I am not one to pooh-pooh political correctness in all its forms. The phrase covers a multitude of usages from gross euphemisms and clunky lumps of officialese to what could be called politeness or good manners.

“Loony bin” (in the clue for 16 across) was never a “nice” term. It really seems to be a form of dysphemism: in this instance an old way of avoiding some grim reality by humorous rudeness. Dysphemism thus serves the same avoidance function as euphemism.

None of the dictionaries I have to hand note the term loony bin as offensive – slang is the worst they call it. Nevertheless I would not want to risk offending anyone today by using the term loony bin in conversation with strangers. One of the small pleasures of setting cryptic clues, however, is the occasional chance to transgress with innocence. In the clue here, “loony” is used as an anagram indicator and “bin” is the anagram fodder.

In Landfall 200, back in November 2000, Nick Ascroft wrote about some of my similarly slightly transgressive clues thus: “These digressions of subject matter are quite incidental to the downs and acrosses, the actual meat and bone structure of the crossword – and thus they’re neatly inoculated against impudence. They’re merely the means to a word, and grandmothers and puritans alike can allow themselves a little snigger.”