AZED CROSSWORD 969

BUNTER

1.  C. A. Clarke: One on the prowl for food with breadth rather than height as primary characteristic (hunter with b for h, & lit.).

2.  Mrs A. Boyes: Something I craved nearly all the time (bun ter(m), & lit.).

3.  R. K. Lumsdon: Character revealing food extras in belly radius (E in bunt² r, & lit.; E numbers).

VHC

M. Barley: One tubby character from Richards novel – this boy? (comp. anag. & lit.).

E. A. Beaulah: A tart? I never could resist one! (2 mngs.).

E. J. Burge: Brutal north-east winds. A line blown away. Woman collecting clothes in tatters (anag. incl. NE less a l).

Mrs M. J. Cansfield: In fine garb you can not describe her as drab (last letters; in fine = finally).

Dr I. S. Fletcher: Mean woman men ousted from Number Ten in turmoil (anag. less men; mean = lowly; ref. M. Thatcher).

H. Freeman: Very early rock tune, source of Righteous Brothers’ No. 1 hit (anag. incl. R B; ref. revival of ‘Unchained Melody’; B. geological period).

J. F. Grimshaw: Slimmer? Remove are putting it as a little unlikely! (u for a in banter, & lit.; Bunter ‘The Owl of the Remove’; see banting).

R. J. Hooper: I’d reveal p.o.’s not materialised when cake bill’s presented (bun (pos)ter, & lit.; p.o. = postal order).

Mrs D. B. Jenkinson: Belly-king or belly-god? (bunt ER).

L. M. Keet: Totter, climbing steep scaffold (ret nub (rev.); tot³).

A. Lawrie: Comparatively dull, lacking luminance, drab (b(l)unter).

C. W. Laxton: Owl and Pussy-cat? (2 mngs.; Bunter ‘The Owl of the Remove’).

Dr E. J. Miller: Is prude by her cavorting unperturbed? (comp. anag. & lit.).

R. Phillips: Drab net is transformed with raw silk covering (anag. in bur).

D. Price Jones: The Owl and the Pussy-cat? (2 mngs.; Bunter ‘The Owl of the Remove’).

W. K. M. Slimmings: A fatty belly disheartened eater? Not this one! (bunt e(ate)r, & lit.).

Mrs M. P. Webber: He could have been slimmer by first of all replacing second helping of tuck (banter with u for a, & lit.; see banting).

HC

F. D. H. Atkinson, M. J. Balfour, Mrs P. A. Bax, R. C. Bell, H. J. Bradbury, Mrs A. R. Bradford, Rev Canon C. M. Broun, J. M. Brown, P. A. Bull, Dr J. Burscough, B. Burton, P. Carell, G. H. Clarke, M. Coates, Dr V. G. I. Deshmukh, N. C. Dexter, R. A. England, C. J. Feetenby, Rev G. D. Floyd, N. C. Goddard, G. Halse, G. R. Harvey, R. W. Hawes, P. F. Henderson, V. G. Henderson, P. D. Hinchliffe, J. P. H. Hirst, F. P. N. Lake, J. C. Leyland, A. Logan, C. J. Lowe, L. K. Maltby, D. F. Manley, Mrs E. M. Marlow, H. W. Massingham, J. & P. Minter, T. J. Moorey, C. J. Morse, R. S. Morse, J. J. Murtha, F. R. Palmer, C. Pearson, D. Pendrey, Mrs A. Price, Mrs D. M. C. Prichard, C. P. Rea, H. L. Rhodes, D. R. Robinson, T. E. Sanders, W. J. M. Scotland, D. P. Shenkin, Mrs E. J. Shields, J. B. Sweeting, R. C. Teuton, G. A. Tomlinson, D. H. Tompsett, W. Woodruff.
 

COMMENTS
374 entries, no mistakes. A relatively straightforward puzzle by all accounts. I was of course hoping that many of you would clue Billy B., the dictionary definitions of BUNTER being a little uninteresting, and I wasn’t disappointed. The component letters weren’t that easy to cope with effectively, however, and considerable ingenuity of wording was required to strike the right balance between the blindingly obvious and the unduly tortuous. The simplest wording of all, ‘Billy goat?’ or just ‘Billy?’ I finally ruled out for special mention in that the (in Chambers at least) non-existent agentive noun derived from the verb bunt³ has to be supposed. It is not on the face of it an unlikely formation, I agree, and one might permissibly use it in the wording of a clue (to BILLY, say), but viewed from the opposite direction as it were it seemed to ask just a little too much of the solver. A close thing, though.
 
Christmas, funny hats, etc are upon me so I must be brief this month. A happy festive season to you all and good solving in 1991. I hope I may see many of you at the celebrations for Azed No 1,000 in July. My wife and family join me in thanking all of you who sent us cards and Christmas greetings.