AZED CROSSWORD 263

ERIACH (Printer’s Devilry)

1.  B. A. Pike: For fans of opera S/acha lacks appeal (opera seria).

2.  Mrs B. Simmonds: In bitters I b/oose ‘lamb’s-wool’ for a comforter.

3.  C. J. Lowe: Ma’s shy st/ill – sour appreciation of Pop!

VHC

J. C. Brash: The fashion-conscious mademoiselle is judged by any crit/ic.

D. P. Chappell: Inca fet/ich is out of place.

R. M. S. Cork: Rene … Genev/ieve … my objectives if I stay with this party.

R. Dean: Thinking of two-year sins, I b/anged the dissident’s mind.

J. H. Dingwall: If Ev/e ill, blame it on the rapist – sad vice!

D. M. Duckworth: Been playing hard to get? H/eal lovers’ tiff … and soon!

P. S. Elliott: How l/ump made in class raised laugh.

A. G. Fleming: Can you say by what crit/ic is judged, in haute couture?

J. A. Gill: Avoid this café; t/ips are a pound note a table.

Mrs R. Herbert: Ground is wet now – on d/ew hen digging for worms.

R. J. Hooper: They’re a strong team etc. What a tea – s/ad me stumped! (ref. 1 ac. in puzzle).

D. G. Huckle: Withal, a s/ieve, a regular pattern of holes in metal.

C. H. Hudson: It’s claret – some pre-f/ab, lissome, bubbly!

K. Hunter: In the build-up of Ma’s shy st/ar, is Ma slowly losing influence?

L. W. Jenkinson: Do not expect from poor Iolanthe a p/eerless performance (ref. ‘I., or the Peer and the Peri’).

A. Lawrie: Teenagers may be driven by Pop to show. Ma’s shy, st/eering mildly.

M. D. Laws: Fervent Beatles fan, shy, st/illed those idols’ fear fully.

C. Loving: I found cel/adon set of mosaic plaques.

D. F. Manley: How I manage an arduous climb when Ev/erest provides new impetus!

D. P. M. Michael: Every p/aper one peers at, a disadvantage! (ref. ‘Iolanthe, or the Peer and the Peri’).

C. G. Millin: Rally crowd demonstrates – ma’s shy, st/eering wildly.

C. J. and R. S. Morse: Ma’s shy st/ill, son, especially at pop concerts.

F. R. Palmer: Dreary cafe? T/ips of ten p., all regular customers agree.

H. L. Rhodes: One perceived th/e alarm as pirate attacked.

W. J. M. Scotland: As a low plot, T/imon – early ruined character in Bard play (Iachimo; ref. Cymbeline).

W. K. M. Slimmings: Hot ash? I’v/e products of flue vent I’d scrub, gladly.

Mrs J. E. Townsend: Squash at 40 now? On d/ebut I enjoyed it.

L. J. Wayman: A top Paris couturier will keep his own style-crit/ic.

D. C. Williamson: Though I usually find opera s/illy, I found Cavalleria charming (opera seria).

HC

R. H. Adey, E. Akenhead, C. Allen Baker, D. R. Appleton, M. J. Balfour, Mrs P. A. Bax, P. Berman, Mrs A. Boyes, Rev C. M. Broun, J. A. Bulley, E. J. Burge, C. O. Butcher, R. S. Caffyn, P. A. Cash, E. Chalkley, E. A. Clarke, G. H. Clarke, M. Coates, Mrs M. P. Craine, G. H. S. Crosby, R. V. Dearden, A. L. Dennis, H. F. Dixon, Mrs M. Farncombe, E. G. Fletcher, R. P. C. Forman, A. L. Freeman, H. J. Godwin, S. Goldie, N. L. Gray, A. H. Harker, D. V. Harry, P. Hartill, Mrs S. Hewitt, Dr I. G. Higginbotham, D. Hitchcock, G. Hobbs, W. Islip, W. Jackson, G. Johnstone, B. P. Jones, G. Jones, B. K. Kelly, N. Kessel, R. E. Kimmons, J. R. Kirby, Mrs M. Lambert, Miss M. Lazarides, P. W. W. Leach, A. D. Legge, R. W. Lerrigo, J. G. Levack, J. R. Lloyd, Mrs A. Lockett, P. Machin, B. Manvell, H. W. Massingham, D. J. Meadows, N. W. R. Mellon, J. D. Moore, D. I. Morgan, F. E. Newlove, J. O’Neill, C. Plouviez, T. D. Powell-Davies, R. D. C. Prichard, A. J. Redstone, Rear Adm W. T. C. Ridley, D. R. Robinson, W. Rodgers, T. E. Sanders, Dr W. I. D. Scott, Mrs I. G. Smith, T. A. J. Spencer, R. Stephenson, Brig R. F. E. Stoney, J. B. Sweeting, Mrs M. Walker, Mrs M. P. Webber, P. Wharton, D. O. Williams, M. Woolf, Dr R. L. Wynne, A. C. Young.
 

COMMENTS
A fine enthusiastic entry, 525 all told with very few mistakes and a particularly high standard of cluing. I’m sorry about the delay in announcing the results (due not to the sloth or incapacity of your setter but to the vagaries of the G.P.O. over Easter) and hope you managed to spot them when they did appear, heavily camouflaged among the small ads. A few of you have complained recently about the late arrival of slips, when memories of the puzzle concerned are growing dim. Under the system I use and given the time at my disposal (plus my and my wife’s inability to type faster than we can write) you are unlikely to receive slips less than two weeks after the announcement of results. I try to keep it to that minimum, but ask you to be tolerant if I fail occasionally.
 
There were lots of welcoming comments from P.D. enthusiasts, who have had to wait quite a time since the last one, and because of the general excellence of the entry my task was devilishly hard. Very few of the clues submitted could be faulted automatically, so I had in the end to look for that elusive extra quality in making my final choice. The long H.C. list shows how many nearly made it. The most popular ideas, in order of popularity were : I aching, for some specific reason, love mostly ; cafeteria chips, hot or otherwise; Iolanthe (the peer and the pen); and celeriac. A few clues fell into the trap of straining the sense of the undevilled version to improve or make more convincing that of the devilled version. I can understand the temptation, but I can also spot it a mile off!
 
Finally, for those who may be interested, the April issue of Games and Puzzles contains a piece about the Azed 250th dinner by Mr. Laws, whom I take this opportunity to thank for the generous things he says about the evening as a whole.