XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 42

HALLANSHAKER

1.  S. B. Green (NW10): The solicitor’s firm (cryptic def.; ‘sturdy beggar’ in C.).

2.  T. E. Sanders (Walsall): Get an agitator passage forward in an old tramp (hall + an + shaker).

3.  E. H. Evans (Newport): Sturdy vagrant needs wind-shield (cotter type) for front part of old cycle (hallan for bone in bone-shaker; see cottar/cotter).

H.C.

F. M. Bassano (Loughborough): Allah harkens to the importunate beggar, even if he turns away at first (Allah (rev.) + anag.).

F. E. Dixon (Dublin): A Scots solicitor employed in composing the L.N.E.R.’s halakah (anag.).

B. Donne-Smith (Hitchin): There’s an agitator behind this division in the House: the beggar’s tough, too (hallan + shaker).

Miss J. Fry (Oxford): Resolute agitator for the partition of Scotland (i.e. hallan shaker; resolute, n.).

G. A. Hornsby (Guisborough): Wind-screen rattling? This beggar’s responsible for it (i.e. hallan shaker).

J. I. Logan (Edinburgh): “The Pilgrim”—Scots’ version—as Rank shall hae it re-shot (anag.).

D. S. Milford (Marlborough): Give the loiterer a curt answer after dinner; it’s a beggar for certain (hall + ans. + haker; hake = loiter, Webster).

Mrs M. G. Porter (SW13): The beggar’s an agitator—after the partition of Scotland (hallan shaker).

R. Postill (Jersey): Hallelujah! Beggar my neighbour (adjacent word in contemporary ed. of C.).

W. Rennie (Newcastle): Religious Mancunian dances under partition to keep out the cold. Poor beggar! (hallan + Shaker).

Mrs A. L. Stevenson (Kilmacolm): If he isn’t careful he’ll break the wind-screen, the obstinate old beggar! (i.e. hallan shaker).

Miss D. W. Taylor (W5): The beggar hankers distractedly after Allah, but Allah has turned his back (Allah (rev.) + anag.).

W. H. J. Wheeler (Wembley): He who dances religiously behind a screen to keep out the cold must be a sturdy beggar! (hallan + Shaker).

Comments—216 correct: not many errors, almost half of them being barbarous misspellings of Melanesia. As the clue depended on sound there was no more need for “melon” than for “easier!” A difficult word reduced the entry. By far the most popular versions were variations on “Allah harkens” and “hankers after Allah.” The two representatives of these in the list had the added merit of making Allah turn away. Other anagrams were not easy to work in neatly—two of them won mentions. Those competitors were perhaps wisest who eschewed anagrams this time, and the clue judged best was also one of the shortest.