AZED CROSSWORD 1992

FOULARD

1.  R. J. Heald: Silk scarf entangled leads to Isadora’s end on road (foul + a + Rd; ref. I. Duncan’s bizarre death).

2.  D. K. Arnott: Clothing terminal to Isadora, entangled with rear of car and dancer’s head (a in foul r, d, & lit.; ref. I. Duncan).

3.  C. J. Morse: I often cover conjuring tricks, and I could expose an old fraud (comp. anag.).

VHC

M. Barker: A fogle/sudary might be (eg) this, say (comp. anag. & lit.).

M. Barley: Square worn around la dame’s head? (la in four + d, & lit.).

J. G. Booth: Dilapidated Ford starts to upset antinoise league – a muffler’s required (anag. incl. u a l).

C. J. Brougham: Banquo’s bonkers to mix with Duncan’s killer (fou + lard; ref. Isadora D., Macbeth).

M. Coates: Like Shakespearean murder, a king died. Was this the cause of Duncan’s death? (foul + a R d; ref. ‘murder most foul’, Macbeth and Isadora D.).

P. Coles: A square covering La Dame’s head? (La in four + D, & lit.).

N. C. Dexter: What may become heads of ladies at upper-class do [Fr] (anag. incl. l a u, & lit.).

V. Dixon: Fine, classy stuff – around one’s head, could be (o in f U lard, & lit,).

W. Drever: Is this accessory fancy coloured scarf, say? (comp. anag. & lit.).

C. M. Edmunds: Costly belcher? Damage to US, primarily Florida, could make this one (anag. of U Florida less I; ref. Gulf oil spill).

M. Goodliffe: Rab C Nesbitt’s drunk, fat belcher, perhaps (fou lard; ref. comic TV character).

B. Grabowski: Wiper switch usable only intermittently in car? (anag. of u a l in Ford).

D. V. Harry: Could be travelling far, Ludo Fogle (anag.; ref. infant son of globe-trotter Ben F.).

D. F. Manley: Square worn by the French – used by ID for one? (ID with la in four for I, & lit.; ref. Isadora Duncan).

D. P. Shenkin: Loud scarf possibly, sc. —— (comp. anag.).

P. L. Stone: A wonderful spinning could result in stylish new —— (comp. anag. & lit.).

J. R. Tozer: What could go around a crag? A Shetland island road (Foula Rd; crag = neck).

Dr A. J. Varney: Fine stuff to wrap around you, covering head ((y)ou in f lard, & lit.).

A. J. Wardrop: A light stock that, with fat skimmed off, is drunk in Scotland (i.e. foulard less lard = fou).

G. H. Willett: What goes round the neck and is shameful? Albatross rashly destroyed, originally (foul + A r d; ref. ‘The Ancient Mariner’).

K. J. Williams: Graceful Isadora – tragically a car is entwined with e.g. this scarf (comp. anag.; ref. I. Duncan).

HC

T. Anderson, D. Appleton, J. Appleton, D. Arthur, P. Bartlam, T. C. Borland, Rev Canon C. M. Broun, Dr J. Burscough, C. A. Clarke, M. Corlett, Ms S. Curran (France), A. G. Fleming, Dr I. S. Fletcher, M. Freeman, R. Gibbon, R. Gilbert, J. Grimes, P. F. Henderson (New Zealand), R. Hesketh, C. & C. Hinton, M. Hodgkin, J. Hood, Mrs D. B. Jenkinson, Mrs J. M. Johnson, Mrs S. G. Johnson, G. Johnstone, Dr A. Kitching, E. C. Lance, D. Lester, J. C. Leyland, M. A. Macdonald-Cooper, W. F. Main, P. W. Marlow, J. R. C. Michie, C. G. Millin, T. J. Moorey, D. J. R. Ogilvie (USA), Major J. D. Plummer, D. Price Jones, T. Railton, D. R. Reed, B. Roe, S. J. Shaw, D. A. Simmons, P. A. Stephenson, Ms M. Stokes, A. W. Taylor, Mrs A. Terrill, Mrs M. L. Thomas, R. Thomas, D. H. Tompsett, Ms S. Wallace, Mrs L. Williams, D. C. Williamson, J. S. Witte, J. Woodall (Switzerland), S. Wride.
 

