◀  No. 291 Clue list 18 Jul 1954 Slip image No. 295  ▶

XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 293

CAB

1.  F. E. Newlove: I’m often picked up in the street; for Spanish gentlemen it’s me before all the pride of Piccadilly! (i.e. cab + all Eros = caballeros).

2.  Mrs L. Jarman: Note the flag’s position, waggle away at the driver, and you may arrive in one! (cryptic def.; golf; For Hire flag).

3.  Miss D. W. Taylor: What goes into this Rank production is hackneyed fare (cryptic def.; Rank films; Hackney carriage).

H.C.

A. H. Allender: The horse in this is fantastic. The opposite is just macabre (i.e. macabre = cab in mare).

C. Allen Baker: Half a small room—sharing a bath with about sixteen others—no wonder I’m a growler! ((a) cab(in), 2 defs.; cab2, bath2; growler = horse-drawn cab).

Mrs A. R. Boorman: One for the road? That’s almost three pints! (2 mngs., cab1,2).

P. B. Chapman: After his hundred Jack gains on the clock—a run-making machine! (C + AB; Jack = sailor; taximeter clock).

W. Darby: One for the road. but probably not a quick one, there being more than a quart of the original French left (cab(riolet) (Fr.); cab1,2).

Cdr H. H. L. Dickson: There’s nearly three pints there, but I’m for keeping the driver dry (2 mngs.).

J. H. Dingwall: Affords driver protection from rain—but maybe not from hail? (2 mngs.; hail a cab).

S. B. Green: One of the many aids to translation to be found in Homer (2 mngs.; translation = removal; cab2, homer1 [see comments]).

J. W. Jenkins: In the transport shelter one can get a few pints and a floor show, free of charge (cab(aret), 2 defs.; cab1,2; aret (obs) = entrust).

C. R. Malcolm: Keeps the flag flying in the ranks (cryptic def.; For Hire flag).

C. J. Morse: Homer too large a volume? Then try this. It’s for people in a hurry—the modern shortened version (cab(riolet); cab2, homer1).

K. Perry: Coin is missing from American’s hand-bag—job for Holmes! (cabas less as3; job = hired carriage).

C. P. Rea: Less than three pints ensures that the driver is not under the weather (2 mngs.; cab1,2).

A. Robins: Towards the end of my day with horses, I’m tired, or have a tender behind! (cryptic def.; tire2, tender3).

W. Rodgers: Three pints, and one for the road: it’s the simplest thing to have a smash (anag. of ABC, 2 defs; cab1,2).

J. Thompson: A Scotsman takes one—it may be with hesitation!—if he’s having a fling (cab(er), & lit.).

R. Thorburn: Out of the first three. Flagged in front—at corners and in the straight? (anag. of ABC; For Hire flag; pick-up locations).

J. F. N. Wedge: I’m free-lance and have no stage commitments—perhaps Rank has an opening for me! (cryptic def.; bus fare stages; Rank films).

RUNNERS-UP

S. Ainley, T. E. Bell, S. Bunton, A. N. Clark, Miss S. J. Coare, E. J. Collman, R. M. S. Cork, G. N. Coulter, M. S. Y. Fowler, E. Gomersall, A. Griffiths, T. J. Guffick, Mrs B. M. Halpern, Mrs M. Henderson, P. Holtby, L. Johnson, J. Hardie Keir, E. E. R. Kilner, A. D. Legge, D. M. Lewis, C. J. Lowe, H. Lyon, D. P. M. Michael, P. H. Morgan, Mrs A. M. Osmond, J. W. Parr, R. Postill, Maj J. N. Purdon, D. G. Putnam, E. J. Rackham, A. Redstone, J. S. Russell, R. Seale, Sgt N. E. Sharp, Mrs E. M. Simmonds, F. B. Stubbs, J. B. Sykes, H. G. Tattersall, Capt C. Tyers, W. H. Victory, J. S. Young.
 

COMMENTS—324 entries, 314 correct. The short key-word seems to have pulled a fair number of legs agreeably: thank you for comments. One competitor sent a clue to C, which I maintain is not a word, but if anyone had sent a clue to CA’, I think I should have had to accept it! Cab = schoolboy’s crib raises the question, about which I sometimes receive enquiries, of how far we may go outside Chambers in clues. My principle is that I do so myself, and allow competitors to do so, if I feel reasonably sure that an average competitor will be familiar with the usage in question without recourse to a dictionary: in this case I don’t. It has to be a matter of opinion each time. It should be noted that Mr. Green’s clue does not depend on this meaning.
 
A good many competitors were inclined to over-elaborate their clues: a short, simple word seems to me to call for fairly straightforward treatment. For instance, I should, I think, have given a prize to Mr. Baker if he had omitted the first part of his clue. I don’t very much like a half taken from inside something—I feel that a half of six letters should be the first three or the last three. And it is a very nice clue without that feature. Mr. Robins’s jest is rather an ancient one, but he made too good a use of it to be passed over: there were some other neat ones, but I thought more than the best one would be too many.
 

 
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