AZED CROSSWORD 300

SLINK-BUTCHER

1.  B. Greer: He offers terrible chunks without hesitation in a shambles (anag. less er, & lit.).

2.  C. J. and R. S. Morse: Club thinks afresh about back – he doesn’t mind what calves he hacks! (anag. + re (rev.)).

3.  A. Naysmith: His joints might even make the curs blink (anag. & lit.).

VHC (extra prizes)

Mrs A. R. Bradford: One quick to unload tough innards? (butch in slinker, & lit.; slink = miscarry).

M. A. Cooper: What’s my line? Product of keb, mortling and such – but not mog! (anag. less mog, & lit.).

R. Dean: Having bastard child put to death, my flesh is crawling! (slink butcher).

R. P. C. Forman: What kitchen tables might I supply with meat? Rum ones! (comp. anag. & lit.).

B. Franco: Think clue’s b—— awful? Right! I must resort to slips to deliver the goods (anag. + r; slips = acts of slipping).

P. D. Gaffey: Somehow he is from the sick runts able to make eats (comp. anag. & lit.).

Sqn Ldr A. J. Holdstock: Dealer in calfskin slipper with tough lining (butch in slinker, & lit.).

S. Holgate: He cashes in on early fallers, but after slip ’chaser loses heart (slink + but + ch(as)er).

E. M. Holroyd: His seasonable offering may cause complaint: awkward b——, cluers think! (anag.; s = to be seasoned).

Mrs N. Jarman: Jogging club’s rethink, a chopper for undeveloped calves (anag.).

F. P. N. Lake: I’m in luck, – berth’s free! Lousy joint? I’ll sink my hook in it anyway! (anag.).

A. Lawrie: He’ll make sick stirk be lunch for us (anag. & lit.).

W. Laxton: Sound quality’s lacking in his scales – he’d make e.g. Bluthner sick (anag.).

J. H. C. Leach: Sirloin’s capital joint, but dear au charcutier: don’t buy from him! (S link but cher).

C. Loving: I saw a measly hand that’d make Culbertson, I think, pass on it! (anag. less on it; ref. bridge writer).

C. G. Millin: ‘You wouldn’t like my meat’, blurts chicken to cook, but its head’s chopped off (anag. less c).

J. D. Moore: Mincemeat from him could make us blink and retch (anag. & lit.).

D. S. Nagle: With meat beginning to hum I can provide for cooking at humbler kitchens (comp. anag. incl. h, & lit.).

F. R. Palmer: A —— could make lunch time be a risk (comp. anag. incl. t, & lit.).

B. A. Pike: Loins cut from stillborn kine – such I might provide (anag. less loins, & lit.).

E. G. Riley: Kirtles bunch artfully, calves appearing forwardly? Just my meat (anag.).

Brig R. F. E. Stoney: He may push ham when bad cast prematurely spoil show (slink butcher).

J. Webster: Some disorder may supply the ends of lamb he trucks in (anag. incl. l, b, & lit.).

C. E. Williams: Chewing his wares could make us blink and retch (anag. & lit.).

Dr E. Young: Schubert’s left unfinished in his pieces one gaining from a premature end (link(s) in anag.; ref. Unfinished Symphony; links (Ger.) = left).

HC (1)

