R. J. Heald, R. Hesketh, G. Hobbs, A. Hodgson, W. Jackson, Mrs D. B. Jenkinson, G. Johnstone, F. P. N. Lake, H. M. Lloyd, P. Long, C. Loving, Mrs J. Mackie, Dr W. A. Maclure, D. F. Manley, P. W. Marlow, J. McGregor, G. D. Meddings, T. J. Moorey, C. J. Morse, W. Nesbitt, R. A. Norton, F. R. Palmer, R. J. Palmer, D. Pendrey, T. G. Powell, D. Price Jones, D. R. Robinson, A. Roth, M. Sanderson, A. Scott, N. E. Sharp, D. A. Simmons, I. Simpson, P. L. Stone, K. Thomas, D. H. Tompsett, L. Ward, M. J. Wareham, R. Warren, W. B. Wendt, R. J. Whale, Ms B. J. Widger, P. B. G. Williams, J. Woodall, W. Woodruff, Dr E. Young.
 

Comments
297 entries, almost no mistakes. Favourite clue of the month was the clearly one for TADDIE, with hon menshes for those for OULAKAN, BULSE, ALL-OR-NOTHING, LEHRJAHRE and DOSADOS among others. I must have stared at LEHRJAHRE for a full half-hour without even a glimmer of an idea how to deal with it, and was getting mildly panicky before Len and Jane occurred to me. A bit cheeky, perhaps. One always fears encountering the word that genuinely defies cluing, but perhaps it doesn’t exist! Problem clues included those to CEIL and OOZE (it’s often the short words), but I hope the solution notes will have dealt with these.
 
You may not believe this, but I hadn’t thought of the William Walton centenary when I chose FACADE as the clue word, though I am familiar with this playful piece. It was just one of those happy coincidences, which many took advantage of. Mr Phillips’s brilliant ‘& lit.’ first-prizewinner, though perhaps verging on the recondite, is an allusion to ‘Hornpipe’, the first movement in Façade, which contains several references to rocking-horses and hobby-horses. The first public performance of the final version of the work was recited by the composer Constant Lambert, its dedicatee, on 29 May, 1942.
 
Clues based on initial letters of a phrase were especially popular (unsurprising perhaps in view of Compleat Angler and Dame Edith lurking in there). Such clues can be quite easy to solve (not in itself a bad thing), but it was difficult to choose between most of those submitted. I’m not keen on clues using this device which include the word ‘a’ in the relevant phrase. I don’t see how the letter ‘a’ can be regarded as the first letter of the word ‘a’, any more than you would think of it as the last or even middle letter of the word ‘a’. In other words, a one-letter word can’t be said to have a first letter. Various attempts were also made to base clues on the sequence of musical notes suggested by the letters in FACADE or their sol-fa equivalents (do, me, so, me, la, te). None of these quite worked for me, I’m afraid, ingenious though they often were.
 
My appeal last month for further light on the ‘red sky at night’ saying yielded some support for my ‘hazy recollection’ that sailors can be involved as well as shepherds. Mr Beaulah kindly drew my attention to A Dictionary of English Proverbs by V. H. Collins (Longman, 1959) and the Oxford Dictionary of English Proverbs (2/e, 1948), which I have but rarely consult, both of which mention shepherds and sailors, the latter including a reference to Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis, lines 453-5. Another regular competitor queried the abbreviation c for castle (in chess) given in Chambers and used by me in the clue to STREET CRED. This has apparently not been used for many years, if ever, the piece in question being officially termed a ‘rook’ (though I think one still ‘castles’ when switching pieces in the rear rank). I certainly can’t find this abbreviation in any other dictionary. Comments?