BIG Crossword December - The Judge Sums Up

Flying through
the clues
We were faced with a bit of a dilemma in the Bigcash. The usual English spelling for ‘Small handbill’ is FLYER but quite a few entries had FLIER. This is more common in American English, but as it is a variant spelling and does appear in some dictionaries, we had to accept it as correct as well at 10ac.
A couple of other acceptable alternatives should also be mentioned. For 56dn ‘Medicinal inhaler’ both VAPORIZER and VAPORISER were okay and at 93ac ‘Cruel wisecracks’ could be GIBES or JIBES.
‘Argue’ at 14dn was DEBATE not DEBASE and ‘Strain’ at 17dn needed EXERT not ELECT or ERECT.
For 24ac ‘Perplexed’ only BAFFLED was correct. BAFFLES was the wrong tense. Similarly, 28ac ‘Carved into shape’ needed HEWED and not HEWES. 29dn ‘Judges’ was DEEMS not SEEMS.
A couple of entries misspelt HUSTLE at 28dn as HUSSLE and one or two of you opted for JOCKIES instead of the correct JOCKEYS for 82dn, ‘Horse riders’. JOCKIES made 109ac incorrect as well.
The word jockey comes from the Scottish name Jock, a colloquial equivalent of John. As far back as the 16th century the name was used to mean ‘a boy or fellow’ (compare the English Jack the lad, Jack of all trades, Jack tar etc.). Like most words, the path it took to reach the usage we now know, is not clear, but Jock gained use as a word for horse dealers and trickster and jockey was adopted for a person who rode a horse in a race around 1670.
Over in The Demon both AMEND and EMEND were accepted for ‘Revise’ at 73ac. For 82dn ‘Street vendors’ we wanted PEDLARS but also had to accept the US spelling PEDLERS, which appears in dictionaries. Not surprisingly in this age of computers and global industries English and American spellings are getting closer and there is more overlap. Most so-called American spellings have a long history in English anyway, from the time before Samuel Johnson put together his prescriptive English dictionary in 1755 followed by Noah Webster’s American version in 1828.
Another unexpected alternative answer was spotted at 97dn. For ‘Stretcher’ we wanted LITTER but a few entries had LIFTER. We first considered this incorrect, but in checking various dictionaries, a lifter was defined as ‘a person or thing that lifts’ and so we had to agree that by our definition of what a clue is, we had to accept that answer as well.
We did not accept TONG in answer to 36dn ‘Chinese dynasty’. You needed TANG. TONG is a word but describes a Chinese secret society.
Your Goliathon entries were almost error-free. Congratulations!
The few small errors noticed by our judges included INCER at 13dn instead of the correct INCUR for ‘Become liable for’ and TEEMED at 106dn instead of TEAMED for ‘Combined forces, … up’.

BIG Crossword November - Judge Sums Up

Keeping the
judges honest
Judging the competition entries always results in much discussion around words and meanings. Sometimes things get a little heated, but we always come to a decision and are as kind as we can be, while still being fair to all entrants. This month’s entries provided much brain-stretching for our team.
At 1dn in the Goliathon ‘Originated’ was BEGAN but a few entries had BEGUN. Testing out our lexicological abilities, we realised that in an example such as ‘Language may have originated in Africa/ Language originated in Africa’ BEGUN and BEGAN replace the single word ‘originated’ – so both answers were okay.
The clue at 10dn ‘Widely’ wanted BROADLY. However quite a few entries had GREATLY. As greatly can mean extensively and widely can mean largely, we had to admit that, while in general use the two words are different, there is enough overlap that it was also acceptable for this clue.
Another dilemma arose at 3dn ‘Hanker after’. We wanted CRAVE and most of you had this but CHASE appeared a few times. Looking up ‘hanker’ it definitely means ‘have a yearning for’ and so we only accepted CRAVE.
ELLIPTICAL means ‘Egg-shaped’ (123dn). Eclipsis is a rare word for ellipsis, but this is unrelated to the shape. It refers to an omission in a sentence or the three dots that indicate this (…). We often use ellipses in our clues. The entries that had ECLIPTICAL for 123dn were unfortunately incorrect.
The Bigcash was not without its pitfalls. ‘Ponder’ at 9ac suggested CONCENTRATE to some of you. This seemed okay until you came to 12dn ‘Slowly removed, … out’ which was PHASED. To make all fit you had to come up with CONTEMPLATE for 9ac.
UTILISE and UTILIZE were both fine for ‘Put to work’ (77ac) but you needed NEWSMEN, not NEWSMAN, for 32dn ‘Journalists’. ‘Maintains positively’ at 56ac was ASSERTS not ASSENTS, which means ‘agrees’.
At 8dn in The Demon was the clue to a ‘Textured upholstery cloth’ that many of you had not heard of. The answer was DIMITY, a word that comes from Medieval Latin, origi­nally from the Greek di- ‘two’
and mitos ‘thread’, i.e. double-threaded. The cloth has fine raised cords or ribs running as stripes, squares or diamond patterns on the warp. It was originally silk or wool but is now made of cotton. This pretty fabric and dainty word have inspired some to call their baby girls, Dimity. Perhaps there is a Dimity amongst our puzzlers.
At 69ac ‘Knave’ needed the answer VARLET. A couple of entries had HARLOT, which we immediately thought incorrect. However we always check alternative answers in a few sources and to our surprise under ‘harlot’ in Oxford, the original meaning is listed as a ‘promiscuous woman or man’. It comes from the French for knave or vagabond, so we had to concede that this answer was, while borderline, now acceptable.
The ‘Gated canal sections’ at 28dn were LOCKS not LOCHS and ‘Fertilised ova’ at 77ac was ZYGOTES not ZYGOTIS.
The ‘Medieval outer petticoat’ at 119dn was a KIRTLE. A few of you had found this as KYRTLE, so we accepted that also. For men the kirtle was a knee-length tunic but for women it was a full-length garment. As a petticoat it was worn by upper class women over a chemise, with a formal gown over the top. For the less well-off, a kirtle would have been worn as a dress.
Where else would you come across so many wonderful words?