The unclued Across lights are British place-names beginning with P, L, A, C and E and the unclued Down lights are anagrams (i.e. they are ‘out of place’) of these place-names. First prize John Bartlett, Shirley, Solihull, West Midlands Runners-up Sue Topham, Elston, Newark; Nicholas Grogan, Purley, Surrey
The numbered unclued lights reveal that ‘Lester Piggott won the Epsom Derby nine times’. Empery (10) and Nijinsky (21) were two of his winning horses. First prize Stephen Smith, Messing, Colchester, Essex Runners-up Andrew Dymond, London SE24; Belinda Bridgen, London NW8
The theme word is scales: 1D, 14 and 40 are creatures with scales; 5, 9 and 17 are musical scales; 13, 34 and 39 all gave their names of scientific scales. 33 was to be highlighted. First prize Mrs D. Selvidge, Vale, Guernsey Runners-up G. Snailham, Windsor; H.A. Hyman, London W1
The five perimeter solutions and 4/30, 17/33, 21/37 and 28/12 are all businesses in Coronation Street. First prize Brian Taylor, Horwich, Bolton Runners-up Sean Smith, Southport; Grizil Hettiarachchi, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka
The theme was MURDER SHE WROTE, the long-running TV series starring ANGELA LANSBURY as JESSICA FLETCHER in the corpse-strewn CABOT COVE. The theme could also describe AGATHA CHRISTIE and DOROTHY L. SAYERS. First prize R.A. Towle, Ilkeston, Derbyshire Runners-up M.F. O’Brien, London N12; John M. Brown, Rolleston-on-Dove, Staffordshire
The word is ‘rack’. In the order of the headwords in Chambers, their meanings are indicated by: FRAMEWORK (41), VENGEANCE (4A), DECANT (15D), BONES (1A), GAIT (25), MIST (17), DRINK (42) and SKIN (24). RACK in CRACKED (13) was to be shaded, Title: a further meaning of rack1. First prize Paul Elliott, London W12 Runners-up
The unclued lights are Oxbridge colleges, hence LIGHT AND DARK blue in the title. First prize A.H. Harker, Oxford Runners-up David Morris, Birchington, Kent; D. Bain, Edinburgh
The unclued lights are names of the men who followed Armstrong and Aldrin (Apollo 11) in walking on the moon First prize Glynn Downton, Maidstone, Kent Runners-up D.V. Jones, Llanfair Caereinion, Powys; John Kitchen, Breachwood Green, Herts
5 (the number of GOLD RINGS, from ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’: 34/22A) x 103 (the number of the PSALM (7D) BENEDIC ANIMA MEA: 41/30/1D) x 5 (the number of SYMBOLS AT YOUR DOOR, from ‘Green Grow the Rushes,O’: 3/8/38) = 2575 (the number of the PUZZLE (14)). First prize O.F.G. Phillips, Oxford Runners-up Clive
Each unclued Across light (including the pair at 16/7) is a SWEET and the unclued Down lights can be preceded by SOUR. First prize Steven Lodge, Bridgwater, Somerset Runners-up Diana King, Leeds; A. Weir, Broughty Ferry, Dundee
The preamble referred to ten symmetrically placed unclued entries which spell out CURRENT PUZZLE NUMBER HAS PRIME FACTORS: THIRTY-ONE, EIGHTY-THREE. First prize Bill Stewart, Leicester Runners-up D.P. Shenkin, London WC1; C.S.G Elengorn, Enfield, Middlesex
As suggested by the quotation by John Donne around the perimeter, the other unclued lights were all kinds of trumpets. First prize Ellen Bedford, Sholing, SouthamptonRunners-up Brenda Widger, Bowdon, Cheshire; Martin Joyce, Cumbria
The TEN unclued lights are Scottish islands – or ‘INCHES’. First prize Mrs F.A. Bull, Canterbury Runners-up Susan Hay, Wolverhampton; J. and F. Daniels, Cremorne, NSW, Australia
Arthur C. Clarke (31/45) said that Ernest Hemingway (35/12) won a bet from fellow writers for the shortest story: FOR SALE. BABY SHOES. NEVER WORN. (30/14/15). First prize Nicholas Grandage, London W11 Runners-up Magdalena Deptula, Eton, Berkshire; R.P. Wright, Loughton, Essex
The quotation was ‘I WAS BORN TO SPEAK ALL MIRTH AND NO MATTER’ from Much Ado About Nothing (II.i.321) by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE. BEAT/RICE (23D/17) is the speaker and BENE/DICK (12/31) the sparring partner. Title: Much Ado About Nothing in cryptic form. First prize R.R. Alford, Oundle, Peterborough Runners-up Gordon Hobbs, Woodford Green, Essex; Fergus Jamieson,
The unclued lights were characters in Neighbours, paired at 12/19, 14/20, 16/19 and 32/20. First prize Peter Taylor-Mansfield, Worcester Runners-up Dr Wendy Atkin, Sleaford, Lincs; Peter Baldwin, Chorley, Lancs
The unclued lights (including the pairs at 2/14 and 12/36) are names of organ stops which Brewer calls ‘music in themselves’. First prize C.R. Haigh, Hassocks, West Sussex Runners-up Richard Foden, Vésenaz, Switzerland; Michael Pigden, Barnet, Hertfordshire
30 July is Independence Day in Vanuatu in MELANESIA (23D). Its capital city is PORT VILA (39/16), one of its volcanoes is LOPEVI (30), an indigenous reptile is the FLOWERPOT SNAKE (11/36) and its national anthem is YUMI YUMI YUMI (4/43A/43D). Its former name was THE NEW HEBRIDES (diagonally from 1) which must be shaded.
The unclued lights are words (or one phrase) which contain three pairs (3 x 2, in the title) of double letters: 13 Tennessee, 15/14 Sweet tooth, 17/37 Successfully, 21/24/39 Whippoorwill, 31/2 Bookkeeper, 41 Committee, 42/6 Barrenness. First prize Chris Edwards, Leeds Runners-up Graeme Palmer, Switzerland; Emma Corke, Abinger Hammer, Surrey
The unclued lights 11 SOLITARY, 8 POOR, 38 NASTY, 36 BRUTISH and 35 SHORT are descriptions of 1 THE LIFE OF MAN in 26 LEVIATHAN by 13 THOMAS HOBBES. First prize David Andrews, Surrey Runners-up Alexander Caldin, Salford, Oxfordshire; Geoff Hollas, London W12
