AZED CROSSWORD 590

MINEVER

1.  W. K. M. Slimmings: One gone white, does fear game is up for good (nim rev. + ever; does = rabbits).

2.  Mrs N. Jarman: I got robbed for lordly dressing: give me HP, not half! (mi never(-never); HP = brown sauce, hire purchase; me²).

3.  R. J. Hooper: What edges something in which peer dresses up? (even in rim (all rev.), & lit.; even, peer vbs.).

VHC

C. Allen Baker: Border round uniform, tipped (even in rim (all rev.), & lit.).

D. W. Arthur: Ermine, in camouflage around end of Nov. (v in anag., & lit.).

Mrs F. A. Blanchard: Environmentalist rehabilitates this creature (stoat) in Northern latitude (comp. anag. incl. N l, & lit.).

H. J. Bradbury: White covering worn at a high level in the community (névé in mir, & lit.).

Mrs D. M. Colley: Trimming of the judiciary appears in Ministry brief by first woman leader to rule (Min. Eve r; ref. M. Thatcher).

H. Freeman: One in white coat raises finger: East completely throws away final (nim (rev.) + E ver(y); ref. David E., B&H cricket final; nim² = steal).

P. F. Henderson: Use ‘vide “ermine”’ possibly for clue? Me? No way! (anag. incl v., mi never!, & lit.; me²).

V. G. Henderson: March winds up and it must go without white covering (névé in rim (rev.), & lit.; march = border).

Mrs D. B. Jenkinson: What Swears & Wells may have in store’s driven me mad and penniless (anag. less d; S & W, furriers).

R. E. Kimmons: Bag going up in the world gets fur coat (nim (rev.) + ever; nim² = steal).

F. P. N. Lake: Fur of me sports tail that’s very short (mine + ver(y)).

H. W. Massingham: Winter coat camouflaged by white frost mainly to the north? (névé in rim(e) (rev.), & lit.).

C. J. Morse: Is this ermine vermin? It would be without its coat (hidden & lit.).

F. R. Palmer: On snow see me disappear, tail only showing! (mi névé + r, & lit.).

R. F. Pardoe: Vermin, sable (tail only) tipped (anag. + e, & lit.).

C. P. Rea: Variegated initially, woolly ermine coating (v in anag., & lit.).

Dr R. C. Ross: Mistress never yields fur coat without hardship (mi(stress) never).

A. J. Shields: Men I’ve arrayed with the ultimate in fur! (anag. + r, & lit.).

B. Stuart: Fur (white) initially variegated found in a form of ermine (v in anag.).

G. H. Willett: White fur – what you might see a gold-digger in, not quite quite (mine ver(y)).

HC

R. H. Adey, G. E. Baker, M. J. Balfour, Mrs P. A. Bax, E. A. Beaulah, J. D. D. Blaikie, R. E. Boot, Rev C. M. Broun, E. J. Burge, C. J. & M. P. Butler, R. S. Caffyn, E. Chalkley, G. P. Conway, P. Dendy, N. C. Dexter, M. Earle, C. M. Edmunds, P. S. Elliott, R. A. England, M. Freeman, D. Godden, M. Goodyear, J. F. Grimshaw, I. F. Haines, Miss N. L. Harris, D. V. Harry, A. Hodgson, G. Johnstone, P. J. Lawless, R. J. Lawrence, A. Lawrie, J. H. C. Leach, J. D. Lockett, M. A. Macdonald-Cooper, W. P. Manahan, D. F. Manley, L. May, D. P. M. Michael, Dr E. J. Miller, C. G. Millin, G. J. Mortimer, T. W. Mortimer, D. S. Nagle, P. G. O’Gorman, R. J. Palmer, K. Pearce, W. H. Pegram, Mrs L. E. Pimlott, Miss I. M. Raab, H. Rainger, A. Renwick, E. R. Riddle, A. Rivlin, D. R. Robinson, N. Roles, G. C. Rosser, R. R. Say, W. J. M. Scotland, D. M. Stanford, J. B. Sweeting, D. G. Tallis, R. T. Taylor, R. C. Teuton, H. Tillier, M. H. E. Watson, P. Watson-Smyth, R. J. Whale, Miss B. J. Widger, M. G. Wilson.
 

COMMENTS
366 entries, almost no mistakes. I have to admit that BRAE was just acceptable instead of BRAY, though only two or three at most had it. These homophone-type clues can be ambiguous and cause uncertainty when the key letter is unchecked. I tried hard to word the clue to avoid such ambiguity but can see that a somewhat tortuous reading of it might lead to BRAE. I should have avoided the clue-type altogether. I was also taken to task (quite rightly) for my rather wasteful description of MARC as ‘worthless’. I am not aware of ever having tasted marc brandy but I dare say it is not to be sniffed it – not in that sense anyway! One solver also criticised ‘coat-front’ for C in the same clue, but I would defend it on the grounds that coat-front means front of coat, whereas, say, redhead does not mean head of (belonging to) red. By the same token ‘train-crash’ would be acceptable as indicating an anagram of TRAIN. Now ‘about one o’clock’ for NNE in the RUNNEL due was a bit of a try-on, and my question mark something of a plea for acceptability, on the analogy of the well-established convention that N represents the top of the page as in maps, but as one solver pointed out – and he was the only one to comment at all – I am effectively saying that because I have a map in front of me with N at the top I must be facing north regardless of my actual orientation. ‘Might the Battle of Britain have been lost,’ he adds, ‘if pilots had, on being told “Bandits at two o’clock,” to waste time in consulting their compasses before knowing where to look?’ Well, yes, I take the point and I’m surprised there weren’t more such queries. I guess this is because everyone knew what I meant – and RUNNEL is an awful word to clue anyway!
 
Amazingly enough, I hadn’t noticed the close correspondence in terms of letters between ERMINE and MINEVER, nor the fact that the Chambers definition virtually provides the wherewithal for a cryptic clue. Many of you struggled nobly to produce clues which avoided all reference to ermine or vermin, anticipating (rightly) that these would be the most popular ploys. Only the best of the bunch made it to the lists, as always. But it was an impressively good bunch this month. Many used wording such as ‘See variegated ermine here’, where see = v. Nothing much wrong with this except that it ventures close to a ‘clue to a clue’. The solver must first identify the abbreviation and then incorporate it into the anagram. For very common abbreviations or equivalents (‘one’ for I or A, say) this is OK, but I reckon that v. is borderline. It’s always better to play safe if you can (see Mr Stuart’s clue above).
 
Finally, I’m sorry that slips have been taking so long to come through. I’m doing what I can to improve the service but the matter is largely beyond my control. Few of you actually complain but I would understand it if you did.