AZED CROSSWORD 666

Any word; subsidiary indication omits an animal

1.  C. J. Morse: Having no sense of guilt some require lessons (re(morse)less; hidden).

2.  J. F. Grimshaw: What I’d beat if you’d permit it? (There must be power in persuasion!) (compe(titi)on; P in come-on).

3.  A. W. Hill: Score at Murrayfield provided something to whet the appetite ((ape)ritif; rit if).

VHC

D. W. Arthur: I’m a money-grubber – notes or a small coin will do! (m(ammon)ite; mi te, mite).

E. J. Burge: Scoff the French food at Toulon, for example (ra(tatou)ille; rail le).

R. S. Caffyn: I was, classically, a saying, pithy (e(pig)ram; eram (L.) = I was).

E. S. Clark: Old language and literature – one Cicero epitomised (Ic(eland)ic; I Cic.).

G. H. Cowan: Data location fiddle! ((catalo)gue; gue).

G. & J. Ferris: A six minute record medley? (m(axis)ingle; mingle).

F. D. Gardiner: Old jingle’s about soldiers being crippled etc (di(sable)ment; men in dit).

N. C. Goddard: Mock religion that’s mainly based on magic (sha(manis)m; sham).

I. A. Herbert: Haunt old cromlech (d(olm)en; den).

S. Holgate: Planed down again to make tidy (r(eland)ed; red⁴).

R. J. Hooper: What you’ll find in colour supplement drops animal elements (hu(manis)es; hues).

R. Jacks: It’s looking gloomy. No new control for arms (s(cow)ling; sling).

F. P. N. Lake: Entrance to port’s astern – crew won’t make harbour going this way! (over(boar)d; Dover with D to end).

W. Laxton: Perverse characteristic of Oz, I dare say (w(izard)ry; wry; ref. ‘The Wizard of Oz’).

D. F. Manley: Shall a melody be rendered thus with pounding of common time? (a(lla ma)rcia; C in aria).

T. J. Moorey: I’m no man to reject Silver Cloud (m(ammon)ist; mist; ref. Rolls-Royce model).

D. S. Nagle: Women ready to tackle the bowling? Heavens! (w(elk)in; W in).

F. R. Palmer: What’s Revelation? Ecumenical —— on behalf of mankind in the New Testament (pron(ounce)ment; pro + men in NT).

T. E. Sanders: We offer a possible chance of a ticket to riches – stay with the Sun (l(otter)ies; lie + S).

D. M. Stanford: Rotten parts in engines he notices (trainsp(otter); anag.).

A. J. Wardrop: Take in what’s given out where gossip is repeated (gr(ape)vine; r in anag.).

D. J. Webb: A heartless courtier of female affection, one assiduous in amorous adventures (wo(manis)er; wo(o)er).

Mrs M. P. Webber: Margaret’s cut by half and disorganised an essential part of English education (g(ram)mar; anag. of Marg(aret); M. Thatcher).

HC

R. Abrey, Mrs E. Allen, C. Allen Baker, D. Ashcroft, M. Barley, F. Bastian, Mrs K. Bissett, C. J. Brougham, J. M. Brown, C. A. Clarke, Mrs D. M. Colley, D. A. Crossland, R. Dearden, N. C. Dexter, D. M. Duckworth, C. M. Edmunds, P. S. Elliott, O. M. Ellis, C. J. Feetenby, Dr I. S. Fletcher, Rev S. W. Floyd, O. H. Frazer, B. Greer, I. F. & L. M. Haines, P. F. Henderson, C. Hobbs, F. G. Illingworth, A. H. Jones, R. E. Kimmons, A. Lawrie, H. S. Mason, L. May, J. D. Moore, J. J. Moore, R. A. Mostyn, F. E. Newlove, P. J. Oddy, R. J. Palmer, S. L. Paton, W. H. Pegram, Dr J. D. Renwick, E. R. Riddle, A. D. Scott, B. D. Smith, F. B. Stubbs, J. G. Stubbs, J. F. N. Wedge, Ms B. J. Widger, Mrs H. D. Williams, S. Woods, E. G. Wren.
 

COMMENTS
309 entries, virtually no mistakes. I was much gratified by the enthusiastic comments on a puzzle that had been (appropriately!) a brute to compile. I’d seen No. 666 coming in good time, even without reminders from others who had too, but deciding how to deal with it took a while. I had a dim recollection of something similar Ximenes concocted years ago but I don’t think his clues were quite like mine. The letter mixture idea was intended to make solving easier and to give an extra dimension to the competition. To judge from comments received the puzzle proved hard even with this extra help so it was clearly the right decision to include it, though it was theoretically possible to complete the diagram without discovering a single animal. DESMAN seems to have been the hardest to spot. I was quite surprised myself at how many animals it was possible to work in but the choice was wide and in some cases alternatives were available (DAYAKS for LAMBDAS, PIG-LATIN for DOG-LATIN, etc.). MALMAG was (I swear) a pure windfall – it hadn’t occurred to me before I began on the blank grid; neither did I deliberately intend the red herrings (ANIMAL at the MALMAG clue, CAMEL and ARIES at the INDRI one, and so on).
 
When it came to judging clues my job was made a little easier by those who either omitted the letter mixture or used one of my animals or used a bird or fish. Though the latter do strictly count as animals I thought my own exclusion of birds and fishes would be adequate indication of what I wanted (and to scotch protest my TIT was the ‘small or inferior horse’ in Chambers, not the titmouse). I had slight misgivings about including MAN as an animal but no one complained. The other common fault was the inclusion of inessential verbiage as a means of working in the letter mixture. Again, I took particular pains to avoid this and even minor ‘linking’ words between definition and subsidiary indication. It required greater skill at concealing the omitted animals but resulted I’m sure in neater clues. And finally, given the obvious extra difficulties solving such unusual clues presented I tended to favour more straightforward, less ornate offerings, as will be evident from those quoted above. Of the wide range of animals chosen I think OTTER and MANIS were the most popular. MORSE and TITI had only one vote each and APE only about three! Giving you the opportunity to choose your own word to clue is an interesting exercise once in a while but not something to be repeated too often. For one thing the judge has to work each one out individually and that takes an unconscionable time!