◀  No. 235 Clue list 21 Jun 1953 Slip image No. 239  ▶

XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 237

BASTINADE

1.  H. S. Tribe (Sutton): Lashings of toddlers? Well, you could have abstained from it (anag.; toddler = foot).

2.  A. Robins (Manchester): Tea is distributed with the band plugging Underneath the Arches (anag.).

3.  W. K. M. Slimmings (New Malden): Pour melted fat round a chunk of dingo, minced! Surely a cruel way of making hot dogs! (a + anag. of din(go) in baste; dogs = feet, Am. slang).

H.C.

J. W. Bates (Westcliff-on-Sea): A piquant dressing for Sole à l’Orient (cryptic def.; “a form of punishment in the East” in C.).

Cdr H. H. L. Dickson (Fareham): In short, I had an upset with Cook about the batter on the soles (anag. of I’d an in baste).

W. J. Duffin (Hull): One way of producing sore feet in a copper is to be found in well-pounded beats! (in a d., all in anag.).

Brig W. E. Duncan (NW3): Asked about a street in Nether Wallop, one would describe it as hard on the feet (a St in, all in bade; pun on Hants town).

T. Dwyer (Leicester): A dint savagely applied to cut the foot (anag. in base, & lit.).

H. Lyon (W1): When remade by you, a bed isn’t a bad form of heathen torture! (anag.).

W. M. Martin (Barnard Castle): Being ordered about like a sort of a mug makes a chap’s feet ache something cruel (as tin in bade).

G. M. Neighbour (Princes Risborough): Sticking a foot out of a bed isn’t a very warming thing for the sole! (anag., 2 defs.; for stick vb. = cane, see OED).

Mrs A. M. Osmond (Richmond): Foot slogging out East? You could surely have abstained from such torture! (anag.; “a form of punishment in the East” in C.).

E. R. Prentice (Clifton): A foot may be cut by it and broken (anag. in base, & lit.).

G. W. Pugh (Sanderstead): If you get one, you’re beaten; you can’t stand up to it. Often ends with a duck (cryptic def.; usually bastinado).

Maj J. N. Purdon (Cloverhill): Foot-slogging is just torture: you only need some cash and a little boosting to get into G.H.Q. (tin ad in base).

Miss D. W. Taylor (New Malden): Eastern way of grilling a sole which takes some beating (cryptic def.; “a form of punishment in the East” in C.).

J. F. N. Wedge (Surbiton): You could have abstained from such a low-down attack! (anag.).

D. Whitfield (NW1): If the finish were normal, you would see the ’Varsity men can row! Striking foot work, anyway! (i.e. BAs tin ado = bastinado).

I. Young (NW3): To remake a bed isn’t a bad way of getting one’s feet warm! (anag.).

RUNNERS-UP (1)

E. S. Ainley, M. Anderson, T. E. Bell, J. Bunnell, R. M. S. Cork, J. Duffill, W. J. Emerson, L. E. Eyres, J. A. Flood, A. W. M. Gauld, P. G. W. Glare, J. A. Maxtone Graham, T. J. Guffick, H. Heath, J. A. Hyde, F. G. Illingworth, Mrs L. Jarman, W. I. N. Kessel, T. W. Melluish, D. P. M. Michael, C. J. Morse, R. P. C. Mutter, J. W. Parr, O. Carlton Smith, L. E. Thomas

RUNNERS-UP (2)

J. P. Aserappa, C. Allen Baker, K. Barnes, H. Bernard, Rev B. Chapman, W. A. Clegg, G. N. Coulter, F. E. Dixon, C. Fisher, Mrs N. Fisher, M. S. Y. Fowler, S. Goldie, S. B. Green, R. W. Hawes, H. T. E. Hone, E. G. Illingworth, L. Johnson, J. MacIver, A. W. Maddocks, E. Morgan, R. J. Munnings, A. E. North, D. B. Norwood, S. L. Paton, M. G. Powell-Davies, E. J. Rackham, G. E. Rice, A. J. C. Saunders, E. O. Seymour, C. M. Sherrell, Mrs E. M. Simmonds, Mrs A. L. Stevenson, F. B. Stubbs, J. S. Thompson, D. H. Tompsett, D. L. Trout, H. Walsham, C. E. Williams.
 

COMMENTS—317 correct and a moderate number of scattered mistakes. The possibility of WHIP as well as CHIP was an unusual coincidence: it is a sound answer to the clue, in its political senses as verb and noun. Some 30 or 40 solvers gave it: I wonder if many solvers saw both answers and hesitated between them?
 
The standard of clues sent was again high, and there was plenty of humour. I have again divided the Runners-up into two classes. Chambers does not give “bastinade” as a verb (at least, only the New Mid-Century Version does so, and we haven’t changed over to that yet): so strictly speaking clues necessitating a verbal sense should have been avoided. There is a trap in writing “& lit.” clues which applied to this word: if the word is not an obscure one—and the meaning in this case is well known, only the final e being unfamiliar—an “& lit.” clue is apt to be too transparently easy, and several of those submitted were so. There were far fewer incorrect claims of “& lit.” this time, but there were still some, and also still some unindicated anagrams and “hidden” clues. We must “say what we mean”!
 

 
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