| ◀ No. 430 | Clue list | 5 May 1957 | Slip image | No. 438 ▶ |
XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 434
CARTON
1. C. J. Morse: Contra-revolutionary hero who made the tumbril proceed (anag., cart on, & lit.; ref. Sydney C., ‘A Tale of Two Cities’).
2. A. D. Walker: What the archer hopes to get from skill in directing the bow (art in con4 (= steering), & lit.; bow of ship).
3. T. E. Sanders: How Sullivan began to make his name in Cox and Box (Art(hur) in con4; ref. opera by F. C. Burnard and Arthur S.).
H.C.
J. K. Anderson: Tumbril assigned to a volunteer for the guillotine (cart on; ref. Sydney C., ‘A Tale of Two Cities’).
E. A. Beaulah: Mademoiselle got me in the end: I’m all for the style they adopt in France! (car ton (Fr.); ref. ‘Mlle. Guillotine’, Sydney C., ‘A Tale of Two Cities’).
C. M. Broun: Laid out again, or can’t box for toffee (anag.).
C. O. Butcher: A burlesque leaving nothing to the imagination: one such case was severely cut in Paris (cart(o)on, 2 defs.; ref. Sydney C., ‘A Tale of Two Cities’).
Mrs Caithness: Some regard me as a “pick-me-up,” others won’t—or can’t, as the case may be (anag., 2 defs.).
Sgt J. Dromey: The Bull’s inner circle—there’s a knack in the knock, known only to locals (art in con6 (= knock, dial.)).
J. A. Fincken: When a tumbril appears, my number is up (cart + no. (rev.), & lit.; ref. Sydney C., ‘A Tale of Two Cities’).
C. E. Gates: The tumbril—a French one—did for Syd! (cart + on (Fr.); ref. Sydney C., ‘A Tale of Two Cities’).
J. A. Maxtone Graham: Look carefully round the guns: it’s that little extra bit of bull that counts (art. (abbrev) in con).
W. I. N. Kessel: Box and Cox full of trickery (art in con4).
C. Koop: One can make a packet on the Exchange—or can’t, as the case may be (anag., 2 defs.).
B. N. McQuade: Case for a bit of bull—can’t or won’t be disciplined (anag., 2 defs.).
S. Plumb: An actor, beheaded in Revolution, impersonated a French aristocrat (anag. of (a)n actor, & lit.; ref. Sydney C., ‘A Tale of Two Cities’).
R. Postill: You need to learn about small arms to get me! (art. (abbrev) in con, & lit.).
P. H. Taylor: Skill in study becomes a pupil, and should be one’s aim (art in con; pupil = central spot within a spot).
L. E. Thomas: The result of a good pasting? In such a case a boxer may pack up (cryptic def.; made of pasted card or paper).
RUNNERS-UP
F. D. H. Atkinson, C. Allen Baker, J. W. Bates, Mrs F. Begg, T. E. Bell, Lt A. S. Birt, V. E. Brooke, R. N. Chignell, D. L. L. Clarke, A. E. Clayton, Mrs C. Crawford, Mrs N. Dean, Dr W. M. Easther, J. B. Filburn, S. Goldie, S. B. Green, E. J. Griew, Mrs L. Jarman, V. Jennings, W. H. Johnson, Mrs P. S. Juniper, G. L. Kennaby, Very Rev N. M. Kennaby, A. E. Knight, C. J. Lowe, A. D. Mattock, B. J. McCann, Mrs E. McFee, T. W. Melluish, D. P. M. Michael, W. L. Miron, P. H. Morgan, E. J. Rackham, M. C. C. Rich, E. O. Seymour, J. B. Sloan, C. D. Stelling, E. B. Stevens, L. H. Stewart, L. T. Stokes, J. Thompson, L. K. Upton, J. F. N. Wedge, T. G. Wellman, M. Woolf, Capt J. V. Wotton.
HONOURS LIST FOR PERIOD OF 13 COMPETITIONS:—1. C. J. Morse (4 prizes, 6 H.C.s): 2. R. PostilI (3, 5): 3. J. A. Fincken (2, 5): 4. R. N. Chignell, S. Goldie (2, 3): C. Allen Baker (1, 5): 7. E. O. Seymour (1, 4): 8. C. O. Butcher, S. B. Green, D. A. Nicholls, J. S. Young (1, 3), J. W. Bates, C. M. Broun, Cdr. H. H. L. Dickson, C. E. Gates, F. E. Newlove (Consolation Prize Winners, 0, 5): 7. Mrs. N. Fisher (2, 0): T. E. Sanders (1, 2), P. H. Morgan, Miss D. W. Taylor (0, 4).
Total different winners to date:—320. Total different prize winners and/or H.C.s:—1,115.
COMMENTS:—346 entries, 303 correct: the two chief causes of error were Eppie/glycin and latron/trot. I’m afraid a good many solvers had a wild goose chase through the Pentateuch for Eppie who marries a youth called Aaron in Silas Marner. Carton in A Tale of Two Cities is Sydney, not Sidney (though the Oxford Book of Quotations gets it wrong): I wasn’t fierce about this, but the mistaken spelling did detract from some clues. The point about “back” and “up” made its appearance. I have mentioned before, and I think I am consistent about it myself, that “back” and its equivalents are appropriate to “across” words, “up” and its equivalents to “down” words. This was a “down” word, so “no coming back” became a weakness. “No return” is worse: this cannot, to my mind, mean either “no’s return” or “no returns”: this spoilt one or two otherwise excellent clues. Once again I offer “Afrit’s” dictum as a motto for clue-writers in the new session: “I need not mean what I say, but I must say what I mean.”
Congratulations to all those in the Honours List, and especially to Mr. Morse, who has been top three times running: it is time you others knocked hint off his pedestal! And congratulations to 44 people who have got prizes and/or H.C.s for the first time during the session just completed: may there be more still in the nest session.