AZED CROSSWORD 2144

INFERNO (Spoonerisms)

1.  M. A. Macdonald-Cooper: Filed wire ruined iron: new iron to be plugged in (wild fire; n Fe in anag.).

2.  P. L. Stone: Greatly famed flier – dashing one in RAF could be this ace (flamed fire; anag. incl. A).

3.  D. & N. Aspland: For inner malfunctioning (not runs), one might be a fig buyer (big fire; anag. less r).

VHC

D. K. Arnott: Many said dinners cooked here could be no finer (dead sinners; anag.).

M. Barley: Dinner’s swell here in Italy – there’s no finer cooking (sinners dwell; anag.).

C. Barr: Panties dried on front of naked fire? That’s crazy! (Dante’s pride; anag. incl. n).

T. C. Borland: Sporty friend spending day on certain lakes down here (Satan lurks; anag. less d).

A. G. Chamberlain: Row a legion’s formed by wearing iron, with centre of targe on back (lower regions; in Fe r + on (rev.)).

N. Connaughton: Divine little number old hat in ladies? (Latin Hades; infer n o).

C. M. Edmunds: Men’s final is played with fire – number 2 scrapes home (Screwtape’s home; anag. incl. n + no.; ref. Wimbledon 2013 and C. S. Lewis).

J. Grimes: Fan of equestrian’s finale with rein? Hickstead’s here! (Styx heads; anag. incl. n).

D. V. Harry: Revamp of dinner, cutting out starter: where said dinner might be held (dead sinner; anag. less d).

R. Heald: Leading pair of inventors Faraday and Rubik? Where’s Logie Baird? (bogy laired; in + F + Ernő; sv Rubik’s cube).

T. J. Moorey: ‘Wretched Florentine’ let off in fight for a great sire (site … fire; anag. less let; ref. ‘All’s Well That Ends Well’, v. iii. 158).

C. J. Morse: Forehead higher to imply nous? Not half (horrid fire; infer no(us)).

R. A. Norton: This heather region is not finer on being ‘developed’ (nether … hot; anag.).

N. G. Shippobotham: Fig buyer chewed on green fig after polishing off scrambled egg (big fire; anag. less anag.).

J. R. Tozer: I plant in natural order; it’s flowering in a tick (towering in a flick; I + fern in NO; ref. film, ‘The Towering Inferno’).

Mrs A. M. Walden: Dynamic Renoir, endless pulling in new following, makes Sisley green (grisly scene; n f in anag. less r; ref. Impressionist painters).

R. J. Whale: Is wearing feathery item on lady’s hat in fashion? (Hades Latin-fashion; in fern o’).

HC

Ms K. Bolton, G. Borooah (USA), C. J. Butler, E. Butterworth, C. A. Clarke, M. Coates, S. Collins, B. & T. Coventry, T. Crowther, E. Dawid, V. Dixon (Ireland), T. J. Donnelly, G. I. L. Grafton, R. Hesketh, R. J. Hooper, Mrs D. B. Jenkinson, B. Jones, E. Looby, M. Lunan, W. F. Main, D. F. Manley, T. D. Nicholl, D. J. R. Ogilvie (USA), M. Owen, S. J. O’Boyle, R. Perry, D. Price Jones, T. Rudd, Dr S. J. Shaw, B. Solomons, P. A. Stephenson, P. Taylor, K. Thomas, A. Whittaker, Ms B. Widger, G. H. Willett, A. J. Young, Dr E. Young.
 

ANNUAL HONOURS LIST (13 competitions)
 
1. R. J. Heald (2 prizes, 11 VHCs); 2 (equal). M. Barley (2, 9), D. F. Manley (2, 9); 4. C. J. Morse (0, 10); 5 (equal). J. C. Leyland (2, 5), P. L. Stone (2, 5), R. J. Whale (3, 3); 8 (equal). D. & N. Aspland (2, 4), Dr I. S. Fletcher (2, 4), T. J. Moorey (1, 6), Dr S. J. Shaw (2, 4), R. C. Teuton (0, 8), A. J. Wardrop (0, 8); 14 (equal). D. K. Arnott (2, 3), J. R. Tozer (1, 5); 16 (equal). T. C. Borland (1, 4), J. Grimes (0, 6), D. V. Harry (0, 6), R. Hesketh (0, 6), Mrs A. M. Walden (0, 6); 21 (equal). R. Fentem (1, 3), R. J. Hooper (1, 3), P. W. Marlow (0, 5), N. Warne (1, 3), G. H. Willett (1, 3); 26 (equal). W. Ransome (1, 2), T. Rudd (1, 2), L. Ward (1, 2), Dr E. Young (1, 2).
 
CONSOLATION PRIZES C. J. Morse, R. C. Teuton, A. J. Wardrop, J. Grimes, D. V. Harry, R. Hesketh, Mrs A. M. Walden, P. W. Marlow.
 
Comments
 
Too hot for crosswords? Or just an especially tough challenge perhaps? There were only 150 entries, though no mistakes that I spotted. Many of you said how pleased they were to see ‘Spoonerisms’ back again, though there were several who admitted to not working out all the Spoonerisms. I hope the extra-full solution notes will have made everything clear. Favourite clue, of 17 nominated at least once, was ‘Sore foe makes twelve hearts in a jiffy’ for THRICE, which, I admit, came to me after much head-scratching. The toughest of all to deal with, I found, was actually CACTUS, whose clue required ‘parry darts’ as a Spoonerism for ‘arid parts’. Though no one queried it, I felt it was on the borderline of acceptability.
 
For once, I was completely confident that I’d given you a clue word replete with possibilities, and my confidence was amply borne out. You took full advantage of the many ways of defining INFERNO, and I was much impressed by the diversity of ideas on show. One or two competitors went a bit off the rails by not sticking to what was required (forgiveable maybe, given the complexity of it all): (i) ‘Apprehend stable block is on fire with National relocated’. Here the definition part (the first three words) is in fact a cryptic indication of a definition of INFERNO. i.e. COLLAR HORST/HOLOCAUST. (ii) ‘Fruit shed: presume I refuse compote’. Here the first pair of words indicate FIG BYRE, a Spoonerism of ‘big fire’, when ‘fig byre’ is all that’s needed. (iii) ‘Rupees – none, if harassed by call centre wallah’. Here again there is no Spoonerism in the clue, but a cryptic indication of the (not very convincing) Spoonerism (IN PHONER/INFERNO).
 
No room for more this time. My congratulations to Mr Heald for regaining his position at the top of the honours list. If, as I believe, he is the first competitor to have gained a prize or a VHC in all 13 Azed competitions, that is a truly remarkable achievement. My ever-dependable scorer Martin Perkins, to whom I am as always indebted, tells me that, in addition to those listed above, 11 competitors scored 3 points, 13 scored 2 points, and 38 scored 1 point, so 91 competitors achieved at least 1 VHC in the course of the year.