AZED CROSSWORD 2591

GHAT

1.  M. Barley: What borders a river in India (good for spot of bathing)? (i.e. Bh(aR)at, with g for b, & lit.; see Bharat in C.).

2.  A. Chamberlain: Saddle in Himalayas? Tough seat, killing to use ((tou)gh (se)at).

3.  W. Drever: See Gandhi thus disposed of in Hindus’ —— (comp. anag. & lit.).

VHC

T. Anderson: What can be fired repeatedly, consuming flesh finally (h in gat, & lit.).

T. C. Borland: Grand passion English suppressed in A Passage to India? (g + h(E)at).

C. J. Brougham: Lodge being out of reach of water, maybe beaver steps down to river (lodge less lode + hat).

J. Grimes: Heading from Ganges boater possibly brings one to this (G + hat, & lit.).

R. J. Heald: Passing over Indian region containing hill without difficulty, head for this (h(ill) in G(O)a + t, & lit.).

P. F. Henderson (New Zealand): Leading feature of Ganges, also area passing through height (G + A in ht, 2 mngs., & lit.).

J. C. Leyland: Is this entrance for groups seen swimming in the Ganges? (comp. anag. incl. g, & lit.).

M. Lloyd-Jones: Goldfinch’s wings are beginning to tire in flight alongside river (g, h + a + t).

D. F. Manley: Travelling the Ganges? You may have seen this, landing finally (comp. anag. incl. g, & lit.).

P. W. Marlow: Some cycling hate piece that goes round hard saddle maybe (hidden, H in gat).

T. J. Moorey: Term for path between peaks in Gujarat and Tripura? (h in G a T, & lit.).

J. & A. Price: Access to Ganges followed by boater perhaps (G + hat, & lit.).

Dr S. J. Shaw: What leads Ganges bathers towards water essentially (G + middle letters, & lit.).

R. C. Teuton: With an element of guesswork Mastermind champion avoided a pass (g + hat(ch)).

J. R. Tozer: Defile Government with rancour, ignoring warning to stop (G + hat(red)).

J. Vincent & Ms R. Porter: Where boater perhaps may be moored by Ganges’ edge (G + hat, & lit.).

T. West-Taylor: Flight half submerged, landing point in India (a in (fli)ght, & lit.; point = culmination).

K. & J. Wolff: Translated, bathing-stair could be Britain’s —— (comp. anag. & lit.).

HC

D. Appleton, D. & N. Aspland, A. Brash, Dr J. Burscough, C. A. Clarke, T. Clement, Ms S. Curran (France), P. A. Davies, A. S. Everest, H. Freeman, A. Gerrard, G. I. L. Grafton, C. & C. Hinton, M. Hodgkin, T. Jacobs, P. Jenkinson (Switzerland), G. Johnstone, J. R. H. Jones (Spain), A. MacDougall, P. McKenna, C. G. Millin, T. D. Nicholl, D. Price Jones, M. Rees, Dr J. B. Reid, T. Rudd, M. Sloman, K. Thomas, A. J. Varney, Mrs A. M. Walden, Ms S. Wallace, A. J. Wardrop, D. Whisstock (Italy), G. H. Willett.
 

Comments
124 entries, no detectable mistakes. Doubtless the extra challenge posed by Carte Blanche kept the numbers low and discouraged the less determined would-be competitors. It’s one of the specials that places tougher demands on the solver while not rendering the setter’s task any trickier than usual. That said, I will admit to a little extra devilish cunning in placing two 4-letter words and four unches in the top row. No one went so far as to accuse me of wilful deception though! Favourite clue, of 17 nominated at least once, was ‘Sang like a pigeon, holding note’ for INTONED, those for FURLONGS and TIMBÓ coming equal second.
 
It’s a very long time since I last presented you with a Carte Blanche competition, No. 2,157 it was to be exact, though the last three before this one were normal prize puzzles. I assume that it was Ximenes who first had the idea, and I see no reason to discontinue the tradition. You’ve had 24 of them over the years from me so far. This one revived various memories for me, especially of visits to Benares (as I prefer to call it), Kalighat near Calcutta (ditto) and Raj Ghat in Delhi, where Gandhi was cremated. I believe the pyres on the waterfront in Benares burn day and night seven days a week. The other memory recalled for me came from clues (more than a few) which mentioned the late-lamented Bamber Gascoigne (‘Your starter for ten,’ etc), whom I first met as a memorably undistinguished panellist on University Challenge during my student days. I still miss his gently scholarly tones, a far cry from Paxman’s acerbic style.
 
GHAT yielded plenty of good ideas, including variations on ‘Pass in high Atlas’, neat but regrettably just too popular. Thank you anyway for giving me so many excellent offerings to savour.