AZED CROSSWORD 1485

BOURSE / TIFOSO

1.  D. F. Manley: What we have in financial paper is an institution for business enthusiast, so I love FT inordinately (ours in be (= bill of exchange); anag. incl. 0).

2.  C. J. Brougham: Brogues no good (tight) – exchange for wedges if likewise buff (anag. less g; if in to + so).

3.  C. J. Morse: For a supporter there’s nothing very convenient about British treatment of Euros as foreign exchange (0 si fit (all rev.); B + anag.).

VHC

E. A. Beaulah: An aficionado, when out I love soft French cheese, at home switching to English: some exchange! (anag. incl. 0; E for in in Boursin).

K. A. Brough: Exchange rates finally absorbed by euro tumbled after British fanatic played Footsie with no end of finance (B + r in anag.; anag. less e).

Dr J. Burscough: ‘Footsie’ untouched by European manoeuvres: one supporting Euro’s uncommon on British exchange (anag. less E; B + anag.).

B. Burton: I’m a devotee of it, so after being converted French change 50% of beef to include that from us (anag.; ours in be(ef)).

N. C. Dexter: With Footsie mostly unstable, one follows others playing a European exchange, beginning to barter Euros abroad (anag. less e; b + anag.).

V. Dixon: Freak realignment of almost all Footsie 100 emerges from obscure upset in stock market (anag. less e; anag. less C).

P. D. Gaffey: Change in Labour’s euro-policy unsettled Footsie lacking European supporter (hidden; anag. less E).

G. I. L. Grafton: User ring flogged on black market some photos of Italian reclining in the buff (b + anag. incl. O; hidden rev.).

J. Grimes: Italian fan is too nervous about Ferrari’s number one, sweating before swerving ruse in traffic hotspot (F in anag.; BO + anag.).

C. R. Gumbrell: Exchange ‘Born to Run’? Not about to if, stirred by pieces of Springsteen’s, one’s a fan (b + (c)ourse; anag. + S o).

R. J. Heald: Endless beef on the bone outcry identifies freak cattle disease limiting our market for stock in France (tif(f) + os + O!; our in BSE).

J. C. Leyland: It’s fine pair naughty fan dancer’s ultimately revealed in carouse in Parisian stags’ venue (anag. of it’s f 00; r in bouse).

D. W. Mackie: US man’s sure to come unstuck as foreign exchange devotee, playing Footsie endlessly (bo + anag.; anag. less e).

Mrs J. Mackie: Exchange neighbour’s eager embraces, being addicted to sport and playing footsie endlessly (hidden; anag. less e).

R. J. Palmer: See Footsie endlessly fluctuating fan madness of the herd besetting our financial market (anag. less e; our in BSE).

A. Roth: Centre-, left- and right- halves of best Rome club play for a place in European transfer market (contributing to reflected kudos of Italian football fan) (anag. of es ro ub; hidden rev.).

D. P. Shenkin: Follower of Rubens prepared to foist endless faulty nameless ‘Rubens’ round in exchange (anag. less t; anag. less n incl. O; ref. R. Barichello, racing driver).

R. J. Whale: Where stock’s sold abroad, our BSE’s contamination of it so damaged devotee of European ties? (anag.; anag.; ref. European ban on UK beef).

G. H. Willett: The House is one contributor to Labour’s ebbing of love, its disgruntled devotee in Tuscany revealed (hidden; anag. incl. 0).

HC

M. Barley, M. Bath, J. R. Beresford, E. J. Burge, C. J. & M. P. Butler, D. A. Campbell, Mrs M. J. Cansfield, C. A. Clarke, E. Cross, T. M. Crowther, G. Cuthbert, C. M. Edmunds, A. G. Fleming, M. Freeman, J. E. Green, R. R. Greenfield, W. Gundrey, R. Haddock, R. Hesketh, J. A. Holland, F. P. N. Lake, M. D. Laws, J. P. Lester, J. F. Levey, R. K. Lumsdon, Rev M. Metcalf, C. G. Millin, T. J. Moorey, G. M. Neighbour, J. Pearce, D. Pendrey, D. Price Jones, H. L. Rhodes, D. R. Robinson, M. Sanderson, N. G. Shippobotham, D. A. Simmons, P. L. Stone, D. H. Tompsett, Dr I. Torbe, J. R. Tozer, L. Ward, A. J. Wardrop.
 

Comments
235 entries, very few mistakes. Those of you who complained that I’d shown P’S AND Q’S as having seven letters without further comment clearly did not read the preamble, in which I said that one of the pair at this number was of three words (with apostrophes). It seemed the best way of dealing with this complication. I was at fault in not indicating that STOCK MARKETS is two words, however, and I apologize for that. It’s the first time I’ve turned ‘Left & Right’ on its side quite like this and it seems to have had the effect of making it more difficult to get going without solving 1 Down; I’m not quite sure why. I do like to make the single word have some relevance to the theme and am running out of suitable words indicating two-sidedness (though there’s one I may not have used, now I think of it!). There was also criticism of my use of both ‘buried’ and ‘disinterred’ as anagram indicators in the same double clue. I take the point, especially in the light of my recent comments in the slip about anagram indicators generally. I did pause before deciding that both were OK, but should perhaps have gone for safer wording. I was also sorry to disappoint those who were expecting a Fifth of November theme, having completely failed to notice the date of the puzzle until it was too late. Likewise BOURSE found its way into the puzzle and then became one of the pair of clue words quite by chance. I simply failed to make the connection in my mind, but chose the pair that seemed to offer the most interesting possibilities. The checked Q with no U in either direction was also an odd occurrence.
 
As a pair, BOURSE/TIFOSO were perhaps less challenging than some I’ve given you, and many of you achieved admirable economy of wording and a seamless join between the two parts which together are the essence of a good double clue. Superfluous joining words and reference from one of the two halves to the other (using pronouns like ‘it’ and ‘he’, for example) which would be meaningless if the clues were separated both render double clues unsound in my judgement, though they were relatively uncommon this time. The Footsie index was understandably much favoured as a way of linking the two words, and topical references to BSE also cropped up a lot. In general, it was a high-quality entry.
 
It’s been pointed out to me that Mr R. J. Palmer’s VHC last month doesn’t work. I’m sure it was quite sound as submitted. Perhaps ‘in road’ after ‘strangers’ got omitted when I keyed the copy for the slip. Can RJP himself confirm? Finally, my thanks for all the kind messages about our forthcoming trip to Australia (Mrs C’s first, my second). Since most of New South Wales seems currently to be under water it may feel just like home! And since the December slip will be somewhat delayed, may I wish you all a very happy Christmas.