◀  No. 8273 Apr 1988 Clue list No. 835  ▶

AZED CROSSWORD 831

COOLABAH (Spoonerisms)

1.  T. W. Mortimer: A coal hob’s lit – native fare’s bound to be on it at meal-time (bear’s found; anag.).

2.  B. W. Brook: I’m of the mind Kurt’ll freeze before tribunal, when it’s heard (myrtle kind; cool a ‘bar’; ref. K. Waldheim).

3.  J. F. Grimshaw: Free from tar compounds, satisfying, second only to Hamlet and leading whiffs of Benson and Hedges (tree from far; cool + a + B a H; ref. cigar brand).

VHC

C. J. Brougham: Temper and a pained expression…some gorse encountered down under! (gum source; cool a bah!).

E. J. Burge: School head dismissed – falsely ‘possessing’ a degree. Beak could be cracked by it (creek … backed; a BA in anag. less s).

R. V. Dearden: Shaggy suede collected a contemptuous response (swaggy’s shade; cool a bah).

C. M. Edmunds: Greed of bum in Aussie song about roving à la hobo (breed of gum; c. + anag.).

Dr I. S. Fletcher: Moderate – one given push? Maggie’s camp was swayed by such (swaggy’s … made; cool a bah; push2).

H. Freeman: Oxford & Cambridge capsizing (assorted exclamations) stall Thames on this sally (tall stem’s; O & C (rev.) + o! la! bah!; sally3).

D. A. Ginger: Bill’s love-making partner, alas, giving embrace to Socialist; this she traded lyrically (tree shaded; Lab in coo, ah!).

D. V. Harry: I’m calm and controlled, Jack active and hot. I traded champers, he brewed (shaded tramp as he; cool AB a h).

V. G. Henderson: You can work out the years, robber, in my king’s prison block (so it’s said) (cobber, ... rings; ‘cooler bar’ ).

R. A. Hill: Labour in shouts of surprise and joy – push for birth perhaps (bush for Perth; Lab in coo ah).

J. C. Leyland: What don’t you see in commie popsies? It’s not so hot having to check for listening devices (Pommie copses; ‘cooler bar’ ).

Mrs J. Mahood: By which Maggie T. swayed opposition – surprise, surprise all round (swaggy tea made; Lab in coo! ah!).

Dr E. J. Miller: Aloof, with a disdainful expression? Beneath it, Maggie’s sweet (swaggies meet; cool a bah).

C. J. Morse: AB in inverted ring cipher follows C, triggers D (diggers’ tree; C + AB in halo 0 (rev.)).

D. S. Nagle: There’s a strong sign of someone under this tree: relaxed sailor with joyous expression (Strine song; cool AB ah!).

D. Price Jones: A black cloud, Noah! It’s stormy, and luck unfortunately runs out. Buy an ark! (ironbark; comp. anag.).

W. J. M. Scotland: Woo tart? A bachelor gets hot after pass, embracing love (tuart; 0 in col + a BA h).

D. P. Shenkin: Suede for a shaggy, with-it adult? Pooh! (shade for a swaggy; cool A bah!).

Mrs E. J. Shields: Circuiting loch, a boat docked – by an ark? (ironbark; anag. less t).

D. H. Tompsett: Tigger’s drunk maybe – pleasing a Pooh! (digger’s trunk; cool a bah!).

J. F. N. Wedge: There’s nothing in kola nuts that’ll aid shockers (shade ockers; 0 in cola + bah!).

G. H. Willett: Three interjections that might shake Victorian maid (make … shade; coo! la! bah!).

HC

D. Arthur, M. Barley, E. A. Beaulah, J. D. D. Blaikie, R. E. Boot, H. J. Bradbury, V. Bray, Mrs M. J. Cansfield, C. A. Clarke, G. Cuthbert, E. David, C. M. Draper, A. J. Duncum, C. S. Ellis, F. D. Gardiner, S. Goldie, I. F. & L. M. Haines, G. B. Higgins, Mrs D. B. Jenkinson, M. S. Taylor & N. C. Johns, C. L. Jones, J. F. Jones, C. W. Laxton, J. D. Lockett, C. J. Lowe, R. D. Lyall, M. A. Macdonald-Cooper, Mrs J. Mackie, D. F. Manley, H. W. Massingham, D. P. Miller, C. G. Millin, A. F. Mylward, G. M. Neighbour, S. J. O’Boyle, F. R. Palmer, K. Pearce, Mrs A. G. Phillips, B. Pike, Mrs A. Price, A. Rivlin, Mrs N. Rowlinson, L. G. D. Sanders, T. E. Sanders, A. F. Simmerson, D. A. Smith, J. B. Sweeting, R. D. Vaughan Davies, A. J. Wardrop, Mrs M. P. Webber, R. J. Whale, W. Woodruff, E. G. Wren.
 

COMMENTS
320 entries, with very few mistakes in the diagram, though several competitors misread the instructions and submitted clues of the wrong type, a sad waste of effort. Most of you seem to have welcomed the return of 5poo-nerisms. I’ve only ever given you three puzzles of this type, the last one before this having appeared in October 1982 (though Spoonerisms were among the clue types in the Christmas 1986 puzzle), and it is probably best to keep them thinly rationed since apart from being quite a struggle to construct they necessarily take certain liberties with language and crossword conventions which could offend the purist and especially any who pronounce English in ways that differ from the norm (or Received Pronunciation as the phoneticians sometimes label it). I’ve learnt to be cautious when concocting homophone-type clues (‘we hear’, etc) in normal puzzles in not overlooking the tendency of the Scots to pronounce all their r’s, particularly those at word-ends. In a Spoonerisms puzzle I think it is reasonable to be somewhat more relaxed in allowing near-homophones and unnatural stress-shifts. (Having said that I should add that some Spoonerisms submitted were so wildly improbable as to be over the top.) Some of my own assumed pronunciations were mildly disapproved of (especially that of MOUSSAKA) and I’m sorry if any caused genuine perplexity. I suspect that all the pennies finally dropped (even gees in twos!)
 
COOLABAH was a brute, I can see that, not so much in yielding acceptable Spoonerisms but rather in offering possibilities for subsidiary indication to set alongside them. And herein lies the essence of a good clue (of this or any type), producing a smooth form of wording which is both natural and ‘seamless’, effectively disguising the join between definition and cryptic indication. The perfect realization of this is of course the ‘& lit.’ clue in which there is no join but rather a total overlap, the whole clue being readable both as a definition and as a cryptic indication thereof, though I doubt whether an ‘&lit.’ Spoonerisms clue is desirable even if achievable. Anyway, congratulations to those quoted above and thank you all for the amusement your clues afforded me.
 
And the answer to last month’s little teaser? The clue to MICKEY-TAKING was ‘Tantalising mixture of Irishman with one horse-carriage’, indicating an anagram (about as indirect as you can get) to McGINTY I EKKA. Did anyone get it?
 

 

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