ARITHMOMANIA
1 P. A. Stephenson: Treating a mathematical neurosis may make this less acute (comp. anag. & lit.).
2 D. F. Manley: I’m Noah, finally on Ararat – right away I’m off dealing with numbers frantically? (anag. incl. h less r).
3 D. Price Jones: A compulsion to count daisy petals, say, could potentially get him inamorata (anag.; ref. ‘She loves me, she loves me not’).
VHC
T. Anderson: Playing tenor harmonica out of common time, I am counting obsessively (anag. incl. T less C).
M. Barley: Uncontrolled innovation’s beginning to harm humanity, with rise of AI and dysfunctional computing (anag. incl. i + man + AI (rev.)).
T. C. Borland: Compulsion to count miles once off, running Miami Marathon (anag. less m).
Dr J. Burscough: ‘ “Mad” trait? “How many?” is endlessly revolved’ (anag. less final letters, & lit.).
N. Connaughton (Ireland): Turning to him in fashion house about the summer’s big thing? (anag. in Armani a).
R. Gilbert: Lost inamorata – with him, it is an obsession that counts (anag.).
J. Grimes: Being mesmerized by the Count inamorata metamorphosing with him (anag.; ref. Dracula).
R. J. Heald: Asperger’s case? Abnormal state expressed by uncontrolled mathematisation (A, r + anag. less anag., & lit.).
P. F. Henderson (New Zealand): AI? Harm to man, I fancy, reckoning all things (anag.).
J. Hood: Fixation with count excited inamorata involved with him (anag.).
G. Johnstone: One score leads to hemp (marijuana) and opioid craze, counting as an addiction (a rit + first letter + mania).
M. Lloyd-Jones: Marathon I’m running accompanied by first signs of itchy allergies, affliction of relentless summer (anag. + i, a).
T. J. Moorey: Millions hit randomly being shelled, Ukraine’s neighbour is under one showing need for reckoning obsessively (a + anag. incl. m in Romania; shell vt = case).
Dr S. J. Shaw: Rampant enumeration as essentially psychiatric harm could make this ensue, right? (comp. anag. incl. i, r, & lit.).
R. C. Teuton: You’re bound to be reckoning with this dancing I’m no Mata Hari! (anag.).
Ms S. Wallace: Obsession with calculating inamorata fooling around with him (anag.).
L. Ward (USA): A fascination for figures gets him in trouble with inamorata! (anag.).
T. West-Taylor: Inamorata is besotted with him – it’s adding up to an obsession (anag.).
D. Whisstock (Italy): Some counters are conditioned by this imperfect chrome laminate, laid with scratched edges (anag. less first and last letters).
HC
D. Appleton, D. K. Arnott, C. J. Brougham, C. A. Clarke, E. Dawid, C. M. Edmunds, Dr I. S. Fletcher, A. Gerrard, G. I. L. Grafton, S. D. Griew, J. C. Leyland, M. Lunan, P. W. Marlow, P. McKenna, Rev. Prebendary M. R. Metcalf, K. Milan, C. G. Millin, C. Ogilvie, A. Plumb, T. Rudd, A. J. Shields, I. Simpson, P. L. Stone, Mrs A. M. Walden, A. J. Wardrop, R. J. Whale, K. & J. Wolff, A. J. Young.
Comments
128 entries, no noticeable mistakes. Favourite clue of the month (of 15 mentioned): ‘Seed’s early stage in rubber, trailing 0-5’ for OVULE. The clue word this time was a definite oddity, and a tough one to clue originally. As you clearly discovered, it proved very difficult to devise wording that convincingly linked the definition part with the cryptic element. The word itself doesn’t even appear in the OED (not in my edition anyway) and only creeps into the SOED (1993), labelled L19, i.e. late nineteenth-century, and defined as ‘a pathological desire to count objects or make calculations’. I doubt if it is much used these days as a technical term, if at all. I chose it as a curiosity, but should perhaps have thought more about its suitability. No one complained too much. Azed competitors are always up for a challenge.
You will have noticed that the Rules and requests have been modified and extended, an attempt by the people at the Guardian/Observer to make them more helpful for competitors. I’m not too happy with the result, and have said so, so you may expect further changes. In particular I did not give my approval to the general acceptability of emailed entries from home as well as abroad. Although this was welcomed by some, it would, if retained, involve me in quite a lot of extra work, so I’m afraid we shall be reverting to limiting such entries to those from outside the UK.
I receive occasional queries about the future of the andlit.org website, the brilliant brainchild of John Tozer. As many of you will by now have heard, John suffered a severe illness over a year ago and will be unable to apply himself to maintaining the site, at least for the foreseeable future. I’m sure we all wish him and his family the very best during this protracted period of recovery.