XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 217

DEPOSIT

1.  J. A. Fincken: One means of making a dope refrain from standing (anag. + sit, & lit.; i.e. candidate’s election d.).

2.  Mrs E. Shackleton: A complete solution leaves none to settle (dep. (= departs) 0 sit & lit.).

3.  C. J. Morse: It’s difficult for the liberal to save money in the bank! (2 mngs.; ref. Liberals’ poor 1950 and 1951 election results and lost d.).

H.C.

E. S. Ainley: Lay up or down—or one inside the other (epos in dit¹, & lit.).

F. D. H. Atkinson: Lay consists of an old song written about a traditional heroic story (epos in dit¹).

J. A. Blair: Exposed by the spade position, I’m a bit down on the contract (hidden).

P. M. Coombs: What a come-down after the solution I posted so light-heartedly! (anag.; d. in a solution; ref. Ximenes comp.).

J. A. Flood: Use side, screw, and pot. This gets rid of the red and returns you to black (anag.; ref. snooker).

S. B. Green: Lay or epic poem in Spenserian strain (epos in dit¹).

C. T. Hatten: I posted correct Solution: token, please! (anag. + 2 defs.; ref. Ximenes comp.).

R. W. Hawes: The trailer of Cavalcade has positive appeal—might be a fine film ((Cavalca)de pos it; ref. 1933 film).

F. McNeill: An odd tip does put money in the bank (anag.).

E. Morgan: Keep safe—don’t stand around the deep-end ((de)ep in do sit).

F. E. Newlove: Goes on the bottle (a common enough plight)—brought to book—sunk! (4 mngs.; d. common on glass bottles; plight²; d. entered in ledger; d. sinks).

A. E. North: Left ’tis hoped without aspiration for return (’tis (h)oped all rev., & lit.).

G. Perry: Lay: old song about series of heroic events (epos in dit¹).

M. G. Powell-Davies: You’ll have to readdress the letters I posted to Arles (anag.; arles (archaic) = d.).

E. R. Prentice: First instalment for a fur coat? (2 mngs.).

H. Rainger: In the old song heroic events are set down (epos in dit¹).

N. J. Reed: Pound shows a marked loss—the result of deflation (3 mngs; pound²; löss = loess: defl., geological; ref. monetary deflation of the 1950s).

W. K. M. Slimmings: What the lodger might do is depart, leaving no address: it’s nothing unusual (dep(art) + anag. incl. 0).

F. B. Stubbs: Silt from the river, helping to strengthen the banks (2 mngs.).

H. S. Tribe: My lodger was allowed to stand—contrarily hoped (with suppressed aspiration) to sit ((h)oped (rev.) + sit; i.e. lodge d. to stand in election).

RUNNERS-UP

Dr S. H. Atkins, C. Allen Baker, J. W. Bates, T. E. Bell, V. E. Brooke, C. M. Brown, Rev B. Chapman, R. N. Chignell, E. Clark, J. Coleby, Cdr H. H. L. Dickson, J. H. Dingwall, P. A. Drillien, W. Eite, C. E. Gates, C. C. M. Giffin, D. Godden, S. Goldie, R. M. Grace, G. M. Gwynn, C. Higham, F. N. Hoddell, B. J. Iliffe, F. G. Illingworth, Mrs L. Jarman, M. A. Lassman, C. J. Lowe, G. H. McConnell, T. W. Melluish, G. M. Mercer, W. L. Miron, A. D. Mitchner, M. Newman, A. P. O’Leary, E. W. Padgett, T. J. Pimbley, Maj J. N. Purdon, H. Rotter, K. E. Salmon, C. M. Sherrell, L. R. Smith, Miss N. Smith, Miss R. E. Speight, W. Steinberg, E. B. Stevens, L. T. Stokes, J. A. L. Sturrock, J. D. C. Tomlin, H. Walsham, J. F. N. Wedge, C. E. Williams, M. Winterbottom, T. Young, and R. G. H. ? (surname illegible) of Glastonbury.
 

COMMENTS—353 correct and few mistakes, chiefly caused by the initial letter of PIES (coins and magpies). Clues showed a high general standard, witness the long list of runners-up. The misprint of “earning” for “learning,” which did not appear in all copies of the paper, fortunately seems to have caused little trouble. It did not appear on the final proof, so I am blameless!
 
I think I should refer to punctuation in clues, a kindred matter to that of capitals, which I discussed last time. I use the convention that punctuation strictly required by the true sense may be omitted for the sake of the misleading sense, e.g., between “save” and “money” in Mr. Morse’s clue. This might well offend a true purist, and I confess I think the perfect clue wouldn’t do it: however I take the view, rightly or wrongly, that to abolish this convention would cramp one’s style too much. But I don’t care much for the reverse process of putting in punctuation, detrimental to the true sense, for the sake of the misleading sense: this savours too much of real inaccuracy. I will quote an example—a runner up: “Returning attached slip, in Postal Orders, gives a guarantee of payment” (i.e. tied rev., slip in = insert P.O.s). My view may be illogical and inconsistent, but there seems to me to be a definite difference in the degree of inaccuracy in these two processes.
 
The story of my clue to BEST-SELLERS may amuse you. I originally wrote, and passed in the proof: “What fun to write ——: let’s do our ——! said one famous historian to another.” Quite by chance, on the way to bed at about 11.45 p.m., a copy of “1066 & All That” on a shelf caught my eye: to my horror I saw it was Sellar, not Sellers! I sat down hastily and after about 20 minutes sleepily produced “Tangled Tresses (Bell)—on all bookstalls,” wrote it on a p.c. to be posted next morning and went to bed. In bed it struck me that a publisher might possibly not like a reference to a non-existent book, but I went to sleep without any further idea. I dashed off the final version in a great hurry after breakfast next morning. And it got over twenty references from solvers as the best clue in the puzzle!
 
Finally, don’t trust to the New Mid-Century Version of Chambers’s Dictionary yet: I have promised not to use it till November, and, besides its additions, it omits many words in the older edition which I am still using.