◀  No. 1006 Clue list 2 Jun 1968 Slip image No. 1015  ▶

XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 1010

MOTORIST

1.  D. P. M. Michael: Once more is in wrong—in Britain, right is denied him (mo + is in tort; driving on left).

2.  C. C. M. Giffin: The doctor is in the wrong. He should not carry on beyond 70 (MO + is in tort; national speed limit).

3.  Dr T. J. R. Maguire: The guy’s almost disposed to admit receptacles for blowing in (tori in most (US), & lit.; blow = bloom; breathalysers).

V.H.C.

J. W. Bates: One for the road? I can always show the doctor is in the wrong (MO + is in tort).

E. W. Burton: Disorderly riots in his ministry; this man was behind the Red Flag (anag. in MOT; man with flag in early days).

C. O. Butcher: I’m often in the saloon when I should be abstemious or T.T.—I’m so naughty (anag.; saloon car, drink-driving law).

P. M. Coombs: I’m going on the streets. Motive? It’s improper (motor (adj.) + anag.).

J. Crowther: One sort sorely restricted by ministry responsible? (anag. incl. I in MOT, & lit.).

R. P. C. Forman: Hill’s one—among greatest (tor I in most, & lit.; ’s = has; ref. Graham H., racing driver).

L. D. J. Gatt: Hill is, in a word, at Le Mans (tor is in mot (Fr.), & lit.; ref. Graham H., racing driver).

N. C. Goddard: Hill is right in saying he’s a fast one (tor is in mot (= saying), & lit.; ref. Graham H., racing driver).

Sir S. Kaye: I’m sort to run amok—I take folk for a ride (anag.).

A. Lawrie: Is in the wrong after a second short? He could be (mo (= moment) + is in tort, & lit.; i.e. short drink).

J. H. C. Leach: Hill, typically, is a rocky height in rainy surroundings (tor in moist; ref. Graham H., racing driver).

Mrs B. Lewis: Saloon-keeper usually places non-U sight-seer after a second (MO + to(u)rist; saloon car).

J. P. Mernagh: Singer transports one perhaps, shaking torso most of time (anag. incl. tim(e); Singer, British carmaker).

J. G. Stubbs: Tom’s worried about revolutionary figures—he’s no longer a follower of the red flag (tori in anag.; man with flag in early days).

M. E. Ventham: Hill’s one, included in the greatest (tor I in most, & lit.; ’s = has; ref. Graham H., racing driver).

J. D. Walsh: Hill, one among the greatest, was a champion this (tor I in most, & lit.; ref. Graham H., racing driver).

J. F. N. Wedge: Marsh gas often affects me—it’s from decay turning in damp (anag. in moist; ref. Richard M., Min. of Transport).

H.C.

E. S. Ainley, T. Anderson, M. J. Armstrong, W. G. Arnott, C. Allen Baker, M. J. Balfour, Mrs D. Barker, A. J. Barnard, Miss P. A. Bax, J. C. Brash, B. W. Brook, A. Bruce, J. R. Burton, S. D. Chalk, E. Chalkley, Cdr H. H. L. Dickson, Flt Sgt J. Dromey, E. R. Evans, G. Gargan, S. C. Gilchrist, J. W. Hammond, S. Holgate, D. E. G. Irvine, Mrs L. Jarman, T. E. S. Jobson, G. Johnstone, R. E. Kimmons, L. F. Leason, H. Lyon, J. D. H. Mackintosh, Mrs S. M. Macpherson, T. A. Martin, P. H. Morgan, C. J. Morse, S. L. Paton, Miss M. J. Patrick, D. G. Putnam, Mrs E. M. Simmonds, Sir W. Slimmings, Mrs I. G. Smith, G. Snowden-Davies, J. Sparrow, T. A. J. Spencer, L. T. Stokes, J. B. Sweeting, C. M. Tatham, G. R. Webb, Mrs M. P. Webber, B. C. Westall, C. E. Williams.
 

COMMENTS—About 420 entries, very few mistakes. Some said the puzzle was harder than usual, a few said just the opposite. Curiously, after what I wrote in the last slip, many very neat and sound clues were excluded from prizes and V.H.C.s for being too easy; if the definition of a simple word screams the answer, the solver can get little kick from the neatness of the clue. Examples are Mr. Lyon’s “I can drive perfectly well—the doctor is in the wrong”, and Mr. Kimmons’ “There’s almost danger in a second drink for him”—both admirably appropriate, but too easy: there were several others like both of them. I regretted not being able to reward them more highly. As to unsoundness, I wrote last time of inadequate indications of an anagram. This time it may be helpful to quote some of a good many clues (or parts of them) that failed to say what they meant:—“is to be singularly surrounded by death” for MO-TO-R-IS-T—a wildly inaccurate indication of the facts: “There’s only one ‘Carmen’”—on the contrary, the fact is that there is one carman; I can swallow the capital letter, but plural really is not singular: “Stick to the car”—an outrageous definition of a noun: “so trim to be sandwiched”—“to” is made, impossibly, to do double duty, and “sandwiched” is like the weak indications of an anagram quoted last time: “its equivalent” for IST—this comes nowhere near to saying what it means: “and is” for ORIS, with the ingenuous note underneath “and is”=“or is”—a real masterpiece of misstatement: “am finally” for M: “the first” for T: “to go back” for OT—these also fail in the same way. We really must say what we mean.
 
Finally:—Query from a solver:—What if the Derby had ended in a dead-heat? Answer :—The Derby was run on Wednesday; there would have been heaps of time to get the clue altered—but thank you for the laugh, all the same.
 

 
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