◀  No. 15891 Dec 2002 Clue list No. 1596  ▶

AZED CROSSWORD 1593

MANSUETE

1.  J. R. Beresford: What’s use meant ‘broken’? (anag. & lit.).

1.  M. Coates: What’s use meant ‘broken’? (anag. & lit.).

3.  Dr E. Young: I expressed tame in use that’s lost (anag. less I, & lit.).

VHC

D. Ashcroft: Gentle, old-fashioned, amusement dancing the 1st of May away (anag. less M).

M. Bath: Battered English team’s sunk without cover – and past caring! (anag. incl. E, (s)un(k)).

E. A. Beaulah: Once docile, turbulent Etna fumes with cap blown (anag. less f).

Dr J. Burscough: Use meant ‘broken’? (anag. & lit.).

B. Burton: Unmeet as torturer (anag. & lit.).

C. A. Clarke: One-time domestic servant, pursued by outside police force, Queen gets released (man + su(R)eté; ref. Paul Burrell).

N. Connaughton: Gentle old-fashioned locks absorbing a lot of canal time (Sue(z) t in mane).

N. C. Dexter: For this archaic adj, what’s now primarily in use? ‘Tame’, possibly (n in anag., & lit.).

H. Freeman: You’d see me used about one born on Tues possibly (a n + anag., all in me, & lit.; ref. ‘Tuesday’s child …’).

C. R. Gumbrell: Cook first to traverse with seamen central part of South Pacific, historically (anag. incl. t, u; ref. Captain C.).

M. J. Hanley: Gentle old Austen novel set in Maine (anag. in ME).

R. Hesketh: In the past was mild the draught, not bitter, asked for? (man + ‘sweet’).

G. Johnstone: Mine’s mild, old chap, not bitter, d’you hear? (man + ‘sweet’).

D. F. Manley: Such could be eme aunt’s licked into shape (anag. & lit.).

J. R. C. Michie: Use meant composed (anag. & lit.).

C. J. Morse: Used to men and all clipped and trained (anag. less last letters, & lit.).

R. J. Palmer: Meek blessed at mount, see, repudiating OT (anag. less OT; bless3; ref. Sermon on the Mount).

R. Phillips: Clement lost the second to Kenneth, with one to go in a minute’s waffling (anag. less I + e; ref. C. Freud, K. Williams in radio game show ‘Just a Minute’).

N. G. Shippobotham: I see leaving mint sauce sprinkled on side of plate is no longer redolent of lamb? (anag. less I, c + e).

T. Smith: Old-fashioned mild on draught, not bitter in cans (man + ‘sweet’; cans = headphones).

HC

Mrs P. A. Bax, C. Boyd, C. J. Brougham, E. J. Burge, C. J. & M. P. Butler, D. A. Campbell, Mrs M. J. Cansfield, P. Cargill, M. Casserley, R. M. S. Cork, A. Cox, E. Cross, G. Cuthbert, R. Dean, R. V. Dearden, V. Dixon, A. G. Fleming, Dr I. S. Fletcher, M. Freeman, P. D. Gaffey, N. C. Goddard, G. I. L. Grafton, Mrs E. Greenaway, J. Grimes, W. Jackson, T. Jacobs, J. P. Lester, J. C. Leyland, H. M. Lloyd, W. F. Main, P. W. Marlow, K. Milan, C. G. Millin, T. J. Moorey, R. Murdoch, S. Newbery, F. R. Palmer, J. Parke, M. L. Perkins, Mrs E. M. Phair, N. Pursey, D. R. Robinson, A. Roth, M. Sanderson, Mrs J. C. Sawyer, W. J. M. Scotland, D. P. Shenkin, D. J. Short, C. M. Steele, C. W. Thomas, K. Thomas, D. H. Tompsett, J. R. Tozer, L. Ward, A. J. Wardrop, Dr M. C. Whelan, Ms B. J. Widger, D. C. Williamson, R. Zara.
 

Comments
301 entries, no mistakes, apart, that is from my mysterious ‘B. Smith’ in the ANTI-HEROINE clue. As you will probably know by now, this should have been ‘B. Jones’, meaning Bridget Jones of the best- selling fictional diary, with a misleading reference in the rest of the clue to Brian Jones, one of the original Rolling Stones (and the one who drowned in a swimming pool). It is correct in my hand-written original, yet somehow I keyed it wrongly and failed to spot the error on the subsequent proof. My addled thought processes must simply have substituted one common five-letter sumame for another. I do apologize. No one got the answer wrong, and not many actually expressed bewilderment. One competitor even brilliantly guessed what I’d done. As it happened the puzzle was unusually full of references to proper names (Perry Como, Tess of the D’Urbervilles, Emma Woodhouse, Martin Sheen, Israel Hands). This was pure chance, not a deliberate plan to test your encyclopedic knowledge, but I make no apology for it (beyond the one I’ve already made!). All of these seem to me to be within the likely ambit of an averagely well-informed person, and most Azed solvers surely fall into that category, if not a higher one. Favourite clue this month was the one for COMMO, with mentions for IN-KNEED, KREESE, POTTO, TETCHINESS and UNHEPPEN.
 
Another archaic word for you to clue (though see below) with lots of-possibilities. The most obvious one (suet in mane) proved relatively unproductive in terms of linking the cryptic part to the definition part, though many had a go at it, without notable success. The winning ‘& lit.’ anagram with the wording settled on by Messrs Beresford and Coates was brilliant in its appropriacy and succinctness. I can’t remember when we last had joint first prizewinners but it was clearly, to my mind, the right decision.
 
Further to my remarks last month on the currency of the word JOKESMITH, Mr Wheen has emailed me the results of some research he had done on the Internet, demonstrating clearly that it is still very much in use and certainly not deserving of the label that Chambers gives it. It’s possible, I suppose, that the word fell into desuetude and was then revived, but lexicographers are meant to keep an eye open for such linguistics shifts and failure to do so is reprehensible, not least because of the anguish it causes to Azed competitors!
 
My wife and I are most grateful for the many cards and seasonal greetings we have received from Azed solvers. May we in turn wish you all a very merry Christmas (enlivened perhaps by the Christmas Azed comp) and a happy 2003?
 

 

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Solution