◀  No. 3666 May 1979 Clue list No. 375  ▶

AZED CROSSWORD 371

GRADIN

1.  V. G. Henderson: Gladiator’s end could be seen from this old seat (comp. anag. & lit.).

2.  R. J. Palmer: Boxing promotion in ring that’s rough held bloodthirsty spectators enthralled (ad in anag.).

3.  A. D. Legge: Where now the tourist sits, with camera, conjuring up Grecian drama (comp. anag. & lit.).

VHC

D. R. Armitage: Rise in seats – Right in place of power – Callaghan’s end (r in gadi + n; ref. election).

E. A. Beaulah: From where one watched the Olympics, with Greek noise about one (a in Gr. din).

Rev Canon C. M. Broun: Seats at the theatre – it was ‘The King and I’ playing (GR + anag.).

E. Chalkley: From which you can see the excitement after ball goes in net? (ado less O in grin2, & lit.).

C. A. Clarke: From which we get uproar after first of the goals by the Gunners? (g + RA + din, & lit.; ref. Arsenal, Cup Final).

R. V. Dearden: Strong party spirit holds small liberal group of seats (rad in gin).

Dr I. S. Fletcher: Scottish work put up in a gallery, for example (darg (rev.) + in).

B. Franco: A row, supporting rumps of outdoor throng, rising upwards (r g (rev.) + a din, & lit.).

J. P. H. Hirst: What degrading shows could fill this! (hidden & lit.).

E. M. Holroyd: Before the day, taken in by a smile – what lies beyond the altar? (a.d. in grin; marriage).

J. Lawrence: A ring tentatively encircles forepart of digit – it’s a step to the altar (d in anag.).

M. D. Laws: This seat could be filled by tragedians (comp. anag. & lit.).

D. F. Manley: A row disembowelled gladiator would appear before? (g(ladiato)r + a din, & lit.).

J. D. Moore: Row seating Greek audience originally (Gr. + a + din, & lit.).

F. R. Palmer: It’s a curious, half-complete, grandstand without one (I in anag. of grand(stand), & lit.).

S. L. Paton: Scrum – heel first to create a platform (rag with g to front + din (vb)).

H. Rainger: Sit here to see gladiators, gore and lions systematically cut down (alternate letters).

E. W. Richart: Savage rain god sparing nothing but seats in the grandstand (anag. less 0).

T. E. Sanders: A row on which Greeks and Romans initially have sat (G + R + a din, & lit.).

F. B. Stubbs: Order seat on this to see tragedians (comp. anag. & lit.).

E. Tingle: You’ve got to smile about modern times – it’s simply one row on top of another! (AD in grin).

A. J. Wardrop: See this – it’s a form of raised seating (comp. anag. & lit.).

Dr E. Young: You don’t have to keep on your feet in grandstand built with one (anag. incl. I less stand, & lit.).

HC

R. H. Adey, C. Allen Baker, Rev R. Bamford, A. G. Bogie, Mrs A. Boyes, G. Bradbrook, Mrs A. R. Bradford, A. J. Bulman, E. J. Burge, D. A. H. Byatt, P. Cargill, M. Coates, R. M. Cook, A. J. Crow, R. Dean, N. C. Dexter, J. H. Dingwall, P. Drummond, R. A. England, Mrs W. Fearon, J. D. Foster, A. L. Freeman, F. D. Gardiner, N. C. Goddard, G. Gregory, R. S. Haddock, D. V. Harry, P. F. Henderson, Mrs R. K. Hindes, R. H. F. Isham, Mrs N. Jarman, Prof N. Kessel, A. Lawns, C. Loving, D. J. Mackay, Dr R. A. Main, W. F. Main, L. May, C. G. Millin, W. L. Miron, J. J. Moore, C. J. Morse, D. S. Nagle, Mrs K. Orr, Dr P. Owen, J. P. O’Neill, N. O’Neill, R. A. Percy, G. S. Prentice, D. R. Robinson, W. Rodgers, W. J. M. Scotland, W. K. M. Slimmings, J. B. Sweeting, R. C. Teuton, G. R. Webb, Mrs M. P. Webber, Mrs J. Welford, R. A. Wells, C. E. Williams.
 

COMMENTS
490 entries, almost no mistakes. Some said my recent puzzles have been getting distinctly harder, others thanked me for an easier competition puzzle than most. One man’s meat… I apologise for calling a sergeant-major a sergeant – very remiss. Comes of having missed National Service by a whisker.
 
The Chambers definition of GRADIN is somewhat ambiguous as a number of you pointed out. A `rising tier’ of seats is a contradiction in terms, intended to mean, I think, a row or level of seats forming part of a series of such rows built one on top of another as in an amphitheatre. Such a tier can thus be described as a seat or row of seats, viewed horizontally, but not as a vertical section of the seating plan from bottom to top. It is a single step (Latin gradus) rather than a flight of steps. The O.E.D. definition is clearer: ‘One of a series of low steps or seats raised one above the other.’
 
Despite my recent remarks about the hazards of the composite anagram, I make no apology for giving two prizes out of three to clues that used it. As others clearly found, the word lends itself to treatment of this kind, achieving a neatness of wording that contributes to the sense without posing an unfairly complex problem for the solver. Another popular theme was the Cup Final though I frequently found these clues rather strained since perforce they had to be concocted before the result was known. It was obviously most tempting to aim for an ‘& lit.’ effect by means of wording that included ‘Greek row’ (Gr. din) in some way. My lists include the best of this large bunch. Those who used the idea but achieved no distinction should reflect on the thought that if a good device is also likely to be a very popular one it will require extra-subtle treatment if it is to catch the judge’s eye. There was also a peculiarly large number of entries without a clue at all. These were all from relative newcomers to our competitions and I have no way of knowing whether they wrote in for slips but to all who do read this I repeat my perennial plea: do read the rules and requests carefully.
 
I’m happy to report that the ties are at last ready. I’m sorry the delay before they could be sent was longer than I’d said. I was entirely in the hands of the manufacturer and simply passed on the dates he gave me. Those of you who wrote worried letters should by now have received what you ordered along with the rest. Or rather most of the rest. With the latest announcements in the Observer Magazine demand has now outstripped supply quite substantially. Further quantities of each colour have already been ordered but I’m afraid these are unlikely to be ready before the end of June, so I hope recent customers will not mind this further delay. An announcement will have been made in the newspaper by the time you read this but because of the special printing arrangements it’s just not possible to put stop press news of this kind under the puzzle itself (the ideal place for it). Anyway I’m very pleased with the look of the tie and I hope you are too. I shall be interested to hear if it leads to any close encounters of the crossword kind!
 
Finally, my apologies to Mr. D. C. Williamson for the misprint in his MONKEY-SHINE clue in last month’s slip. For ‘lit’ read ‘hit’ of course.
 

 

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