AZED CROSSWORD 2272

SNOWMOBILE

1.  C. J. Brougham: Saint with twinkling humour carrying present in sleigh (now in S mo bile).

2.  D. K. Arnott: Wombles’ No. 1 hit is perfect vehicle for Tomsk? (anag.; ref. Wombles character, Siberian town).

3.  E. C. Lance: One’s bothered about BMW – oil needing to be changed for transport in arctic regions (anag. in anag.).

VHC (extra prizes)

M. Barley: Transport an Eskimo will be sat on (not like Santa, somehow) (anag. less anag., & lit.).

T. C. Borland: I pass over flakes after sprinkling some in bowl (anag.).

D. V. Harry: Near the poles, below zero, I’m versatile transport (S, N + anag. incl.0, & lit.).

R. J. Heald: Simoon blew off course vehicle highly unsuited to desert conditions (anag.).

E. Looby: Ice machine, perhaps, crushing some in bowl (anag.).

M. A. Macdonald-Cooper: Nothing disrupts flourishing women’s lib drive in hostile climate (0 in anag.).

P. W. Marlow: Vehicle for Whistler, say – some oil applied with touches in beautifully wrought nocturnes (anag. incl. b, w, n; ref. Whistler, painter & Canadian ski resort).

R. J. Palmer: What could transport be in Oslo round winter months primarily? (w, m in anag., & lit.).

A. Plumb: Transport some own to cross peaks of bitter Inuit land (b, I, l in anag., & lit.).

Dr T. G. Powell: Boon with miles left in a mush? (anag. incl. w, & lit.).

P. Sant: Remote parts of Saskatchewan below zero – I’m deployed (S, n + anag. incl. 0, & lit.).

Dr S. J. Shaw: Manoeuvring with skis, this may give Eskimo bliss on first sign of winter! (comp. anag. incl. w, & lit.).

C. Short: Both poles below zero? I’m doubtful this could get me to either (S, N + anag. incl. 0).

P. L. Stone: Transport eskimo will be on to be like this, perhaps (comp. anag. & lit.).

Ms S. Wallace: Sled that’s powered by oil – some new model with bits of Yamaha engine stripped out (anag. less Y, e).

A. J. Wardrop: Some bowling – not good, erratic – from which sledgers might get mileage (anag. less g).

R. J. Whale: Oman’s first women’s lib gathering? Form of advancement unlikely to catch on there (anag. incl. O).

G. H. Willett: For today’s Arctic explorer, might jumping into this set bowels in motion (comp. anag.).

A. J. Young: New blooms I cultivated one winter transport me in bowl so cleverly arranged (double anag.).

HC

J. Brown, A. & J. Calder, P. Cargill, A. G. Chamberlain, M. Clarke, P. A. Davies, C. M. Edmunds, J. Fairclough, Dr I. S. Fletcher, E. French, G. I. L. Grafton, J. Grimes, M. J. Hanley, D. Harris, C. & C. Hinton, M. Hodgkin, J. C. Leyland, J. Liddle, C. Loving, M. Lunan, B. Macreamoinn, D. F. Manley, K. Manley, Rev Prebendary M. R. Metcalf, J. R. C. Michie, K. Milan, T. J. Moorey, G. Perry, R. Perry, T. Rudd, I. Simpson, C. M. Steele, P. A. Stephenson, P. Taylor, J. R. Tozer, P. Tozer, J. Vincent & Ms R. Porter, Mrs A. M. Walden, L. Ward (USA), A. Whittaker, Dr E. Young.
 

Comments
179 entries, few mistakes, including a handful whose map-reading let them down, leading them to clue SNOWBOARDS. Favourite clue, of 17 mentioned, was ‘Self-contained rubber instrument’ for U(K)ULELE. As a new special, the puzzle found general favour, offering about the right degree of difficulty for the Christmas break. The idea occurred to me months ago on a summer walk, and I wasn’t at all sure whether I could make it work until I started to construct the grid and checked on the number of suitable SNOW compounds. I didn’t really want the central letter to be S, so the fact that there were just enough (of the appropriate length) with a B in was very fortunate. The grid pattern that emerged was distinctly odd-looking, but it worked, with about the right percentage of unchecked letters. It was politely pointed out by one regular that snowflakes are in fact hexagonally (not octagonally) symmetrical, but even had I known this I doubt whether it would have affected my grand design. Another competitor suggested that I was being over-generous in telling you that SNOW was the first element in each of the compounds, but I suspect that most would have regarded it as a bit unfair to withhold this information, especially at Christmastime. It never occurred to me to do so.
 
I must also apologize for the mysteriously missing ‘in’ in the clue to BLU(R)AY(S), though few mentioned this, and also for the equally (to me) mysterious use of ‘cadet’ to indicate ‘c’ in the clue to SACS. I’ve simply no idea how I came to dream this up.
 
Clues submitted were varied and of a generally high quality for a word I feared might be a bit uninspiring (though certainly the most promising of the eight on offer). I commend the degree of invention you displayed. No time for more now. The January competition demands my attention. I wish you all a happy and healthy new year.