Please Can We Ban.....

[crosswhit99]

(i) anagram indicators that do not really indicate rearrangement

In the first of an occasional series of things setters should avoid using, often just for the sake of the surface reading, consider this recent Inquisitor clue:

Tenor acting with this bird can make another happy (5)

There are so many acceptable anagram indicators that the setter could have chosen to indicate that the answer is a mixture of the letters of ANOTHER minus TA, but 'happy' isn't really adequate. We often see 'drunk' or 'inebriated' used in the sense of 'staggering all over the place', but 'happy' and 'merry' aren't really strong enough adjectives to convey this sense of chaos.

Any other examples that should be consigned to Room 101 ?

[Mamyalynne]

According to my Chambers Crossword Dictionary there are three separate anagram indicators there - make/another and happy.

Having said all that it's a poor clue.

[crosswhit99]

Hi Mamyalynne

'put another way' can indicate rearrangement, but in this case 'another' is the composite anagram fodder.

'Make' is an excellent example of another inadequate anagram indicator when used alone as it requires qualification, ie 'how' does the wordplay make the definition, in this case by rearrangement. In this example 'make' is therefore paired with 'happy'

[Mamyalynne]

I think setters are constantly tweaking and pushing the boundaries, not many weeks pass without a groan at a clue or three.

[crosswhit99]

I'm sure that's right, even the most experienced setter can sometimes overlook that an anagram indicator must convey a sense of rearrangement.

[crosswhit99]

Such as this recent example:

Endoscopic experiments in no time (10)