AZED CROSSWORD 27

VINEGAR

1.  J. P. H. Hirst: Given unconventionally for Jack’s head (anag. for t in tar, & lit; ref. Jack & Jill).

2.  Dr R. J. Palmer: Rudely given before a saviour’s end (anag. + a r, & lit.; ref. Matt. 27:48).

3.  A. D. Legge: What is used to make tart is given free with a recipe (anag. + a r; tart adj.).

VHC

C. Allen Baker: About midday I’ve chips and fish – I’m stuck on it (n in anag. + gar; chip vb., n = noon).

J. W. Bates: Drink given up to a King (anag. + a R; ref. Matt. 27:48; up = amiss).

Mrs A. Boyes: Final addition to the contents of the Final Edition? (cryptic def.; fish and chips).

D. L. L. Clarke: What the prince undertook to drink having jostled in grave? (anag.; ref. Hamlet 5:1:299-300).

P. M. Coombs: A poor vintage and there’ll be no end of it to take (anag. less t + r, & lit.).

R. M. S. Cork: Getting into crazy gear after five; for some that’s dressing for dinner (V + in + anag.).

Cdr H. H. L. Dickson: Garvin English perhaps (anag. incl. E, & lit; ref. J. L. G., editor of the Observer).

J. A. Fincken: Pickle jar’s lid comes off with shaking given (anag. incl. (j)ar).

A. L. Freeman: Wherein a garvie may be pickled around the North (N in anag., & lit.).

G. Johnstone: Souse veg. in a recipe (anag. + a r, & lit.; souse = make drunk).

A. H. Jones: A little vodka and mixed gin are just the stuff for getting pickled (v + anag.).

Sir S. Kaye: Being against trendy preposterous fashion, I dress austerely (v in + rage (rev.); austere = sour).

Mrs B. Lewis: I go in for sharp dressing, see – trendy, gear, fantastic (v in + anag.; gear adj.).

C. G. Millin: It’s given a shaking before start of repast (anag. + r, & lit.).

C. J. Morse: Season starts with a bit of violence, then anger explodes (vi + anag.).

M. L. Perkins: Gather harvest in fertile plain before beginning of rainy season (in in vega + r; in vt).

H. L. Rhodes: I might come out of the bottle, given a right shaking (anag. incl. r).

A. H. Seville: Give new life to a given recipe? (anag. + r, & lit.; vinegar vb.).

L. J. Wayman: No good leaving engraving to get processed in this acid (anag. less ng).

HC

F. D. H. Atkinson, Rev C. M. Broun, J. M. Brown, E. W. Burton, C. O. Butcher, D. A. H. Byatt, R. S. Caffyn, A. H. P. Cardew, J. H. Cleary, Mrs M. P. Craine, A. L. Dennis, N. C. Dexter, J. Fryde, N. C. Goddard, S. Goldie, Mrs R. Harvey, E. G. Illingworth, L. W. Jenkinson, J. R. Kirby, A. Lawrie, J. H. C. Leach, L. F. Leason, D. F. Manley, L. May, L. W. G. Oxley, F. R. Palmer, J. W. Parr, S. L. Paton, Miss M. J. Patrick, R. G. Rae, J. Revill, S. V. Riordan, D. S. Robertson, T. E. Sanders, J. F. N. Wedge.
 

COMMENTS
Just over 300 entries. The only mistakes I spotted resulted from failure to tumble to one or other of the groups of variations. I’m terribly sorry about ‘comparison’. Yes, of course, it should have been ‘caparison’, and it wasn’t the printer’s fault, it was mine, at least in so far as I let it through every proof stage without correction. Sometimes, I’m afraid, one simply can’t see for looking. Those of you who remarked on the misprint did so with such polite restraint that I felt I’d been let off lightly. Not one competitor, I’m relieved to say, produced any but the correct solution to that clue.
 
A tough but enjoyable puzzle, to judge from the size of entry and your comments (which I am always interested to read, by the way). I’m pleased that the pennies didn’t all drop immediately but that when they did they did so with a satisfying clink, the essence of a good ‘T and V’ I feel. Incidentally, I worked on ‘rum’ and ‘en’ for quite a time before the much neater ‘R. U. men’ occurred to me.
 
The most frequent fault, which spoilt many otherwise respectable entries this month, was the old one of indicating an anagram by means of a solitary noun. Thus many clues included the phrase ‘in grave trouble/mess/distress/pickle etc. to suggest an anagram of ‘in grave’. There is no grammatical or syntactical justification for this; ‘a grave pickle’ is not ‘a pickled grave’, toothsome though the idea may seem. The only instances where such a juxtaposition may fairly be said to indicate an anagram are phrases like ‘train crash’ or ‘gin cocktail’ which actually mean ‘a crashing train’ or ‘a mixed gin’ respectively. Neither do I accept the argument that in the phrase I have quoted the variants after ‘in grave’ can be seen as imperative verb forms to be preceded (and often followed) by a sort of imaginary pause. This would put a quite intolerable strain on the continuity and syntax of a clue.
 
One other criticism is worth making. A few exceptionally neat clues which would otherwise have made the VHC list were just a bit too easy to solve. I hope this doesn’t sound like carping, especially since I’d rather a clue was too easy than too obscure any day, but one which positively shrieks the answer is obviously to be avoided, however cleverly worded it is, as so much wasted ingenuity. This month’s prizewinners seem to me to have succeeded brilliantly in combining verbal flair with a fair degree of challenge to the would-be solver.
 
I’ve been asked if I mind individual entries from husbands and wives when both are keen solvers. Not a bit, though I’d sooner each was on its own piece of paper and attached to its own copy of the completed diagram. It makes my task easier – and it’s more money for the Observer!