AZED CROSSWORD 460

SWOOP

1.  A. K. Gregory: Zero in suddenly (0 in swop, & lit.; swop adv., see supplement in Chambers 1977).

2.  C. A. Clarke: Strike having circled round? (O in swop, & lit.).

3.  Dr E. Young: Zero would do, in strike (O in swop, & lit ; do = suffice; Z., Jap. fighter plane).

VHC

D. Ashcroft: Sun to have Court Page? Peregrine’s line, surely (S woo p; ref. P. Worsthorne).

Mrs A. R. Bradford: Rapid plunging of body to pursue (amorously) in wanting children (woo in sp).

E. J. Burge: Circle in suddenly – in descent (of course) (O in swop, & lit.; swop adv.; down word).

D. A. H. Byatt: Love in exchange for Cupid’s dart? (0 in swop).

Dr V. G. I. Deshmukh: Women’s busts outsize – uplift needed round soft downward plunging (W in OS (rev.) + O p).

N. C. Dexter: What does Owl do? Woos Pussy-cat when starting at sea (anag. incl. P; ref. Lear: ‘The Owl and the Pussy-cat’).

O. H. Frazer: Scots pass swiftly outflanks Welsh onslaught (W in soop).

N. C. Goddard: Spring – the first signs of which occupy suitor (woo in Sp; suitor v.).

J. J. Goulstone: Soak embraces misery in a dive (wo in sop).

V. G. Henderson: Dip determining disaster? (2 mngs.).

Mrs R. Herbert: Swift downward flight leads to shrew – wily old owl’s prey (first letters).

J. P. H. Hirst: A sudden onslaught in Noel’s TV show: O for a bit of peace and quiet! (Swap Shop with O for a p sh; ref. TV show ‘Multicoloured Swap Shop’ with N. Edmonds).

E. M. Holroyd: Leads to sudden winged onslaught on prey? (first letters).

A. H. Jones: Work will be needed, not half, after Shirley Williams and Owen initially take the plunge (S W + O + op; ref. defections to SDP, David O.).

M. A. Macdonald-Cooper: Jock and I’ll crash Vanessa’s party – could be the death of Mrs MacD. and the kids! (oo² in SWP; ref. V. Redgrave in Socialist Workers Party and Lady Macduff in Macbeth; “one fell s.”).

