AZED CROSSWORD 530

PROMETAL

1.  F. P. N. Lake: I’m from the cast – and probably in for a hot time, having made exit back to front! (prom + late (rev.); front = seaside promenade).

2.  D. R. Robinson: Possible product of Morpeth, hard cast and completely reduced (anag. less h + al(l), & lit.; NE foundry centre; reduce = bring to metallic state).

3.  D. O. Williams: No longer containing ore, a poor melter when heated (anag. less ore, & lit.).

VHC

J. K. Aronson: Melts pig-iron, a ton, stirring. Result may be this material in ingots (comp. anag. & lit.).

D. Ashcroft: Stuff the Iron Lady’s made of, shown as PM tore in shreds Mr Haig? (anag. + Al; ref. M. Thatcher and Alexander H., US Sec. of State).

A. G. Bogie: Product of forGe, say? (i.e. pro-metal, & lit.; Ge = germanium).

P. S. Elliott: Club expert paid a pound for a special type of iron (pro met a L).

F. D. Gardiner: Iron-carbon alloy that’s different from plate – not a bit of flexibility (anag. less f).

C. M. Gillard: Trampoline could be cast in me (comp. anag. & lit.).

S. Goldie: Stuff for the witches’ cauldron? See the Props Mistress about frog’s innards and other things (ro in PM + et al.).

D. V. Harry: It’ll take a lot of firing to make disruptive P.L.O. tamer (anag.).

P. F. Henderson: There’s a switch for Palmer to a special iron, brought into play when the heat is on (anag.; ref. Arnold P.).

V. G. Henderson: Palmer to chip with an iron (anag.; ref. Arnold P.).

J. P. H. Hirst: Good casting material, used to make pots from appearing topless – in part of Viola for example ((f)rom in petal).

M. D. Laws: More running in training needed? A novice found this, when preparing for strong heat (anag. in PT + a L; found²).

L. K. Maltby: Pig product for scratch meal, stuffed with sprig of thyme (pro + t in anag.; i.e. pig iron).

D. F. Manley: Exploding Exocet gutted ship finally – moral is to produce heat-resistant material (anag. incl. E, t p; ref. Falklands War, HMS Sheffield, etc.).

C. G. Millin: Top golfer, me? A beginner without tee or iron (unsuitable for club) (pro me + T in a L).

T. J. Moorey: Trampoline could be framed in this (comp. anag. & lit.).

F. R. Palmer: Indication of alternative ‘Rejected,’ Mrs T (and others) hold. ‘It won’t work’ (or (rev.) in PM et al.; ref. Thatcher’s slogan ‘there is no alternative’).

G. Perry: Cast iron trampoline lacking in bounces (anag. less in).

A. D. Scott: Capital chess player’s after pawn – I offer strong resistance (P + Rome + Tal; ref. Mikhail T.).

R. Vanlangen: Mixture in centre of chrome plate? (anag. of (ch)rome plat(e), & lit.).

Mrs M. P. Webber: Kind of iron plate possibly worn by Romans (Rom. in anag.).

J. F. N. Wedge: I could be in billets, or back in custody of Provost-Marshal (and others) (or (rev.) in PM et al.; billet = bar of metal).

HC

R. Abrey, R. H. Adey, C. Allen Baker, D. R. Appleton, Mrs G. M. Barker, Rev C. M. Broun, A. J. Bulman, E. J. Burge, R. S. Caffyn, C. A. Clarke, P. R. Clemow, K. David, J. V. S. A. Davies, T. Davies, N. C. Dexter, H. F. Dixon, Miss N. M. Edouard, O. M. Ellis, T. H. Farr, M. B. Fisher, Dr I. S. Fletcher, M. J. Forbes, Miss J. Gore, J. F. Grimshaw, Mrs D. Herbert, Mrs S. Hewitt, J. Horwood, A. H. Jones, C. I. Jones, Mrs M. Kaye, J. H. C. Leach, J. D. Lockett, K. M. Long, C. J. Lowe, Rev W. P. Manahan, S. M. Mansell, L. V. Martin, D. P. M. Michael, C. J. Morse, F. E. Newlove, R. J. Palmer, R. Parry-Morris, S. L. Paton, W. H. Pegram, C. P. Rea, H. R. Sanders, T. E. Sanders, Mrs P. A. Sax, D. P. Shenkin, W. K. M. Slimmings, M. C. Souster, B. Stuart, J. G. Stubbs, J. B. Sweeting, P. C. Thornton, I. Torbe, D. Vardill, A. A. Vinson, Mrs J. Waldren, R. Weatherburn, W. E. White, M. G. Wilson, E. G. Wren.
 

COMMENTS
334 entries, the only mistake being GAILLARD (clockwise) for GALLIARD (anticlockwise) in the NE corner. Both fit of course and are variants of the same word but only GAL-LIARD fits the subsidiary Miss Grey ‘indicator in the clue. A smaller-than-average overall entry testifies to the toughness of this month’s competition prize. For once this was deliberate. I am aware that an ‘Eightsome Reels’ can fall into place very quickly once a start has been made, so I set out to include more obscure words than usual and to keep the clues short and on the difficult side. The right hand side in particular, including the clue-word, presented quite a challenge. I’m unrepentant about this and indeed almost all who commented welcomed the prolonged struggle involved. It was certainly that for me too, I may add.
 
In cluing terms the word was considerably more tractable than the substance. The most popular ploys were mole-traps, (Arnold) Palmer and ships’ guns, all in roughly equal proportions, while pigs also figured in some quantity. Rather too many of you made the double semantic connection of ‘prometal = cast iron = unassailable (of alibis etc.)’ and ended up by defining PROMETAL in the context of or quite simply as ‘unassailable’. Quite apart from the change in part of speech this represents what one might term the fallacy of the missing definition, and is something I’ve warned against in an earlier slip (SWOOP, No. 460). It requires only a moment of thought to realise how unfair it is to the solver.
 
There were plenty of good and fair clues to choose from, nevertheless, though none was really outstanding. Mr. Lake’s won first prize because I was reminded irresistibly of the Art of Coarse Acting, and my own experiences of that noble art. Among the VHCs Mr. Goldie cheats a bit with his Props Mistress (not, I think, a recognized abbreviation) but again, and for the same reason, it gets by and ought not to provoke any outrage. (What’s the betting I’m deluged with Am. Dram. clues for the next few months?). Also Mr. Hirst’s ‘topless’ is borderline in a circular clue despite the ‘earliest part’ definition of TOP in C.
 
Finally, I’m pleased to announce that Azed ties, in all three colours, will be available again soon, price £4 each. An announcement will appear in the Observer Magazine in August about how to order them (it won’t be from me).