AZED CROSSWORD 1884

FREELOADER

1.  R. J. Heald: Slippery customer seen in environs of diner or café mooching, without a cent? (eel in anag. incl. d, r less c, & lit.).

2.  J. C. Leyland: Refer l’addition to me? – don’t, I’m one dodging round it (comp. anag. incl. it, & lit.).

3.  P. F. Henderson: One’ll be agitating for real feed having no trace of finance (anag. less f, & lit.).

VHC

D. Arthur: This bum and gut spread warrants feed regulator (comp. anag.).

M. Barley: Federer falters, with maestro Rafa Nadal ultimately the one taking advantage (anag. incl. o a l).

J. G. Booth: Endlessly greedy no good loafer is dreadful – he wangles lunch, gratis (anag. less y, g).

C. Boyd: One taking advantage of dealer’s high, having swallowed Ecstasy? Right (E in anag. + r).

Dr J. Burscough: Federer broken, overturned service provider’s thrown in sponge? (AOL (rev.) in anag.).

Mrs M. J. Cansfield: He’ll hang on for dear life if thrown out, struggling to conserve energy (E in anag. less if).

E. Cross: He indulges, but gets others to pay dodgy dealer for Ecstasy (anag. incl. E).

C. M. Edmunds: Advantage … he takes it – Olé, Spain goes, a Federer dismantled (anag. less E).

J. Grimes: See ace secured by staggering Federer – he’s effortlessly taking advantage (lo A in anag.).

J. F. Grimshaw: One demolishing larder … with zero fee too! (anag. incl. 0, & lit.).

Mrs D. B. Jenkinson: Voluntary attendant at a shooting party rarely buys a round (free loader).

J. R. C. Michie: The latest member of the flea order, jumping parasite (anag. incl. e).

T. J. Moorey: For leader on a spree introducing end to waste is a bummer (e in anag.; ref. G. Brown’s food initiative just before G8 banquet).

C. Ogilvie: Man kept fishing tackle pinned in battered fedora (reel in anag.).

D. J. R. Ogilvie: Swatted flea or deer fly once (anag.; fly = attendant parasite).

A. J. Wardrop: Federer, halo slipping, match finally lost – that’s a bummer (anag. less h).

Mrs S. M. Whitelaw: One of gunnery team following without charge for sponger (free + loader).

D. C. Williamson: Composite order leaf cut by English … chiseller, some would say? (anag. less E; ref. architectural decoration).

A. J. Young: Federer, disturbed about a couple of lost and one close set – one set on finding generous cheer (lo a in anag.).

HC

R. D. Anderson, T. Anderson, W. G. Arnott, M. Barker, M. Berry, C. J. Brougham, J. M. Brown, P. Cargill, C. A. Clarke, M. Coates, N. Connaughton, T. Crowther, R. Dean, N. C. Dexter, V. Dixon, T. J. Donnelly, W. Drever, J. Fairclough, W. P. Field, A. G. Fleming, Dr I. S. Fletcher, P. D. Gaffey, R. Gilbert, M. Goodliffe, G. I. L. Grafton, Mrs E. Greenaway, R. Haddock, M. J. Hanley, R. B. Harling, D. Harry, R. Hesketh, M. Hodgkin, Mrs S. D. Johnson, Mrs S. G. Johnson, G. Johnstone, D. F. Manley, P. W. Marlow, P. McKenna, C. G. Millin, C. J. Morse, A. O’Brien, F. R. Palmer, R. J. Palmer, J. Pearce, A. Plumb, Dr T. G. Powell, A. M. Price, D. Price Jones, M. Sanderson, D. Sargent, S. Saunders, N. G. Shippobotham, I. Simpson, Mrs A. Terrill, K. Thomas, J. R. Tozer, C. J. A. Underhill, Dr A. J. Varney, Ms S. Wallace.
 

ANNUAL HONOURS LIST (13 COMPETITIONS)
1 (equal). R. J. Heald (4 prizes, 8 VHCs), T. J. Moorey (4,8); 3 (equal). M. Barley (2,6), C. J. Morse (2,6), J. R. Tozer (1,8); 6 J. C. Leyland (2,5); 7 (equal). N. C. Dexter (1,6), Dr I. S. Fletcher (2,4); 9 (equal). D. F. Manley (0,7), D. Parfitt (0,7); 11 (equal). V. Dixon (2,2), P. F. Henderson (1,4), M. Hodgkin (1,4), A. J. Wardrop (1,4); 15 (equal). R. D. Anderson (0,5), C. J. Brougham (1,3), Rev Canon C. M. Broun (0,5), Mrs M. J. Cansfield (0,5), J. F. Grimshaw (0,5), J. R. H. Jones (1,3), E. C. Lance (1,3), D. H. Tompsett (1,3), R. J. Whale (1,3); 24 (equal). T. Anderson (1,2), D. Arthur (0,4), T. C. Borland (1,2), C. A. Clarke (1,2), E. Cross (0,4), R. Gilbert (1,2), R. S. Morse (0,4), R. C. Teuton (1,2), G. H. Willett (0,4), Dr E. Young (1,2).
 
CONSOLATION PRIZES D. F. Manley, D. Parfitt, R. D. Anderson, Rev Canon C. M. Broun, Mrs M. J. Cansfield, J. F. Grimshaw, D. Arthur, E. Cross, R. S. Morse, G. H. Willett.
 

 
Comments
 
185 entries, with a few mistakes, mainly through failure to spot OOSE and guessing an alternative initial letter. Favourite clue of the month, by quite a long way, was ‘Liver distention at my age? O help, that’s wretched!’ for HEPATOMEGALY, with 25 receiving at least one mention. I can’t now explain my use of the spelling ‘Sydney’ in the clue to STELLA, since I’m fairly sure I checked it at the clue-writing stage. This clearly threw several of you, (Sir Philip) Sidney being the generally preferred modern spelling, though I see that e.g. The Columbia Encyclopedia, which I consult regularly, gives Sydney as an alternative spelling and, as Mrs Jenkinson kindly informed me, John Aubrey has him as Sydney, and I dare say PS himself wasn’t too fussy. My use of ‘out of’ in that clue to mean ‘outside’ also raised an eyebrow or two. I’d persuaded myself that the Chambers definition ‘beyond the bounds, range or scope of’ would justify this, but it is a bit iffy, I agree. And on the subject of Chambers, I learn from the publishers that the next new edition will be published in August. Having ‘skipped’ the current edition, I think I must start recommending the new one, but after a decent interval, say from January 2009.
 
FREELOADER was generally popular, despite a few (seemingly inevitable) grumbles. One competitor mentioned the fact that it had been chosen for an Internet clue-writing competition several years ago. I assume that he was alone in remembering this. It was certainly news to me. With more of these competitions around than there used to be (most of which I don’t get to see) there’s always a risk of this happening, I suppose. The timing this month meant that Federer proved very popular, producing many nice clues and a real poser for the judge. Believe it or not, I failed to anticipate this. Would I have chosen another word if I had? Who knows?
 
Another annual honours list, the 36th to date. Warmest congratulations to the two joint winners, who this year ended up with a clear lead over their nearest rivals. But it’s still a fiercely fought contest overall, and I thank you all for making it so. I must also thank Martin Perkins once again for keeping the scores so meticulously. In addition to the names on the above list, 13 solvers scored 3 points, 26 scored 2 points, and about 50 scored one point.