XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 60

HEEL

1.  H. C. Hills (West Drayton): Supply dollars in the eleventh hour? Just the spur we need! (2 defs., hidden).

2.  E. H. Evans (Newport): Must we come to this—for U.S. to provide cash as a spur? (come to heel, 2 defs.).

3.  R. C. Reeves (Huddersfield): Lean as a rake (2 mngs.; rake = cad = heel).

H.C.

D. Ashcroft (Fleetwood): Foot the bill and tip (2 mngs.).

C. Barker (Ashtead Park): Variation on c. Turner (small C: w.-heel [ref. to Theme and Variations in grid, not explained]).

E. A. C. Bennett (SE21): Knave! Get to the back of the pack (2 mngs., rugby).

P. E. Bugge (S. Shields): Pack backs to backs when so ordered (rugby).

F. A. Clark (Croydon): Secret list of the Elect (hidden).

R. A. W. Cohen (W1): Frequently the sole survivor (ref. predominant wear in shoes).

L. E. Eyres (York): Where does gin catch the wicked? In the elbow (Job 18:9 and hidden).

Miss J. Fraser (EC4): Recovered at last, after wearing indisposition (cryptic def.; shoemaker’s last).

B. J. Hazzard (Birkenhead): Greek warrior’s soft spot for a cad—his sole companion in the Elysian Fields (3 mngs., hidden; ref. Achilles’ heel).

W. A. Jesper (Paisley): Incline—by which many a woman has risen (2 mngs; ref. high heels).

A. S. King (Gravesend): Take heed! The last is ten times too big for the foot (L for D in heed).

D. G. C. Mockridge (Oxford): It may be turned on, but this tap is not for drinking (turn on one’s heel, heel-tap).

E. H. Morris (Fleetwood): The Navy List (cryptic def.).

F. E. Newlove (SE9): Make an ink-lined ’plane? No ink! Then make an inclined plane (He(ink)el).

Rev P. H. Opperman (Newton-on-Trent): Keep close behind; keep your head or it may slip away (heel losing head = eel).

W. O. Robertson (Marlow): The tilt of the elbow (hidden).

A. Robins (Mundesley): “The Rage of Paris” (Paramount) scored a hit here, despite that elusive 75 per cent! (Achilles’ heel, (h)eel; ref. film tax and 1938 film ‘The R. of P.’).

P. H. Taylor (Bromley): Navy-list in the Elizabethan era (hidden).

Comments—199 correct—and another big batch of disasters! Three words caused nearly all the trouble:—
 
(1) REREADS (after “ploughing” an exam.). REREAPS, besides being a questionable word, unknown to Chambers, does not fit the clue. If one sets to work again after literally ploughing, what does one do? Plough somewhere else, perhaps: sow, perhaps: reap, one hopes, ultimately: but does one re-reap? Even if it is possible, it would make the clue—I hope!—too bad to be true.
 
(2) HEEL/CHEEP. There is no sort of excuse for HEAL/CHEAP. By a coincidence “To follow well” does make a rather bad clue to HEAL (via illness—heal—well, to follow). But the asterisked clue is always a definition, and, further, the preface announced that an exclamation mark involved a pun. East-cheap involves none; CHEEP must, therefore, be right.
 
(3) PAUSE (Southpaws—left-handers—boxing slang). S. isn’t in Chambers, but a reference to it was legitimate, in view of the help given for that very reason. PAU-E, surely, admits only one possibility, apart from proper names. The preface pointed out that apart from one proper name (which was UMBRIA) the “variations” were all words given by Chambers. It is true that Umbria is mentioned (s.v. Umbrian) in C., but that should hardly have caused a misunderstanding.
 
The common factor of Ehud and Woolley is not hard to discover—left-handedness. What have they to do with the South Pole? Or Southport? Port—left side of ship? But that refers to port by itself, not to the whole word Southport, even If the pronunciation of the River Paute in Ecuador would justify the pun. (No, Westphalia is not just as bad!). Finally, even if Southpaws are unfamiliar, at least paws are hands!
 
One alternative—CUT for COT at 8 ac.—was accepted as legitimate, but only two solutions were affected. To those who were deceived—better luck next time!