XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 1036

CORONETED

1.  R. Postill: See what Marlborough’s become, without one male voice raised? Are such heads a little uneasy? (tenor (rev.) in co-ed; M. College; “Uneasy lies the head…”).

2.  A. F. Lerrigo: Some Eton boys’ parents are disheartened about the school. It’s changed (anag. of Eton in cored).

3.  R. A. Wells: Getting a century, or a single, Dexter is lordly (C or one Ted (D., cricketer)).

V.H.C.

R. H. Adey: Peered through a pair of spectacles, centred badly (anag. incl. O,O; peer¹, vb.).

J. W. Bates: Like Tolloller, a singer ascends embraced by one of the “seminary” (tenor (rev.) in co-ed; Lord T., lolanthe, end of opera & Act 1 finale).

J. Crowther: Less than kindhearted? Tender coo’s out of place here (anag.; Tennyson: “Kind hearts are more than coronets”).

T. Davies: Lords are disheartened about note requiring reform (anag. in cored).

Mrs D. B. Jenkinson: What Sir Alec was once or Ted might become in a re-shuffle? (anag.; ex-Lord Douglas-Home; T. Heath).

L. Johnson: How like Tolloller! His voice is raised in the exposition of a peculiar code (tenor (rev.) in anag.; ref. Lord T., Iolanthe, Act 2: “It’s a family tradition…”).

Sir S. Kaye: Disheartened about a ring at the cheapest price? A bride might be (O net in cored).

Mrs B. Lewis: Having the upper crust in the dress-circle adds tone to the décor and causes a stir (anag.; u.c.= head).

A. A. Malcolm: Blimey! Taking on a singular young roughneck? I’ll be crowned (cor one Ted).

D. P. M. Michael: One that, without the headgear, in having a heart is nobler than most (one t(hat) in cored, & lit.; that = coroneted).

Miss M. J. Patrick: In the middle of two retrenched beds, viola comes up like lords and ladies (tenor (rev.) in co(t, b)ed).

N. Roles: Noblemen are erect and do no wrong (anag.).

J. R. Stocks: Unruly youth follows the gang, going around getting drunk as lords (on in core² + Ted).

L. T. Stokes: It’s a century or a single with Dexter—that’s descriptive of Lords (C or one Ted; Ted D., “Lord Ted”).

Rev C. D. Westbrook: Having a heart about somebody, Tennyson’s tip, is more than being this (one T in cored, & lit.; Tennyson: “Kind hearts are more than coronets”).

H.C.

Mrs E. Allen, W. G. Arnott, F. D. H. Atkinson, C. Allen Baker, M. J. Balfour, Mrs J. M. Bates, Col R. L. Bell, A. E. Brookes, C. O. Butcher, E. Chalkley, A. J. Crow, N. C. Dexter, Cdr H. H. L. Dickson, M. Fairy, Dr J. Foster, A. L. Freeman, J. Gill, P. T. Heath, E. M. Hornby, C. H. Hudson, Rev L. B. Hutchings, G. Johnstone, Capt G. Langham, A. Lawrie, D. Legge, H. Lyon, Dr T. J. R. Maguire, B. Manvell, H. W. Massingham, C. G. Millin, W. L. Miron, C. J. Morse, E. J. Rackham, W. M. Reid, J. Riley, D. R. Robinson, L. G. D. Sanders, T. E. Sanders, D. J. Short, Sir W. Slimmings, Miss B. Smoker, R. D. Sones, L. H. Stewart, C. E. Williams, M. Woolf.
 

COMMENTS—Nearly 500 entries, very few mistakes. Some excellent clues appear above, but my short list was shorter than usual for such a large and accurate entry; the general standard of clues fell, as it so often does with an adjective. Competitors really would be well advised to grasp that the definition clue must indicate the right part of speech; here is a random selection from dozens which didn’t:—“Has costly overheads”, “He’s got one for his nob-ility”, “He’ll be wearing one”, “Wore a splendid hat”, “A crown will appear on your head”, “The lordly look”. None of these could possibly lead to an adjective. Another point that very many competitors once again disregarded is that, for us, “backward”, “backing”, “return of …”, “makes a come-back” are inappropriate for a down word; the reverse of such a word, or of part of it, goes up, not back. Another in accuracy was “heath” for “Ted” without a capital; and “American girl” is far too vague for “co-ed”. I should also mention the distinction between Lords, nobles, and Lord’s cricket ground with an apostrophe; this was ignored by several competitors. These faults caused an unusually large number of clues to be reluctantly rejected at sight. Even more inadequate was “Upset well known gang” (this was the whole clue)—no definition at all and an unhelpful indirect anagram, “noted, core”. This, frankly, is not a clue at all in the proper sense of the word. But the general standard is high nowadays as a rule, and no doubt it soon will be again. Perhaps I was partly to blame by setting an uninspiring word.
 
I generally avoid setting a word to which I have previously written a clue myself; but one acute competitor pointed out that I had used the word in No. 692 and wondered if anyone would better the clue I wrote then. It was “Gosh! People make hay in the House of Lords”. I’m not proud of it; it certainly wouldn’t have won a prize and would have been far from sure of a V. H. C.—probably a candidate for the fairly long H. C. list. I had entirely overlooked its existence when setting this puzzle.
 
A very happy Christmas to all, and I hope you’ll enjoy struggling with a type of puzzle which I haven’t used since No. 896 in 1966, and not for a competition since considerably earlier than that. Post as early as you can—we don’t want the G.P.O. to cause disasters.