AZED CROSSWORD 2230

GATES OF DEATH

1.  Dr S. J. Shaw: These part to reveal alternative fates, God above and devilish heat below (anag. + anag., & lit.).

2.  M. Barley: See one finally departing face God at these, possibly (anag. less c, e, & lit.).

3.  C. J. Brougham: Dotage’s fate, breaking hearts? (anag. + H, & lit.).

VHC

T. Anderson: The wretched at Hades oft get stifling temperature here (anag. less t, & lit.; ref. Job 38, 17).

D. K. Arnott: Where the fate God’s ordained takes one? (a in anag., & lit.).

Dr M. Bullivant: A fate the gods ordered in the end (anag.).

M. Coates: End of life Fates had got ordained? (anag. incl. e, & lit.).

N. Connaughton: A fate the gods ordained (anag. & lit.).

Mrs L. Davis: Get to Hades taking Acheron ferry initially – diabolical point of departure! (anag. incl. A, f).

V. Dixon (Ireland): What the aged fatso may totter to? (anag. & lit.).

J. Fairclough: Entrance to Hades? Fate, the constant presiding over all (G + anag., & lit.; entrance vtr.).

Mrs D. B. Jenkinson: Aged foes that we must ‘dash asunder’, whereby to reach eternal peace (anag.; ref. hymn).

D. F. Manley: The fate God has ordained – revealed by such opening for heaven or hell? (comp. anag. & lit.).

P. W. Marlow: Fated stage to which finally one resorts? (anag. incl. o, h, & lit.).

C. G. Millin: These lead to afterlife: endless fate with God possibly (anag. incl. a, less e, & lit.).

C. Ogilvie: For many Spartans Thermopylae was a fate the gods ordered (anag.).

T. Rudd: Get to Hades following a rattle here? (anag. incl. f, & lit.).

J. R. Tozer: Rich man’s a pained expression about uncertain fate with God here? ((Bill) Gates + anag. incl. D in oh!, & lit.).

J. Vincent & Ms R. Porter: Dreadful stage characterized by start of decay and human body giving up last of vigour (anag. + of + d + ea(r)th, & lit.).

Ms S. Wallace: Final destination as e.g. fate doth set out (anag.).

L. Ward (USA): At these, do those kicking off finally attain glorious repose? (anag. incl. f, a, g, & lit.; re-pose).

A. J. Wardrop: In which God and the Fates might be found embracing one? (a in anag., & lit.).

D. Whisstock (Italy): Fog ahead – test flaps for final departure (anag.).

HC

G. Alderman, P. B. Alldred, D. & N. Aspland, J. G. Booth, T. C. Borland, Dr J. Burscough, J. A. Butler, P. Cargill, C. A. Clarke, C. Daffern, C. Eaton, P. Evans, Dr I. S. Fletcher, H. Freeman, M. R. Galpin, D. V. Harry, R. J. Heald, M. Hodgkin, J. R. H. Jones (Mexico), E. C. Lance, J. C. Leyland, M. A. Macdonald-Cooper, K. Manley, Rev Prebendary M. R. Metcalf, J. R. C. Michie, T. J. Moorey, D. F. Newton-Edwards, T. D. Nicholl, R. J. Palmer, R. Perry, M. Price, W. Ransome, P. Sant, P. L. Stone, R. C. Teuton, Mrs A. M. Walden, N. Warne, T. West-Taylor, G. Wiley, G. H. Willett, R. Zara.
 

Comments
177 entries, a handful having DATES OF DEATH, and more than a few with LOAF for GOAF (‘Head for the rear, taken short, wherein waste is stuffed’, i.e. go af(t)). 21 of my clues received one or more votes as the month’s favourite, the winner being ‘Like M. Antony addressing crowd?’ for TOGATE, two votes ahead of ‘Rogue sailor on junk possibly mixing up his port and starboard?’ (RASCAL). The eagle-eyed among you noticed that in my clue to SPIRES (third in the poll) ‘MI6’ appeared as ‘M16’, suggesting a motorway or a district of Manchester rather than a spy organization. In general you seem to have found the puzzle of average difficulty. I had some misgivings about asking you to clue GATES OF DEATH, more because of its gloomy connotations than for any other reason (and it was definitely not an Araucaria-style hint at my forthcoming demise). It certainly offered anagram fans plenty of opportunities, often with an ‘& lit.’ element included. I did worry a bit about clues which defined it as an event, including words like ‘when’, rather than as conveying something concrete, but concluded that since it is a metaphorical concept wording such as ‘time of death’ was acceptable. Examples of wording I couldn’t accept were e.g. ‘last breath’ to indicate ‘h’ (grammatically and semantically unjustifiable) and ‘ill-fated hostage’ to indicate an anagram. That hyphen ties ‘ill’ to ‘fated’ only and cannot therefore in my view be seen as including ‘hostage’ in the anagram. This particular error turns up not infrequently.
 
I can now reveal further details to do with Azed No. 2,250, which is due to appear on Sunday 19 July. To mark the occasion, a special lunch is planned for the previous day, 18 July, in Wolfson College, Oxford, a post-graduate college in north Oxford by the River Cherwell, offering all-day free parking and some accommodation for those wanting an overnight stay. For full details please write, enclosing a stamped self-addressed envelope, to Will Drever, Azed 2,250, Shekinah, 60 Beaks Hill Road, Kings Norton, Birmingham B38 8BY, or email will.drever@gmail.com. The cost, for three courses including pre-lunch drinks and wine with the meal, is likely to be £50 a head, accommodation including breakfast £60 a head. Everyone is welcome, including, as I’ve mentioned before, newcomers and/or strangers to the Azed series. My wife Alison and I will be offering afternoon tea to all guests at our house, which is a very short walk from Wolfson.
 
The July competition puzzle will appear as usual, on 5 July, and the special competiton for No. 2,250 will appear on 19 July, replacing the August competition.