◀  No. 12771 Dec 1996 Clue list No. 1284  ▶

AZED CROSSWORD 1281

ABLUTOMANE

1.  D. F. Manley: One unbedded in ambulation when perturbed by last vestige of gore? (anag. less I + e; ref. Lady Macbeth).

2.  Dr E. Young: One heard crying ‘Out!’ is nearing: our Lady Macbeth? (comp. anag. & lit.).

3.  J. R. Tozer: Fellow ‘in’ amongst dressed-up lot: Beau, a frequenter of Bath (man in anag.; ref. Beau Nash).

VHC

D. Appleton: This word could spell a troubled woman in play (comp. anag. & lit.; ref. Lady Macbeth).

Mrs F. A. Blanchard: A man to blue unrestrainedly (anag. & lit.; ref. laundry blue).

R. E. Boot: Washer stuck in ‘Auto’ is reset to be ‘Manual’ (anag.).

E. J. Burge: BL name auto failing – an eccentric washer! (anag.; ref. carmaker).

C. A. Clarke: I’m mental about endless lathering (anag. less t, & lit.).

D. J. Dare-Plumpton: Being programmed with regular wash cycle, manual will need to be reread (anag.).

E. Dawid: Howard Hughes was one skilled at acquiring staggering amount (anag. in able; ref. eccentric American multi-millionaire).

D. A. Ginger: Compulsive scrubber, crazy about males with name for bit of skylarking (anag. with n for s).

N. C. Goddard: An extraordinary amount sucked in by powerful automatic cleaner (anag. in able).

R. R. Greenfield: What Lady Macbeth became? One depressed with 10,000 invading (a + toman in blue).

C. R. Gumbrell: One drawn to balneum? (a + anag., & lit.).

P. F. Henderson: You’ll find me resorting to a balneum (anag. & lit.).

R. Hesketh: I’m mental about failing to appear completely fresh (anag. less t’, & lit.).

M. D. Laws: Zealot finally going mental about scrubbing (anag. less t, & lit.).

J. C. Leyland: ‘I want all spotless!’ – a tip from Basil to Manuel, getting clobbered (anag. incl. B; ref ‘Fawlty Towers’).

M. A. Macdonald-Cooper: Washer possibly needing shrink to make fit – manual to be revised? (anag.; washer, shrink, fit 2 mngs.).

Mrs J. Mackie: It’s a waste giving shelter to tramp if one never stops soaking and sponging (a + tom an2 in blue2).

C. G. Millin: Cat, one with a greyish exterior, an obsessive washer (tom an in a blue).

C. J. Morse: I wash all the time by hand in a laundering liquid (to man in a blue).

F. R. Palmer: Soap freak, one of many almost completely captivated by Sky? (a + to man(y) in blue).

D. R. Robinson: I’m curiously mental about scrubbing remotest bit of dirt (anag. less t, & lit.).

P. L. Stone: I’m mental about shifting the last trace of dirt away (anag. less t, & lit.).

HC

C. J. Anderson, F. Anstis, D. Ashcroft, M. Barley, M. J. Bath, E. A. Beaulah, J. R. Beresford, C. Boyd, C. J. Brougham, G. C. Brown, J. M. Brown, Dr J. Burscough, C. J. & M. P. Butler, E. Cross, G. Cumming, R. V. Dearden, N. C. Dexter, V. Dixon, C. M. Edmunds, Dr I. S. Fletcher, J. Francis, G. I. L. Grafton, Ms I. Greatorex, J. F. Grimshaw, R. J. Hooper, Ms A. Hunt, A. F. Ireland, W. Jackson, Mrs D. B. Jenkinson, G. Johnstone, R. E. Kimmons, F. P. N. Lake, J. P. Lester, R. K. Lumsdon, R. M. Luty, W. F. Main, Dr E. J. Miller, S. L. Paton, C. Pearson, A. J. Pinel, Dr T. G. Powell, J. H. Russell, N. G. Shippobotham, M. C. Souster, R. Stocks, R. C. Teuton, C. W. Thomas, K. Thomas, D. H. Tompsett, Dr I. Torbe, A. J. Wardrop, Mrs M. P. Webber, Dr M. C. Whelan, M. A. L. Willey, D. Williamson.
 

Comments
373 entries, with no noticeable mistakes. The size of entry has been rather low in recent months so I’m glad to see it over the 350 mark again. Was the puzzle easier than of late, or was it the attraction of a rather nice clue-word, I wonder? No real problems in the puzzle itself, I think, except perhaps the elusive CASIMERE, which appears in Chambers at CASSIMERE. I don’t think anyone actually got it wrong.
 
Have there been any other famous ablutomanes besides Lady Macbeth and Howard Hughes? The only one put forward (and that only once) was Pontius Pilate, but he surely only performed his public ablutions once, as a symbolic act, and was not obsessive about personal hygiene for its own sake. Indeed part of the challenge in cluing ABLUTOMANE was to indicate the manic nature of such a person’s affliction. Plenty of excellent clues – and even some of those quoted above – could be read simply as indicating one who washes or bathes regularly, as most normal people do. I was reminded of a Ximenes competition years ago when the clue-word was ARCH-PIRATE and X made the point in his slip that many of the clues submitted could have led just as well in their definition parts to PIRATE and failed to indicate adequately the special element involved in the prefix. Another common fault this month was to use Lady Macbeth as a definition of ABLUTOMANE instead of indicating (as the first two prizewinners above do) that she was an example of a person of that description. ABLUTOMANE would do as a definition (among others) of Lady Macbeth, but the same is not true in reverse. That said, it was by general consensus a friendly word in terms of meaning and structure, and I picked it immediately as the one to give you in high expectation of a good and varied entry. If what I got didn’t quite live up to initial hopes it was partly because so many opted for the ‘am unable to’ anagram, difficult to resist I’m sure, but Just too popular by far to gain special distinction. A fair number also tried to something with Popeye’s arch-rival Bluto, but none who did managed to find a convincing way of linking him with a definition of the clue-word.
 
I have been asked by one or two newer solvers to explain some of the regular abbreviations used in solution notes, such as ‘comp. anag.’ and ‘& lit.’ If they can be patient I’ll deal with this request in a future slip. Time and space will not permit it this month. More also anon about CJM’s NOVE(M)BER clue. My thanks for all the kind seasonal greetings to me and my family. Very best wishes to you all for Christmas and the new year. (You have – and may need! – an extra week for solving the Christmas competition puzzle. If you send it in near the closing date please post it first class. There are bound to be postal d
 

 

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