The unclued lights can be preceded by BLUE which was hidden at the start of the third row and had to be highlighted in blue. BADGE at 15A is the theme word not listed in Brewer or Chambers as a ‘blue’ phrase. First prize Joy Verth, Newton Mearns, E. Renfrewshire Runners-up C.D. Dobbs, Carrickfergus, Co.
The poem was ‘Composed upon WESTMINSTER (1A) Bridge’ by William WORDSWORTH (1D). The words are ASLEEP (20), DOMES (36), EARTH (37), SHIPS (7D), GLITTERING (19) and ANYTHING (24). First prize P.G.
Unclued lights were five fictional TOMs and their authors: JONES (14A) and FIELDING (8D), SAWYER (16A) and TWAIN (35A), BROWN (41A) and HUGHES (15D), KITTEN (20D) and POTTER (30D), and BOMBADIL (23D) and TOLKIEN (12A). First prize Chris Edwards, Pudsey, Leeds Runners-up Daniel Angel, Twickenham, Middlesex; S.L.
The unclued lights are compositions by Vaughan Williams; 17, 19/8, 21/23, 27/11, 36/4, 43/28 with the title of the puzzle suggesting a VW Beetle.
13 1A 23 22 is from SHELLEY’S ‘Ode to a Skylark’. Other unclued lights had ‘a poet hidden in the light’: OVID in 6A; LARKIN in 16; ELIOT in 17; TATE in 42; AUDEN in 43. Two poets’ names in the puzzle’s real title, ‘A Poet Skylarking’, needed highlighting.
Parts indicated in clues in italics must each BREAK NEW GROUND (1A 4A), creating entries at 6, 13, 26, 39 and 40; definitions of these entries are 2, 15A, 33, 27 and 20.
The unclued lights are (too many) TV COOKS, individually at 18, 21 and 28, and paired at 25/13, 27/1A, 30D/10 and 42/7A.
‘THE WRITING ON THE WALL’ (Daniel 5.5) at 12/22/41 was ‘MENE MENE TEKEL UPHARSIN’ at 23/16/26, according to Brewer, which also gives ‘IF YOU HATE GRAFFITI, SIGN A PARTITION’, at 19/1D/7, as an example of GRAFFITI. First prize C.V. Clark, London WC1 Runners-up Francesca Charlton, Sleaford, Lincs; A.R.
Unclued lights associated with IRIS are: flowers (2, 11, 40), Greek goddesses (10, 16, 30), and parts of the eye (6, 12, 34). First prize P.
The unclued lights are classical French plays (‘PIÈCES’) by Corneille (9, 18, 21A), Molière (11, 23, and 21D/29) and Racine (1A, 24 and 25). The highlighted letters reveal the three playwrights’ names.
The novel was HOWARDS END by E.M. Forster. Round the perimeter run the characters LEONARD BAST, PERCY CAHILL, MARGARET SCHLEGEL and HENRY WILCOX followed by EMF. WADED/SHORN (20/39) and SHOWN/ADDER (11/26) each combine to form an anagram of HOWARDS END. First prize Penny Mitchell, Burton-on-Trent, Staffordshire Runners-up R.R.
‘Now is the woodcock near the gin’, said by Fabian in Twelfth Night, suggests the position of BECASSE in relation to 8, 21, 28, 30 and 37. First prize Jenny Staveley, London SW2 Runners-up Andrew Bell, Shrewsbury, Shropshire; A.M.
The unclued lights are LETTERS in alphabetical order which, when rearranged, give the names of eight CAPITAL cities.
The unclued entries are all names for pontoon; extra words in 27, 31, 33, 34 and 36 needed the letters S, G, O, U, R to become WHIST, BRIDGE, SOLO, AUCTION, CONTRACT. Auction, auction bridge, bridge, bridge whist, contract, contract bridge, solo, solo whist and whist are all card-games listed in Chambers. PONTOON is a BRIDGE. First prize Rhiannon Hales, Ilfracombe, Devon Runners-up John Renwick, Ramsgate, Kent; R.
The puzzle’s NUMERICAL DESIGNATION (3 41) is preceded by 7A and followed by 7D 12 33 37 to form the first two lines of a NURSERY RHYME (4): ‘One, two, three, four, five/ Once I caught a fish alive’. Thematically caught fish, in entries at 1D, 5, 19, 26, 31, 32 and 34, are lant, rigg, maid, ide, ahi, ai and carp. First prize Michael Pigden, Barnet, Hertfordshire Runners-up C.
The unclued lights can be preceded by or followed by the unclued word DOCTOR, which explains why I (Doc) am away in the title of the puzzle. First prize Pam Dunn, Sevenoaks, Kent Runners-up Tim Hanks, Douglas, Isle of Man; R.C.
The perimeter quote is by Nietzsche (taking the 1 in the top left corner as the first word). Other unclued lights were anagrams of stars: 18A Vega; 19A red giant; 20A Altair; 27A Castor, 33A nova; 26D Rigel. First prize Angus Ross, Old Portsmouth, Hampshire Runners-up Mrs R.J.C.
The key terms are ART NOUVEAU (12) and JUGENDSTIL (19). One indicates 24 and 28D, and the other can be divided into JUG (defining 14 and 21), ENDS (31 and 41) and TIL (4 and 22). First prize John Kitchen, Breachwood Green, Herts Runners-up P.D.H.
The unclued lights are varieties of PASTA.
Amongst the many ‘aphorisms’ of Yogi Berra, the New York Yankees baseball manager, were ‘The future ain’t what it used to be’ and ‘It was déjà vu all over again’. First prize Christopher Hanafin, Adare, Co. Limerick Runners-up John Challoner, Newport, Essex; P.D.H.
