AZED CROSSWORD 410

CUL-DE-SAC

1.  N. C. Dexter: What use a 550 c.c. model here? (anag. incl. DL, & lit.).

2.  J. D. Moore: This word must be clued, with solution, envelope attached: one can have one entry only (anag. + sac; ref. AZ comp).

3.  T. E. Sanders: What, after copper’s left at the opening, you’ll get boxed up in (Cu l + cased (rev.), & lit.).

VHC

Rev C. M. Broun: Is it providing dual access? Not as it is (anag. less as, & lit.).

E. J. Burge: I could give dual access if I had a second! (comp. anag. incl. s, & lit.).

A. J. Crow: ‘NO THROUGH ROAD’ caused learner to wobble about (anag. incl. L + c.).

R. V. Dearden: Could be clued as C shaped (anag. & lit.).

P. Freeman: And this one’s symbol is T, but is wrongly clued as C! (anag.; ref. AZ’s potassium error and No Through Road sign).

J. E. Green: Learner driver’s first reversing situation after short cut here? (cu(t) + L + d + case (rev.), & lit.).

Dr J. F. Grimshaw: Element at No. 29 leads astray. Caught in this impasse? (Cu + anag. + c; ref. AZ’s potassium error; copper, At. No. 29).

D. V. Harry: It’s most tortuously clued, as C. gets one nowhere (anag.; C. = Chambers).

P. F. Henderson: If clued: ‘Cars turn here’, this could be about right? (comp. anag. incl. r, & lit.).

V. G. Henderson: Chase concludes with a crash – could be car has chosen —— (comp. anag. & lit.).

E. M. Holroyd: Might turning quarry lose seconds here (c(o)uld + c(h)ase (rev.), & lit.).

Mrs R. B. Hunt: Secluded side road can turn into dead end, or is —— (comp. anag. & lit.).

R. Jacks: Crisp Azed clue, cryptic? Might get prize with it. This gets nowhere (comp. anag.).

F. P. N. Lake: Could be clued as ‘carriageway not carried through’ (anag. + c, & lit.).

J. P. Lester: Learner accused following smash in no through road (anag. incl. L).

L. K. Maltby: Blocked road has closed circuit round approach to Ullswater and dales after accident (U + anag., all in CC).

D. F. Manley: Blocked passage? Castor-oil emptied inside, caused loosening (anag. incl. C, l).

D. P. M. Michael: With copper left at entrance, upset for burglariously planned reconnoitre? (Cu l + cased (rev.), & lit.).

C. J. Morse: Short cut gets learner boxed up – could be this (cu(t) + L + cased (rev.), & lit.).

Dr P. Owen: Wrongly clue carbon as deuterium; such a mistake by Azed might lead you up here (anag. incl. C, D; ref. AZ’s potassium error).

S. L. Paton: Close call was deuced tricky but for poor West lead (anag. less anag. incl. W; close = dead-end).

W. H. Pegram: Falsely accused learner appears in court? (anag. incl. L).

Mrs A. Price: Feature of a maze – in a small space, 180° turn leads out (U + anag. in cc.; U-turn).

P. H. Rhodes: There’s only one means of access to this summit except for men of the French Alpine Club (cul(men) + des + AC).

D. C. Williamson: Mistakenly see this as giving dual access? (comp. anag. & lit.).

HC

Mrs E. Allen, A. Bottoms, R. S. Caffyn, E. Chalkley, E. S. Clark, D. L. L. Clarke, E. A. Clarke, G. H. Clarke, Mrs M. P. Craine, A. L. Dennis, G. J. Edwards, D. Finkel, J. D. Foster, B. Franco, O. H. Frazer, F. D. Gardiner, J. M. Gerard, C. P. Grant, B. Greer, J. G. Hull, V. Jennings, A. D. Legge, C. J. Lowe, M. A. Macdonald-Cooper, D. J. MacKay, H. S. Mason, J. McGhee, T. J. Moorey, R. A. Mostyn, W. Murphy, D. S. Nagle, F. R. Palmer, D. E. Poole, N. J. Reed, H. R. Sanders, W. J. M. Scotland, A. D. Scott, D. P. Shenkin, Mrs B. Simmonds, T. A. J. Spencer, J. G. Stubbs, G. A. Styles, D. H. Tompsett, G. R. Webb, Mrs M. P. Webber, J. W. Welford, Dr E. Young.
 

COMMENTS
486 entries, about thirty of which had REVIVER for REVIVOR. Even if Ivor is ever spelt Iver, which I doubt, the definition part of the clue (‘Welsh vicar, perhaps, gives suit a fresh airing?’) should have clinched it. Perhaps erring solvers simply didn’t notice REVIVOR near the end of the entry for REVIVE in C, or assumed I was being more than usually obscure or plain wrong. Which brings me to PHENE. I’m truly sorry for this bit of idiocy. It wasn’t simply ignorance. My knowledge of chemistry is so rudimentary that I would never not look up an abbreviation to check it. The mistake must have occurred in my fevered brain between looking up P in Chambers and finalizing my clue to PHENE, a nasty nothing sort of word at the best of times. E/2, by the way, was intended to mean half of energy, not some recondite compass reading. The clue, even without the error of Potassium for Phosphorus, is of course gobbledegook but that wouldn’t really have mattered. Unfair gobbledegook is inexcusable, though. Thank you, anyway, for being so restrained in your comments whether in prose or in verse.
 
It was generally agreed that this was a more difficult competition than usual, with an above-average number of references, direct or indirect, to proper names (e.g. Holder, Evert (which puzzled some), Tosca, Inigo (Jones), Dover, Lucasta). I think the solution notes will have explained them all. I don’t accept (as I’ve said before) that extra help should be given with these, such as I give when quoting my reference source for words not in Chambers. Ximenes and even more so Torquemada would turn in their graves at the mere suggestion of such mollycoddling. More acceptably it’s suggested that I indicate hyphenated words either by simply showing that they are hyphenated or by stating where the hyphens come. My inclination has been and still is to follow X’s tradition of leaving the extra hard work to you. Can I have a show of hands?
 
No one, I think, could claim that CUL-DE-SAC was an unkind word to have to clue, It produced an excellent crop of entries which were a joy to read. Rather a large number said or implied that there is no way out of a cul-de-sac whereas of course you can always get out by the way you came in. Little inaccuracies like this matter a lot in a high-quality entry. As for Mr. Dexter’s winning clue its blend of flair and originality was to me irresistible. I’m told by my motorbike enthusiast friends that 550 c.c. is not a standard engine capacity but at the same time it’s not inconceivable. The definition aspect of the ‘& lit.’ clue is also less precise than it might be, in that a powerful bike would be of little use in a number of places. I’ve no doubt NCD thought along these lines too and decided his clue was good enough to withstand such scrutiny. I think he was right.
 
No time for more. I’d like to say a bit about composite anagrams next time, since they continue to draw exasperated comments from a number of solvers, new and old.