AZED CROSSWORD 2049

PARTY-POOPER

1.  J. R. Tozer: Pater’s poor potty training results in this tot’s wet blanket (comp. anag.).

2.  D. F. Manley: —— vanishes – is person happy to rave liberated? (comp. anag. & lit.).

3.  A. J. Young: Having distributed Tory paper outside chamber one might turn jolly blue! (po in anag.).

VHC

T. Anderson: I’ve never enjoyed Beano or Topper (a ropy comic) (anag.).

D. K. Arnott: Devil at pro-Pope rally, shunning everybody? (anag. less all, & lit.).

M. Barley: Front page in daily contains print error spoiling type (typo in ro in paper).

J. G. Booth: Do chamber opera without acting? I shall not stay to the end (party po oper(a)).

C. J. Brougham: Person spiritless round flushed people? (party + p, e in poor, & lit.).

Rev Canon C. M. Broun: Do stern evangelical reverends principally act like a Jeremiah at revels? I do (party + poop + e, r).

Dr P. Coles: (clue lost, see Slip no 2053).

E. Cross: Wet blanket? Try (soft) loo paper when changing (don’t use end of roll!) (anag. incl. p, less l).

R. Gilbert: For instance LibDems passed motion on ‘European Right’ – a source of social discontent? (party poop + E, r).

R. J. Heald: Stop happy rioter running amok? This —— would do (comp. anag. & lit.).

P. F. Henderson (New Zealand): Some unknown humourless person stifling start of orgy (o in part y po per, & lit.).

M. A. Macdonald-Cooper: Property OAP renovated becoming damper (anag.).

P. W. Marlow: Poor type for mixing after introductions to people at receptions? (p, a, r + anag., & lit.).

T. J. Moorey: Person’s spent leaving minimum of debt, Micawber’s conclusion: misery (party poope(d) + r).

C. Ogilvie: Press release with one line in it containing misprint, one that could put a dampener on things (typo in a rope in PR).

Dr S. J. Shaw: Type of person poor at mixing, not animated so often! (comp. anag. & lit.).

N. G. Shippobotham: He won’t join in new prayer to Pope without encyclical’s head (anag. less e).

A. J. Wardrop: One won’t have fun by entertaining pretentious old fool (arty poop⁵ in per).

G. H. Willett: Possibly a poor type, last for rave-up? Right (anag.incl. p + r, & lit.).

HC

D. & N. Aspland, C. Ball, T. C. Borland, B. Cheesman, A. Colston, C. Daffern, E. Dawid, V. Dixon, M. Ferrier, Dr I. S. Fletcher, D. Freund (USA), Dr H. Gilmore, G. I. L. Grafton, A. H. Harker, R. Hesketh, R. J. Hooper, Mrs D. B. Jenkinson, J. R. H. Jones, M. Joslin, E. C. Lance, D. T. R. Lawson, J. C. Leyland, T. Locke, K. Manley, G. McDougall, P. McKenna, K. Milan, C. J. Morse, R. Murdoch, T. D. Nicholl, L. Ó Briain, Ms L. Quee, A. Rae, W. Ransome, I. Simpson, P. Taylor, Mrs A. Terrill, R. C. Teuton, A. Varney, J. Vincent & Ms R. Porter, N. Warne, T. West-Taylor, R. J. Whale, Dr E. Young.
 

Comments
I’m sorry that the announcement of the September competition results and this slip have been somewhat delayed. Another (short) overseas holiday, I confess, this time in Sicily, to mark a milestone birthday of my wife. A good entry, though – 261 and no noticeable mistakes. Of 17 clues voted as favourite by competitors, the easy winner was ‘Mousetrap play’s heroine in constant run’ for CHEDDAR, receiving 13 votes, with ‘Teachers with young trouble-maker given painful confrontation with head?’ (NUTTED) a long way back in second place with 5. One clue which understandably received nul points was the one for SCAFFS (undeserving of being set out again here), a word which had me resorting to the OED to justify its existence as a verb and thus the acceptability of its final -s. I should of course have checked the part of speech given in Chambers when including it in the grid, but failed to do so. Hence the rather undignified last-minute scramble to find a get-out strategy. I really ought to know better by now! And talking of Chambers, I should mention that a new edition is now in the bookshops. I don’t yet have a copy of my own, though I know that it is available in standard and thumb-index editions. Prices can be checked on the appropriate website. My spies tell me that the new edition is not hugely different from the 2008 one, but doubtless it contains a fair number of interesting new lexical items and I shall move over to recommending it in due course, though certainly not before 2012. Hints may therefore go out to family members undecided what to give you for Christmas.
 
PARTY-POOPER seems to have entered the language as recently as the 1950s and to have originated in the USA, though Chambers clearly regards it as well established over here. It omits the noun PARTY-POOP, which apparently came along a bit later (first citation in OED 1969). Anyway we all know what they mean, and for once there were almost no grumbles about my choice of clue word. A few competitors spoiled their chances somewhat by using over-vague definitions, indicating e.g. that a party-pooper is any old bad-tempered person, as distinct from one whose presence casts a dampening effect on others intent on enjoying themselves or who resolutely refuses to join in the fun.
 
Finally, my apologies to Mr G. I. L. Grafton, whose name should have been included among those on 29^th equal in last year’s honours list. He scored 4 points, with one prize and two VHCs.