AZED CROSSWORD 2200

BRINDISI

1.  D. F. Manley: Give possible rendition of this with Greene King – i.e. sing, drinking beer? (comp. anag. & lit.).

2.  D. V. Harry: Lagers taken with this could make one sing ribaldries (comp. anag. & lit.).

3.  P. A. Stephenson: This salute could be utilised in bars abroad (comp. anag. & lit.).

VHC

T. Anderson: One erupting from bar in Italy is over? Must be deserted inside! (b(a)r+ d in in I + is (rev.), & lit.).

M. Barker: Ultimately lacking nothing in spirit, I’d sing no end drunkenly – this? (bri(o) + anag. less g).

M. Barley: Toast caps off breakfast – ideally round is had after bit of bacon (rind is in b, i).

Ms K. Bolton: Making toast, slice of bread (with crust) is laid at centre of grill (b rind is i).

T. C. Borland: Sea vessel leaving Eastern terminals to reach Italy here? (brin(e) dis(h) + I, & lit.).

G. I. L. Grafton: Avoiding A & E after hit on head is slightly injurious to your health, perhaps (br(a)in(e)d + is + i).

R. Hesketh: A drinking-song to be repeated by one swallowing drink endlessly when drunk (anag. less k in bis + I).

M. A. Macdonald-Cooper: ‘Start to brown outside’ is one definition of toast (b rind is I).

P. W. Marlow: Health treatment required for cases of infection better isolated indoors (anag. of first & last letters).

T. J. Moorey: Vibrant Italian air is lead-in to drinking? Could be hit —— in La Traviata (comp. anag. incl. d, & lit.; ref. LT, Act I).

S. Randall: Groom in bridal suites to give this salute? (comp. anag. & lit.).

Dr S. J. Shaw: Italian song inciting drinking, principally circulated by regulars in bars and inns (alternate letters + I, s, i, d (rev.), & lit.).

R. C. Teuton: Entering bar on vacation in Italy, I’d start to sing drunkenly – this? (anag. incl. s in b(a)r in I, & lit.).

J. R. Tozer: Black crust is the first sign of incinerated toast (B rind is i).

Mrs A. M. Walden: Black crust is first indication of incinerated toast (B rind is i).

L. Ward (USA): Health resort starts to ban indiscreet individuals screwing around outside! (rind in anag. of first letters).

A. J. Wardrop: Toast two slices of bread in a very hot place indeed (br in Dis + I³).

R. J. Whale: Is one delivered alongside booze-up? That should be right for Latin (is I after blind with r for L, & lit.).

G. H. Willett: Not half immodest in bedroom Italy’s leader is his country’s toast (indis(creet) in br I).

Dr E. Young: With mobile going one’s hit bird’s mini, knocking back bumper (anag. less m).

HC

D. Appleton, D. K. Arnott, D. & N. Aspland, J. G. Booth, C. J. Brougham, Dr J. Burscough, J. A. Butler, D. A. Campbell, D. Carter, A. Chamberlain, C. A. Clarke, V. Dixon (Ireland), W. Drever, R. Gilbert, J. Glassonbury, Ms J. Gore (France), J. Grimes, G. Johnstone, J. C. Leyland, M. Lunan, S. G. G. Macdonald, W. F. Main, P. McKenna, Rev M. R. Metcalf, J. R. C. Michie, K. Milan, C. G. Millin, C. J. Morse, D. J. R. Ogilvie (USA), A. Plumb, Dr T. G. Powell, W. Ransome, D. P. Shenkin, N. G. Shippobotham, W. Spont (USA), P. L. Stone, P. Taylor, Mrs A. Terrill, D. H. Tompsett, J. Vincent & Ms R. Porter, Ms S. Wallace, A. Whittaker, R. Zara.
 

Comments
191 entries, no mistakes. Favourite clue, of 17 mentioned in despatches: ‘To the French about to pass on … this may be appropriate’ (ADIEU), with ‘What AZ has to go through and measure efforts’ (ENTRIES) in second place. Some way further back, with four points, was ‘Fancily trimmed hosiery will include it?’ for SHORTIE, which I mention because it also received one ‘anti’ vote for failing to include an adequate definition. Well, perhaps. That question mark was certainly required.
 
A good competition, in general. Compound anagrams were especially popular, with, exceptionally, all three prizewinning clues opting for this approach. I hope those of you who are still unconvinced about the device will concede that these examples demonstrate how effective it can be when cleverly handled. BRINDISI, though now an Italian word, is in fact, I discover, derived from the German phrase ‘(Ich) bring dir’s’, meaning ‘(I) offer it to you’ as the introduction to a toast, and unrelated etymologically to the name of the Italian port, from Latin Brundisium. Of several operatic instances of the brindisi, the best known is probably ‘Libiamo’ in Verdi’s La Traviata (see TJM’s clue above), but such drinking-songs also feature in Verdi’s Otello, Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia, Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana, and The Sorcerer by G & S (‘The tea-cup brindisi’), among others.
 
I have just acquired a copy of the new (13^th) edition of The Chambers Dictionary. Not much has changed. The publishers claim over 1,000 new words and meanings. ‘The Word Lover’s Miscellany’, which I never cared for, has been replaced by ‘The Word Lover’s Ramble’, now located after the appendices at the end (unchanged but for the welcome reinstatement of ‘Some first names’ from previous editions). Another improvement is the scrapping of the gimmicky highlighting of ‘unusual words’ in the text, but this has led to the loss of these words altogether, an editorial blunder which I am assured will be corrected at the first opportunity. I plan to start recommending the new edition from the start of 2015. This may annoy those who have only just bought and got used to the 12^th edition, but I really have no choice. The published price is £39.99, ISBN 978-1-4736-0225-0. A nice Christmas present, perhaps.