This puzzle reminded me (after completion) of a famous clue from N C Dexter, back in January 1984 (Azed 610), when the word to be clued was DOUBLETHINK. The winning clue was: By it, ‘truth’ and ‘lie’ looked alternately interchangeable (anag. of alternate letters). This time, of course, it’s the puzzle number rather than the date which provides a reason for an Orwellian theme, and those like me who didn’t see the significance of the puzzle number probably saw the light when ORWELLIAN emerged as the unclued answer for use in the competition.

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Lorraine:  No real problems this week really so long as you read the clues properly!;  6 across being a fine example, I put ‘free association’ which then messed me up  for 6 down, and took me ages to realise where I’d gone wrong.  Moral of the story always read the clues properly.  Apart from that another lovely crossword, thank you Everyman.

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