AZED CROSSWORD 657

SILLY-BILLY

1.  W. H. Pegram: Charlie, doting on William? (silly billy, & lit.; ref. Prince Charles).

2.  R. V. Dearden: Clot close by – bad for heart (silly + ill in by).

3.  W. K. M. Slimmings: Butt, am I? Very close – butter (silly + billy).

VHC

D. W. Arthur: Basil FawIty? His wife goes about cross, heartless lady (ill in Sybil + l(ad)y; ref. TV series).

G. Clyde: Sybil accepts with difficulty Basil Fawlty’s extremes – foolish person! (ill in Sybil + l, y; ref. TV series).

D. M. Duckworth: To be pitied once, and in succession, can, perhaps lead to one being prone to folly (silly + billy).

Dr J. Foster: Close, hoping for a catch, bowled badly sometimes. The man’s a fool! (silly + b + illy; ref. Brian C.).

P. F. Henderson: What can lead to dope? Misfortune in society’s fringes can (ill in s, y + billy).

V. G. Henderson: Charley’s Aunt, perhaps, (one standing in for the other one) a close companion (Sally with I for a + billy).

C. Hobbs: What makes Sybil yell ‘Basil’? Antics of base —— (comp. anag. & lit.; ref. ‘Fawlty Towers’).

R. J. Hooper: Close and Illingworth must accept (if all but opener go!) Boycott for one bats (B in silly Illy; ref. Brian C., Ray I., Geoff B.).

G. Johnstone: One bats badly after opening for Surrey … bowled by Illingworth? (S + illy + b + Illy; ref. Ray I.).

A. H. Jones: Standing very close to striker in Bilston Glen, mate, is stupid (silly + billy; ref. Scottish colliery, miners’ strike).

A. Lawrie: What can suggest him? Bottom with one end of donkey can (sill + y + billy; ref. MND).

D. F. Manley: Bottom appears before fairy without beautiful pan (bit of an ass) (sill + (fair)y + billy; ref. MND).

H. W. Massingham: Close bowled rarely amiss – and never a wide one (silly + b + illy; ref. Brian C.; wide = astute).

W. L. Miron: Close bowled Illingworth in short spell? He must be foolish (silly + b + Illy; ref. Brian C., Ray I.).

F. R. Palmer: ‘Cake with nuts on ——’? No good entering that! (silly + ill in by; by, on = near; ref. prize-winning clue to MADCAP in Ximenes comp).

R. J. Palmer: Who’d get close in field with goat? (silly + billy, & lit.).

D. R. Robinson: It is absurd having Budd in jerk (silly + Billy; ref. ‘Billy B.’, Zola B.).

L. G. D. Sanders: Old to be pitied, rendered ill by clot (silly + anag.).

M. Woolf: Will he be close to bats? Will, frequently! (silly + Billy, & lit.).

HC

C. Allen Baker, S. Armstrong, M. Barley, J. Brooks, E. J. Burge, R. S. Caffyn, C. A. Clarke, E. A. Clarke, G. Craig, Mrs M. P. Craine, N. C. Dexter, M. Earle, H. Freeman, M. Freeman, N. C. Goddard, M. Goodyear, N. W. Granville, J. F. Grimshaw, P. J. Heap, C. H. Hudson, C. L. Jones, F. P. N. Lake, C. Leach, D. J. MacKay, Rev W. P. Manahan, S. M. Mansell, Dr E. J. Miller, C. G. Millin, Dr R. G. Monk, J. D. Moore, J. J. Moore, T. J. Moorey, C. J. Morse, H. B. Morton, R. F. Naish, F. E. Newlove, A. J. Odber, S. L. Paton, E. W. Richart, W. J. M. Scotland, L. M. Sturges, D. Tompsett, Dr I. Torbe, D. V. B. Unwin, R. J. Whale, G. H. Willett, Dr E. Young.
 

COMMENTS
423 entries, about 50 with DARRAINED for DARRAYNED. A few expressed puzzlement over COARSER. The clue was faintly indelicate so the easily offended should move straight on to the next paragraph. ‘What’s this about derrière? O my!’ Here ‘this’ indicates the answer (definition) as well as helping the cryptic indication of the clue by telling the solver to find coarser equivalents of ‘derrière’ (arse) and ‘O my!’ (Cor!) and put one ‘about’ the other, thus producing the answer. A fair ‘& lit.’, I think.
 
Comments on SILLY-BILLY ranged from one extreme to the other. ‘Quickest and easiest for ages,’ said a few. ‘Toughest for months,’ said rather more. I’d quite forgotten giving you SHILLY-SHALLY (was it nine?) years ago and this word posed similar problems. Cricket understandably figured often in clues submitted, as did references to Fawlty Towers (it being just about OK to refer to Basil as an s-b). My three prize-winners come out on top partly for having achieved such remarkable economy of wording without sacrificing precision or cryptic-ness. The idea of our fair princess teasing the heir to the throne for his besotted affection for their firstborn I also found hard to resist. But overall it was an enjoyable entry to judge, with a welcome upturn in the numbers compared with recent months. I hope the Christmas competition continues the trend.
 
I promised to report on the final of the Observer/Oxford Crossword Superbrain competition. I’m pleased to say it all went swimmingly. The puzzle (which I hope may be printed in The Observer at some stage though I have no firm assurances on this yet) was clearly a tough one in that only one competitor (Mr Michael Macdonald-Cooper, the winner) completed it correctly, though several stumbled on just one word (the same in every case). I won’t tell you which in case the puzzle does appear in the near future. The competition setting was truly spectacular. One of the large university examination schools in Oxford was arrayed with desks – three per competitor to cope with the range of dictionaries supplied, over five tons of books in all – the quietness of concentration being disturbed only by the sighs of frustration and the thud of tome on desk. The two hours of solving time were followed by a splendid lunch laid on by St Edmund Hall after which prizes were awarded to the top five points-scorers by Dr John Sykes, with brief speeches by him, Roger Harrison and Trevor Grove of The Observer, and myself. It had all been a lot of hard work but, most seemed to agree, well worth the effort. Whether it will be repeated has yet to be decided. Perhaps masochistically, I hope so.
 
Honesty compels me to confess to including EXEQUATOR for EXEQUATUR in puzzle No. 656 – I can’t begin to explain why. There are times when one simply cannot see for looking. Please forgive.
 
My thanks to all who have sent me and my family Christmas greetings. My best wishes in return for the holiday and the new year to you all. I think we can take comfort in how far off beam G.O.’s predictions for 1984 have proved to be!