AZED CROSSWORD 1247

PREDICANT

1.  Dr I. S. Fletcher: See me spouting from Corner? (predica(me)nt & lit.; ref. Speakers’ Corner).

2.  D. F. Manley: How —— does ramble: you might have noticed pew so hard! (comp. anag. & lit.).

3.  S. Goldie: Barchester chap? Slope, led by unholy pride (anag. + cant; chap. = chaplain; ref. Trollope).

VHC

D. Appleton: Reformed vicar, priest, dean? —— varies (comp. anag. & lit.).

M. J. Barker: Dominican priests could have organized mission with me (comp. anag. & lit.).

C. J. & M. P. Butler: Preacher type embracing revolutionary extremes of New Left (red in pica + N, t).

C. A. Clarke: Pastor with perverted doctrine, the principle of apartheid having replaced love (P + anag. with a for 0, & lit.).

D. B. Cross: Priest, one in order? (Pr. + an in edict, & lit.).

E. Cross: Reformed Episcopal, Dutch, engaged in sanctimonious expression of moral sentiments (RE D in pi cant, & lit.).

Dr V. G. I. Deshmukh: E.g. Spooner’s plight, spouting bits of metathesis (predica(me)nt; ref. Rev. S.).

A. J. Dorn: Reformed padre in original quarters of Cape Town, perhaps (anag. incl. C T, & lit.).

R. Hesketh: I’m positive – on dead certain ground (p + anag. incl. d, & lit.).

R. E. Kimmons: Preacher in the John Knox mould keen to move north (acid (rev.) in prent).

F. P. N. Lake: Priest? Rector? One in order? (P + R + an in edict, & lit.).

R. K. Lumsdon: This easily matches the characters of Dr Ian Paisley etc (comp. anag. & lit.).

D. J. MacKay: Reformed padre in Cape Town, primarily? (anag. incl. CT, & lit.).

D. Price Jones: One performing clerical duties has the potential to be PC-trained (anag.).

K. Thomas: Parsonic tone’d issue from him soon! (comp. anag. & lit.).

J. R. Tozer: Tiny chapel draws throng for a ——’s hwyl (comp. anag. & lit.).

A. J. Wardrop: He might deliver epic rant with suggestion of Dutch Reformed (anag. incl. D, & lit.).

Ms B. J. Widger: Cinder path’s not hard going for preacher (anag. less h).

D. Williamson: Reformed padre in Cape Town originally? (anag. incl. C T, & lit.).

HC

W. G. Arnott, D. Ashcroft, F. D. H. Atkinson, M. J. Balfour, A. Barker, M. Barley, E. A. Beaulah, J. R. Beresford, Mrs K. Bissett, Mrs F. A. Blanchard, B. W. Brook, C. J. Brougham, Rev Canon C. M. Broun, G. C. Brown, P. A. Bull, E. J. Burge, B. Burton, T. Butcher, Mrs M. J. Cansfield, C. J. Cox, K. W. Crawford, Ms M. Cruickshank, E. Dawid, R. Dean, R. V. Dearden, N. C. Dexter, V. Dixon, R. A. England, E. G. Fletcher, M. Freeman, Mrs C. George, N. C. Goddard, E. Gomersall, J. E. Green, J. F. Grimshaw, C. R. Gumbrell, Mrs B. E. Henderson, P. F. Henderson, I. A. Herbert, R. A. Hill, T. M. Hoggart, R. C. Hope-Jones, R. Jacks, T. Jacobs, Mrs D. B. Jenkinson, M. Jones, T. H. Keeley, J. P. Lester, J. C. Leyland, J. D. Lockett, A. Logan, E. Looby, Mrs J. Mackie, N. C. Mahony, W. F. Main, P. W. Marlow, H. W. Massingham, I. D. McDonald, G. L. McStravick, C. G. Millin, C. T. Milner, W. L. Miron, T. J. Moorey, C. J. Morse, C. J. Napier, S. J. O’Boyle, F. R. Palmer, R. J. Palmer, R. Parry-Morris, J. Pearce, G. Perry, A. J. Redstone, C. Robson, J. H. Russell, H. R. Sanders, D. P. Shenkin, J. B. Sweeting, R. C. Teuton, Dr I. Torbe, J. L. Turner, R. R. Tyler, A. P. Vincent, M. H. E. Watson, Mrs M. P. Webber, A. West, R. J. Whale, K. Wilson, J. S. Witte, S. Woods, W. Wynne Willson, Dr E. Young, M. Young.
 

Comments
356 entries, virtually no mistakes. I apologize about OPOPONAX/OPOPANAX. The vast majority entered OPOPANAX the spelling given in Chambers although it didn’t quite fit the clue. This led to OPOPONAX (0 pop on a X), a solecistic spelling given, I now see, in the OED but a plain misreading by me of the Chambers entry. I accepted both spellings. It was, by common consent, a toughish plain, which may account for the below-average size of entry. For once, however, the clue-word seemed to meet with almost universal approval (among those who commented, at least). A nice range of meanings, a friendly set of letters and a generally malleable structure together offered lots of possibilities. And the presence of ‘Reformed’ in one of the definitions was an open invitation to ‘& lit.’ treatment of some kind, which many of you eagerly accepted. The most popular ploy was PREDICAMENT less ME, which yielded many sound but pedestrian clues along the lines of ‘Preacher releasing me from quandary’. It required that extra dash of brilliance and economy to produce Dr Fletcher’s prizewinning clue, an object lesson to those who too readily settle for the commonplace. See also Dr Deshmukh’s VHC clue which made amusing use of the same idea.
 
The move to the Review section of the Observer came out of the blue. Although I have argued for this repeatedly since the start of the series, I was not consulted about it in advance but simply told (with a week’s notice) that the decision had been taken (at the same time as various other changes at the Observer, including new editors for both the paper itself and the Life Magazine) The main advantage is that overseas Azed solvers will now be able to compete, and it may also he possible to announce competition results after two weeks instead of three (I’m looking into this). Only one regular has written to me to deplore the change, on the grounds that the paper used for the Review is of inferior quality (making it difficult to rub out pencilled entries), and he objects to being glowered at by Omar Sharif while solving AZ. But while I agree that that they could hardly have chosen a less flattering picture of OS, it must be good news that we are reunited with the other ‘Games’ features.
 
I’ve had a nice letter from Bob Van Langen, a keen AZ solver in the past who has now retired to Florida and would like to hear from anyone willing to exchange photocopies of ‘good puzzles’ from the UK for puzzles from Harper’s, the Atlantic Monthly, etc and occasional US books of cryptic crosswords.
 
And a final apology to Mr R. Hesketh for omitting a word from his VHC clue quoted last month. It should have finished ‘would make you b