AZED CROSSWORD 538

INGRAIN

1.  R. J. Whale: Like a tattoo artist that’s restricted by where it may be visible (RA in in gin; ‘gin and it’).

2.  C. Allen Baker: Free half going? I must get into the pub fast (gra(tis) I in inn).

3.  C. J. Brougham: See where the cow is? Get Blue fast! (i.e. in grain; ref. nursery rhyme, ‘…the cow’s in the corn’).

VHC

E. J. Burge: Getting last two out, Garner in one burst is fast and penetrating (anag. incl. I less er; ref. Joel G.).

R. S. Caffyn: Dyed-in-the-wool Tory head of government confronts ‘wet’ (in g rain; in = member of governing party).

E. Chalkley: Thoroughly set at the wicket, Randall’s opening secured by success? (in + R in gain; ref. Derek R.).

C. A. Clarke: Inveterate Tory – ‘Leading member of government’s wet’ (in g rain; in = member of governing party).

G. P. Conway: Inveterate, gloomy old holy man – not finished! – leads troubled Iran (Ing(e) + anag.; ref. William I., ‘the gloomy Dean’ and Ayatollah Khomeini).

R. Dean: One appointed to secure the Queen within must be extremely thorough (in + R in gain; in = member of governing party).

N. C. Dexter: Soak rag in double dye (anag. incl. in in, & lit.; soak = beat).

C. M. Edmunds: Sporting rag tipped one horse, ‘Silver it’s not but it’s fast’ (though hopefully not running) (in + anag. + I + n(Ag)).

J. J. Goulstone: Like a firm belief in spirit encompassing a deity (in + Ra in gin).

R. S. Haddock: Colour deeply, wearing guilty smile about start of apology? (in + a in grin).

P. F. Henderson: An —— dye is one way of fixing e.g. Indian yarn (comp. anag. & lit.).

R. J. Hooper: Causing fall, cycling fast (i.e. raining cyclically).

J. F. Jones: Not likely to run in the rain, wearing very little (G in in rain; G = G-string).

R. E. Kimmons: Do this before hockey starts, to get a blue perhaps? (i.e. in grain; hockey² = harvest-home; in vb.).

F. P. N. Lake: Make a lot of colour permeate through and through (gra(y) in in, in, & lit.).

D. P. M. Michael: In forecasting rain-doctors give colour to yarns before manufacturing them (hidden).

C. G. Millin: Girl initially in half bikini ran off, deeply coloured (g in anag. incl. (bik)ini).

D. S. Nagle: Gin drunk with water can make you thoroughly saturated (anag. + rain).

R. J. Palmer: Put endless colour in through and through (gra(y) in in, in, & lit.).

T. E. Sanders: At the wicket Gatting’s beginning to dominate once becoming thoroughly set (in + G + rain²; ref. Mike G.).

A. Thomas: Dyed in the wool ‘wet’ ends up getting Northern Ireland – priorities reversed! (g N I (rev.) + rain; ref. Jim Prior).

HC

R. H. Adey, J. K. Aronson, D. Ashcroft, F. D. H. Atkinson, M. Barley, Mrs F. A. Blanchard, Mrs A. R. Bradford, A. J. Bulman, C. J. & M. P. Butler, S. Butterworth, P. R. Clemow, Mrs D. M. Colley, G. Cuthbert, K. David, H. F. Dixon, P. S. Dixon, P. S. Elliott, Dr I. S. Fletcher, B. Franco, O. H. Frazer, P. A. George, D. Godden, J. F. Grimshaw, G. S. Halse, B. Hancock, A. W. Hill, S. Holgate, C. H. Hudson, J. G. Hull, M. D. Laws, C. J. Lowe, D. F. Manley, S. M. Mansell, C. Miller, T. J. Moorey, C. J. Morse, R. A. Mostyn, F. E. Newlove, Mrs M. Olszok, S. L. Paton, Mrs L. E. Pimlott, A. Pinel, D. Pleece, R. W. Quibell, R. F. Ray, C. P. Rea, D. R. Robinson, N. Roles, A. D. Scott, D. P. Shenkin, D. M. Stanford, T. R. Theakston, S. B. Webb, J. F. N. Wedge, Mrs B. J. Widger.
 

COMMENTS
370 entries, 30 or 40 having CAULINE for LAUWINE, the only mistake. The due to LAUWINE (‘Come first entering a clue? (Not first – dreadful – see slip)’) was I think fair though difficult and I was rather pleased with its misleading connotations. ‘Slip = landslip’ is given in Chambers. CAULINE can only have been a wild guess. Otherwise it was a good varied entry, far more of you, perhaps surprisingly, going for the adjectival meaning rather than the verbal. It does seem, despite the ‘through and through’ definition in Chambers which to me suggests an adverb, that INGRAIN is never an adverb (and certainly never a noun) so definitions such as ‘thoroughly’ or ‘deep dye’ I could not accept. Phrases like ‘to the core’ were more difficult to decide on since I suppose they might be used as the equivalent of an adjective in the attributive position (e.g. ‘His conservatism was to the core’) but this doesn’t read very convincingly to me and I tended therefore to prefer unmistakeably adjectival definitions.
 
Anagrams of RAINING or hidden clues including …ING RAIN… wording were predictably very frequent and usually rather too obvious to warrant high placing in the lists. But I was generally very gratified by the variety and touched by the comment from one or two that it was the ‘best clue-word for ages’. I had little difficulty in choosing the first three. Would Mr Whale agree that his ‘that’s’ could be safely omitted without loss of sense, achieving a slightly more natural wording? I would always advocate trimming clues if such savings can be effected easily.
 
Thank you for your (generally) kind comments on my Theme & Variations birthday present for my son Tom. It was a little self-indulgent and quite difficult as a result, which is why I didn’t make it a competition puzzle, but I don’t think it was unfair or impossible to solve without privy knowledge, and the ‘for T at V’ hint was pretty broad, I thought. I’m asked, incidentally, why I sometimes opt for a 13 × 11 diagram for specials, especially those of the T & V type where a number of specific words have to be included. The fact is that, for reasons which aren’t clear to me, experience has shown it to be a more flexible format to work in. I think it must be something to do with the greater isolation of the outer edges from the centre making it easier to include more words which do not interlock with each other. Also it just makes a change!