AZED CROSSWORD 2148

ZOLLVEREIN

1.  M. Owen: Interzonal levies could be set in a —— (comp. anag. & lit.).

2.  C. J. Brougham: Union, cross with New Labour’s leader, reviles endless reforming (zo + anag. incl. n, L, less s).

3.  D. F. Manley: Union with mutual duties abandoned – this as zeal in lovers crumbles? (comp. anag.).

VHC

T. Anderson: E.g. the EC Zinfandel’s capital – one litre and liver’s enlivened (Z + anag. incl. l; EC = European Community).

M. Barker: Zone involved with levies and rules – see us potentially leaving one such (anag. less anag.; ref. promised EU referendum).

M. Barley: Zone – past German one – wherein one’s tolled centrally (ll in z + over + ein, & lit.).

J. G. Booth: Novelizer’s seething after receiving fifth of royalties in one-time free trade area (l in anag.).

C. A. Clarke: Exchanging pounds sterling, levy almost zero in free trade area (anag. incl. L, less y + in).

Dr I. S. Fletcher: League that’s arranged delivery without terms in region, not English (l + anag. less d, y in zon(E), & lit.).

H. M. Lloyd: In case of Germany this can be an arrangement for levying zero (nil) (comp. anag. incl. G, y, & lit.).

C. G. Millin: United States? Zone with more than one in Germany saving pounds (LL in z over ein, & lit.).

C. J. Morse: Cross lines I never crossed? Single market gives me that (zo ll + anag.).

T. Rudd: ‘Ze iron vill’ hammered one out, superseded by introduction of euro (anag. less I, incl. e, & lit.).

Dr S. J. Shaw: Organizing this way forerunner of Germany could create a levy lowering zone (comp. anag. incl. G, z, & lit.).

P. L. Stone: League with zero levying formed excluding Germany’s outsiders (anag. incl. l less G, y, & lit.).

R. C. Teuton: Zone for German states initially, used in negotiating over selling (anag. with z for G, s, & lit.).

J. R. Tozer: Novelizer left translating Hesse etc. in a taxing contract (anag. incl. L; ref. German state, Hermann H.).

Ms S. Wallace: Historic union fixed levy at zero/nil rate wanting a treaty redrawn (anag. less anag.).

A. J. Wardrop: Zone with flexible line over introduction of levies? (z + anag. incl. l, & lit.).

R. J. Whale: Area of free-flowing traffic? Rather busy, I’ll never cross over here (zo + anag.).

HC

D. Appleton, P. M. J. Bennett, Dr J. Burscough, P. Cargill, B. Cheesman, S. Collins, R. Gilbert, J. Glassonbury, J. Grimes, D. V. Harry, R. J. Heald, M. Hodgkin, Mrs D. B. Jenkinson, G. Johnstone, E. C. Lance, J. C. Leyland, M. Lunan, I. Mackintosh, P. W. Marlow, T. J. Moorey, J. Nicholson (Spain), R. A. Norton, D. J. R. Ogilvie (USA), Mrs B. Randell, W. Ransome, B. Roe, D. P. Shenkin, M. Wainwright, Mrs A. M. Walden, L. Ward (USA), Dr P. Whitehead, A. Whittaker, Dr E. Young.
 

Comments
186 entries, no mistakes that I could see. Favourite clue, of 25 mentioned: ‘No longer relished receiving ball – like recipient of bumper’ for TOASTED (cricket again!), by one vote from ‘Ponder this at large – it could create bane with torpedo?’ (E-BOAT). I’m sorry ‘indirect’ appeared split over two lines, with no hyphen. The split occurred after the final proof and was therefore beyond my control, one of those tiresome glitches that occur from time to time.
 
I was a little nervous about giving you ZOLLVEREIN. By an odd coincidence the Crossword Club magazine chose a word beginning with ‘z’ (ZINFANDEL) for its April clue-writing competition, and Philip Marlow, who judges it, mentioned that I’d never given you a ‘z-word’ in my competitions. What is more, it seems I’ve never given you a competition word or phrase containing a zed (‘thou unnecessary letter’ according to Kent in King Lear) in any position. In the event it wasn’t so bad after all, was it? The quality of clues submitted was well up to scratch, with a high percentage of ‘& lits.’, the best of which are printed above. Perhaps you won’t have to wait another 41 years for the next z-word!
 
A few words on labels, as I’ve been promising for some time. In a dictionary these essentially fall into three broad categories: (i) geography, (ii) currency and (iii) register. (i) Geographical labels indicate terms that belong , originally or exclusively, to a particular linguistic country or region. (ii) Currency labels indicate terms that have fallen out of use or, when used, are regarded as old-fashioned. (iii) Register labels indicate terms which express a particular attitude on the part of the user or are appropriate in a particular context. They can range from ‘informal’ to ‘slang’ and ‘offensive’. When it comes to indicating these labels in crossword clues in some way, I hesitate to lay down hard and fast ‘rules’, preferring as always to consider fairness to the solver as the primary criterion. As it happens, the last three clue words/phrases I’ve given you have had non-English origins, but for none of them would I regard some sort of geographical hint as essential. With the exception of ZOLLVEREIN, which has a specific historical definition, they are terms widely used in current English. When, as often, I clue Scottish words, of which there are naturally many in Chambers, I feel the need to hint at their origin (dear old Jock!) on the grounds that they are likely to be unfamiliar to sassenachs, or at least to this one. I don’t think I’ve ever given you such a word to clue, so it’s never been an issue, though it’s always possible that a Scotticism may occur as part of a word being clued, in which case I’d encourage you to indicate its provenance in some way. Where register is concerned, the recent debate on racially offensive terms has adequately covered the more extreme end of the spectrum. At or towards the other end, I don’t really think there’s an issue. If you can convey a word’s slanginess or informal usage, your clue will probably benefit as a result – I would not wish to go further than that.