AZED CROSSWORD 50

CORPULE(N)T

1.  H. A. C. Darwen: I’m to be top cluer for a change. I’m not coming in in the middle (anag.).

2.  D. P. M. Michael: Clue to Prince – short, ugly, very fat (anag. incl. Pr.).

3.  T. Anderson: Having a large stomach ulcer opt for surgery (anag.).

VHC

A. G. Bogie: Fat? I’m something more than fat, completely round – a hindrance! (cor² + up (rev.) + let; fat² = 9 bushels).

R. M. Bonner: ‘O cruel P.T.,’ burbled fatty (anag.).

Rev C. M. Broun: Having frightful pot, with the possibility of an ulcer (anag.).

E. J. Burge: Having extra covering for the hips or soft in the belly? (or p in culet).

C. O. Butcher: Stout work – fifty right cute puzzles (anag. incl. op L r).

R. S. Caffyn: Overweight Tories’ leader’s cure: lop a bit off! (anag. incl. T; ref. Heath’s check-up).

E. Chalkley: ‘Top clue King’ could be descriptive of Azed when fully developed (anag. incl. R).

N. C. Dexter: Such could well turn to P.E. – or cut last bit of the meal (anag. incl. l, & lit.).

L. L. Dixon: Gross misrepresentation of pot – and cruel (anag. & lit.).

P. Drummond: Rising actor in brilliant part resembling Falstaff (pro (rev.) in culet).

E. R. Evans: Fat pork cutlet? Trim ends and mince (anag. less last letters).

B. Franco: Sporting cruel pot (anag. & lit.).

Dr P. D. King: Without exotic rubber, several baths and keep-fit exercises (ule in cor, PT, & lit.; cor², bath²).

D. P. Laurie: Having to strain to get into a tight garment – must lose pounds (pu(LL) in corset, & lit.).

L. F. Leason: Awkward shape of croup once prevented having a wide girth (anag. + let).

J. P. Lester: Coulter – forepart of ploughshare – is tempered, stout (anag. incl. p).

Mrs B. Lewis: I’m bent on being top cluer and having a pot (anag.; ref. Azed cup).

D. F. Manley: Henry VIII was terribly cruel to leader of papists (anag. incl. p).

D. McCallum: Falstaff was this round lout mixed up with English prince (c. + anag. incl. E Pr).

F. R. Palmer: King Cole put out – suffering results of merriment (anag. incl. R).

Brig R. F. E. Stoney: Tart up in hippy gear, hippy-like (pro (rev.) in culet).

Rev C. D. Westbrook: Having ‘trop de cul’, heartlessly, translated? (anag. less d, & lit.).

HC

R. Abrey, C. Allen Baker, F. D. H. Atkinson, M. Barnes, J. W. Bates, R. T. Baxter, J. M. Brown, E. W. Burton, E. J. Bushell, D. A. H. Byatt, A. H. P. Cardew, Mrs M. P. Craine, D. A. Crossland, A. J. Crow, A. L. Dennis, Mrs W. Fearon, J. A. Fincken, R. P. C. Forman, J. Gill, S. Goldie, E. Gomersall, D. V. Harry, J. M. Houghton, J. Humphreys, A. H. Iliffe, R. H. F. Isham, L. W. Jenkinson, J. S. Johnson, K. W. Johnson, G. Johnstone, Sir S. Kaye, J. H. C. Leach, P. Leather, Miss J. S. Lumsden, H. W. Massingham, J. McGhee, C. G. Millin, D. G. C. Mockridge, C. J. Morse, J. W. Parr, E. J. Rackham, D. S. Robertson, D. R. Robinson, L. G. D. Sanders, K. C. Slater, B. D. Smith, M. H. E. Watson.
 

ANNUAL HONOURS LIST (13 COMPETITIONS)
1 (equal): N. C. Dexter (2 prizes, 5 VHCs), L. F. Leason (3, 3), Dr R. J. Palmer (2, 5); 4: C. J. Morse (1, 6); 5 (equal): C. O. Butcher (1, 5), S. Goldie (1, 5), Mrs B. Lewis (0, 7); 8 (equal): C. Allen Baker (1, 4), R. S. Caffyn (0, 6), A. D. Legge (2, 2), D. F. Manley (1, 4), M. L. Perkins (2, 2); 13 (equal): J. P. H. Hirst (1, 3), D. P. M. Michael (2, 1), E. R. Riddle (2, 1), G. A. Tomlinson (1, 3); 17 (equal): T. Anderson (2, 0), Rev C. M. Broun (0, 4), E. Chalkley (0, 4), Cdr H. H. L. Dickson (0, 4), J. A. Fincken (0, 4), J. R. Kirby (0, 4), Mrs E. McFee (0, 4), T. E. Sanders (0, 4), Rev C. D. Westbrook (1, 2). CONSOLATION PRIZES: Mrs B. Lewis, R. S. Caffyn, Rev C. M. Broun, E. Chalkley, Cdr H. H. L. Dickson, J. A. Fincken, J. R. Kirby, Mrs E. McFee, T. E. Sanders.
 

 
Comments
 
About 475 entries, very few mistakes indeed. A good and enthusiastic entry for quite a tough puzzle. I’m pleased that so many of you relished the additional challenge. I don’t like to let ‘special events’ go by without a special puzzle of some kind though a few competitors failed to note the number of the puzzle and assumed that I had reached my fiftieth birthday. That mile-stone, I’m happy to say, is still a good twenty years off.
 
My comments on the puzzle must be brief since I am pressed for time. Many of you drew attention to the ambiguity of ENACING. To be honest I hadn’t spotted this, but I think the clue fits ENFACING better than it does ENACTING and in any case the quotation puts it beyond all doubt. A few of you didn’t like ‘top’ for ‘first letter’ (in an across word) and ‘over’ for ‘round’, both in TYLIT (STYLISTS). This was not inadvertence on my part. I convinced myself from reference to Chambers that ‘top = first part of’ (e.g. morning) was O.K., as was ‘over = across = from one side to the other’. I agree that both are a bit clumsy, but not unsound.
 
The leading clues are all excellent, especially the irresistibly prophetic No. 1. My congratulations to all and to the three holders of first place in the honours list. The points system is simple and, I think, fair, two for a prize, one for a VHC, none for an HC. Mr. Butcher’s clue, which is a little strained in its use of abbreviations, albeit common ones, got by on compassionate grounds, the occasion being what it was. I hope, finally, it may not be assumed that I necessarily agree with the flattering implications of Mr. Chalkley’s clue!
 
(Would those who have not received their annual consolation prizes kindly write to Miss Sandra McCormack at the Observer to claim them. Not all addresses were available.)