AZED CROSSWORD 456

BALADINE

1.  C. Allen Baker: One like Barnum and Bailey, endlessly pranking (anag. less y; prank = dance; ref. P. T. Barnum, hoaxer).

2.  T. Anderson: Who makes a silly dial in mischief? (anag. in bane, & lit.; buffoon).

3.  Mrs D. B. Jenkinson: Alma or Belinda a go-go? (anag.).

VHC

E. A. Beaulah: Involved in a tricky deal, after the Baptist’s head: Salome? (B + in in a + anag., & lit.).

E. J. Burge: To get a meal from the edge of the lake – quack! (calling for a feed?) (Bala + dine; charlatan).

D. A. Crossland: Dancer in live panto’s no central character (Ala(d)din in be; ’s = has).

P. Drummond: Mountebank supplying bride with a sort of romance for free (bride with a Ladin for rid).

M. A. Furman: Concoction produced by this quack (out with him!) is unable to aid (comp. anag. & lit.; charlatan).

D. V. Harry: The end of Southern – I.B.A. deal topples provider of public entertainment (anag. incl. n; ref. broadcasters).

C. H. Hudson: See me perform – let off ballet, I end with a jig (bal(let) + anag.).

A. Johnstone: I could be a live belly-dancer cleverly wriggling away (comp. anag. & lit.).

H. W. Massingham: Such as plugs sales in endless spurious patter (ad in ba(d) line, & lit.; charlatan).

L. May: Pranking, I, and able to move freely round (anag. in anag., & lit.; buffoon).

D. P. M. Michael: Twister possibly anyone might see as an old mischief, lying about a racket (a din in bale; charlatan).

J. D. Moore: Fool from Albi – ‘âne d’Albi’ translated (anag.; French town; buffoon).

R. A. Mostyn: Exponent of playful badinage, changing gravity to a bit of laughter (anag. with l for g, & lit.; buffoon).

J. J. Murtha: Spring in bed à la Nana? (anag.; spring = explode; ref. Zola novel).

F. R. Palmer: Show-biz type to make deal with Bani? (anag.; ref. R. Reagan, B. Sadr, Iran hostage crisis).

H. R. Sanders: Appearing in live pantomime – no mean dancer (Ala(d)din in be, & lit.; mean³ = middle).

W. J. M. Scotland: E.g. —— might render ‘le badinage’ (comp. anag. & lit.; charlatan).

W. K. M. Slimmings: He’d create a hubbub – a bit of by product from hopping about? (a din in b(y) ale, & lit.).

J. B. Sweeting: Could she, having energy, develop la bedaine? Oddly, yes (anag. less E, & lit.; bedaine (Fr.) = paunch).

G. Wilson: This public dancer’s gyrations make Laban die (anag.; founder of dancing school).

HC

W. Anderson, D. R. Appleton, D. Ashcroft, F. D. H. Atkinson, M. Barnes, J. R. Booth, Mrs A. Boyes, G. Bradbrook, A. J. Bulman, Mrs D. Colley, P. F. Coltman, Mrs J. M. Critchley, N. C. Dexter, P. S. Elliott, Rev S. W. Floyd, J. Gill, N. C. Goddard, J. J. Goulstone, J. F. Grimshaw, B. Hancock, E. L. Hayward, Mrs R. Herbert, Mrs S. Hewitt, J. P. H. Hirst, E. M. Hornby, J. G. Hull, J. I. James, B. K. Kelly, Miss F. S. Kemp, R. E. Kimmons, Mrs M. E. Kingsbury, M. D. Laws, P. W. W. Leach, M. A. Macdonald-Cooper, D. F. Manley, C. H. Miller, C. G. Millin, W. L. Miron, C. J. Morse, R. S. Morse, D. S. Nagle, P. M. Navin, R. J. Palmer, B. A. Pike, D. E. Rae, Mrs S. W. Rees, H. L. Rhodes, D. R. Robinson, B. F. Russell, L. G. D. Sanders, B. D. Smith, J. G. Stubbs, A. P. Vincent, A. J. Wardrop, G. Wearing, J. F. N. Wedge, Mrs J. Welford, M. G. Wilson, Peter J. Woods, L. C. Wright, Dr E. Young.
 

COMMENTS
490 entries, no noticeable mistakes, unless you count my dreadful solecism ‘neckware’ for ‘neckwear’ in the clue to ORANGE, which only one competitor drew to my embarrassed attention though more may have noticed it. Sorry about that.
 
This was an interesting competition because of the unusual clue-word. I’d not come across it before and thought it looked likely to offer plenty of scope. In a way, as things proved, it offered too much. The Chambers definitions (as often) are insufficiently precise. The O.E.D. gives three definitions, viz. 1. A theatrical dancer; a mountebank, buffoon. 2. A female public dancer. 3. A ballad-maker or -singer. The first and third are labelled ‘obsolete,’ the second ‘rare’ (the latest quotation given being dated 1863). And although Chambers labels the word ‘Fr.’ all the quotations in the O.E.D. are from works in English. All of which inclined me to accept (other things being equal) clues which included definitions indicating either sex, or omitting any mention of the word’s obsoleteness (or obsolescence) and its French origin. Similarly the ‘dancer, mountebank, buffoon’ definition opens up a whole range of possibilities from the seamy world of travelling showmen, all more or less fair game for the clue-writer. Whether we would nowadays refer to any such person as a public dancer, or (more significantly) whether the word BALADINE would be considered suitable to describe a modern-day public dancer (e.g., a ballet-dancer), are semantic and linguistic by-ways I did not feel competent or inclined to explore.
 
Despite this breadth of choice, I suspect it proved difficult to come up with really witty and original clues. There were many, many variants on the ‘a bad line’ anagram, none of them particularly outstanding or inspired. The one really encouraging feature of the competition generally was the low incidence of unsoundness all round. Splendid!
 
In response to a few early enquiries I can confirm that plans are afoot to mark the publication of Azed No. 500 with a celebratory dinner later in the year, probably in Oxford. Details will be announced in due course, both in the Observer and in these slips.