AZED CROSSWORD 200

The Extra Guest (minus CC)

1.  R. M. S. Cork: He, the Sir at sea ((Sir Francis) Chichester; anag. & lit.).

2.  Mrs P. R. L. Heath: He flew over the drink ((John) Alcock; kola (rev.) & lit.).

3.  D. V. Harry: A right good party – eliminating Roman numbers gave me joy (Caradoc; a r A do).

VHC

R. B. Adcock: Clubman – the bird I abandoned in lodgings kicked back (Pickwick; k(I)wi in kip (rev.), & lit.).

C. Allen Baker: I’ll give you recipe put together with satisfactory conclusion ((Fanny) Craddock; r add OK, & lit.).

Mrs A. R. Bradford: Royal heir – ER plans change? (Prince Charles; anag.).

Rev C. M. Broun: He’d look with eye round about (Cyclops; lo in spy (rev.), & lit.).

J. A. Bulley: Ben? A high place, featured in more than one summit (Churchill; Hur hill; ref. Yalta, etc.).

G. H. S. Crosby: Former Harwell director approved opening of reactors frequently ((John) Cockroft; OK + r + oft).

A. L. Dennis: In play he made the first savage cut; a rousing appeal follows (Casca; a + SA; ref. Julius Caesar).

S. Goldie: Captain to be content with no roar at sea (Corcoran; anag.; ref. H.M.S. Pinafore, ‘And with you we’re quite content’).

E. M. Hornby: Just a puppet, little power in State (Pinocchio; P in Ohio).

W. Jackson: A rebel like Lloyd George. Nothing more (Caradoc; a rad. 0).

G. Johnstone: One who located many a divine fabulous bird. Popular? ((John) Crockford; rok Ford; ref. car, C.’s Clerical Directory).

N. Kemmer: She cooks a great fowl with a divine stuffing ((Fanny) Craddock; a DD in rok).

R. E. Kimmons: Rohan’s out: he made lots of big hits ((C. B.) Cochran; anag.; ref. R. Kanhai, cricketer).

J. R. Kirby: The French people, beginning to ebb, arose and united for him ((Georges) Clemenceau; le men + first letters & lit.).

A. D. Legge: Backwoodsman conditioned to trek ((Davy) Crockett; anag.).

H. W. Massingham: Feeling low pulse enlightened hospital nurse (Glumdalclitch; glum dal lit H; ref. Gulliver’s Travels).

C. G. Millin: Learned monarch, extraordinarily blue – reason: losing male heir (Beauclerc; anag. less son; nickname of Henry I).

C. J. Morse: Enticer’s victim? She was one (Lucrece; luree).

J. L. Moss: Marvellous mater – gossip about pater nearly all bunkum ((J. R.) Capablanca; pa bla(h) in ana; chess player).

F. E. Newlove: Henry invested in Algerian port; his young ladies had it all ((C. B.) Cochran; H in Oran).

H. R. Sanders: Shortly before I lean back, I look after the music (Cecilia; a I lie (rev.); patron saint of music).

W. J. M. Scotland: Funny one with name: Half Hour King? ((Tony) Hancock; anag. of a n ho(ur) K, & lit.; ref. H.’s Half Hour).

C. C. D. Shute: Hey, what about this? A pair of spectacles, leg before. His cricket was a caution! (Pinocchio; pin + hi! in OO, Jiminy Cricket).

M. C. Souster: I worked in a circus ring, second to none (Coco; O o).

J. B. Sweeting: Brain-teaser; when confused, mutter ‘A drink!’ (Derrick Macnutt; anag.; real name of Ximenes).

G. A. Tomlinson: Enticement to leader from Etruria (Lucrece; lure + E, & lit.).

HC

A. J. Allsworth, W. Barrow, A. G. Bogie, N. M. Brown, A. J. Bulman, E. J. Burge, C. O. Butcher, D. A. H. Byatt, R. S. Caffyn, Mrs M. J. Cansfield, A. Craggs, D. A. Crossland, Cdr H. H. L. Dickson, J. H. Dingwall, P. Drummond, E. G. Durham, D. Evans, J. A. Fincken, A. G. Fleming, S. P. Flitton, B. Franco, H. J. Godwin, A. H. Harker, K. M. Harre, A. Hodgson, S. Holgate, Mrs E. J. Holmes, P. H. Johnson, G. Jones, Mrs M. Kissen, Dr R. Majdalany, D. F. Manley, S. M. Mansell, L. May, D. I. Morgan, R. A. Mostyn, D. S. Nagle, F. R. Palmer, R. J. Palmer, M. G. Powell-Davies, T. Proctor, R. G. Rae, E. R. Riddle, T. E. Sanders, Mrs J. Saunders, W. K. M. Slimmings, M. D. Speigel, F. Spurr, Brig R. F. E. Stoney, R. I. Sutherland, D. J. Thorpe, A. F. Toms, J. Walton, J. Webster, Rev C. D. Westbrook, D. C. Williamson.
 

COMMENTS
A terrific turnout for the bicentenary binge, about 520 entries in all, the most common mistake being DEID for WEID in the SE. corner. I was rather pleased with my ‘quarrelsome whale’ type clue to WEID as though it were a Scottish version of the illness that put paid to Tom Pearce’s old nag, but perhaps I was being too clever by half. I would say about 40 got it wrong. A few also didn’t spot all the guests, especially (Beatrice) Cenci, disguised as ENI (almost Enid, ‘The Good’). This may partly have been due to the slightly ambiguous wording of my preamble, in which you were invited to ‘spot the guests among the remaining clues’ ; by this I meant you to spot the guest clues which were interspersed among the rest. Surely no one was seriously bamboozled.
 
It was clearly a welcome change for you to choose your own word to clue and the opportunity was seized upon with relish (in one case verging on the unprintable). The possibilities were legion. I’d made a list of about 35 before starting to compose the diagram, hoping I’d be able to include about half. ELTI was a windfall addition to my list, getting me out of a tight corner (penalty?) most fortuitously. But the total number of extra guests brought along must have been nearer 75. The following list includes those featured in the H.C. list and not in the V.H.C.s or prizewinners: Eccles, Clemence, Cocker (the most popular of all), Chanticleer, Cochet, Rebecca, Boccherini, McCarthy, Chalchas, Cruncher, Beachcomber, Hitchcock, Clicquot, Confucius, Macneice, Clarence, Cincinnatus, Vespucci.
 
I confess I’d forgotten that Ximenes No. 1,100, in which we had to compose a ‘Letters Latent’ clue to BEAU(C)LER(C), was so directly comparable (even though I won a 2nd prize myself!). Only Mr. Millin clued him again, using his old clue (rather a pity, I think) but I couldn’t deny its merit a second time. The clue which aroused my greatest admiration was Mr. Harry’s, with its brilliant ‘double entendre & lit.’ I’d have given him first prize but for his use of A = good, based no doubt on the entry under A in the abbreviations in Chambers. For the sake of the rest of the clue it is just passable but I should hate to think of the precedents it would create if it gained universal acceptance (e.g. B = mediocre, C = bad … Z = atrocious etc.!).
 
Thank you all again for your kind remarks on my 200th. Onward, ever onward. I’ll have to think up something different for 300 (not to mention 250). X, of course, bagged some of the best ideas for these milestones, and many of you have long memories!