XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 578

GATHERED def. LEVANTER

1.  J. H. Eyre (Enfield): The activity of a fly-by-night round that location could be learnt as the result of a pick-up (fly-by-night; there in gad, two defs.).

2.  S. Goldie (Enfield): Edgar the Unsteady got wind of something—what the Witan did—and folded! (wind; anag., 3 defs.).

3.  Mrs J. E. Townsend (St Albans): I’ll be there and flitter around—I’m simply drawn to a party! (flitter; there in gad).

H.C.

F. D. Gardiner (Henfield): Jock’s mean about the pence—this you must have got wind of! (wind; the in gare d).

V. Jennings (Reading): Crowded easterly city asked not to broadcast news before first day of attack (easterly (n.); Gath ere D(-day)).

M. Kay (Heywood): It’s drawn up—with thread, for example, which you must wind in and out (wind; anag. incl. e.g.).

G. Kirsch (St Albans): Got wind of second half of Budget, heard in garbled version (wind; anag. incl. (Bud)get).

A. F. Lerrigo (Ringwood): What the team did when the skipper had something to tell them—how to make the grade, perhaps (skipper; anag.).

D. P. M. Michael (Whitchurch): What Girton did to runaway student—shut her in, it’s understood (runaway; her in gated).

D. I. Morgan (Preston): Thread, for example, is drawn through when you wind (wind; anag.).

C. J. Morse (SW10): Near the front of the Gazette you’ll find what the account of any defaulter is in aggregate (defaulter; Ga(zette) the red; aggregate, adj.).

H. B. Morton (Gerrards Cross): Variety of hedge rat confined to a certain area (rat; anag.).

A. E. North (Nottingham): With no way to turn back welsher gets stuck in gate, is followed by copper and picked up (welsher; (wels)her in gate d; slew).

B. G. Quin (Whitley Bay): Here we have got wind of a setback to German aspiration involving the hydrogen bomb, perhaps (wind; HE in der Tag (rev.)).

W. K. M. Slimmings (Worcester Park): Learned to wind thread, for example, as clansmen did (wind; anag.).

Miss B. Smoker (SE23): Flitter about outside that place, meaning to be picked up (flitter; there in gad).

L. T. Stokes (Walsall): All set for the party to breeze along gaily when there is an intruder! (breeze; there in gad).

W. H. Thornton (Huddersfield): Take for example short thread, wind and knot, draw through and you’ve done it (wind; anag.).

RUNNERS-UP

F. D. H. Atkinson, Lt Col P. S. Baines, C. Allen Baker, T. E. Bell, C. O. Butcher, G. A. Cairns, L. P. Cook, J. McI. Cruickshank, S. H. Dallas, Mrs N. Dean, C. E. Gates, H. R. George, J. Gill, E. Gomersall, J. S. Hatton, E. L. Hayward, N. L. Hindley, N. Hope, C. H. Hudson, Dr T. O. Hughes, J. G. Hull, Mrs L. Jarman, A. Lawrie, H. Lyon, P. H. Morgan, P. K. Nandi, T. N. Nesbitt, F. E. Newlove, Miss M. J. Patrick, C. Quin, E. J. Rackham, Mrs D. A. Reid, Mrs J. Robertson, A. Robins, T. E. Sanders, Mrs E. Shackleton, E. B. Stevens, P. W. Thacker, A. D. Walker, W. Watts, J. F. N. Wedge.
 

COMMENTS:—378 entries, 343 correct. About 20 of the errors were “visto”: this could only result from a very loose reading of the clue. “… a TV is to flounder”: the letters of “visto” are there in their correct order, but there is no indication whatever of a hidden clue, and “a T” and “flounder” are left high and dry. That is no way in which to clue a word, whereas VISTA is indicated by an anagram—“a-TV-is to flounder,” i.e. to have the letters mixed. FRAMPOLD caused most of the other errors.
 
As to the clues sent in, there were many good efforts at a difficult type; but I must, alas, urge competitors to read the instructions. There were 30 or more clues with no definition of LEVANTER: this seems a sad waste of time. Worse still, there were two or three clues to LEVANTER! It is also wise, before composing a clue of a specialised kind, to observe the principles used in the clues of the puzzle. It is essential to this idea that the one-word definition incorporated should be a necessary part of the clue to the other word, not merely added extraneously, as it was in about 50 of the clues submitted. Examples:— “Absconder, it’s understood, yet made the grade.”—“Der Tag’s back! He’s in the thick of it! What a blow!” (No def. of “gathered” at all here, either!).—“One must make the grade somehow, even if one has collected a blow.”
 
Of the clues which got the idea all right, many failed through unsound definitions of LEVANTER. Oriental, storm, ower and better are all, I think, barely adequate, and the very common Israeli, Philistine, Palestinian, Turk, Greek, etc., are illogical. Levanter is a definition of Israeli, but the converse is not true unless one adds “perhaps,” “for example,” or something like that. Under these conditions—one-word definition—the addition couldn’t be made; so this type of definition was unfortunately of no use. To make the point clearer to senders of this type of definition, you wouldn’t accept Cornishman as a definition of Englishman, would you? A more extreme example from the entry than those quoted above was Goliath. This is like giving, say, Galahad as a definition of Englishman. One further point on soundness:—I didn’t pass “runaway” as an indication of an anagram: I don’t see how it can suggest mixture.
 
And now for my own unsound definition, discovered, alas, too late for alteration, and pointed out, to my amazement, by only one competitor! “Cleft” won’t do as a definition of “adhered”: it belongs only to the other sort of “cleave.” I offer my apologies, but it doesn’t seem to have worried you much!
 
One astute solver noticed that the “dummy” clue was identical with the one in the last competition puzzle of this type, No 490, when “raise” served as a definition of “weigh.” An interesting coincidence made this possible. Another coincidence that two or three solvers pointed out was the excellence of “ding-le” as an answer to 28 ac.: it might go in at 15 (slough) or 6 (hiding-place).
 
I am glad this type is enjoyed, and I hope that next time it forms the basis of a competition everyone will really get the idea. I don’t want to suggest that the clues chosen for mention are below standard—far from it; but they were chosen from a much smaller proportion of the whole entry than usual.