AZED CROSSWORD 469

APLUSTRE

1.  R. H. F. Isham: L. Pasteur decorated after work on carriers in the main (anag.).

2.  P. Cargill: Pat rules out fluting before a wake (anag.; wake^1,2).

3.  T. A. J. Spencer: Ornament at super vessel’s stern (anag. incl. l, & lit.).

VHC

Dr J. K. Aronson: An extra something added to the sterns of ancient men-of-war maybe (a plus + t r e, & lit.).

Mrs K. Bissett: A ‘something extra’ craft’s without nowadays (A plus tr(AD)e, & lit.).

Mrs A. Blanchard: Past rule at sea was a pretty stern affair (anag.).

A. J. Bulman: Stern prospect for ancient craft, reversal of past splendour (pa. (rev.) + lustre).

C. A. Clarke: Form of art comprising additional symbolic representation on the end of trireme? (plus in anag. + e, & lit.).

R. G. Crosland: With one put on stern of ship, there is added splendour (a + p + lustre, & lit.).

N. C. Dexter: An addition, in moulded art, to trireme’s stern? (plus in anag. + e, & lit.).

Dr I. S. Fletcher: Addition in form of art to barque’s stern, perhaps (plus in anag. + e, & lit.).

S. Goldie: Odysseus’ stern design? Settling up later with the last of the suitors (anag. incl. s).

J. J. Goulstone: Plaster moulded round stern of bateau? (u in anag., & lit.).

P. F. Henderson: Lacking hydrogen, the pulsar spins in part of Argo-Puppis? (anag. less H; Puppis = poop, stern; part of constellation Argo).

J. Lawrence: Plaster daubed round stern of bateau? Possibly (u in anag., & lit.).

A. Lawrie: A soft dress material – it looked nice over the counter (a p lustre; c. = lower part of ship’s stern).

H. W. Massingham: A supplementary ornament for trireme’s stern parts? (a plus + t r e, & lit.).

Rev M. R. Metcalf: An extra, embellishing ends of craft (earlier type) (a plus + t r e, & lit.).

C. G. Millin: A ship’s stern ornament (a p lustre, & lit.).

T. J. Moorey: One’s put on ship’s stern with ornate result (a + p + lustre, & lit.).

C. J. Morse: Decorative finish added to a ship’s stern (a + p + lustre, & lit.).

D. S. Nagle: An enhancement built finally right on end of quinquereme? (a plus + t + r + e, & lit.).

F. R. Palmer: An extra bit of trimming right on the stern of a trireme (a plus + t + r + e, & lit.).

C. P. Rea: I became bottom after being top grade very nearly in French! (A-plus + trè(s); i.e. graced ship’s behind).

K. Reed: ‘Poop art pusle’ – as very Ancient Mariner might have explained one to guests (anag.; poop = undo).

Mrs B. Simmonds: An additional bit of trimming right on end of trireme (a plus + t + r + e, & lit.).

W. K. M. Slimmings: Real old stern dressing from St Paul, going on and on (anag. + re; on = getting drunk).

P. D. Smith: What could be super at stern of caravel? (anag. incl. l, & lit.).

L. E. Thomas: After display of the old bottom, a true slap may be in order (anag.).

M. G. Wilson: What active perusal around rear of boat may reveal? (t in anag., & lit.).

HC

D. W. Arthur, Miss G. Barker, J. Beasley, Mrs A. Boyes, J. M. Brown, E. J. Burge, E. W. Burton, D. A. H. Byatt, M. Coates, Dr J. Crawford, A. L. Dennis, P. Drummond, P. S. Elliott, Miss L. Eveleigh, B. France, J. Gill, J. B. Graham, J. F. Grimshaw, D. V. Harry, J. Henderson, A. Hodgson, E. M. Holroyd, A. H. Jones, C. L. Jones, J. R. H. Jones, J. G. Levack, C. J. Lowe, M. A. Macdonald-Cooper, L. K. Maltby, Rev W. P. Manahan, D. F. Manley, L. May, J. J. Murtha, J. Nicholson, R. J. Palmer, W. H. Pegram, M. Postlethwaite, H. Rainger, R. F. Ray, D. R. Robinson, L. G. D. Sanders, C. I. Semeonoff, Mrs C. Shaw, Mrs E. J. Shields, G. M. Stark, J. G. Stubbs, R. J. Whale, D. C. Williamson, M. Woolf, N. C. Wormleighton, N. D. Young.
 

