AZED CROSSWORD 547

GLEEMAN

1.  D. F. Manley: Bard puts a touch of magic into E. Lang. and E. Lit. (m in anag.; lit = drunk).

2.  P. Drummond: Faultless single leads to return of fame for old pop singer ((sin)gle + name (rev.)).

3.  F. R. Palmer: Fame, for example, back around ’50. Or ’70? (L in name e.g. (rev.); ref. Georgie F., pop singer).

VHC

C. Allen Baker: When Fed puts squeeze on grass – he’ll sing (lee in G-man).

D. W. Arthur: With tone and rhimes he could make me gentle harmonies (comp. anag. & lit.).

M. J. Balfour: F.B.I. rozzer gets slippery customer back inside – one who sang out a lot (eel (rev.) in G-man).

Rev C. M. Broun: Slippery customer is brought back caught by F.B.I. agent; court may say ‘Sing Sing’ to him! (eel (rev.) in G-man).

E. J. Burge: Slippery customer, getting reverse, is held by criminal investigator. He’s associated with snatches (eel (rev.) in G-man).

C. J. & M. P. Butler: Troubadour bewitched menage with touch of lyre (anag. incl. l).

J. H. Chinner: Cop has slippery customer back inside – he might sing (eel (rev.) in G-man).

Dr I. S. Fletcher: Slippery elm, e.g. one put on scald (anag. + an; scald²).

S. Goldie: One who could hardly be keener to amass a gathering, entertaining ’em (’em in glean; k. = mourner).

P. F. Henderson: Leg spinning – big shot sent the wrong way – I’m ready for catch (anag. + name (rev.)).

R. Hooper: Has he lots of numbers to call up (all good lays)? Gee, lover has hidden energy (G + E in leman).

M. D. Laws: See me doing a turn with a bit of accompaniment in merry England, and getting carried away? (me (rev.) + a, all in anag. less and, & lit.).

D. J. Mackay: Get me to do a turn in a gathering (me (rev.) in glean, & lit.).

D. P. M. Michael: Gig dissolved in silly laughter by retired celebrity’s voice ((gig)gle + name (rev.)).

R. J. Palmer: Grass held by US cop – he’ll sing (lee in G-man).

C. P. Rea: One opposed to rackets in general? Quite the opposite (i.e. Lee in G-man, & lit.).

D. R. Robinson: Charlemagne could inspire me with variations once daily poured out (anag. less char, & lit.).

A. F. Scott: Itinerant mélange chanter? (anag.).

R. VanLangen: —— with sorry ode could be gloomy serenader (comp. anag. & lit.).

M. G. Wilson: George Mitchell’s principals, including Francis for example, need one (Lee in G M + an, & lit.; ref. Dai F. of B. & W. Minstrels and F. Lee, footballer).

HC

D. R. Appleton, J. K. Aronson, F. D. H. Atkinson, Brig R. V. M. Benn, T. F. W. Benson, Mrs A. Boyer, C. Brougham, P. Cargill, B. S. Clark, C. A. Clarke, E. A. Clarke, P. R. Clemow, M. Coates, J. Crane, G. Cuthbert, J. V. S. A. Davies, M. Earle, C. Ferris, B. Franco, O. H. Frazer, F. D. Gardiner, J. A. Gill, J. J. Goulstone, R. S. Haddock, A. Hall, V. G. Henderson, T. O. Hughes, R. E. Kimmons, F. P. N. Lake, A. Lawrie, C. W. Laxton, J. H. C. Leach, M. A. Macdonald-Cooper, Mrs S. Macpherson, C. G. Millin, J. H. Moore, T. J. Moorey, D. S. Nagle, G. B. Patrick, W. H. Pegram, J. Phillipson, Mrs A. Price, A. J. Redstone, E. R. Riddle, D. Riley, G. J. Rowlands, B. F. Russell, T. E. Sanders, M. D. Sanderson, W. J. M. Scotland, A. D. Scott, D. P. Shenkin, W. K. M. Slimmings, J. B. Sweeting, L. E. Thomas, D. H. Tompsett, A. P. Vincent, Mrs J. Waldren, W. E. White, D. O. Williams, E. G. Wren.
 

COMMENTS
About 380 entries, with more mistakes than usual. NURL, GART, HAITI and VARY all gave trouble. I have repentantly to admit that my describing an ovary as an egg in the clue to VARY was just plain wrong and that the definition of TWENTIETHS as ‘percentages’ was very weak. I also regretted MINOT, though no one got him wrong, thanks to the very easy clue. I found myself stuck with -INOT at a late stage of compilation and was pretty sure I’d find something or someone to fit, or even several to choose from. As it turned out Minot was the only chap I could find, in The Oxford Companion to English Literature. Appropriately he seems to have been a sort of gleeman who composed rousing war-songs (‘though not of a high poetical order’!) about e.g. the battle of Crécy and the siege of Calais. My clues to MOTET and SALTY also contained elements which were queried by some, and not without cause. Funnily enough I tried to make late changes to both because of my own lingering dissatisfaction, hut printing deadlines made this impossible. In the first I used ‘in’ as an imperative form of the transitive verb ‘to in’, after a hefty full stop to signal my intention. Though technically permissible I actually regard this as awkward and unnatural English and shall do my best to avoid it in future. In the SALTY clue the solver had to interpret ‘wallowing’ as ‘being in sty’ (cf. Chambers definition: ‘live in filth or gross vice’), a clue to a clue that really needed more than the inadequate question mark to indicate that I was being rather naughty.
 
GLEEMAN was very difficult to do something original with. As anticipated I had a deluge of mélanges with very little to choose between them, and the second most popular idea was LEE in G-MAN, with rather too many using Hoover as an indicator of G-Man (surely he wasn’t one himself, he merely ‘invented’ them?). In general though there was a marked lack of unsoundness in clues submitted, which always gives me cause for satisfaction, especially in a month when I was less than fully satisfied by my own performance!
 
I’m very pleased to announce a new trophy for the winner of the annual Azed competition, i.e. whoever comes top of the yearly Honours List by gaining most points from prizes (2 points each) or VHCs (1 point each) in the thirteen competitions. This elegant silver-plate salver, inscribed in the centre with AZED CHAMPIONS and radially with the initials of the winners to date, has been presented by Don Manley out of surplus proceeds from the Azed 500 dinner last year. Each winner will keep the trophy for one year before passing it on to the next. Since Don himself is the current champion, the challenge is on to wrest it from his grasp!