◀  No. 10956 Jun 1993 Clue list No. 1104  ▶

AZED CROSSWORD 1100

CONCORDANCE

1.  D. F. Manley: New-fashioned cleric has one on a CD to output ‘Elisha’ possibly? (anag. less anag., & lit.).

2.  R. K. Lumsdon: It might see the start of three cheers or end on a shake (anag. incl. c, c, c, & lit.).

3.  R. R. Greenfield: Company’s line (fruit bottling) exposes dearth of jars (co. + cord in nance).

VHC

M. Barley: Concentration on yellow ball – two points tally as a result of which? (conc. or2 dance; ref. snooker).

E. A. Beaulah: To ensure agreement the Council of Europe needs first to rope in a superman (cord in Conan + CE; ref. C. the Barbarian).

J. R. Beresford: Scan my headings to consult extracts about Daniel (Dan. in con cor! c, e, & lit.).

E. J. Burge: What’s possibly tapped in support of study on Homer? (con + cor2 + dance, & lit.).

R. Dean: Do my steps match the harmony? (con cor! dance).

M. Earle: See what could bind African National Congress in unity (c + cord ANC in one, & lit.).

H. Freeman: Consenting maiden leaves condom infected with cancer (anag. less m).

C. R. Gumbrell: What’ll restrain Mandela’s followers, closing the rift in race (cord ANC in cone, & lit.).

P. F. Henderson: Preacher’s reference text possibly concentrated on commandment not much followed (conc. + ord(in)ance).

R. Hesketh: This agreement will have to do. Blimey, 60% of Danes sided with European Community after reflection! (con cor! Dan(es) + EC (rev.); ref. Danish referendum).

R. J. Hooper: What’s used to locate knock-about meeting with Conrade in play? (con-c. + anag., & lit.; ref. ‘Much Ado’, III, iii).

J. P. Lester: Make modulations in coda with concern for harmony (anag.).

Prof S. G. G. Macdonald: Index shows Homer between hocus and hoof (cor2 in con, dance).

J. R. C. Michie: Pore over chapter on law in discarded reference book (con c ord(in)ance).

C. G. Millin: Word list for each new C in concentrated format, abridged (a n C in conc. orde(r); ref. Chambers ‘Words’).

T. J. Moorey: See alphabetically reconstructed Conrad chapter in one? (c + anag. incl. c in one, & lit.).

R. S. Morse: Sorted canonic record might be this one, right? (anag. less I, r, & lit.).

G. H. Willett: Effect of harmonisation measure splits Tory party (cor2 in Con. dance).

HC

D. Ashcroft, C. Blackburn, Ms F. A. Blanchard, C. J. Brougham, Rev Canon C. M. Broun, J. M. Brown, B. Burton, Mrs P. C. Carmichael, I. Carr, E. Chalkley, A. Clark, E. S. Clark, C. A. Clarke, R. V. Dearden, V. Dixon, R. P. Dowling, Dr I. S. Fletcher, S. Gaskell, N. C. Goddard, G. I. L. Grafton, B. Greer, J. F. Grimshaw, Mrs D. B. Jenkinson, G. E. Johnston, G. Johnstone, R. E. Kimmons, J. C. Leyland, P. Long, C. J. Lowe, A. Mann, Ms J. Manthorp, P. W. Marlow, H. W. Massingham, D. Mitchell, C. J. Morse, F. R. Palmer, R. Phillips, D. Price Jones, A. J. Redstone, D. R. Robinson, N. Roper, L. G. D. Sanders, G. R. Scott, D. P. Shenkin, Mrs E. J. Shields, D. J. Short, W. K. M. Slimmings, A. R. Thomas, I. L. Thurlow, D. H. Tompsett, A. P. Vincent, A. J. Wardrop, R. J. Whale, I. J. Wilcock, D. Williamson, and an unnamed entry whose author lives at Shirley, Southampton.
 

COMMENTS
407 entries, almost no mistakes. No real problems either, I think, though the oblique reference (in the AMANITA clue) to the death of the Roman emperor Claudius, reputedly killed by a dish of poisoned mushrooms given to him by or on the orders of his wife, was a little obscure. CONCORDANCE seemed to offer considerable potential as a clue-word, but in practice proved hard to deal with interestingly. The most popular idea by far involved the ANC aboard Concorde reaching some form of agreement – a fairly improbable scenario, I thought. And I was less than enthusiastic about anagrams including ‘accord’, itself a close cognate of CONCORDANCE as well as a near-synonym. Specific mention of Cruden in clues was also a dead give-away. Trying a more indirect line, Mr Ashcroft came up with ‘Nelson’s crew aboard King’s flagship: crewed ‘n launched it, one hears.’ Nelson’s crew is ANC and the King in question is Lord King. It’s a nice clue but strictly speaking consists of two cryptic indications of the answer and no definition.
I’m sometimes asked for an explanation of ‘comp. anag.’ (= composite anagram) and since Mr Manley’s clue is a good example of one form of this – the subtractive type – I can use it to explain. In it the answer is arrived at by subtracting (‘output’) one anagram (‘Elisha’ – anagram indicator: ‘possibly’) from a longer, i.e. composite, anagram (‘cleric has one on a CD’ – anagram indicator: ‘new-fashioned’). The fact that the whole clue is also ‘& lit.’ – that is, it can be read as a literal indication of the answer – makes it additionally satisfying. Indeed ‘comp. anag.’ clues which are not also ‘& lit.’ ones can be rather cumbersome and pointless. The other important point to make, and one which even seasoned competitors sometimes overlook or ignore, is the necessity (in my view) of including anagram indicators in such clues for both the composite anagram itself and the subtracted portion (‘Elisha’ in the current example), unless the letters of the subtracted portion happen to occur in their natural sequence (though not necessarily consecutively) within the composite anagram.
 
Another query concerns the annual Honours List and the start and end dates for this each year. This now runs from June to May (the current competition being therefore the first this year) and includes the 12 monthly comps plus the special one at Christmas. The timing was originally determined by that of Azed No. 1 on 5 March 1972, with a bit of slippage caused over the years by occasional postal strikes and other disasters.
 
Finally, my sincere apologies to Mr E. A. Beaulah, whose VHC clue to STINK was carelessly omitted from last month’s slip. It was ‘Have a bad name, as one involved in the setting up of minor fiddles’ (n in kits (rev.) ).
 

 

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