AZED CROSSWORD 169

THUGGEE

1.  W. L. Miron: What the strangling mugger, recognising no limits, might demonstrate ((m)ugge(r) in the, & lit.).

2.  F. R. Palmer: It’s renewed by the mugger (bar the extremes) (anag. incl. (m)ugge(r), & lit.).

3.  R. J. Palmer: Termination of a Hindu by heartless gang in the East? (u g(an)g in the E, & lit.).

VHC

C. Allen Baker: The sides of the throttle getting well-nigh squeezed in (hugge(d) in t, e, & lit.).

A. J. Bulman: Time, keep close to, surprise! That’s garrotter’s practice (t hug gee²).

C. A. Clarke: Unionist bomb thrown back in the sectarian killing (U + egg (rev.), all in the).

A. L. Dennis: The originators of this had unspeakably gruesome garottings esoterically executed (initial letters & lit.).

J. J. Goulstone: Get e.g. heartless Hindu crook to perpetrate this (anag. incl. H(ind)u, & lit.).

Dr G. B. Greer: In the East, what lies behind onset of mugger without hesitation? ((m)ugg(er) in the E, & lit.).

R. E. Kimmons: A cut-throat convention – follow suit after lead of trump (t + hug gee⁵).

J. H. C. Leach: Oval reacts with clamour all round after Thomson’s opener – it’s murder (T + egg (rev.) in hue²; ref. Jeff T., Aus. bowler).

L. K. Maltby: Cross with vast following, including leaders of genius, extirpated pagan killing (T + g e in huge; T-cross).

D. F. Manley: Rope being pulled round Hindu’s head? Local fit of perversity (H in tug + gee⁴, & lit.).

D. P. M. Michael: All in rugger in the form of holy terrorism ((r)ugger(r) in the).

C. G. Millin: Ritual murder requiring kind of bandage to go around neck (hug in T gee¹; T-bandage).

C. J. Morse: You see Ulster’s foremost urge reflected in the sectarian killing (U + egg (rev.), all in the).

R. A. Mostyn: Enormous cut in either side of throat. Golly! It’s the work of a cut-throat (hug(e) in t gee²).

D. S. Nagle: This could have made Gurdwara’s head in grip peg out (G in hug in tee, & lit.).

J. Revill: Pulling string – the sort some Indians used – round Hindu’s head? (H in tug gee³, & lit.; G-string originally worn by Amerindians, acc. to old edns. of C.).

T. E. Sanders: Get huge – that’s what comes of the fatal practice of going for gorges (anag.).

J. R. Stocks: Villainy of a mugger’s precursor, ultimately eradicated, in remote parts of the Empire (hugge(r) in t, e, & lit.; cf. hugger-mugger).

N. C. Wormleighton: In extremes of turpitude we have almost embraced homicidal practice (hugge(d) in t, e).

HC

E. Akenhead, M. J. Ball, J. C. Barnes, W. Boagey, A. G. Bogie, Rev C. M. Broun, J. M. Brown, C. O. Butcher, R. O. Calder, Mrs M. J. Cansfield, E. A. Clarke, Mrs C. E. Constable, M. A. Cooper, E. Davies, J. Dromey, J. A. Fincken, Mrs G. Ford, N. Gambier, N. C. Goddard, R. J. Hooper, E. M. Hornby, Mrs N. Jarman, S. H. Jarvis, B. K. Kelly, J. R. Kirby, A. Lawrie, P. W. W. Leach, H. R. Lockhart, C. J. Lowe, Lieut Col D. Macfie, B. Manvell, H. S. Mason, L. May, A. C. Morrison, D. Ogilvie, S. L. Paton, Rear Adm W. T. C. Ridley, H. R. Sanders, Mrs J. Saunders, W. J. M. Scotland, T. A. Simmerson, T. A. J. Spencer, F. W. R. Stocks, G. A. Tomlinson, Mrs M. P. Webber, M. Wexler, T. Wightman, G. H. Willett.
 

Comments
About 330 entries, fewer than I hope for, but the holiday months always take their toll of competitors. About 20 of you failed to track down Atys, though I have used him before. After my remarks last time on specialized knowledge, he may have seemed a bit obscure, but he is in quite a number of reference books. What’s more, when I am faced with having to find a short (4- or 5-letter) word beginning with a vowel which I haven’t used before at least once I am sometimes driven to desert the simple dictionary in favour of some other reference work. Which seems as good a point as any to give a summary of the books I consult in search of helpful proper nouns or to check on points of detail. I don’t suggest for a moment that all of you should rush out and buy any of these but I expect you’ll find it useful to know which my most constant companions are. Apart from Chambers I have Webster, large and small, and the full O.E.D., to be resorted to in desperation. For synonyms etc. I use Roget’s International Thesaurus and Rodale’s Synonym Finder (an American book, kindly given to me by Mr. Allen Baker). For all Eng. Lit. matters I refer to the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations, the International Thesaurus of Quotations, The Reader’s Encyclopedia, the Oxford Companion to English Literature, the Longman Companion to English Literature, and of course the ever-trusty Brewer’s Phrase and Fable. I do also have Oxford Companions to Music, Art, and American Literature, the Oxford Dictionary of Proverbs, the Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, the Oxford Classical Dictionary, and the concise DNB for biographical details. Cruden’s Concordance is essential for biblical references and I was lucky enough to be given a massive computerised concordance to Shakespeare produced by Harvard University Press. To aid my appalling geography I use the Oxford Atlas (new edition expected this year), and if all else fails I turn to the Columbia Encyclopedia, another American tome but very good. Foreign language dictionaries in Greek, Latin, French, German and Italian complete the basic collection, though I admit to adding to it all the time. If I can’t find what I want in any of this lot I accept with some certainty that it doesn’t exist!
 
THUGGEE wasn’t easy to clue and much unsoundness crept into your entries, especially the old business of anagrams improperly indicated, e.g. ‘Get huge involvement/massacre’ etc. when what is meant is ‘Get huge involved/massacred’ etc. I was also unsympathetically disposed towards those who split up THUGGEE into THUG and GEE, separately clued, e.g. ‘Ritual slaying produced by a ruffian – crikey!’ Since THUG is derived directly from THUGGEE I find this dull and unenterprising, I’m afraid. I hope you understand what I mean.