ANNUAL HONOURS LIST (13 COMPETITIONS)
 
1 (equal). J. C. Leyland (3 prizes, 8 VHCs), D. F. Manley (2,10); 3. M. Barley (2,8); 4. R. J. Heald (3,4); 5. C. J. Morse (1,7); 6 (equal). M. A. Macdonald-Cooper (1,6), T. J. Moorey (1,6); 8 (equal). N. C. Dexter (1,5), Dr I. S. Fletcher (2,3), J. R. Tozer (1,5); 11 (equal). D. Arthur (0,6), R. Gilbert (0,6), J. Grimes (1,4), P. F. Henderson (1,4), A. Plumb (0,6), P. L. Stone (0,6), A. J. Wardrop (0,6); 18 (equal). T. Anderson (0,5), D. K. Arnott (2,1), T. C. Borland (2,1), G. I. L. Grafton (0,5), R. J. Hooper (1,3); W. F. M ain (1,3), P. W. Marlow (1,3), R. J. Whale (1,3), G. H. Willett (1,3); 27 (equal). D. & N. Aspland (0,4), M. Barker (1,2), C. J. Brougham (1,2), C. A. Clarke (1,2), V. Dixon (0,4), C. M. Edmunds (1,2), D. A. Harris (1,2), M. Hodgkin (0,4), G. Johnstone (0,4), C. G. Millin (0,4), I. Simpson (1,2), Dr A. J. Varney (0,4), A. J. Whittaker (1,2).
 
CONSOLATION PRIZES D. Arthur, R. Gilbert, A. Plumb, P. L. Stone, A. J. Wardrop, T. Anderson, G. I. L. Grafton, D. & N. Aspland, V. Dixon, M. Hodgkin, G. Johnstone, C. G. Millin, Dr A. J. Varney.
 
Comments
 
My thanks to John Tozer for pointing out to me that this is the 500^th slip in the series. What a wealth of brilliant clues have featured herein over the years. (John also followed up my passing remark about PERIQUE last month by reminding me that three previous clue words have also contained q’s: EMBUSQUE, QUEEN and ANTIQUITARIAN.) This month there were exactly 200 entries and no mistakes. Favourite clue by far, of 20 mentioned, was ‘Parent blowing top? Gee – is that me being wayward?’ for TEENAGER. The clue that gave most trouble was ‘One such (not English), alternating his pieces?’ (AUTHOR), i.e. (Henry) Thoreau less E with parts switched. Ironical that this should follow last month’s clue to POET, both of them being of the self-referential kind. The omission of the asterisk indicating the clue word is a mystery. It was in place when I approved the final proof and the people at The Observer have yet to come up with a satisfactory explanation for its disappearance. There were a few entries from non-regulars submitted without a clue, possibly because of this error. I can only apologize and try to think of a way round this risk that is not itself risky. Ideas?
 
Quite a friendly word, FOULARD. Apparently it wasn’t defined as a scarf in the 1998 edition of Chambers. In French dictionaries it is not specifically a silk scarf (I was reminded of milord’s ‘foulard de soie’ in the Edith Piaf song). The bizarre end of Isadora Duncan (she was throttled by the flowing scarf she was wearing in an open car when it got tangled in one of the wheels) was seized upon by only a few, the best of these being Mr Heald’s. He just pipped Mr Arnott’s ‘& lit.’ working of the same idea by virtue of its marginally less complex wording.
 
My congratulations to all those appearing in the (delayed) honours list above, especially to the joint winners. And my thanks as always to Martin Perkins for keeping the score. Competition remains as fierce as ever, though I should like to see more younger solvers entering the ranks of the regulars. Please urge your offspring to give it a try. And I look forward to seeing many of you at the AZ 2,000 lunch in Oxford next month.