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. First prize Wilf Lewsey, East
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. First prize Chris Edwards, Pudsey, Leeds Runners-up Sebastian Robinson, Glasgow; Chris Butler, Borough Green, Kent
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. First prize Margaret Lusk, Fulwood, Preston Runners-up Alison Latham, Pinkneys Green, Berks; Matthew Hudson, Stoneleigh, Surrey
‘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. Wightman, Harpenden, Herts
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. Taylor-Mansfield, Worcester Runners-up Aidan Dunn, Newton Abbot, Devon; Derek Willan, Gosport, Hampshire
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. First prize Keith Norcott, Warden Hill, Cheltenham Runners-up David Carpenter, Sutton Coldfield; Paul Davies, Reading, Berkshire
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. Alford, Oundle, Peterborough; Kev Ward, Quorn,
‘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. Dymond, London SE24
The unclued lights are LETTERS in alphabetical order which, when rearranged, give the names of eight CAPITAL cities. First prize Lucy Robinson, London N16 Runners-up Michael O’Hanlon, North Berwick, Scotland; Roger Perrot, Guernsey
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
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,
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. Teuton, Frampton Cotterell, Gloucestershire
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. Shapland, Ilkeston, Derbyshire; Paul Elliott, London W12
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. Riddell, London SE23; Ferdinand Dobbs, Tilston, Malpas, Cheshire
The unclued lights are varieties of PASTA. First prize J Cookson, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire Runners-up Margaret Shiels, Edinburgh; D King, Leeds
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. Riddell, London SE23
Deployment of a GRABBING CRANE (1D) is required to complete entries at 11, 13, 21 and 23. 1A, 19 and the puzzle’s TITLE (35) are synonyms of GRABBING; 5, 18 and 41 are types of CRANE, which is also the surname of Washington Irving’s character whose first name is ICHABOD (28). First prize John
The unclued lights are former and current F1 teams. First prize Ronald Morton, Basingstoke, Hants Runners-up Revd J. Thackray, Ipswich, Suffolk; Joanne Aston, Norby, Thirsk
Links with NAPOLEON were his battles WAGRAM (10) MARENGO (14) JENA (36); card games BACCARAT (1A) PATIENCE (26) BRAG (30A); and gold coins DUCAT (16) EAGLE (22) BEZANT (30D). EBON (17) and AT PAR (35) made BONAPARTE. Millefeuille/Napoleon are cream cakes. First prize Martin Dey, Hoylandswaine, S. Yorkshire Runners-up Miriam Moran, Pangbourne, Berkshire; Gerry Fairweather,
The action that results in 6, 10, 29D and 30 is HAIR-RAISING (7, defined by 5). RAISING A HARE (39) results in 13. First prize Norma Jacobs, Linton, Wetherby, W. Yorks Runners-up Mrs E. Knights, Wisbech, Cambs; Trevor Evans, Drulingen, France