ANNUAL HONOURS LIST (13 COMPETITIONS)
1. C. J. Morse (1 prize, 9 VHCs); 2. (equal) T. E. Sanders (1, 7), W. J. M. Scotland (2, 5); 4. (equal) E. J. Burge (0, 8), N. C. Dexter (2, 4), C. G. Millin (1, 6); 7. E. M. Holroyd (1, 5); 8. (equal) A. J. Crow (1, 4), V. G. Henderson (0, 6), M. D. Laws (1, 4), F. R. Palmer (0, 6), R. J. Palmer (0, 6), W. K. M. Slimmings (0, 6); 14. (equal) T. Anderson (1, 3), C. Allen Baker (1, 3), C. A. Clarke (1, 3), R. Dean (2, 1), D. P. M. Michael (0, 5), T. J. Moorey (1, 3), D. F. Manley (0, 5); 21. (equal) Mrs K. Bissett (0, 4), R. V. Dearden (0, 4), N. C. Goddard (1, 2), J. P. H. Hirst (1, 2), C. H. Hudson (0, 4), G. Johnstone (1, 2), A. Lawrie (0, 4), R. A. Mostyn (0, 4), Dr E. Young (1, 2). CONSOLATION PRIZES: Mrs K. Bissett, E. J. Burge, R. V. Dearden, V. G. Henderson, C. H. Hudson, A. Lawrie, D. F. Manley, D. P. M. Michael, R. A. Mostyn, F. R. Palmer, R. J. Palmer, W. K. M. Slimmings.
 

 
COMMENTS
 
393 entries, the only mistakes being from the few who couldn’t believe that CHAR was wrong (instead of CHUM) and had to invent something in place of EMOTE. One or two of you queried my use of ERNE in the obsolete sense of ‘to curdle.’ Chambers is less precise than it might be on this point, referring the reader to earn³ and yearn (unnumbered entry and therefore any?). The third entry for YEARN is defined as ‘to curdle, as milk -Also earn,’ so the three forms of the word are (or were) virtually interchangeable. Close perusal of the O.E.D. suggests that ERNE is never found in the sense of ‘to curdle,’ however, so my critics had a point. Rather more seriously I was faulted by one expert on my use of the verb ‘to found’ in the IRON-ORE clue (‘What men often found about gold immersed in heat’). ‘Men’, he informs me gently but firmly, ‘never did (and could not) found iron ore. They smelt iron ore to reduce it (in the chemical sense) to metallic iron, which they found, or cast.’ I stand corrected and apologise.
 
A nice word, APLUSTRE, and a nice crop of entries. Quite a number of you (ex-Classicists mostly) seemed to regard it with a special affection or spoke wittily of ‘a soft glow’ on meeting it again. It did rather cry out for ‘& lit.’ treatment, of the kind represented in its simplest form by Mr Millin’s clue. Fewer than expected went for the added topicality of the Oxford cox Sue Brown who could reasonably be described as a stern ornament if hardly ancient, and those that did didn’t quite pull it off to my complete satisfaction. I admired Mr Isham’s clue for its sustained use of double meanings throughout, and if I harbour the perhaps unworthy suspicion that ‘decorated’ is intended to do double duty both as an anagram indicator and as a descriptive epithet applied to the definition sense (which would, I submit, be asking too much of it) there is really no need for this as ‘work’ can be read as meaning a work of art which could well be decorated anyway.
 
Mr L. G. D. Sanders produced a clue which was almost (but not quite) outstanding. Using a word-for-word quotation from Macbeth he came up with: ‘"Palter with us in a double sense," a stern character once observed.’ I could just about accept ‘in a double sense’ as a reasonable anagram indicator, but describing an aplustre as ‘a character’ seemed to me to be stretching things too far. Pity. Such opportunities to find clues already written by Shakespeare et al. are rare.
 
Finally, congratulations to CJM for regaining first place in the annual honours list. One of his VHCs was a family effort for which his son Richard is entitled to (?) half the credit but even without that he’d have been out on his own in front – a splendid record of soundness and consistency against increasingly stiff competition, with more consolation prizes than ever before. I apologise, by the way, to Mr V. G. Henderson for not getting his name into the paper. I realised the omission just too late.