AZED CROSSWORD 345

A firework

A great disappointment. There were only about 65 entries and a fair number of those were from solvers who had clearly gone to inordinate lengths to acquire a copy of the puzzle as a result of its being not readily available outside the London area. I understand that the Observer office did post photocopies to those who sent stamped addressed envelopes for the purpose, but the number that did was not really significant. Faced with such a diminished entry I did not hesitate long before deciding that the fairest thing to do was to declare the competition null and void. This was particularly vexing because it was a ‘Theme and Variations’ special for the Fifth of November. For the benefit of those who never saw it, the theme-words were all fireworks, and competitors were invited to submit clues to any other firework of their own choice. This was only the second time I’ve given competitors the opportunity to choose their own clue-word (the first was at No. 200) and I was looking forward to a colourful display. Even among the entries received there were seventeen different fireworks (19 if you count variant spellings). They were (in order of popularity): Roman Candle (the clear favourite), Cracker and Fizgig/Fisgig equal second, Squib, Serpent, Maroon, Gerbe, Golden Rain, Pioye/Pioy, Torpedo, Flowerpot, Silver Fountain, Whizz-bang, Mount Vesuvius, Tourbillion, Petard and Girandole (which as one of the theme-words would have been disqualified).
 
The puzzle itself was quite hard, I think, whether or not you spotted the theme. This was partly because I allowed myself a variation not given in Chambers and hard to find even in the O.E.D. which I quoted as my source (along with Webster). Here are all the four theme-words with their respective variations: Rocket (Dyer, Dame – dyer’s rocket and dame’s rocket are both plants); Sparkler (Jade, Agate – gems); Girandole (Giro, Laden – comp. anag.); Banger (Jalopy, Heap – old cars). Dame’s rocket was the elusive connection. Chambers mentions dame’s violet under ‘rocket (2)’ as part of the definition and it has an entry of its own under ‘dame (1)’ (with a hyphen), but there is no dame’s rocket and even in the O.E.D. it only appears under ‘rocket’. As a result there were ten incorrect entries among those I received, which would have meant a fair proportion in a normal-sized entry. I thought hard about giving the unchecked letters in the unclued words and decided, perhaps wrongly in retrospect, against this extra bit of help. It’s all rather academic now, in any case.
 
I’ve nothing to add about the puzzle except to mention in passing (as one competitor cleverly did in his clue) that GIRANDOLE only needs an extra N to make it an anagram of GOLDEN RAIN. Further to my observations last month on BOOKSIE, the Oxford English Dictionary editors confirm that they have no examples of this spelling on file and add that -ie is by no means a regular variant spelling of this particular -y suffix. Could the Chambers entry, they surmise, be an example of editorial (or compositorial) substitution of the usual Scottish -ie for -y where it is not appropriate? I shall now have to put such a suggestion to Chambers and see what they say.
 
And now for the latest news on the Azed tie. Progress has been slow, I’m afraid, largely because of other demands on my time and the logistical problems involved. I also gave wrong information about the tie when I last mentioned it in a slip. It will not be silk (too expensive), but a form of crimplene, and the price will be a minimum £2.60 each assuming an order for 100 ties in all, with correspondingly lower prices as the quantity rises. About 50 of you have written to place a firm order (unless the change of price and material induces anyone to change his mind), and I shall be placing an announcement about it in the Observer in early January for the benefit of non-competitors. The problem is gauging demand accurately enough so as not to be left with a stock of ties paid for but unsold. This may mean my insisting on prepayment before placing the manufacturing order. The manufacturing process takes about 14 weeks. Would anyone object to this procedure? The design of the tie, I would remind you, is a single AZ monogrammed motif below the knot, kindly and expertly designed by Mr. A. D. Legge. There will be a choice of colours, also: dark blue, dark green or maroon, with corresponding changes in the colour of the motif. Support for the idea of an Azed scarf for the ladies has been so small that I think we must drop it.
 
Finally, since this is probably my last opportunity to do so before Christmas, I’d like to extend warmest seasonal greetings to all Azed solvers and best wishes for the New Year.