AZED CROSSWORD 366

MONKEY-SHINE

1.  D. F. Manley: Hokes in NY me? Perhaps – when respelt! (anag. & lit.; i.e. hoax).

2.  W. K. M. Slimmings: Boston’s semi-grand tea party … is it done to have a mug? (monkey shine; i.e. $500; have = deceive).

3.  M. D. Laws: If it’s played, one may put Yank on and see him forgetting 1st of April! (anag. less A, & lit.).

VHC

T. Anderson: Fools forgetting first, mostly backward, get taken in by me ((d)onkeys hin(d) in me, & lit.).

E. J. Burge: First of month, stupid! – penny drops – instruction to produce light is a trick! (m + (d)onkey + shine!; ref. puzzle).

R. S. Caffyn: Trick played on me, I think: yes, and it’s come off! (anag. less it).

E. Chalkley: The roguish trick meant one noticing, initially, the bit inserted ‘… to furnish light’ (first letters + key + shine; ref. puzzle).

M. Coates: Jonathan’s bamboozling is nonsense about clue, nothing less (key in mo(0)nshine; J. = American and AZ’s first name).

A. J. Crow: Trick solution hidden in nonsense – nothing less (key in mo(o)nshine).

R. V. Dearden: Mess about with initial letters of sixteen horizontals indicating nothing eventually? It must be a hoax! (monkey + initial letters; ref. puzzle).

P. D. Gaffey: One of the antics Jimmy Carter’s kind of nuts do (monkey shine; ref. J. C.’s peanut (monkey nut) farm; do = party).

B. Greer: Azed’s involves nothing short of nonsense about set of answers (key in mo(0)nshine, & lit.; ref. puzzle).

Dr J. F. Grimshaw: First of month? Forgetting day, fool starts to shuffle his initials – never expecting mischievous trick! (m +(d)onkey + initial letters; ref. puzzle).

E. M. Holroyd: A dark blotch – swarm’s in sight, making hum (monk + shin in eye; swarm², hum²).

C. W. Laxton: Imp’s work, making holy man brood about a bit of leg (monk + shin in eye²).

P. Machin: Shy ink, and one is involved in me (anag. & lit.).

C. G. Millin: Taking one in, initially, it could be all that malarky about a light (key in moonshine less o(ne), & lit.; ref. puzzle).

C. J. Morse: Gee, this makes a good rag for wax polish (monkey shine; monkey, wax = anger; gee⁴).

D. S. Nagle: O my! Shin and knee dislocated by pulling of leg (anag.).

Mrs E. J. Shields: Prank perhaps to have fool on (monkey + shine, & lit.; shine, prank = make great show).

Mrs B. Simmonds: What precedes some other puzzles to shed light is a hoax here (monkey shine; i.e. monkey puzzle trees; ref. preamble).

F. B. Stubbs: It must envisage some kind of butt to be a success (monkey shine; monkey, butt, liquor vessels).

G. R. Webb: What tomfoolery is Azed up to? Nothing less than nonsense involving the clue (key in mo(0)nshine; ref. puzzle).

D. C. Williamson: What provides a big hit, with dash? Jonathan’s jest! (monkey + shine; J. = American and AZ’s first name).

HC

C. Allen Baker, Mrs A. R. Bradford, Rev C. M. Broun, C. A. Clarke, S. L. Claughton, R. M. S. Cork, R. Dean, A. L. Dennis, N. C. Dexter, P. Drummond, J. D. Foster, B. Franco, O. H. Frazer, Mrs J. O. Fuller, S. Goldie, D. V. Harry, P. F. Henderson, B. Heyhoe, R. J. Hooper, J. Hopkinson, C. H. Hudson, J. G. Hull, R. Jacks, Mrs N. Jarman, R. E. Kimmons, A. D. Legge, C. Loving, Lieut Col D. Macfie, W. F. Main, I. D. McDonald, W. L. Miron, T. J. Moorey, H. B. Morton, F. R. Palmer, R. J. Palmer, W. H. Pegram, H. L. Rhodes, Rear Adm W. T. C. Ridley, A. Rivlin, T. E. Sanders, A. D. Scott, N. G. Shippobotham, G. Snowden-Davies, R. C. Teuton, T. R. Theakston, A. J. Wardrop, Mrs J. Welford, M. G. Wilson.
 

