AZED CROSSWORD 1737

ANIMUS

1.  R. Dean: Maliciousness, possibly? This is close (comp. anag. & lit.).

2.  J. R. Tozer: What’s masculine at core in a Ms, possibly? (anag. incl. u, & lit.).

3.  Dr E. Young: He parts from her minus a rock (anag.).

VHC

D. Appleton: Amusing, no finish, fruity, some masculine tones in a feminine body (anag. less g; oenobabble).

D. Arthur: Such hostility requires members of UNO to be in complete agreement ((UN)anim(O)us).

Rev Canon C. M. Broun: Worrying tsunami striking Thailand gives sign of Hostile Nature (anag. less T).

B. Burton: Showing this, number one team finally take Australia apart! (n I m in AUS, & lit.; ref. test series).

N. Connaughton: No English delight about Northern Ireland’s goal or fighting spirit (NI in amus(E), 2 defs.; ref. World Cup qualifier).

L. J. Davenport: ‘Metal’ musicians rocking, so abandoned (anag. less sic).

N. C. Dexter: I am Sun mad: it’s a male characteristic being partial to females! (anag.).

V. Dixon: It’s reverse of minute in Australia, about as before to take on ourselves (min. (rev.) in AUS, a nim us, & lit.).

R. B. Harling: Motivational feeling generated by bishop leaving one with halo (a nim(b)us).

D. Harris: Hostility from Australia punctured by game involving series of matches (nim in AUS).

J. C. Leyland: Old Nick probing Faust’s inner being exudes malevolence (nim in aus).

C. Loving: G & S with it could result in amusing operas’ termination (comp. anag. incl. s, & lit.).

M. A. Macdonald-Cooper: Hostile spirit from Australia clinching contest as to who’ll take last match? (nim in AUS).

D. F. Manley: Game that’s last-match affair between Australia and us? It could be compelling action (nim in A us).

P. McKenna: Streak like a man in girl’s make-up? It’s largely amusing, if indecent (anag. less g).

C. J. Morse: What match play between America and ourselves can generate (nim in A us, & lit.).

R. J. Palmer: One element of masculinity in area of interest for certain psychologists (I m in anus, & lit.; see anal).

D. P. Shenkin: Masculine universal within birds? (m U in anis, & lit.).

N. G. Shippobotham: See this when Aussie men get bowling (comp. anag. & lit.).

R. C. Teuton: Jung’s inner part (male one) displayed in a she not he (anag. of un m I in a s(he), & lit.; display = unfold).

HC

T. Anderson, D. & N. Aspland, L. W. Blott, C. Boyd, Mrs A. Boyes, J. M. Brown, Dr J. Burscough, P. Cargill, C. A. Clarke, A. Colston, K. W. Crawford, E. Cross, G. Cuthbert, W. Duffin, C. M. Edmunds, A. Esau, A. S. Everest, A. G. Fleming, H. Freeman, H. R. Gallantree, J. P. Guiver, D. V. Harry, G. Johnstone, Mrs J. Mackie, P. W. Marlow, R. J. Mayled, K. Milan, T. J. Moorey, W. Murphy, T. D. Nicholl, R. A. Norton, D. J. R. Ogilvie, M. A. O’Hagan, F. R. Palmer, M. L. Perkins, A. Plumb, W. Ransome, D. R. Robinson, Dr S. J. Shaw, R. G. Smith, P. L. Stone, Ms C. Thomas, C. W. Thomas, D. H. Tompsett, Mrs J. E. Townsend, Ms S. Wallace, A. J. Wardrop, M. H. E. Watson, R. J. Whale, D. Willmott, M. J. Wright.
 

Comments
245 entries, virtually no mistakes, but do check your diagram before you post your entry; some are occasionally left uncompleted, I’m sure unintentionally. Favourite clue of the month was ‘One such as Sappho in writing appears thus?’ for MANLESS, with ‘Yogi, Indian-style? Some careful about standing on head’ some way behind in second place, and 27 clues receiving one or more mentions, a pleasing total for the author! One competitor wondered if I’d made my clues to the two three-letter words CAR and KEY of the ‘subtractive’ type deliberately. Not really, they just came out that way (though I did think of linking them in some way and might have done so if CAR KEY had appeared in Chambers as a recognized compound).
 
ANIMUS proved to be a popular clue word generally, producing more than the usual crop of topical references, especially to England’s recent success on the cricket field and relative lack of it on the football pitch, as well as to the tsunami. Though I am, as many of you know, very interested in cricket (rather less so in football), I was actually away on holiday in western Canada for most of the last two games in the Ashes series and so missed the minute-by-minute tension, having to rely on internet bulletins to discover the results. The Canadian press does not concern itself with such momentous events! Because these topical approaches were so popular, only the best clues exploiting them got into the list. Which brings me to a comment from a regular, who perhaps feels that his ‘laboriously honed’ efforts fail to achieve the success they deserve, and suggests a system for giving more feedback on whether entries submitted (a) have arrived too late for consideration, (b) contain an incorrect solution, (c) contain a clue that is faulty (in wordplay or definition), or (d) contain a clue that is sound but less impressive than those quoted. Frankly I’m very reluctant to get involved in giving individual feedback to that extent, whether on a web page or by any other means, preferring to use the slip as the main place for expressing my views. I can say that lateness of entry is rarely an issue. In view of the erratic postal system I usually err on the side of generosity in the case of a missed deadline. The correctness of an entry can easily be checked when the solution is published (though very occasionally I long to point out an error which is clearly a careless misprint). I try to tackle issues of unsoundness in the slip, especially those that crop up continually. As to how your clue compares with those that make the lists when yours doesn’t, I can only suggest careful analysis of the more successful entries and rigorous evaluation of your own. Clues that are accurate, concise and witty will always stand a good chance.
Final thanks to Professor Dixon for informing me that palestra also survives in modern Spanish, and a correction to my own correction regarding Dr Young’s score in last year’s honours list. His four points came from one prize and two VHCs, not from four VHCs. Apologies again.