Ximenes Competition No. 119  Ximenes Slip  |  ◀  118  |  121  ▶  |  Other competitions
No.DateClue wordClue typeClues
119 Xmas 1949UMBLE-PIE normal15

 

AwardClue writerClueExplanation
FirstW. K. M. SlimmingsIf the bird’s off, you’ll be having the doctor in most of Christmas! You certainly won’t like eating itMB in (y)ule + pie3
SecondE. O. SeymourIt is humiliating in the Diet to make a mess of Internal Affairs!2 cryptic defs.; pie = a mixed state
ThirdF. E. DixonCould be rein-deer food, i.e. be plum pudding!anag.; rein (rare sing.) = kidney, see reins; pudding = entrails (archaic)
HCD. AshcroftHorner’s dish? That is to be plum wrong!anag. of i.e. be plum; horner = trumpeter; cf. plumb wrong; ref. Little Jack H.
HCC. A. BakerI’m always given to poor hands: my heart’s not in the game any more2 cryptic defs.; hands = employees, see Brewer’s
HCMrs N. FisherI call this meagre bird an apology for a meal(h)umble + pie3 [see comments]
HCS. B. GreenUninitiated utterance of the Diet of Worms?cryptic def.; i.e. worms eat dirt (q.v.) [see comments]
HCN. HaycraftAn inside job by cook? The copper seems almost mortifiedi.e. (h)umble pie; pie5 = coin
HCMrs L. Jarman“Oh my lungs and liver!” State where found (David Copperfield, Chapter Seventeen?)cryptic def.; ref. Heeps’ tea-party
HCT. W. MelluishBible digested by cassowary now returned—eaten with regrets. (N.B. Not Timbuctoo—between Caius and Rugby)anag. of Pible in emu (rev.); ref. M.W.W. II.3.7, and nonsense verse ‘If I were a cassowary’ [see comments]
HCR. PostillIt needs pluck! One slip, and the sword swallower’s had it!i.e. eat one’s words (s moved in sword); pluck = entrails [see comments]
HCA. E. SmithDish that David might expect to have to eat at Uriah’scryptic def.; ref. D. Copperfield and David and Uriah, II Sam. 9:8
HCMiss R. E. SpeightThe proper course to take if you have to apologise (at a stag party?)cryptic def.; i.e. eat humble pie
HCMrs A. L. StevensonPlum be blowed!—in short that is not the kind of dish little Jack would have relished!anag. + i.e.; ref. Little Jack H.
HCA. H. TaylorThe “mess of meat” that David sent to Uriah?cryptic def.; ref. D. Copperfield and II Sam. 9:8; “mess of meat” = royal present
 

Runners-Up in competition 119:

D. AmblerR. P. IrvingB. J. McCannH. L. Tinkler
A. M. BernardC. B. JoynerA. D. MersonH. S. Tribe
Cdr H. H. L. DicksonJ. E. C. JukesF. E. NewloveCapt C. Tyers
M. E. FrancisG. G. LawranceH. RaingerJ. F. N. Wedge
C. E. GatesR. C. MacfarlaneA. Robins 
R. G. GordonH. E. S. MarshallA. J. C. Saunders 
D. HawsonDr L. B. MarshallW. M. Spafford