AZED CROSSWORD 221

PADDY-WHACK

1.  T. E. Sanders: Ire-lander? (paddy whack, & lit.; lander = heavy blow).

2.  M. Woolf: It’s madness to swipe – you’ll get a ruddy duck (paddy whack; r. d., meaning in OED).

3.  D. F. Manley: What could get you l.b.w. for a ruddy duck?! (‘paddy’ whack; i.e. pertaining to pad; r. d., meaning in OED).

VHC

R. L. Baker: Likely Ballymena forward in a temper – try follows (paddy + whack).

A. J. Bulman: After a couple of days in the money wallop makes Irishman high (d, d in pay + whack; wallop, high, 2 mngs.).

E. J. Burge: Strike of nurses? Minister may be entering into pay deal (DD in pay + whack).

A. J. Crow: M’Ginty’s blow – result of someone getting his goat? (i.e. Paddy whack; ref. song).

A. L. Dennis: Take the mickey out of this large Irishman and you’ll get hit (i.e. paddy-whack less Paddy = whack).

J. H. Dingwall: Rugby forwards gathering round a centre in middle – not clear why – evincing rage ((mi)dd(le) + anag., all in pack).

E. M. Hornby: A portion of soggy rice? What Nanny gave us if we wouldn’t eat it (i.e. paddy whack).

W. Islip: Divine in pay strike. Hence saeva indignatio? (DD in pay + whack; ref. Swift, who refused pay for poiltical writings, and his epitaph).

W. Jackson: Milk pudding in prospect? Blow on it, and you’ll get a slap from Nanny (paddy + whack).

C. W. Laxton: Why Dad, perhaps, set about striking the child (anag. in pack).

H. MacRae: Helping of rice, or what Mary Jane was perhaps given instead (i.e. paddy whack; ref. A. A. Milne, ‘Rice Pudding’).

Dr E. J. Miller: Why Dad popped inside The Hounds: hiding from Nanny ! (anag. in pack; popped = burst).

J. J. Moore: Take the mickey out of me and it’s a clout I’ll be giving you (i.e. paddy-whack less Paddy = whack).

C. Oliver: What Mary Jane didn’t want, it seems – and what she deserved (i.e. paddy whack; ref. A. A. Milne: ‘Rice Pudding’).

W. H. Pegram: It’s very private in Aberdeen – could be why Dad’s in Paisley? (anag. in pack³; Ian P.).

A. J. Redstone: Having finished trifle, children sing this hit in nursery (i.e. ‘(knick-knack) paddy-whack’).

H. L. Rhodes: Nanny’s spanking tot’s behind softly – along of it setting on potty back to front (p + add + whacky with y to start; along of = alongside, on account of; setting on = employing, sitting on).

A. D. Scott: Paisley is one, a reverend, in his extremes, put with violence (a DD in P, y + whack, & lit.; Ian P.).

W. K. M. Slimmings: What tot – why so naughty? – may have in store (add + anag. all in pack, & lit.).

Brig R. F. E. Stoney: Paisley’s pattern in which you could see red (i.e. Paddy whack; whack = manner; ref. Ian P.).

HC

T. Anderson, M. J. Balfour, T. E. Bell, Brig R. V. M. Benn, G. Blunden, Mrs A. Boyes, Rev C. M. Broun, D. A. H. Byatt, Mrs M. J. Cansfield, P. Cargill, C. A. Clarke, M. Coates, Mrs J. M. Critchley, R. Dean, Cdr H. H. L. Dickson, D. M. Duckworth, Mrs W. Fearon, J. A. Fincken, A. D. Foote, A. L. Freeman, Mrs J. O. Fuller, Miss W. Gardiner, J. M. Gerard, W. F. Goodman, B. Greer, D. V. Harry, D. Hawson, A. Hodgson, D. Hoyle, G. Johnstone, A. D. B. Jones, Mrs M. Kissen, Capt G. Langham, A. Lawrie, Mrs E. Layland, L. May, A. R. McKenzie, D. P. M. Michael, W. L. Miron, J. D. Moore, C. J. Morse, D. S. Nagle, P. M. Newey, F. E. Newlove, Mrs A. G. Phillips, Rev A. Reed, D. R. Robinson, F. B. Stubbs, K. Thomas.
 

COMMENTS
About 345 entries, almost all correct, except for a few who had ECHO for ECHE, which must have been wild guesswork since it fits the clue in no respect. Most of you who commented seem to have found it an easier puzzle than last time but a tougher word to clue. To some extent I foresaw that it would present quite a challenge. It’s not easily anagrammed for one thing, and for another the fact that PADDY=PADDY-WHACK=WHACK is more of a hindrance than a help, making it difficult to avoid rather uninterestingly repetitive clues. Difficult but not impossible. I’m not a complete sadist, nor do I deliberately pick the toughest word for the competition. I was confident enough that your ingenuity and the diversity of meanings of the word would make it a suitable choice. And I wasn’t disappointed. Mr. Sanders’s clue is breath-takingly neat, and a reminder of what an astonishing language we have. (Incidentally, although IRELANDER is not in C or the O.E.D., it is in Webster, and even if it were not I would regard it as a permissible invention.) In addition to the meanings given in C for PADDY-WHACK, the O.E.D. and Brewer supply two more, ‘the ruddy duck’ and ‘gristle’ respectively. Faced with a tougher word than usual, some of the stalwarts tended to err on the side of over-complexity in their clues. I am, I freely admit, put off by having to read a clue four or five times before its relation to the word clued becomes apparent.
 
It is now perhaps time I owned up to a little playful deceit which no one so far seems to have spotted. The brief biography of ‘Ozymandias’, author of ‘Form Fours’ in the Azed Book of Crosswords, is a complete fiction. Jethro and Ann Acworth simply don’t exist. Given that information and with the help of a couple of other concealed clues, owners of the book should have little difficulty identifying the real Ozymandias. And while we’re on the subject of fiction and clues, some of you may have wondered at the disappearance from these lists for some time of N. C. (Colin) Dexter, for many years a redoubtable competitor. I’m delighted to report that he’s alive and well and a close neighbour of mine in Oxford, where he is an examiner on the local exam board. He forswore crosswords for a spell to devote his leisure hours to clues of another kind, writing detective novels. Solvers who may care to read Last Bus to Woodstock or Last Seen Wearing (just published) will be amused to find many familiar names among his characters. NCD admits to some nostalgia for the less burdensome (if no less stimulating) mental challenge of Azed puzzles and has promised to ‘return to the fold’ before long. Be warned.
 
Finally, a clue to solve, one that has bothered me and others for years. In the late D. St. P. Barnard’s Anatomy of the Crossword, p. 110, he gave (without an answer) ‘the most involved and tortuous clue’ in the book, viz. ‘No adequate description of father’s cuemanship’ (4). I know what I think the solution is, but I don’t know why. Any offers?
 
P.S. Many apologies for the missing clue in No. 220. Not me this time. Printer’s brainstorm. Pity – I was quite pleased with it. Never mind, I’ll use it again another day.