AZED CROSSWORD 1533

MASTER-MARINER

1.  Dr J. Burscough: Capsizing trawler’s last tar remains – me? (anag. incl r, & lit.; ref. captain going down with his ship).

2.  A. J. Wardrop: Leader of ratings in tramp (not troop) steamer? Could be (anag. incl. r, less tp, & lit.).

3.  J. R. Tozer: Head of mercantile company millions in arrears met founders (m + anag.; company = crew).

VHC

D. Appleton: Sea-captain bewitched tarries with merman (anag.).

D. Arthur: Chopped meats take a day spent in pickle: recipe for Cook, perhaps (anag. + r + marin(ad)e + r; Captain C.).

M. Barley: Possibly I run a steamer (MN), right (anag. incl r + r, & lit.).

J. R. Beresford: Normal title, assuming one ran steamer at sea (anag. incl. I in Mr, & lit.).

H. J. Bradbury: Mere tars remain adrift but for ’e! (anag. less e, & lit.).

C. J. Brougham: Tramp steamer’s ruin … possibly puts me out (comp. anag. & lit.).

A. Cox: I am Tranmere R.’s new skipper (anag.).

E. Cross: Cook? Fricassee man is rare term for him! (anag.; Captain C.).

J. P. Guiver: As a former minister, losing Foreign Office is disastrous for Cook’s career (anag. less FO is; ref. Robin C., Captain C.).

C. R. Gumbrell: I’ll have tar name me ‘sir’, being trained right (anag. + r, & lit.).

R. J. Heald: I’d hope to command good ratings with mainstream broadcast about our old King and Queen (ER in anag. + R).

A. Hodgson: Skipper Imran’s team erred rarely – less than the sides of England (anag. less E, d; ref. I. Khan, former Pakistan cricket captain).

G. Johnstone: Authority on bridge in arrears met Omar’s second entry with finesse (anag. incl. m; ref. O. Sharif, bridge writer).

F. P. N. Lake: Leader on board earns mate with two rooks; I’m confounded! (anag. incl. R, R).

D. F. Manley: I could be leader of tub in extraordinary rendition of seaman-rimer, right (t in anag. + r; ref. Ancient Mariner).

P. W. Marlow: Seaman displaying authority remains composed around goal with the Gunners pinned back (term + RA (rev.), all in anag.; ref. David S., Arsenal goalkeeper).

C. J. Morse: Rams team languishing with former outside right as captain (anag. + rine r; ref. Derby County’s woes under Craig Burley).

F. R. Palmer: Possibly term I associate with seaman, leader of ratings, right (anag. incl. r + r, & lit.).

C. Pearson: Name Rimer’s tar? Adrift, not this evidently (anag.; ref. Ancient Mariner).

R. Perry: Unruly Merrie Man’s at R. Hood’s calling (anag.; ref. Admiral H.).

Dr E. Young: Man at top with fishy bottom, merman tarries on the rocks (anag.; bottom = ship).

HC

D. Ashcroft, B. Balfour, A. Barker, M. Bath, E. A. Beaulah, Mrs F. A. Blanchard, E. J. Burge, M. V. Burge, B. Burton, D. A. Campbell, Mrs M. J. Cansfield, P. Cargill, C. A. Clarke, D. C. Clenshaw, M. Coates, N. Connaughton, K. W. Crawford, Mrs J. M. Critchley, M. D. Damesick, L. J. Davenport, E. Dawid, E. V. Defley, N. C. Dexter, V. Dixon, E. G. Fletcher, H. Freeman, N. C. Goddard, J. Grimes, Mrs B. E. Henderson, R. Hesketh, B. Hitman, M. Hodgkin, W. Jackson, Mrs S. D. Johnson, M. D. Laws, P. Long, C. J. Lowe, R. K. Lumsdon, D. W. Mackie, P. McKenna, J. R. C. Michie, K. E. Milan, C. G. Millin, T. J. Moorey, I. Morgan, R. A. Mostyn, R. Murdoch, J. Pearce, R. Phillips, D. Price Jones, D. R. Robinson, J. H. Russell, M. Sanderson, W. J. M. Scotland, D. Tilley, D. H. Tompsett, A. P. Vincent, M. J. E. Wareham, W. B. Wendt, Ms B. Widger, G. H. Willett, S. Williams, W. C. Woodruff, W. Wynne Willson.
 

Comments
283 entries, almost no mistakes. Favourite clue, probably the one to GREECE, though this also caused difficulty for some. I don’t often make such deliberate use of the etymologies in Chambers, but the explicit reference to the Latin word gradus at gree and the helpful mention of gradus ad Parnassum at gradus set me off on the track I chose (and prompted a nostalgic look at my old school gradus, now sadly dust-covered and never used for its original purpose). In the same general vein Mr Ashcroft, who once taught me classics, enquired gently what Plautus had to do with music, referring to my ODEUM clue. A fair point. I think I had mentally persuaded myself that theatrical as well as musical performances were mounted in odea, but I can certainly find no evidence for this. O dear!
 
The clue word this month was welcomed by most for the wealth of opportunities it offered, especially for anagrams (with that perennial standby ‘at sea’ much in evidence) and/or ‘& lit.’ treatment. Most of you took care to indicate that a master-mariner is the captain of a merchant ship or a fishing vessel, not a naval officer, following the Chambers definition. Elsewhere, however, in the New SOED for example, he is defined simply as the commander of a ship and then more specifically as the commander of a merchant vessel. So I felt obliged to allow the more general definition. I can’t expect you to consult a range of dictionaries when working on your clues, but equally I cannot ignore the evidence of reputable works of reference when they fail to agree with Chambers.
 
I have little else to add about this month’s competition beyond complimenting you all on a generally excellent set of clues (a factor that always adds significantly to the time spent on judging, but I’m not complaining). A couple of you noted the unusually generous paucity of unchecked letters in the grid, including a number of unchless 5- and 6-letter words . This was pure inadvertence on my part, not deliberate at all and not something I’d normally do. I believe in making you solve every clue, the only exception being 3-letter words, which I don’t include very often anyway.
 
A word of apology to Mr D. W. Mackie, a prizewinner last month whose middle initial I got wrong in both the announcement in the paper and the slip. RVD please note. And you may like to know that Chambers have issued new editions of a number of their crossword ‘aids’: Don Manley’s Crossword Manual (now in its third edition, with a new foreword by Colin Dexter), Chambers Anagrams and Chambers Crossword Completer, and a new concise edition of their Crossword Dictionary. I should add that Anagrams and the Crossword Completer are now based on the parent edition of Chambers Crossword Dictionary, not on the Chambers Dictionary itself. This means (regrettably, I think) that although they now include compounds and proper names, very many of the more obscure vocabulary items from TCD have been omitted.