◀  No. 11004 Jul 1993 Clue list No. 1108  ▶

AZED CROSSWORD 1104

BURYING-PLACES

1.  J. C. Leyland: Havens for those who’ve departed jumping bail, e.g. N. Cyprus (anag.; ref. Azil Nadir scandal).

2.  C. J. Morse: Angry public revolts, wanting heads of English selectors. Ashes belong here! (anag. + E, s).

3.  R. J. Hooper: Where ‘lads and girls … come to dust’ (which also evokes girls and boys involved with a clean-up!) (comp. anag.; ref. song from ‘Cymbeline’).

VHC

D. Ashcroft: Superbly menacing spinning gets men out – and they keep the ashes down under? (anag. less men).

M. J. Bath: Playing ‘Bruce’s’ spin? At these grounds there are no quick deliveries (anag.; ref. current Test series).

J. R. Beresford: Graves expert impresses by slurping extravagantly (ace in anag.).

A. G. Chamberlain: Where bodies are lying, sub-crape, possibly (anag. & lit.).

D. B. Cross: Rev up Nigel’s car by the pits? (anag.; ref. N. Mansell).

R. Dean: Where you’ll see bugs ripen with clay decomposing? (anag. & lit.).

C. M. Edmunds: Cairns, e.g., left up by all in grief? (anag. incl. I, & lit.).

C. E. Faulkner-King: The last resort of most people suffering incurable gyps (anag.).

R. R. Greenfield: Turning them up can be grisly one sees (anag. & lit.).

J. F. Grimshaw: New version for replacing busy Chambers showing signs of decay? (anag.).

C. R. Gumbrell: Turning which, Gray’s pen dealt with bucolic company passed over (anag. less co, & lit.; ref. Gray’s ‘Elegy’).

Mrs D. B. Jenkinson: Where passing bells are rung by special changes (anag. &. lit.).

F. P. N. Lake: Linger by us with cap off (anag. & lit.).

D. F. Manley: With GLC gone, the disposal of such could give buyer a snip (anag. incl. GLC, & lit.; ref. Lady Porter’s sale of Westminster cemeteries).

C. Pearson: They denote interment, but scaling pyre (saving time!) is alternative arrangement (anag. less t).

R. Phillips: One Scotch with pills swells the pancreas and binds body-cavities (yin2 GP in bur laces).

D. R. Robinson: Forbidding Chambers, perhaps, cluing by Pears is hopeless (anag.; ref. Pears encyclopedia).

D. H. Tompsett: Hoards of Bones – badly bungles piracy (anag.; ref. ‘Treasure Island’).

Ms J. Ward: Where variations on ‘Clay, be snug – R.I.P’ may be found (anag. & lit.).

I. J. Wilcock: Rugby Special broadcast round northern pits, perhaps (N in anag.).

W. Wynne Willson: Mongrel curs begin play where bones are found (anag.).

HC

C. J. Anderson, A. Brash, C. J. Brougham, B. Burton, E. Chalkley, M. Coates, Ms S. C. Cockburn, J. R. du Parcq, M. Earle, M. Errington, C. J. Feetenby, Dr I. S. Fletcher, H. Freeman, M. Freeman, S. Goldie, P. F. Henderson, R. Hesketh, J. Hetherington, M. D. Jones, C. Lees, C. J. Lowe, R. K. Lumsdon, P. W. Marlow, P. J. McWeeny, J. R. C. Michie, E. Miller, G. J. Miller, T. J. Moorey, R. S. Morse, F. R. Palmer, B. Pitt, D. Price Jones, J. S. Roberts, A. R. Rowlands, W. K. M. Slimmings, R. Stocks, Mrs M. Vincent, A. J. Wardrop, R. J. Whale, D. Williamson, Dr E. Young.
 

COMMENTS
278 entries, over half with PARTNER for PARDNER, presenting me with the biggest unexpected quandary for a long time. The clue, you may recall, was ‘Standard split set back US spouse possibly’, the fourth letter being, unintentionally but typically, unchecked. How many of those who had PARTNER paused to wonder about that ‘US’, and how many, having paused, assumed some sort of error on my part and thought no more about it? My initial inclination was to be strict – until elements of self-doubt started to creep into my mind, ‘Pardner’ is described hi Chambers as American slang for ‘partner’, and the word ‘spouse’ is anything but slang. Though not specifically American, ‘partner’ is not un-American either, so describing it as ‘US’ does not preclude its use in other Englishes (or does it?). Anyway, I weakened, though a lot of you who should have known better can consider yourselves fortunate that I did! Verb sap.
 
The puzzle itself was clearly tough – at least when it came to identifying the code-word (a beauty for Playfair purposes, I thought) – which probably explains the low entry. Not everyone likes Playfair (‘like a marathon,’ wrote one regular, ‘hours of hell followed by elation’), which is why I tried to vary the formula with a thematic link to the code-word. The problem was finding words to clue which wouldn’t immediately give the game away (CEMETERY was rejected for this reason) and which all had an even number of letters. What made things extra hard for you was the (unfortunate but not deliberate) fact that no coded pair of letters contained one of the letters of its uncoded equivalent, always a useful place to start the decoding process since it means that the three letters involved must occur in the same row or column of the word square. In general though, you seem to have welcomed the extra thematic element, so I think it is worth repeating in some form or other. Only a couple complained that it made things too easy!
 
The clue-word offered a field day for anagram-lovers, anagrams inevitably forming the majority of clues submitted, and its meaning also offered plenty of scope for ‘&-littery’, as many of those quoted above testify. Indeed it was hard to get away from anagrams and still produce a good clue, though I applaud the efforts of those who tried. Breaking the word up into ‘r’ in BUYING PLACES (defined as ‘shops’, say) seemed a little unimaginative, however, since the essential meaning of ‘places’ remains the same in the cryptic and literal readings.
 
I now have my copy of the new edition of Chambers (called simply The Chambers Dictionary). It is due to be published on 19 August, price about £20.00 (I’m on holiday as I write and haven’t got this detail to hand), and boasts 25,000 new entries – yummy! I shall hold off using it until January in deference to those who have already dropped hints to Father Christmas.
 
Two regulars (and friends) have written to tell me of the recent death of John (J. B.) Widdowson, himself a regular of long standing. Apart from being a keen solver he also compiled crosswords (as Bart of the Listener) and, I believe, ran special weekends for fellow-enthusiasts. He appeared in the dreaded black chair in Mastermind and was very active in Mensa, effectively running their General Knowledge quiz. And he was the author of the Collins Gem Crossword Dictionary. I never met him myself though we corresponded agreeably on a number of occasions. I’m sure there will be many who knew him through crosswords and who will be saddened by the news of his passing.
 

 

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