◀  No. 11815 Feb 1995 Clue list No. 1190  ▶

AZED CROSSWORD 1186

GRISELDA

1.  Dr I. S. Fletcher: Job as woman? Work lies in form of drag (anag. in anag.).

2.  E. M. Holroyd: She’s one ill-treated? Also resigned (comp. anag. & lit.).

3.  A. J. Wardrop: Sid tangled with large character played by Hattie (anag.; ref. S. James, H. Jacques as Griselda Pugh in ‘Hancock’s Half Hour’).

VHC

J. R. Beresford: A model’s always disregarded by Greer and ‘liberated’ ladies (Gr(e’er) + anag.).

Mrs F. A. Blanchard: Recollect Sid and large lady (Miss Pugh) in East Cheam? (anag.; ref. S. James, Hattie Jacques as Griselda Pugh in ‘Hancock’s Half Hour’).

C. J. Brougham: She suffered much from her Marquis, girl Sade exploited (anag.; ref. M. de Saluzzo, M. de Sade).

B. Burton: Flipping lid, rages? Not she! (anag. & lit.).

I. Carr: Is girl seen as doormat? Could be her or some saint, perhaps (comp. anag. & lit.).

L. E. Ellis: Under stress, the Queen is glad to provide a model of patience (possibly her father’s ideal) (anag. incl. ER, anag. incl. GR’s).

N. Gambier: Girl Sade violated? Another Marquis tormented this one! (anag.; ref. M. de Saluzzo, M. de Sade).

C. R. Gumbrell: ‘Patience’ typified G & S: antiquity, in song, sent up (G + S eld in air (rev.); ref. opera).

G. Johnstone: Patience personified G & S ideal – right? Wrong (anag. incl. r; ref. opera).

F. P. N. Lake: Job description suits me and there’s more pay (awfully glad about that!) (rise in anag.).

J. C. Leyland: Me name? Not exactly Germaine, lads (comp. anag. & lit.; ref. G. Greer).

D. F. Manley: What’s on this doormat? It could be garden soil (comp. anag.).

P. W. Marlow: Large bit of dock is uprooted – piece of patience? (anag.; piece (disrespectful) = woman, patience = type of dock).

C. G. Millin: Longsuffering wife of Marquis de S——, a girl ill-treated (anag.; ref. M. de Saluzzo, M. de Sade).

T. J. Moorey: Di’s regal bust: she sticks it out fabulously (anag.).

F. R. Palmer: Job (female)? Where one’s unusually glad about promotion? (rise in anag.).

E. R. Riddle: For a picture of humility Sid Little’s oppo must take a lot of beating (anag. of Sid Large; ref. comedians Little and Large).

J. H. Russell: Both good and right, I’m also of ladies most abused (g r + anag., & lit.).

R. C. Teuton: Job as a woman? Chap lies wearing a form of drag (anag. in anag.).

HC

D. Appleton, M. Barley, E. A. Beaulah, R. W. Bonney, R. E. Boot, H. J. Bradbury, J. M. Brown, E. J. Burge, J. Butcher, M. Coates, E. Cross, G. Cuthbert, L. J. Davenport, E. Dawid, R. V. Dearden, P. Dendy, N. C. Dexter, C. J. Feetenby, H. Freeman, P. D. Gaffey, N. C. Goddard, E. Gomersall, Mrs E. Greenaway, R. R. Greenfield, B. Greer, D. R. Gregory, C. S. Guinness, A. J. Guy, P. F. Henderson, R. Hesketh, A. W. Hill, A. Hodgson, R. J. Hooper, W. Jackson, M. Jones, Ms M. Kennedy, R. E. Kimmons, J. P. Lester, J. D. Lockett, P. Long, R. K. Lumsdon, Mrs J. Mackie, L. K. Maltby, G. Marshall, H. W. Massingham, K. McDermid, M. McMahon, W. L. Miron, D. Mitchell, I. Morgan, C. J. Morse, G. Murray, C. J. Napier, K. O’Keeffe, R. J. Palmer, G. Perry, Mrs A. Price, D. Price Jones, A. J. Redstone, H. L. Rhodes, D. R. Robinson, G. Rowlands, H. R. Sanders, W. Scott, D. P. Shenkin, P. L. Stone, Dr G. A. Styles, Miss D. W. Taylor, D. H. Tompsett, J. R. Tozer, R. R. Tyler, A. P. Vincent, J. D. Walsh, M. H. E. Watson, R. J. Whale, J. P. A. Wildey, D. Williamson, W. Woodruff, B. K. Workman, R. Zara, M. Zeegen.
 

Comments
485 entries, almost no mistakes. My clue to ESSO gave some trouble and was perhaps a little oblique for a short word. The note with the solution should have clarified things but if anyone’s still puzzled ‘... that’s central to period’ indicated the middle letters of LESSON. In general the largish entry (including many newcomers) was evidence of an easier-than-average competition puzzle and a promising clue-word. In retrospect I rather wish I’d saved Griselda for a ‘Cherchez la Femme’ competition but it’s too late for that now. As many of you discovered, she turns up in various versions penned by Boccaccio, Petrarch, Chaucer and Maria Edgeworth, allegorizing (as Brewer puts it) ‘the submission of a holy mind to the will of God’. She also of course yields many enticing anagrams.
 
I’ve selected three (unsuccessful) clues for comment this month, each flawed in different ways. 1 ‘Meek she may be, but she can terrify a novice prosecutor’ (grise L PA). Here some indication that GRISE is an obsolete word should be given but, more importantly, the words ‘she can’ perform no function in the cryptic reading of the clue. They are surplus to requirements and cannot be justified. The inclusion of superfluous wording like this merely to improve the readability of clues is quite a common fault and should be guarded against. 2 ‘Extremely submissive girl, hysterical about daughter? On the contrary!’ I have noticed a growing tendency among crossword setters to use ‘extremely’ to indicate the first letters of the following (or preceding) word, but can see no justification for it. ‘Extremely’ means ‘in an extreme way; very’ and I can’t equate that with an instruction to the solver to take the extreme letters of a word. 3 ‘Girl Sade? Wrong!’ A near miss, this, attempting a super-concise ‘& lit.’ But for it to be acceptable one must assume that Griselda’s character was the direct opposite of de Sade’s. That she was merely different would be too vague – after all, not many could be said to resemble the loony Marquis at all! And I wouldn’t regard Griselda’s brand of enduring patience as the antithesis of his love of inflicting pain and suffering for sexual gratification. Nice try, though.
 
Several people have written to tell me of the recent death of Sir William Slimmings, a member of the old guard of solvers and competitors who will be sadly missed. I see from my records that he won first prize in Ximenes competition No 27 in June 1946. He also won six Azed prizes and was VHC in the 1994 Christmas comp., his last entry. His friend and colleague Alec Bogie writes: ‘Those who knew him greatly respected him and those who knew him well adored him. He was a very fine man.’
 
I’m sorry to say that my suggestion about an Azed scarf or headsquare for lady solvers produced a very poor response – half a dozen at most said they’d be interested in buying one. Since the initial financial outlay would be mine and the minimum viable production run is about 80, I am disinclined to proceed further at this stage. Are there really no more takers?
 

 

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