AZED CROSSWORD 1467

CANAPÉ

1.  D. F. Manley: First thing Cowper has paean about? (C + anag. & lit.; ref. ‘I sing the sofa’ at start of ‘The Task’ by William C.).

2.  J. R. Beresford: Is an impressionist delicacy brought out in Déjeuner sur l’herbe? (i.e. can ape; ref. Manet painting).

3.  R. R. Greenfield: Special tip for female in coffee-bar lounge? (nap for f in café).

VHC

W. G. Arnott: In France this provides room for a brief siesta (a nap in ce, & lit.).

M. Barley: Where one spends afternoon taking a siesta? (a nap in (a)ce, & lit.).

E. J. Burge: Special calling – a feature of the cloth in the Church (a nap in CE).

Dr J. Burscough: It circulates with champagne? This might! (comp. anag.).

E. Cross: Savoury titbit – it could make appearance rehashed, with fruit filling (anag. less pear).

G. Dennis: Crusty appetiser, nice and pleasing eaten for starters (first letters & lit.).

N. C. Dexter: Davenport perhaps settles end of Championship with an ace? (anag.; ref. US tennis player).

C. M. Edmunds: Typically, one has spread – might one exercise? (can a PE).

Dr I. S. Fletcher: Might this come with cocktail of champagne and it? (comp. anag. & lit.; it = Italian vermouth).

H. Freeman: One’s embodied in ‘fancy starter to Petronius’ Cena’? (a in anag. incl. P, & lit.; ref. Cena Trimalchionis).

P. D. Gaffey: Something to sit on with a soft base (can + a p e, & lit.; can = buttocks).

G. I. L. Grafton: What oboe plays before concert’s included in initial trio of Bach’s piece (part of suite?) (an A in CPE).

C. R. Gumbrell: Something offered by restaurant, appropriate for start of feast? (nap for f in café, & lit.).

Mrs D. B. Jenkinson: Couchée bouchée? (2 mngs.).

J. C. Leyland: An actress’s first exercise after introduction to casting couch (C + an a PE).

W. F. Main: Couch grass stem provides shelter for a pupa’s opening (a p in cane).

G. D. Meddings: A Bridge overture, one jammed by Kennedy, perhaps (an in Cape; ref. Frank B., Nigel K.).

C. G. Millin: A savoury titbit – one covered with pecan nuts (a in anag.).

C. J. Morse: ‘Keep an ace back’ encapsulates this method of bidding (hidden rev.).

N. G. Shippobotham: What is consumed as ‘nibble’ and people enjoy for starters (first letters & lit.).

K. Thomas: What introduces cocktails and nibbles at party evening (first letters & lit.).

G. H. Willett: Head primate accentuated putting the weak before the strong as a convention (can + ape with accent; can, head = lavatory).

HC

D. Ashcroft, R. L. Baker, E. A. Beaulah, C. J. Brougham, B. Burton, C. J. & M. P. Butler, D. A. Campbell, Mrs M. J. Cansfield, P. Coles, R. M. S. Cork, K. W. Crawford, G. Cuthbert, D. J. Dare-Plumpton, V. Dixon, A. J. Dorn, W. Drinkwater, W. Duffin, W. G. Duncan, L. K. Edkins, A. G. Fleming, R. E. Ford, M. Freeman, Mrs M. Gabbutt, N. C. Goddard, J. Grimes, R. J. Hannam, A. O. Harries, R. J. Heald, G. B. Hinde, J. Horwood, Mrs S. D. Johnson, F. P. N. Lake, M. D. Laws, B. J. Leatherbarrow, P. R. Lloyd, P. Long, C. J. Lowe, R. K. Lumsdon, Mrs J. Mackie, Mrs M. D. Maitland, P. W. Marlow, J. R. C. Michie, K. Milan, T. J. Moorey, W. Murphy, R. J. Palmer, J. Pearce, A. Roth, D. P. Shenkin, D. J. Short, G. R. E. Spark, Miss C. Stroulger, C. W. Thomas, D. H. Tompsett, Dr I. Torbe, J. R. Tozer, L. Ward, A. J. Wardrop, R. J. Whale, W. Woodruff.
 

Comments
223 entries, and very few mistakes, mainly REPARIN (which must have been a guess) for RELAXIN, presumably through failure to spot the second entry for lax in C. Favourite clues this month were those for PAGE and PICTARNIE, though a few said they hadn’t heard of Arnold (Arnie) Palmer, one of the most successful golfers of all time. (His throng of devoted fans was dubbed Arnie’s Army by the press.) And there was a suggestion that the cross-reference at trapan in the current edition of Chambers is to the wrong entry for trepan, thus invalidating my definition of it as a ‘shaft-borer’ . Any comments? And was my clue on the borderline of fairness, indicating a hidden reversal in a word (Bonaparte) which was not itself in the clue?
 
A high-quality (if low-quantity) entry for a word which appeared to offer lots of scope for ingenuity but which many found troublesome when it came to linking definition with subsidiary indication. There were a host of American (or Mexican, Moroccan, etc) apéritifs, and while I admired attempts to indicate the acute accent, I never normally regard this as essential, as the cross-checking letter in the puzzle showed. Mr Manley’s prize-winner brilliantly exploits a reference which was new to me, though it is in the ODQ. (A passing comment on this indispensable work of reference: I have copies of the second, third and fourth editions (1953, 1979 and 1992) but a fifth has appeared since, plus ‘revised editions’ of earlier numbered ones. All this makes assertions about the source of quotations used very difficult. I shall do my best, but be warned. My June quotation used in the recent ‘Letters Latent’ puzzle may have been a case in point.) I couldn’t resist Mrs Jenkinson’s lovely if unconventional two-worder, which manages to convey the ‘sofa’ sense of CANAPÉ via the etymology of its first word. A final word on clues submitted: ‘pecan nuts’ is fine as a way of indicating an anagram of PECAN; ‘pecan pie’ isn’t.
 
I must make a couple of apologies in connection with last month’s slip. In Mr Wardrop’s prize-winning clue, ‘relation’ should of course have read ‘relating’. And the annual honours list should have included Mr R. R. Greenfield (0, 4) who therefore also qualifies for a consolation prize. Both errors were entirely my own doing and I’m very sorry they occurred.
 
I have received an advance copy of Chambers Crossword Dictionary (mentioned in an earlier slip). It is due for publication in September, I’m told, at £25, ISBN 0-550-10006-7, and I think many of you will find it a useful addition to your reference library.