◀  No. 1465 Jan 1975 Clue list No. 152  ▶

AZED CROSSWORD 148

BALLYHOO

1.  R. J. Palmer: Bouncer? Brute unleashing one produces a storm of publicity (ball y(a)hoo).

2.  P. J. Wagstaffe: Blinking? Well, optician’s first solution is eyewash (bally ho o).

3.  E. J. Burge: E.g. ‘… delivery – a brute!’ (when one’s out)? (ball y(a)hoo).

VHC

F. D. H. Atkinson: Brainwashing of the verbally hoodwinked (hidden & lit.).

Dr J. M. Bennett: A demonstration, in which everyone is taken in by a lot of hooey (all in by + hoo(ey)).

C. O. Butcher: Blatant sales-talk: it’s round you without end without moderation (ho in ball yo(u)).

R. S. Caffyn: Blooming moonshine, half of it, a lot of razzmatazz (bally hoo(tch)).

E. Chalkley: What leads one to expect the greatest final of Wembley – and match, after one shot, ends with no score (ball + y h + 0-0).

R. Dean: Oh boy! Disseminate this and everybody gets taken in (all in anag., & lit.).

J. J. Goulstone: Means employed in verbally hoodwinking? (hidden & lit.).

Dr G. B. Greer: Ruddy expression of protest, perhaps, without moderation (ho in bally O, & lit.).

P. Hurst: Endless vulgar nonsense loudmouthed type spews one (ball(s) + y(a)hoo, & lit.).

N. Kemmer: It’s verbally hoodwinking in part (hidden & lit.).

R. E. Kimmons: Darned extravagant advertising: ruddy restraint’s nil (bally ho 0).

J. R. Kirby: It takes everyone in by interjection of excitement and surprise – nothing more! (all in by + ho 0, & lit.).

H. R. Lockhart: Propaganda that’s noisy is mostly vulgar nonsense, awful hooey with no end of piffle (ball(s) + anag. less e).

Mrs S. M. Macpherson: Publicity campaign heroics – blooming noisy stuff! – this year should be scrapped (bally hoo(ha)).

Dr R. Majdalany: Ebullient sales-talk to take everyone in by – nothing in moderation (all in by + 0 in ho).

D. F. Manley: Produced by boxing’s No.1 fellow, man without a bit of modesty (b ally ho(m)o, & lit.; ref. M. Ali).

C. G. Millin: Barker’s yell, initially, enthralling everyone with a lot of hooey (all in B y + hoo(ey), & lit.).

F. R. Palmer: Singularly vulgar nonsense (on the verge of indecency), a lot of noisy fuss (ball(s) + y + hoo(ha), & lit.).

A. J. Redstone: Razzamatazz of advertiser who, we hear, succeeds by taking everyone in (all in by + ‘who’).

T. E. Sanders: Where’s this noisy barking coming from? Hallo, boy (anag.).

W. K. M. Slimmings: Ali’s ‘sound and fury’? It exhausts youth in three rounds (y(out)h in ball O O; ref. Muhammad A.).

G. H. Willett: The sound of barking: there’s the fox, heading away: a frightening noise all round ((t)ally-ho in bo1).

Dr R. L. Wynne: Oh, boy! it’s splashed about, and takes everyone in – or does it? (all in anag., & lit.).

HC

T. Anderson, M. J. Ball, Mrs K. Bodinham, J. G. Chilvers, D. L. L. Clarke, M. Coates, J. Coleby, C. Collins, M. Cowell, Cdr H. H. L. Dickson, J. H. Dingwall, A. J. Duncum, A. L. Freeman, P. D. Gaffey, D. A. Ginger, N. C. Goddard, S. Holgate, E. M. Hornby, Mrs N. Jarman, G. Johnstone, A. H. Jones, S. G. Kirsch, F. P. N. Lake, A. D. Legge, J. L. MacKernan, L. May, K. M. McDermid, C. J. Morse, R. A. Mostyn, T. N. Nesbitt, Dr J. D. Ogilvie, S. L. Paton, W. H. Pegram, B. A. Pike, H. R. Sanders, Miss J. M. Sanders, T. A. Simmerson, M. D. Speigel, J. G. Stubbs, O. R. Taylor, K. Thomas, J. F. N. Wedge, Rev C. D. Westbrook, and an unnamed entry from Kingston, Surrey.
 

Comments
Just under 500 entries with 50 or so EXARCHATES for EPARCHATES and a handful of HELEs for HELL, neither of which fits the clue adequately. It turned out to be a much more difficult word to clue well than I’d anticipated. The ideas used were few and the ways of using them largely uninspired. My choice of word must be partly to blame but perhaps after three competitions in quick succession invention was flagging.
 
A word or two about the homophone device in clues since it loomed large this time as a means of rendering HOO by ‘who’. Do be careful how you indicate what you mean. I am not fond of and don’t accept as fair some of the indications in vogue, such as ‘sound’ used as an adjective or the increasingly popular ‘say’ used parenthetically. Likewise ‘audibly’ doesn’t mean ‘in a way that sounds like’ but ‘in a way that is audible’, which isn’t the same thing. The old standby ‘we hear’ may be a bit overworked but it is at least accurate. The others I’ve mentioned, as well as ‘it’s said’, aren’t.
 
I must apologise for my clue to SNIGGED in puzzle no. 150, which was faulty and may have perplexed some of you. ‘Sniggering’, not ‘snigging’, is a method of catching salmon. In my carelessness I simply misread the entry in Chambers. Embarrassed sniggers all round, I’m afraid.
 
I now have quite a large number of puzzles submitted as possibles for the proposed Azed Book of Crosswords. Any authors who may be concerned to know what has happened to them can rest assured that I am carefully if slowly going through them. I doubt whether the book will emerge this year, however, since I am very pressed for time and producing puzzles of my own in addition to my weekly fare will be a lengthy business. Please be patient, and don’t hesitate to submit further entries if the creative urge still grips you. In general I’d prefer original specials to ones taken from the standard repertoire.
 

 

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