AZED CROSSWORD 285

BOYFRIEND (Misprints)

1.  C. Loving: Guy to be moved – funny bonfire day without one! (loved; anag. less a).

2.  D. S. Nagle: You find mangled body and infer it might be slain (swain; anag.).

3.  M. D. Laws: Laver, perhaps, when young – the first to enthuse if Drobny smashed? (lover; anag.; ref. tennis, Rod L., Jaroslav D.).

VHC

C. Allen Baker: One may get slain if fired on by crooks (swain; anag.; crook vb.).

M. J. Balfour: Guy without finery – that’s off beat, nowadays! (beau; anag. in bod).

E. J. Burge: Bony, fried when battered, commonly regarded as a fish by one? (Must be a cod) (dish; anag.; cod = fellow).

Mrs M. J. Cansfield: Jugged or fined by beak (beau; anag.).

E. Chalkley: Being discharged or fined by beak (beau; anag.).

M. Coates: Regular rate provokes fiery outburst in union (date; anag. in bond).

M. A. Cooper: One daring girl flaunting fine body’s about right for me! (dating; r in anag.).

J. D. Foster: Girl’s late: man’s beginning to yawn, one midnight? (date; bo + y + Fri. end).

A. L. Freeman: Pet bear could become fiery when held in restraint (beau; anag. in bond).

N. C. Goddard: I’m a bear and defy Robin at play (beau; anag.; ref. Winnie-the-Pooh).

M. Greenwood: Jugged or fined by beak (beau; anag.).

Mrs R. B. Hunt: Put in stir or fined by beak (beau; anag.).

K. W. Johnson: Orient bred if yon girl’s yellow (fellow; anag.; orient vb.).

A. H. Jones: Twiggy had such a non-durable frame, one with finer body potential (flame; anag.; ref. film ‘The Boyfriend’).

D. F. Manley: What might tweeting have meant? Yen of bird to fly around (sweeting; anag.).

Dr R. G. Monk: Girl’s bad. Love and rumpled finery between head and foot of bed (lad; anag. incl. 0 in b, d).

C. J. and R. S. Morse: I usually give duck a miss if bone dry when cooked (kiss; anag.).

F. E. Newlove: Friday’s child? Has to wind up a loser these days (lover; boy Fri. + end).

S. L. Paton: Late – end of party – brief nod – off (date; anag. incl. y).

W. H. Pegram: Cleared or fined by beak (beau; anag.).

M. L. Perkins: Fetter holds fiery tempered bear (beau; anag. in bond).

W. K. M. Slimmings: Fiery scuffles within union to check I’m steady (chick; anag. in bond).

F. B. Stubbs: Beak applying stick laid about fiery dissident (beau; anag. in bond).

J. Webster: The current love for a kiss has link with fiery volatile inside (miss; anag. in bond).

Dr R. L. Wynne: Stain that will disperse if bone-dry (swain; anag.).

HC

C. Adie, M. J. Ball, Rev C. M. Broun, C. O. Butcher, D. A. H. Byatt, Mrs M. P. Craine, R. Dean, C. M. Draper, P. S. Elliott, F. D. Gardiner, J. A. Gill, B. Greer, D. V. Harry, A. Hodgson, P. Holtby, E. M. Hornby, C. L. Jones, R. E. Kimmons, A. Lawrie, L. May, D. P. M. Michael, T. N. Nesbitt, F. R. Palmer, Mrs A. G. Phillips, Miss I. M. Raab, C. P. Rea, A. Rivlin, L. G. D. Sanders, T. E. Sanders, Mrs B. Simmonds, M. C. Souster, Brig R. F. E. Stoney, J. G. Stubbs, R. C. Teuton, L. E. Thomas, J. R. Tozer, J. Treleaven, M. A. Vernon, A. J. Wardrop, Dr E. Young.
 

COMMENTS
It was cruel luck, not malicious perversity, that led me to include TUTELAR in a misprints puzzle of all things. To those who are still mystified and suspect me of foul play I must explain that the first impression of the 1972 Edition of Chambers defines TUTELAR as ‘projecting’ instead of ‘protecting’, a misprint which was soon spotted and corrected in subsequent revised impressions. I should have spotted it too, of course. The word is not an obscure one and its correct meaning should have been obvious. My failure to notice the error I can only apologise for. It underlines the danger of regarding Chambers, or any other dictionary come to that, as holy writ. Luckily most solvers either saw at once what I had done or (probably because their edition of C was the same as mine) were blissfully ignorant of the howler. However if I occasionally make a mistake in a puzzle I very seldom make two. Quite a number of you failed to solve the misprinted clue to RESORT correctly (‘Apple turning reddish right round’), saw it as a straight clue to RENNET and then accused me of getting the balance of mis-printed and non-misprinted clues wrong in the downs. I admit that RENNET will almost do as a solution to the clue read as non-misprinted, though tenné is surely more brownish than reddish, but I had no choice but to disqualify the culprits. And to forestall any protest, I do accept rt. as an equivalent abbreviation for ‘right’ even though it isn’t in C tout simple. Most other dictionaries (e.g. the Concise Oxford Dictionary) give it.
 
Partly, I expect, because of these unintended complications but partly also because misprints puzzles are always on the tough side, there were just 245 entries, roughly 40 of them incorrect (mostly over RESORT/RENNET or even in a few inexplicable cases RUSSET). Clues however were well up to scratch as I think the list above testifies. A few competitors introduced capitals into their misprinted words in addition to changing a letter (e.g. France for fiancé, Spain for swain). I didn’t disqualify anyone for this but tended to favour those who worded clues in such a way that the word in question came at the beginning where it would have a capital in any case. In which context it’s worth sounding again my regular note of warning to those who submit clues entirely in capital letters. It certainly makes for greater legibility (messy scribblers, please note!) but occasionally disguises a proper name which has to be read with a lower-case initial to give sense to the clue, and whereas I accept the reverse process (capital for lower-case initial) as passable 1 do not accept the gratuitous demotion of proper names for the sake of the rest of the clue.
 
Yes, it was a difficult puzzle and yes, I think misprints puzzles should contain fewer unches than average. But this one did – 48 to be exact. Ximenes always reckoned there would be any number between 40 and 70 in a standard 36-word grid.