ANNUAL HONOURS LIST (13 COMPETITIONS):-1. F. R. Palmer (4 prizes, 4 V.H.C.s); 2. (equal) D. F. Manley (3,4), C. J. Morse (1,8), R. J. Palmer (2,6); 5. (equal) C. Allen Baker (2,4), M. D. Laws (1,6); 7. (equal) E. M. Holroyd (1,5), C. G. Millin (0,7), T. E. Sanders (2,3), D. C. Williamson (2,3); 11(equal) E. J. Burge (0,6), R. J. Hooper (0,6), W. K. M. Slimmings (2,2); 14. B. Franco (1,3); 15. (equal) Mrs. K.Bissett (1,2), Mrs. M. J. Cansfield (1,2), E. Chalkley (0,4), C. A. Clarke (0,4), M. Coates (0,4), N. C. Dexter (1,2), R. P. C. Forman (1,2), D. V. Harry (0,4), E. M. Hornby (0,4), G. Johnstone (1,2), R. E. Kimmons (0,4), D. H. Tompsett (1,2), J. F. N. Wedge (0,4). CONSOLATION PRIZES: -E. J. Burge, E. Chalkley, C. A. Clarke, M. Coates, D. V. Harry R. J. Hooper, E. M. Hornby, R. E. Kimmons, C. G. Millin, J. F. N. Wedge.
 

 
Comments
 
About 370 entries, about fifty of them having SPOT for SHOT. I can see that ‘turn’ defines both words equally well, but I can’t see that the subsidiary part of the clue (‘Does it give drunken toper a turn?’) leads to SPOT despite faint echoes of toss-pots and spots of whisky, etc. What I had in mind was a threefold indication of the word SHOT, viz. two straight definitions (a ‘turn’ and a short drink) plus a slurred (or ‘drunken’) rendering of the word SOT, plus of course an overall ‘& lit.’ effect. I regret the extra uncertainty caused by the use of the word ‘turn’ in the clue, which was perfectly unintentional despite the general theme of the puzzle.
 
It took me literally months of periodic thought to arrive at an April-fool idea which was not unfairly deceptive, would probably not spoil people’s chances of completing the puzzle if not tumbled to, and yet would cause a fair amount of amused exasperation when the penny dropped. I know MONKEYSHINE was the only word that fitted when everything else was solved, but I decided that was a good thing, and simply gave it a few extra unches to make sure you did solve everything else first. Many of you clearly didn’t spot the April-fool indication concealed in the preamble and settled on MONKEY-SHINE whether or not they had wrestled with the spoof acrostic first. Others noticed the slightly odd wording of the preamble and were on the look-out for foolery of some kind without at first anticipating what form it would take. The wolves pounced straight away. All in all, just the sort of mixed results I’d hoped for, so I was well satisfied with the whole piece of nonsense.
 
Plenty of excellent clues were submitted. Full marks to competitors who managed to indicate the American-ness of the word, not particularly easy to do and not something I insisted on. The most popular idea by far was variations on the chimpanzees’ tea-party theme, which tended as a result to suffer from over-exposure. A few brave souls, determined not to be outdone, contrived clues to MONKEY-SHINE which simultaneously referred to the across initials. The results were often ingenious but rarely made much sense. Mr. Williamson’s clue achieved a very witty double entendre in that it can be read as a clue to SIX DOWN as well as MONKEY-SHINE. No extra marks, but it amused me considerably.
 
No time for more now. The annual honours list is one month later than usual because the November competition was a washout. Many congratulations to Mr. Palmer for regaining first place. His consistency since the Azed series began has been remarkable. And my thanks again to Mr. Baker for keeping a running check on the scores again. For once my arithmetic tallied with his exactly this year!