AZED CROSSWORD 801

LINCHET

1.  R. J. Palmer: It’s hard for worried client to retain unfurrowed brow (H in anag.).

2.  G. Johnstone: Put screw on the left front side of cue-ball and trap in balk (in in anag. of the l, c; ref. snooker).

3.  L. K. Maltby: Fifty, including the odd boundary (L inc. + anag.).

VHC

M. Barley: The bit of country ground on which nothing’s raised (nil (rev.) + anag., & lit.).

C. J. Brougham: Small (and grassy) stretch splitting up holding? (inch in let, & lit.; inch, 2 mngs.).

N. C. Dexter: Form of chine separating alternate parts of plot (anag. in l, t, & lit.).

H. F. Dixon: In Church cancelling of service is about the limit (in Ch in let).

M. Earle: Turning-point for share-pusher? Technical changes see one unemployed (anag. less. c a; ref. Stock Exchange ‘Big Bang’).

N. Freake: Terrace to rent: old with central heating installed (in c.h. in let).

F. D. Gardiner: An unploughed strip, but this clay’s technically ploughed (comp. anag.).

P. F. Henderson: ‘Shelf’ in dialect – or you may see this as ‘field bound’ (comp. anag. & lit.; bound = spring, leap).

A. W. Hill: Balk at church getting involved in ‘irregular’ service (in Ch in let).

J. F. Jones: Go slow – old obstacle about demarcation line (inch in let).

R. K. Lumsdon: Rustic’s last bit left in the ploughing (anag. incl. c l).

M. A. Macdonald-Cooper: Wonderful clean hit, one going for boundary (anag. less a).

T. J. Moorey: Long ethnic revelling raised cultural division locally (l + anag.; ref. Notting Hill Carnival).

C. J. Morse: Dividing balk that absorbs little space (inch in let, & lit.).

H. B. Morton: Pale brow, part of foot dressed by defective service (inch in let; pale n.).

J. L. Moss: Bound to move slowly in hill climbing (inch in tel (rev.)).

Mrs M. Pepin: Unploughed left in around the ploughed? (l in c. + anag.).

T. E. Sanders: A lease’s bounding edge – what gives rise to it? (inch in let, & lit.).

P. D. Stonier: Stop old bag with no sex appeal giving a strip (lin + (SA)chet).

Dr E. Young: Edge in lease (inch in let, & lit.).

HC

M. J. Balfour, Mrs G. M. Barker, E. A. Beaulah, Dr R. J. & Mrs K. P. Bell, Mrs K. Bissett, R. E. Boot, J. M. Brown, E. J. Burge, Dr J. Burscough, C. J. & M. P. Butler, E. S. Clark, C. A. Clarke, L. J. Davenport, E. Dawid, Dr V. G. I. Deshmukh, J. H. Dingwall, J. F. Drakeford, C. M. Draper, L. E. Ellis, Dr I. S. Fletcher, T. D. Freestone, D. A. Ginger, N. C. Goddard, S. Goldie, O. Greenwood, J. F. Grimshaw, D. V. Harry, J. G. Hull, W. Jackson, M. S. Taylor & N. C. Johns, C. L. Jones, A. Lawrie, J. H. C. Leach, D. F. Manley, H. W. Massingham, L. May, C. G. Millin, R. W. Moran, F. Moss, R. A. Mostyn, A. J. Odber, W. H. Pegram, B. A. Pike, D. R. Robinson, Mrs K. M. Russell, W. J. M. Scotland, N. E. Sharp, A. J. Shields, Mrs E. J. Shields, W. K. M. Slimmings, A. Smedley, Dr N. Smith, G. Snowden-Davies, C. Spate, D. M. Stanford, Dr G. A. Styles, V. E. Towlson, M. H. E. Watson, R. A. Wells, B. D. Weston, R. J. Whale, D. Williamson, M. G. Wilson, S. Woods.
 

COMMENTS
409 entries, a few mistakes (all POACH for POTCH, I think). This was a toughish puzzle by the sound of it, so the size of the entry was quite gratifying, particularly as it included a lot of newcomers, whom it’s always nice to see. I found it an extremely difficult competition to judge, not least because of the attractive but just too popular ‘& lit.’ treatment along the lines of ‘mound raised round edge’ offered by the fact that LINCHET was a down word. Nearly thirty competitors used this idea so I had reluctantly to relegate them to the H.C. list. In the end it was the more straightforward clues which came out on top. It has been suggested that some recent prize-winning clues have been so fiendishly clever as to be virtually unsolvable. I take such comments seriously but submit in turn that, other things being equal, ingenuity of wording and clue construction generally has to be recognised, and submitting one clue for a competition is not the same as concocting a complete set to accompany a puzzle, in which situation some clues should certainly be made easier to solve than others, There is also the entirely understandable tendency to regard one’s own passed-over effort as superior to many that catch the judge’s eye and sense of humour (but I hope not prejudices!). As I have said on other occasions I strive constantly to be as objective as the special nature of our comps allows – I can do no more.
 
Thank you for the generous remarks about No. 800, which some had hoped would be a competition. It was a devil to construct – hence the inclusion of so many obscure words, etc – but worth the effort (for me at least). Ximenes used the idea of 800 AD. (the date of Charlemagne’s coronation) so I was a bit pushed to think of something else appropriate.
 
Finally, an anguished protest about my clue to ADORNED in No. 802, which contained an indirect anagram (of DERONDA). Well yes, but acceptable surely in a case like this when only one possibility of the word to be jumbled exists (veiled though the reference may be)? I would never have given you ‘Dressed up – as Eliot’s hero it?’ and ‘Dressed up – like Deronda’ would have been rather feeble. I am reminded of a comparable instance early in the Azed series when I clued MORONIC as ‘Stupid, getting what comes before pi wrong.’ I remain opposed as ever to the indirect anagram proper but would still defend the acceptability of this type of variant.