AZED CROSSWORD 670

TURNIP-FLEA

1.  J. D. Moore: Might it make rape nit-ful? (anag. & lit.).

3.  Mrs M. P. Craine: The little pest to inhibit growth in different kinds of greens (nip in turf, lea).

3.  G. Johnstone: Skipping runt I leap to ingest tip of cabbage-leaf (f in anag., & lit.; runt = cabbage stem).

VHC

K. Aaronovich: What’s left rape unfit, ruined (anag. incl. l, & lit.).

C. Allen Baker: My routine is to leap and bite a leaf ragged (rut (rev.) + nip + anag., & lit.).

D. W. Arthur: Verminous creature involved in something akin to rape following orgy of ale (turnip f + anag.).

F. D. H. Atkinson: Good jumper excited by flourishing crop could make punter fail (anag.).

Mrs K. Bissett: One eating at Savoy may give leap if this one does (i.e. turn ‘ip flea’ to ‘leap if’; S. cabbage and hotel).

J. D. D. Blaikie: A little blighter, in excitement jumping, gobbles head of plantlets (p in elf in rut (rev.), & lit.).

E. J. Burge: Part with fuel in bursts? Hopper in plant could do (anag.).

Dr I. S. Fletcher: Fault in rep’s cast – Savoy’s undoing? (anag.; S. cabbage and theatre).

S. Goldie: Rotation’s over whether, with last of crop in, fallow follows … I go for swede or cabbage (turn + p in if + lea).

P. F. Henderson: True, F-plan works – if one tucks in. I could murder some cabbage, for instance (I in anag.; ref. diet).

H. S. Mason: I adore leaf cooked under timer (turnip + anag.; t. = type of watch).

J. P. Mernagh: Use neat purl if knitting jumper in all sorts of greens (anag.).

Dr E. J. Miller: But compliance makes a little horror sanctimonious: ‘I adore cabbage!’ (i.e. turn ‘ip flea’ to ‘a elf pi’).

T. J. Moorey: I often feel like a cabbage early on, waking up a trifle about noon (n in anag.).

R. J. Palmer: What gets lust to leap and bite part of cabbage (starting with bottom bit) (rut (rev.) + nip + leaf with f to start, & lit.).

A. J. Redstone: This, alas, if rampant, causes a plant’s failure (comp. anag. & lit.).

D. M. Stanford: Renault if power required, otherwise Beetle (anag. incl. P).

R. C. Teuton: ——s? Plant rife with us could be spoilt (comp. anag. & lit.).

Mrs J. E. Townsend: Devastating jumper – fashion feat in purl (anag.).

HC

R. L. Baker, M. Barley, F. Bastian, Mrs P. Bax, E. A. Beaulah, Dr J. Burscough, E. J. Bushell, C. J. & M. P. Butler, C. A. Clarke, M. Coates, Mrs D. M. Colley, F. H. Cripps, A. E. Crow, R. A. Dehn, N. C. Dexter, P. Drummond, D. M. Duckworth, D. Edgar, C. E. Faulkner-King, H. Freeman, M. Goodyear, J. F. Grimshaw, M. Hodgkin, S. Holgate, R. J. Hooper, Mrs D. B. Jenkinson, F. P. N. Lake, J. H. C. Leach, J. P. Lester, Ms M. Linnell, A. Logan, Rev W. P. Manahan, D. F. Manley, A. E. Mann, H. W. Massingham, L. May, G. McStravick, C. G. Millin, C. J. Morse, D. S. Nagle, F. E. Newlove, S. L. Paton, W. H. Pegram, Mrs A. G. Phillips, B. A. Pike, D. Price Jones, T. E. Sanders, W. J. M. Scotland, A. D. Scott, P. J. Simpson, E. W. Steel, F. B. Stubbs, P. Thacker, A. J. Wardrop, D. O. Williams, M. G. Wilson, S. E. Woods.
 

COMMENTS
About 370 entries, no mistakes. More appreciative comments than usual about the choice of clue word (always allowing for the invariable few who regard it as the worst ever!) and many seemed to find the puzzle harder than usual. As I’ve remarked before a certain fluctuation in the level of difficulty is inevitable, depending on such diverse factors as the selection of words in the grid and the mood of your setter at the time of composition (ranging from ‘I don’t see why I should go out of my way to make things easy for them’ to ‘Well, it is Christmas/ Easter, etc.’). All I can say is that I do aim for consistency in this area and regard the number of entries submitted for competitions as a valuable barometer of success or failure in this (too many or too few being equally undesirable).
 
TURNIP-FLEA certainly offered great scope, particularly for anagrams, and full use was made of this. The most popular line was ‘Watch chewed/tattered/ragged, etc. leaf,’ no one treatment of the idea being outstandingly superior to the rest. I should add that I am unhappy with wording like ‘watch ragged leaf for this’ or ‘Watch chewed leaf to spot this’ where ‘watch’ is being asked to do double-duty (as a definition of part of the whole word, and as an imperative verb addressed to the reader to make the literal reading of the clue work). What you really mean (but do not say) is ‘Watch watch ragged leaf for this.’ In other words the clue is over-elliptical in the interests of neatness and concision. Minor changes of wording are all that’s required to get round this, e.g. ‘Watch chewed leaf – it may reveal me.’ This is a common fault that even experienced clue-writers are sometimes guilty of.
 
I must say I hesitated awhile over Mr Moore’s marvellous ‘& lit.’ anagram. Do fleas really produce nits? Do lice turn into fleas? Strictly speaking, probably not, but Chambers appears to be pretty liberal in suggesting that the terms can be applied to a variety of verminous hopping blood-suckers, and that was good enough for me. I await the strictures of professional entomologists without undue alarm.