◀  No. 2214 Jul 1976 Clue list No. 229  ▶

AZED CROSSWORD 225

VALETA

1.  F. R. Palmer: Revolutionary steps, as in Boston, against a drink tax, with no vote (v ale ta(x); ref. Boston Tea Party, waltz).

2.  D. P. M. Michael: See, almost all tea destroyed. Boston occasions this kind of revolution (v. + anag. less l; ref. Boston Tea Party, waltz).

3.  R. Jacks: Virginia accepts an umpire’s decision. Set moves to 3-4 (a let in VA; ref. V. Wade, dance time).

VHC

C. Allen Baker: Measure a gill – accepted about a quarter of a pint ((pin)t in vale, a; gill4).

Rev C. M. Broun: Dance held by Senate, lavish in retrospective mood (hidden rev.; ref. US bicentennial celebrations).

R. S. Caffyn: Dance in shattering heat-wave wilts – whew, it’s awful, not to be contemplated (anag. less anag.; ref. summer heatwave).

E. Chalkley: What the band played in joyful celebration of old time in American State? (ale t in VA).

R. M. S. Cork: Virginia must have suffered with American taking the first dance (VA let A; ref. V. Wade, Wimbledon Ball).

Mrs M. P. Craine: Returning at last after so long – an old-fashioned dance (vale + at (rev.)).

P. Drummond: You want a dance tune – give the band a drink for it (ale for it in vitta).

E. A. Free: Display of slow footwork against Ashe’s first service hindered amateur (v A let A; ref. Arthur A., Wimbledon).

R. J. Hooper: See a radical Party-man scattering tea – could this accompany revolutionary activity in Boston? (v. a L + anag.; ref. Boston Tea Party, waltz; L = Liberal).

C. H. Hudson: Old-timers’ hit at ball: another service indicated – Borotra’s goes outside (a let in va; ref. Jean B., former tennis champion; va (Fr.) = goes).

J. R. Kirby: Kind of hop for making beer – it’s put into fermenting vat (ale in anag.).

Dr E. J. Miller: Feature of older hops: brew in vat off (ale in anag.).

C. G. Millin: Vane initially, one the Spanish turned to a dance (v + a + el (rev) + t’ a; valeta (Sp.) = weather-cock).

C. J. Morse: World leaders in two-hundredth anniversary dance (vale + t a; ref. US bicentennial).

R. J. Palmer: It may amuse some mixed doubles to serve an ace (valet A).

S. L. Paton: One can follow old hand hooking a long hop in slow motion (a l in vet + a).

A. J. Redstone: Measure of hops needed to produce beer in barmy vat (ale in anag.).

T. E. Sanders: A measure with round figures – Bunter, for example, needs one (valet a; ref. Lord P. Wimsey’s valet).

W. K. M. Slimmings: Its devotees head for Mecca (coming back in via Tel Aviv) (hidden rev.; ref. M. dance halls).

P. C. Thornton: Jeeves, for instance – a noted example of movement with measured steps (valet a).

R. D. Vaughan Davies: ‘——’ says polite partner after the last one? (i.e. vale, ta, & lit.).

C. E. Williams: Slow rhythmic movement activates vat full of liquor (ale in anag.).

HC

Mrs E. Allen, Mrs K. Bissett, A. J. Bulman, E. J. Burge, C. A. Clarke, G. H. Clarke, A. L. Dennis, D. M. Duckworth, Mrs W. Fearon, J. A. Fincken, A. G. Fleming, B. Franco, W. S. Gilbert, D. A. Ginger, S. Goldie, G. B. Greer, A. Hodgson, E. M. Hornby, G. Johnstone, R. W. Killick, R. E. Kimmons, Capt G. Langham, A. Lawrie, M. D. Laws, A. D. Legge, J. P. Lester, H. R. Lockhart, S. M. Mansell, H. S. Mason, Dr B. N. McQuade, J. D. Moore, F. E. Newlove, W. H. Pegram, Mrs A. G. Phillips, C. J. B. Powell, C. P. Rea, Rear Adm W. T. C. Ridley, Brig R. F. E. Stoney, F. B. Stubbs, G. A. Tomlinson, M. J. Tyler, J. F. N. Wedge, G. C. West, Rev C. D. Westbrook, D. C. Williamson.
 

COMMENTS
About 340 entries, 20 or so incorrect, largely through failure to identify the thirteenth state (and hence, in effect, the theme). There would have been far less satisfaction in choosing a group of states at random than in confining oneself to the thirteen which actually signed the Declaration of Independence on 4 July 1776. It was just extremely convenient for me that there were that number, about right for ‘Spot the Theme’ treatment. Convenient also because even after the penny dropped I expect a bit of research was still needed. I certainly couldn’t have given the complete list without looking it up. Anyway there were enough appreciative comments to justify the extra labour such a ‘special special’ inevitably entails. (I had a sneaking fear, fortunately ungrounded, that some assiduous solvers would unearth alternative clue-words based on -EVATA or -ETAVA, though I checked carefully to make sure there were none such in Chambers.)
 
I fear the most obvious and simplest clue idea, ‘Goodbye and thanks for the dance’ and its variants, was far too popular to earn its authors a mention. Of the many others used the Boston link struck me as the best and most amusing by a long way, and one which had not occurred to me when, as I occasionally do in a rare spare moment, I muse on what my own entry might have been. I had Miss Wade and Wimbledon more in mind, as did a fair number of you.
 
The level of soundness was pretty high this month. One thing I’ve been meaning to comment on for some time is loose use of small connection words, prepositions, conjunctions and the like. E.g. ‘A man who attends one to the dance’. ‘To’ here has to mean something like ‘resulting in’, ‘to get you’ etc. and although (it may be argued) C includes in its many definitions of ‘to’ one or two vaguely resembling this usage, to my eye and ear it remains odd and uncomfortable. ‘For’ used to mean simply ‘with’ or ‘alongside’ when juxtaposing two or more elements of a word is another gadget I dislike. Close scrutiny of the dictionary entries may convince clue-writers that such usage is sound but I remain (perhaps obdurately) unimpressed. More of my betes noires next time.
 
Only three offers for the Barnard clue. Mr. Williamson thinks it’s SIDE, Mr. Michael’s pretty sure it’s BALD and I feel it might be FEED. None convinces me a bit.
 

 

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