M. Adams, R. H. Adey, C. Allen Baker, T. Anderson, G. Aspin, M. Barnes, Mrs A. Boyes, J. C. Brash, Rev C. M. Broun, C. O. Butcher, P. Cargill, C. A. Clarke, P. R. Clemow, R. G. Crosland, P. R. Davis, R. P. Dowling, P. Drummond, A. Dyson, J. A. Fincken, J. P. Ford, F. D. Gardiner, Dr J. H. Gerard, J. Gill, D. A. Ginger, S. Goldie, Mrs F. M. Grant, J. F. Grimshaw, C. R. Gumbrell, J. Harrington, D. V. Harry, V. G. Henderson, G. Hobbs, R. J. Hooper, E. M. Hornby, J. Horwood, C. H. Hudson, B. Iliffe, R. Jacks, W. Johnson, A. H. Jones, Prof N. Kessel, J. R. Kirby, Mrs M. Kissen, M. D. Laws, P. Leather, A. D. Legge, J. S. Leishman, J. P. Lester, H. W. Lewis, N. A. Longmore, D. F. Manley, S. M. Mansell, J. N. Martin, H. W. Massingham, L. May, A. J. McLean, D. P. M. Michael, Dr E. J. Miller, Dr R. G. Monk, A. C. Morrison, R. A. Mostyn, P. Newton, D. A. Nicholls, D. B. Oaten, Miss I. M. Raab, Rear Adm W. T. C. Ridley, W. G. Roberts, W. Rodgers, L. G. D. Sanders, T. E. Sanders, W. J. M. Scotland, Dr A. H. Seville, D. P. Shenkin, J. W. Sherwood, N. Shippobotham, Mrs B. Simmonds, W. K. M. Slimmings, T. A. J. Spencer, F. B. Stubbs, C. M. Tatham, L. E. Thomas, G. A. Tomlinson, F. Toms, J. R. Tozer, J. F. N. Wedge, Mrs J. E. Wilson, S. E. Woods, A. J. Young

HC (2)

Mrs F. Blanchard, Dr A. E. Brafield, R. M. S. Cork, H. F. Dixon, J. H. Doran, L. K. Edkins, V. H. Field, M. and J. Fortescue, J. D. Foster, Mrs J. O. Fuller, Miss W. Gardiner, Mrs S. M. Gillam, T. E. Girdlestone, H. Hancock, W. A. Howell, G. Johnstone, N. Kernmer, E. C. Lance, Mrs S. M. Macpherson, Mrs J. Mahood, M. L. Perkins, Brig A. Prain, Mrs A. Price, T. L. Price, Mrs D. M. C. Prichard, D. Riley, B. D. Smith, A. Sudbery, R. C. Teuton, K. Thomas, A. West, C. P. Wood, P. Young.
 

COMMENTS
A splendid Christmas entry for a testing puzzle – about 490 all told, and not many mistakes (LAME for LEME mostly, and failure to spot the code-word) – nevertheless presented me with a serious dilemma. The most popular idea by far was also one of the best, namely an ‘& lit.’ anagram using ‘brisket lunch’ in some way, e.g. ‘He can supply rotten brisket lunch’. It proved quite impossible to pick out a small and select group who had used the idea better than the rest (and as well, I must add, as those who used different ideas most effectively), so I had reluctantly to put them all in the HC list (those that were sound that is) and separate that into two grades as above, something Ximenes did from time to time. I hope you all appreciate my predicament. SLINK-BUTCHER seemed such a succulent word when I found it – a pity I couldn’t give prizes to everyone in the lists.
 
I was mildly ticked off for VINCAS on the grounds that the plural form is suspect, Vinca being a genus, not one flower. I did hesitate momentarily over this myself and then thought: ‘But surely we talk of begonias and primulas, etc.,’ and let it go. In fact at that point I was working backwards from the coded form and needed a word of six letters ending NCAS so it more or less had to be VINCAS.
 
One other small point arose concerning anagram indication, in particular when using ‘brisket lunch’. Quite a number of you used wording like: ‘He might produce rotten brisket – lunch ruined.’ To me that clearly suggests an anagram of ‘brisket’ followed by (not mixed up with) an anagram of ‘lunch’. In other words, if you’re using more than one anagram indicator, and applying them to more than one component of the word you’re cluing, make sure that the overall effect of your wording is to indicate a unified jumble (if that is what you mean) rather than a succession of separate ones.
 
I’m pleased to be able to announce that from March all Azed prizes will be going up in value. Monthly competition prizes will be £7, £6 and £5. Other weekly prizes and annual consolation prizes will be £5 each. These increases were long overdue, I think.
 
Finally, a much belated but very sincere thank you for all the kind greetings, cards and letters I and my wife received over the Christmas and New Year period. I hope 1978 is a prosperous year for you all.