XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 156

LAVEROCK

1.  C. A. Baker: One-pound Hailstone Found in Field—Morning Herald (L, ave, rock; field lark; ref. newspaper published until 1869).

2.  C. E. Gates: Look fondly over King’s College backs. You may hear its carols in the distance (la² + anag. of over + KC (rev.); fondly = foolishly, i.e. anag. indication).

3.  R. Postill: Take the stone to rest in Scotland—not everyone’s idea of a lark (rock following lave²; ref. theft of Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey in 1950).

H.C.

E. S. Ainley: I’m up early so often carol singing I must have rest and quiet now (lave², rock², i.e. rock baby to quieten).

S. Bell: Bath stone destined for Heaven’s Gate (lave¹, rock; ref. Shakespeare’s “Hark, hark, the lark”).

J. C. B. Date: I can get very high when I sing, but I need rest and quiet afterwards (lave², rock², i.e. rock a baby to quieten).

Mrs N. Fisher: A flyer, one hears, may account for a pound hailstone (L, ave, rock).

S. B. Green: A lot of “debunking” has been done in my time. What’s left to throw stones at? (lave², rock; up with the lark, i.e. out of bunk).

J. Jones: Did the Abbey thief say ‘I —— for a lark?’ (i.e. ‘I’ll ’ave a rock’; ref. theft of Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey in 1950).

E. L. Mellersh: A little bird tells what is left in Scone—large detached stone (aver², rock; ref. theft of Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey in 1950).

D. P. M. Michael: What Scots have left with a large stone? This is an unusual lark (aver², rock; ref. theft of Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey in 1950).

W. L. Miron: Rest quiet and I’ll sing to you (lave², rock² , i.e. rock a baby to quieten).

C. J. Morse: The possessor of a delicate tongue leaves for the dining-room before the cocktail (laver¹ + (c)ock; lark’s tongues valued as delicacy).

M. Newman: I rise early to wash and put the baby to sleep (lave¹, rock; up with the lark).

E. J. Rackham: Morning Herald exposes bad over-centralisation and shortage all round (anag. of over in lack; ref. newspaper published until 1869; housing/food shortages after the war).

H. B. Ridley: Scots leaving with the Stone? What a lark! (lave² rock; ref. theft of Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey in 1950).

T. E. Sanders: An early Whistler in wash and chalk perhaps? (lave¹, rock; Rex W., painter).

O. Carlton Smith: I’m a little dicky with that early morning feeling, but only rest and quiet are needed to get me right (lave², rock², i.e. rock a baby to quieten).

RUNNERS-UP

G. Bowness, Rev B. Chapman, H. Chown, J. C. R. Clapham, Miss L. M. Collins, T. G. Cordes, Cdr H. H. L. Dickson, B. Donne-Smith, L. A. Dunn, A. Forster-Cooper, J. H. Gawler, S. Goldie, G. M. Gwynn, P. A. Harrow, F. H. W. Hawes, B. J. Iliffe, W. Islip, J. Hardie Keir, C. Koop, Capt G. Langham, G. G. Lawrance, G. M. Mercer, F. E. Newlove, W. B. O’Hanlon, Rev E. B. Peel, Mrs M. G. Porter, G. W. Pugh, H. Rainger, D. W. Reed, E. O. Seymour, W. K. M. Slimmings, A. E. Smith, R. E. Stephens, H. S. Tribe, E. F. Watling.
 

COMMENTS—201 correct and a terrible lot of mistakes, esp. in short words. Solvers would be wise to concentrate on the subsidiary part of the clue when the definition doesn’t ring a bell, instead of rushing to reference books and guessing when their search fails. I never give a straight clue only to a proper name, and very rarely to a dictionary word, unless I’m sure everyone knows it. IVER was a case in point: if you didn’t know the Duchess of Kent lives there, what about “I’ve R?” The same sort of thing applies elsewhere.
 
Someone suggests that I should criticize rejected clues instead of chosen ones. so I will; but one point I’ll make which affects some H.C.s:—I think “lave” = “rest” is unfamiliar enough to call for a hint of its nationality: lack of this doesn’t make the clue unsound but it is a weakness. Now I’ll take half a dozen rejected clues at random. Here goes:—1. “Many hail a sweet singer highly thought of in the provinces.” L = many—far too vague: also the clue starts to give parts of word without finishing, apparently—unless there’s a singer called Rock of whom I haven’t heard: if so, a note would have been wise. 2. “What a lark: Vera has tumbled into the lock.” Sound but dull and too easy, and I don’t care for pointless proper names. 3. “What a lark to bathe by a big stone!” Again sound but dull: is such an occupation particularly amusing? 4. “State of immobility is enough to make this bird go cuckoo!” Far too difficult: all except “this bird” is almost certain to be useless to solvers. Lock = state of imm.—yes: rave = go cuckoo—yes; but an indirect anag. is unjustifiable unless (a) the clue would be too easy with a direct one and (b) there is a very limited choice for solution of its parts. Nor is the anag. indicated in any way by the clue, which doesn’t even begin to say what it means: total result—completely unsound. 5. “Balance in the Scottish reel is all a lark.” In? Lave isn’t in rock. Oh, in-the-Scottish—yes; sound. but not exciting: is balance a lark, when dancing a reel? 6. “Declare in a tight place? Not the first Test, but what a game!” Excellent except that the definition is a clue to a clue, which is quite fatal; game = lark = laverock can’t possibly pass muster. No, not even quite a runner-up, in spite of good idea. But 5 and 6 are better than 1—4. Finally two runners-up at random:—1. “Close about to declare! No duck here!” Good idea: C. saving himself from another d. by declaring. But only the captain declares: the situation is a little hard to picture, without being fantastic enough to be really funny for that reason: also “no duck” is rather a clumsy definition: still, not far off. 2. “Get up with it, or you may swear in the queue.” How often this happens! Excellent idea, but clue ruined, for the sake of the misleading sense, by syntax which won’t work for the true meaning. “You may” is the trouble: leave it out and put an exclamation mark at the end, and there’s a first class clue! As it is, too good to be rejected altogether.
 
I hope this will be helpful, and let no one be put off by these strictures! Again many thanks for greetings and a peaceful New Year to all.