AZED CROSSWORD 2019

OVERAWE / HENOTIC

1.  T. J. Moorey: Dismay with cuts across A&E tending to make one notice hospital needing repair (w in over A E; anag. incl. H).

2.  M. A. Macdonald-Cooper: Crush? We’ve endless road works, making one hit cone when manoeuvring (anag. less d; anag.).

3.  J. R. Tozer: It’s making one nice and hot at work turning pottery in kiln mostly face down (anag.; ware (rev.) in ove(n)).

VHC

D. & N. Aspland: Demand respect from designs re a move involving West Ham’s ultimate decamping – that should pacify worried IOC, then (anag. incl. W less m; anag.; ref. WH’s more legacy-respecting bid).

M. Barley: After eve-of-war jitters, force deserts to leave shocked CO in the lurch, minded to make peace (anag. less f; anag.).

J. G. Booth: Hospital notice is amended aiming to reconcile row heard after deliveries scare (H + anag.; over + ‘oar’).

P. Coles: Cow or ewe cooked with odd bits of veal serving to make one nice hot stew? (anag. incl. v, a; anag.).

E. Cross: Cow, duck and discordant weaver bird ear’s inclined to render concordant (0 + anag.; hen + otic).

Dr I. S. Fletcher: Ere a vow broken, beset with dread of marriage on the rocks? One on verge of counselling (anag.; anag. + I c).

J. Grimes: Bully dealing Ecstasy round rave with harmonizing techno beat enthralling one (anag. incl. E, O, w; I in anag.).

R. J. Heald: Out-of-date quail eggs Queen’s tucked into lead to wind: head of erring egg supplier quickly served up as peace offering (ER in ova + w, e; quail (qv) = daunt; hen + cito (rev.)).

R. Hesketh: Likely to make one butcher once hit cow or a ewe very roughly (anag.; anag. incl. v).

K. Milan: Soothing tonic? He’s to mix some clove, raw egg and shake (anag.; hidden).

C. J. Morse: There’s nothing ‘ethnic’ about making one cow cover a week’s sandwiches (anag. incl. 0; hidden).

A. Plumb: Alarm about endlessly weak reforms tending to bring into coalition a reversal of cutting of deficit, one hopes (over + anag. less k; hidden rev.).

D. Price Jones: Bull (note, not English) with a tendency to join some lover, a Welsh cow (he + notice(E); bull = male; hidden).

Dr S. J. Shaw: Have Egypt’s leaders, not in charge of peace process westward in view, a revolt to subdue? (h, E + not i/c; hidden rev.).

N. G. Shippobotham: Cow’s in clover, a weed bringing together carbon and nitrogen – hoe it vigorously (hidden; anag. incl. C, N).

P. L. Stone: Five below zero over a period we found to be daunting, much ice on the ground tending to thicken (0 v era we; anag. less e; thicken = unite in friendship).

D. H. Tompsett: Cow drover aweary embraces irenic uplifting character in this (hidden; tone (rev.) in hic).

J. Vincent & Ms R. Porter: Inclined to make one female egg, leaders of technology intend cloning a ewe or, very unusually, cow (hen + O t, i, c; anag. incl. v).

Ms S. Wallace: Exotic woman supplanting former partner with aim of achieving union, in part moreover a wedding – wow! (exotic with hen for ex; hidden).

L. Ward (USA): Obscured by cover a weak-kneed buffalo uniting with female is twitching after passionate cry (hidden; hen + O! + tic).

A. J. Wardrop: To intimidate remaining elements of army who envisage promoting appeasement, run in the CO (over + a, w, e; anag.).

HC

T. Anderson, D. Appleton, D. K. Arnott, M. Barker, P. Bartlam, Dr J. Burscough, D. Carter, S. L. Claughton, T. Crowther, E. Dawid, Mrs P. Diamond, W. Drever, M. Freeman, R. Gilbert, J. Guiver, Dr C. P. Hales, A. H. Harker, P. F. Henderson (New Zealand), C. & C. Hinton, Mrs D. B. Jenkinson, G. Johnstone, E. C. Lance, J. C. Leyland, N. MacSweeney (Ireland), G. Maker, D. F. Manley, K. Manley, P. W. Marlow, L. F. Marzillier (USA), Rev Prebendary M. R. Metcalf, J. R. C. Michie, C. G. Millin, R. Perry, Mrs R. Scott, P. Taylor, Mrs A. Terrill, R. J. Whale, G. H. Willett.
 

Comments
209 entries and no mistakes, apart from a couple of incomplete grids. I hate having to disqualify these, especially if they are accompanied by respectable clues, but I really have no choice and do urge you yet again to check before posting. A correctly completed grid with your clue is essential. Favourite clue: a number voted for halves of double clues, and my DOUBLE WHAMMY clue also received plaudits from many, but top of the double-clue pops was ‘Beguiling singer in speakeasy rendered US wimp tiddly’ (SYREN/WEENY).
 
Many found the puzzle more difficult than usual, and this may account for the modest entry. Of course R&L poses a special challenge (for both setter and solver), the task being to produce sound wording that combines clues to two otherwise unrelated words and at the same time creates a convincing surface reading as a whole. I was a little nervous when choosing this pair (an adjective and a verb) but was pleasantly surprised by the skill with which so many of you wove them into a single clue in which the ‘join’ was neatly disguised and which did not resort to extraneous verbiage or inordinate length. I should have known you better. (HENOTIC raises an interesting linguistic question: why has it retained the initial aspirate of ancient Greek, while ENOSIS – by chance also in this puzzle – has not? Is ENOSIS a coinage of modern Greek, which has lost the initial ‘aitch’, but if so what of EUREKA? The fact remains that there are very few English words formed with the Greek ‘one’ prefix, in contrast to the many Latinate ‘uni-‘ compounds. I have no notion why. Answers, as they say, on a postcard.) The other general comment I have to make on clues submitted is that quite a number of them ignored or overlooked the fact that OVERAWE is a transitive verb, i.e. it must be followed by a direct object. Defining words or phrases which led inescapably to it as an intransitive verb were therefore unacceptable. In such situations it is often helpful to look for synonymous verbs which can function as either transitive or intransitive.
 
I recently received the sad news that Robin (R. M. S.) Cork had died suddenly. He was a regular solver and competitor since the start of the Azed series and his entries always contained friendly notes on what he’d been up to, often unrelated to crosswords. He was an accomplished musician and singer (tenor, I think), regularly performing with his wife Valerie in choral concerts at home and abroad. His memorial service in Winchester Cathedral included a number of his own compositions. He will be much missed by his many friends, myself included, in and beyond the crossword world.