C. G. Millin: Not exactly a slow operation – it doesn’t take long (anag. incl. op. less l, & lit.).

C. J. Morse: Warning to go slow in steep and sudden descent (wo in sop).

R. J. Palmer: Souse and souse to drown sorrow (wo in sop; souse = swoop).

K. Reed: Dive over with try to win in the middle of Arms Park (woo in s P; ref. Cardiff rugby stadium).

W. J. M. Scotland: Stop parking in busy spot with time running out or traffic warden will! (wo in anag. less t).

W. K. M. Slimmings: Case for court is maybe odds on… after police one? (woo in SP; starting price).

J. B. Sweeting: Duck in suddenly (0 in swop, & lit.; swop adv.).

A. J. Wardrop: What lovers do with poise after start of seduction? (s + woo + p).

L. C. Wright: Speedy action, by CID perhaps, will deal a blow to vice ring (O in swop; vice vt.).

HC

T. Anderson, E. A. Beaulah, A. Bottoms, Mrs A. Boyes, Rev C. M. Broun, A. J. Bulman, R. S. Caffyn, Mrs M. J. Cansfield, D. P. Chappell, G. H. Clarke, M. Coates, Mrs M. P. Craine, G. Cuthbert, P. Drummond, M. Earle, Miss L. Eveleigh, C. J. Feetenby, Dr J. C. Felton, D. S. Fielker, Dr I. S. Fletcher, Rev S. W. Floyd, M. A. Furman, F. D. Gardiner, S. Goldie, J. Grainge, B. Greer, R. B. Grote, T. Hallam, A. O. Harries, D. Harrison, P. F. Henderson, N. Hobbs, T. Hoggart, R. A. Hutchinson, Mrs D. B. Jenkinson, N. Kemmer, R. E. Kimmons, G. G. Lawrance, M. D. Laws, M. Lloyd, B. Lowe, D. F. Manley, B. Manvell, L. May, D. P. M. Michael, J. J. Moore, T. J. Moorey, A. C. Morrison, R. A. Mostyn, Dr P. Owen, F. R. Palmer, J. Philbrick, D. R. Robinson, G. C. Rosser, T. E. Sanders, D. P. Shenkin, D. M. Stanford, F. B. Stubbs, E. Tingle, D. H. Tompsett, A. R. Trowell, R. Van Langen, A. J. M. Watt, C. E. Williams, D. C. Williamson, M. G. Wilson.
 

COMMENTS
554 entries, the only mistake being FRIT for FLIT, which about a dozen competitors had, though several more seem to have thought quite hard before plumping for the correct answer. It never occurred to me that this clue would cause a problem. It came into my head and went down on the page almost at once. What I hadn’t thought of, and should have done, was that Flit fly spray is no longer made and sold. Perhaps it was a victim of the aerosol revolution but I feel sure there must be hundreds of those old pump-operated contraptions I remember so well, rusting away in garages and garden sheds. To be fairer and safer, though, the clue should perhaps have read ‘This would do for fly.’ I cannot see how FRIT can fit the clue except as a straight definition. ‘Do for’ meaning both ‘suffice’ and ‘account for, kill’ is a handy gadget, by the way – see Dr Young’s clue above as a good example.
 
A good entry again, largish and very varied. I do think a short word should have a short clue if possible. I am aware of the tendency in myself, particularly when I am cluing a short word I’ve clued n times before, to seek some extra subtlety, which can easily lead to extra difficulty and extra length. I am aware of it and try to stop it. You should do likewise. Most of the clues quoted above achieve succinctness combined with a very reasonable degree of difficulty. Another tip: try to avoid quoting the dictionary definition (or one of them) verbatim in your clue. It’s surprising how much a rewording of the meaning you’re using or (better still, sometimes) an illustrative contextualization of its usage (see, for instance, the clues of Messrs Ashcroft and Dexter), livens the clue up and raises it from beta to alpha rating, assuming its basic soundness.
 
I grew weary, I confess, of the rising prisoners-of-war with nothing in their bellies. Another interesting point emerged here, though. ‘Having eaten nothing’ is, I’d say, just OK to mean ‘with O inside,’ though the concepts of mastication and digestion have to be ignored. Theoretically one ought then to accept ‘having drunk nothing’ with the same meaning though I can’t recall seeing it and I think I’d be wary of using it. Going several stages further you might say that ‘having eaten nothing’ is the same or nearly the same as ‘empty’, ‘hungry’, ‘starving’, ‘starved’ even (i.e. forcibly denied sustenance rather than simply lacking food). With each semantic link you are getting further from what you mean to say in clue-writing terms and introducing extra ‘clues to clues’ which the solver must solve before getting to the clue proper. Dangerous territory this, about which I’ll have more to say in later slips. Suffice it simply to utter this general word of caution at this stage, and to reiterate the oft-quoted maxim: ‘I may not say what I mean, but I must mean what I say’. And incidentally, for the guidance of those who weren’t sure, I do follow Ximenes in disliking ‘back’ for ‘up’ in down words.
 
The dinner to mark No. 500 has now been fixed for Saturday 7 November 1981 and will be held at the Randolph Hotel, Oxford. Approximate cost: £10 per head. Further details will be announced as they become known but it would help the organizers, Don Manley and Richard Palmer, to receive early expressions of interest from those who think they are likely to come. Please write to D. F. Manley
 
Finally, my thanks for all the kind enquiries about my health. My flu seems to have been of a particularly virulent and persistent strain, but I’m pretty well over it now, I’m glad to say.