A CHANCE TO BE A POET
AND PLAY FAIR OR NOT by APEX
The unclued perimeter (clockwise) followed by the central row gives 3 lines of a verse of a modern poem which has all letters of the poet's names (in correct order) and all the letters (in shaded squares) to form the next line (6 words). Letters entered in balloons (rising, right to left), the 4 lines of verse,and, if doing Playfair, the last line of poem and Key-word/s should be entered beneath the diagram. DLM clues (letter-mixture beginning or ending with first or last letter of a word in clue) are given to each single or double across row in the correct order but definition or letter-mixture may appear first. Definition only clues are given to word/s in each column in the correct order; 9 are normal; 19 have one letter misprinted. If each clue was numbered in the usual way, the misprints would be in the correct order. Chambers Dictionary (1993) is recommended. Competitors should send a DLM clue (observing letter-mixture rule) in the form of a rhymed couplet to the correct forms of the misprinted letters (whose work inspired the poem), with, to make checking easy, letter-mixture underlined, to - Eric Chalkley.
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Across rows. Definition & Letter-mixture Clues
1 Interest in Shakespeare should cause no dismay
If search of the evening reveals poet's Gay (6,8)
2 I'm supposed to be well-versed in Poe
After listening a month to a Radio Show (6,4)
3 Alarmed by lots of cheek, old trains in Inverness,
Or else the breaking of a dish only I possess (5,5,3)
4,5 When making up actor in line I consented
To use the clean style of red Tenniel invented (14,4,8)
6 Hasten to hear of the old island plan
To enrich the leaf of the Irishman (4,4,5)
7 Scoffed at by teenagers as you age and watch
Those fit to work or look more willingly for Scotch (5,5,4)
8,9 Startling lines of joker on statue of ancient Greece
Once, so happy girl, to be writing to police (8,4,14)
10. A marvellous Club, FA drew at home made my man shout
"A fix' - with some rude gestures, it was pointed out (3,5,5)
11. Reason for freshness of inner cell,
The doors unlocking more than one smell? (4,6)
12. What was written on a consort' s car
After lout was ejected from public bar? (8,6)
Down Columns. Definition-only clues, Normal or Misprints.
1. To bore Scots, "The mud-flow Duet" of Pakistan? (4,5,5)
2. Moon lorry carnage? (4,4,7)
3. Indian dolly, a stripper, wakes a gathering (4,4,5)
4. Jested on (5)
5. Those who have tripled limp? (8,7)
6. London place for making fun - Baron's Court? (4,8)
7. A very slender pasta thrill of old (8,4)
8. Impress a scorpion's breathing organ (7,8)
9. Keys (5)
10. Once nearest to each Scottish variable weight (5,4,4)
11. One once traced a candle of Sir Walter's old pair (7,4,4)
12. True armour of American goddess (5,5,4)
Playfair coded answers:- Row 4 - OR ND BF KG GB QL NH
Row 9 - OT KQ PE HE MA NM IO
Coded last line of poem:- (PK D)T RM LR TM RE GN TL NF OY VB
Final clue:- SIRE, HER IDEAL GIFT is obtainable from the unchecked letters
of the perimeter.
A Puzzle Every Xmas
Every Christmas since 1971 Apex has composed a special crossword puzzle which he has sent to a select band of friends, solvers and lovers of the cruciverbal art. Each year a clue writing competition is set by Apex in which the clue-writers judge each other's clues. In 1991, at the Apex dinner to celebrate 20 years of Xmas puzzles, Alfreda Blanchard presented Apex with a bound book of all 20 puzzles, solutions and winning clues. This has been handed on to the winner of the competition each year and up-dated annually by Alfreda. The winning clues have been of the highest standard and the winners have included many of those who have won prizes in the past from Ximenes or Azed. Colin Dexter has won the competition three times and recently for a clue to his own name. Dexter included a character named Chalkley in his crime novel Last Bus to Woodstock 1975, a book which included a detective named after a fellow solver and setter, Sir Jeremy Morse.
The years have taken their toll on the original list to whom Apex sent his first Christmas puzzles but the 1983 list is representative of the usual Xmas solvers. For 1998 the puzzle is typical of Apex's recent style with various levels of difficulty.