AZED CROSSWORD 1685

MINO (Printer’s Devilry)

1.  D. J. Short: Tony passes election ad/vert: ‘O Alan, what will Gordon think?’ (ref. T. Blair, A. Milburn, G. Brown).

2.  J. R. H. Jones: Beck, ha/rder to cross, runs wide and deep (ref. David Beckham).

3.  R. A. Norton: Theatre team looks forward to ‘Cats’ revival, but is this to/per able?

VHC

A. G. Chamberlain: If I’d turned up at the pro/per age, army mates would have died of shame.

R. Cohen: On losing the race, the favourite wonders why a/t first.

T. J. Donnelly: When the flamboyant actor died they wrote about ‘the old ha/bits’

A. G. Fleming: In sandals I look silly, especially if I a/dd socks.

E. H. Furnival: The Artful Dodger is a young ga/ffer always (gamin).

R. R. Greenfield: In an epidemic MOs should keep cal/culating where the risk is greatest.

C. R. Gumbrell: Play-goers boo ha/rder to show disapproval of bad acting.

M. T. Hart: Having a sweet tooth, one fancied Ja/ne’s doughnut.

R. Heald: At the kosher restaurant you’ll find on the menu the repast ra/ted for its smoky taste.

G. Higginbotham: Speaker’s final ite/ration brought precision to the argument.

G. Lee: ‘Ave, r/ustic Kate, my lamb,’ greeted the Scottish shepherd.

P. R. Lloyd: Dad gets away with mu/rder to escape the kids.

C. J. Morse: Under neat-ho/use vents lies a foul plot.

R. Murdoch: Her fingers are unco-ordinated, or, I ga/ther, bent.

D. J. R. Ogilvie: Following a car o/ff ends run in pool (carom).

J. M. Sharman: ‘You are ver/ily a scoundrel,’ proclaims Micawber, ‘a sheep’s umble’ (ref. Uriah Heep).

J. R. Tozer: Keep cal/culations safe, doctors tell anxious parents.

Ms S. Wallace: Space accident leaves astronauts facing doo/r, biting capsule.

F. Wheen: I a/dd socks, having lost many at laundry.

D. Willmott: Cosmetic surgeon helps patient to get tri/pe ration.

Dr E. Young: ‘The Lady’ is doomed after smart strata ge/t ‘Hello!’

HC

W. G. Arnott, D. Arthur, D. & N. Aspland, B. Balfour, M. Barley, M. Bath, E. A. Beaulah, J. Bennett, J. R. Beresford, J. R. Borland, C. Boyd, A. Brash, C. J. Brougham, Rev Canon C. M. Broun, E. J. Burge, Dr J. Burscough, B. Burton, B. Butler, J. T. Byrne, D. A. Campbell, Mrs M. J. Cansfield, I. Carr, B. Cheesman, C. A. Clarke, M. J. Clarke, C. W. Clenshaw, D. C. Clenshaw, M. Coates, N. Connaughton, R. M. S. Cork, E. Cross, G. Cuthbert, C. Daffern, P. Dauncey, E. Dawid, R. Dean, N. C. Dexter, Mrs P. Diamond, V. Dixon, J. Dromey, N. A. Evans, A. S. Everest, C. D. S. & E. A. Field, Dr I. S. Fletcher, P. D. Gaffey, P. Giaccone, J. Grimes, J. P. Guiver, M. C. Haughey, P. Heffernan, C. & C. Hinton, M. Hodgkin, A. Hodgson, R. Jacks, G. Johnstone, F. P. N. Lake, E. C. Lance, J. P. Lester, J. C. Leyland, R. K. Lumsdon, W. F. Main, D. F. Manley, P. W. Marlow, L. Marzillier, R. J. Mathers, G. M. May, J. R. C. Michie, C. G. Millin, T. J. Moorey, W. Murphy, S. Naysmith, C. Ogilvie, F. R. Palmer, R. J. Palmer, Mrs E. M. Phair, T. Powell, J. T. Price, D. Price Jones, G. Roberts, M. Robertson, D. R. Robinson, Ms K. Saunders, V. Seth, N. G. Shippobotham, R. G. Smith, B. Solomons, P. L. Stone, J. Taberner, B. Tomlinson, D. H. Tompsett, Mrs J. E. Townsend, C. J. A. Underhill, P. Voogt, Ms J. Ward, A. J. Wardrop, J. C. Waterton, M. H. E. Watson, R. J. Whale, I. J. Wilcock, G. H. Willett.
 

Comments
289 entries, almost no mistakes. Printer’s Devilry is clearly as popular as ever, and though there were isolated grumbles about how difficult PD clues are to solve and construct, most comments indicated that this was a welcome return of an old favourite, and if anything rather easier than most PDs. Of my own efforts that for LYRA-VIOL (‘Don’t serve bogus Italian food, knowing the aversion – one has to be asti in cans!’) received the most votes by far, with ANEW and FATALISM coming equal second. Twenty-seven clues got at least one mention. I wrote a normal cryptic clue to LYRA-VIOL years ago, and have quite forgotten what it was, but at the time I made a mental note that it looked a promising PD word because of ‘ravioli’, and as some of you surmised it was the first word I entered when constructing the present grid.
 
It was an unusually hard competition to judge, so high was the overall quality of clues submitted. Very few entries went straight into the waste-paper basket, the main reasons for this being the construction of devilled clues which made far more sense than their undevilled equivalents, and failure to heed my stated preference for word breaks occurring within words both before and after excision. The most popular idea was ‘does/dominoes’, so popular in fact that none of the many perfectly respectable clues that used it got into the quoted lists. A number of you commented that MINO proved rather more tricky to deal with than expected. I certainly chose it because it seemed to offer plenty of potential. Be thankful I didn’t give you SOLDERERS, which gave me the most trouble and whose clue one of you called ‘outrageous’!
 
As several of you pointed out, I was mistaken in saying last month that the NATO phonetic alphabet is not given in Chambers. I didn’t think to look up the words which are used to represent their initial letters, which is where they are all shown. It still seems odd to me that the lexicographers chose to deal with them in this way without at the same time including them as abbreviations at the single-letter entries. But I must clearly overcome my reluctance to use them myself and allow you to use them likewise.
 
I’m delighted to announce that when Anthony Ellis relinquishes his role as Controller of the Slip, his place will be taken by Brian Head, an occasional Azed solver/competitor who also runs the Crossword Club and edits and publishes its monthly magazine. The handover will take place after the October slip has appeared and may be followed by design changes and a possible extension of the slip’s availability in electronic form. Watch this space. And Ron Dearden has written to thank all those who contributed to the collection for him on his retirement from the job of maintaining the scores for the annual honours list. Ron says he plans to spend the money on a seaside holiday for himself and his wife. I’d like to add my own thanks to Tony Beaulah, who kindly organized the collection.