XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 1015

HOAR-HEADED

1.  D. P. M. Michael: Gray’s description of rustic—not, it seems, unrimed but admittedly letterless (hoar(y)-headed, & lit.; rime = frost; ref. G.’s Elegy, lines 97, 115).

2.  T. W. Melluish: Gray, like his swain, his end to be missing (hoar(y)-headed, & lit., ref. G’s Elegy lines 97, 109).

3.  F. B. Stubbs: Having one sign of advancing years, stop—take care about another (hoa + r + AD in heed).

V.H.C.

W. G. Arnott: Like Father William’s brain—heard there’s nothing inside to worry about (head in anag. incl. 0; ’s=is; ref. Lewis Carroll, ‘You Are Old, F. W.’).

C. Allen Baker: Hullo! Shot dead a large bird in the heart? A bit like the ancient Mariner (ho! + rhea in anag.; ref. ‘Rime of the A. M.’).

J. W. Bates: Baggage, we hear, made with silver locks (‘whore’ + headed; head = make).

B. W. Brook: Is the advice “Go East!” in store for one becoming this? (head E in hoard; “Go west, young man”).

E. W. Burton: Hoad, here, could become oldish looking in this new set-up, taking A.D. into account (AD in anag.; ref. Lew H., player in first professional event at Wimbledon, 1967).

E. Chalkley: What you might call a king crowned like Lear (ho! a R headed; ref. Lear III.2, “Singe my white head”).

V. A. R. Cooper: Like Father William, faced age contrarily (i.e. parts of headed hoar rev.; ref. Lewis Carroll, Lear 3. 2, ‘You Are Ol d, F. W.’).

Mrs J. O. Fuller: Shocked as the Ancient Mariner distracted he heard a wedding do (anag.; wed = join; ref. ‘Rime of the A. M.’).

F. D. Gardiner: Hold a redhead tight? I’m looking past that (ho! + anag.).

R. R. Greenfield: What a surprise! Alec Rose quickly given a title, wearing a grey topper? (ho! + A. R. + headed; ref. yachtsman knighted a day after completing round-the-world voyage).

E. G. Jones: He had read excitedly about love—too old to practise it? (0 in anag.).

Sir S. Kaye: Tennis pro—seed (bottom half)—without fibre and showing age (rhea (=fibre) in Hoad + (se)ed; ref. Lew H.).

R. E. Kimmons: The beginning of Hades—a boatman—he’s accompanied by restless dead, like Charon (H oar he + anag.).

Mrs E. McFee: Stop golden about the pate? Not if you’re like this (hoa + head in red, & lit.).

Mrs E. Robson: Shaped course after checking the king—white on top (hoa R + headed; hoa (n.) = moderation).

J. R. Stocks: Of eight, No. 4 rowed about the best of any, having the usual mark of the veteran (h (4th. letter) + head in oared).

H.C.

T. Anderson, M. J. Balfour, R. T. Baxter, J. A. Blair, J. Brock, C. O. Butcher, R. S. Caffyn, Mrs J. M. Chatfield, J. H. Cleary, P. R. Clemow, J. F. Coldwell, J. Crowther, M. J. Daintith, A. L. Dennis, S. H. Field, B. Freedman, S. Goldie, E. M. Hornby, J. G. Hurst, B. Iliffe, B. K. Kelly, A. Lawrie, J. H. C. Leach, L. F. Leason, A. D. Legge, Mrs B. Lewis, H. Lyon, Lt Col D. Macfie, D. Malcolm, S. M. Mansell, C. J. Morse, P. K. Nandi, J. A. Naughton, M. Newman, L. S. Pearce, W. H. Pegram, R. Postill, D. G. Putnam, T. E. Sanders, A. Sellings, Sir W. Slimmings, S. Sondheim, H. Stockley, J. B. Sweeting, P. C. Thornton, G. A. Tomlinson, D. H. Tompsett, J. Treleaven, M. A. Vernon, J. D. Walsh, J. F. N. Wedge, B. C. Westall, S. A. Wetherfield, Mrs M. Wilkinson, P. G. Williams.
 

COMMENTS:—About 420 entries, very few mistakes. First, congratulations to Mr. Michael on being top for the second time running. I wondered if this was a record, but I found that it had been done twice before, by Mr. T. E. Sanders in 1950 and by Mr. F. D. H. Atkinson in 1959. Mr. Michael’s clue this time may be a bit too complicated and contain almost too many points for some tastes, but I couldn’t resist its extreme ingenuity. There were plenty of other good ones, but there was the usual adjective trouble; one must indicate the right part of speech. Definitions like “the old man”, “grey hairs”, “he’s looking old” can only lead to a noun; this is utterly unfair. As I went through the entry I put clues like this on one side; when I had finished there were over forty of them.
 
Now, after mildly castigating some of you, I will much less mildly castigate myself. In No. 1013 I perpetrated a real atrocity, ALBERMARLE, which doesn’t even exist! The correct spelling is, of course, ALBEMARLE. And I actually looked him up in an encyclopaedia and didn’t notice that my preconceived idea was wrong. Quite inexcusable, and I apologise. I think it was my first howler for some time and the first ever of this type; I hope it will be the last. I’m surprised that only one solver wrote a note to point it out; I can’t thank him or her directly, because the note bears no address and an illegible signature. I expect it was enclosed with an entry, but if so it was separated from the entry before it reached me.
 
One more point about this last entry:—I couldn’t find any mention in Chambers for defining “hoar” by “frost.”
 
And finally I must thank many competitors for their kind remarks about “Hymns M. & A.” I’m most gratified that my modern poetry especially was so much appreciated.