XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 660

RUBBER (Misprints)

1.  R. N. Chignell (N. Cheam): The aches may come back after another of these; you need a masseur (ashes; 2 mngs.).

2.  R. E. Scraton (Hayes): Misprints defeat me: I’m no longer a match for howlers! (bowlers; 2 mngs.; r. can’t correct printing errors).

3.  B. Burton (Stockport): One who feels regret, apparently, about Paris’s favourite in contest for best of three dames (games; BB in ruer; Brigitte Bardot).

H.C.

D. B. J. Ambler (Kew): Fraser, needing two games to win, may easily be extended (eraser; 3 mngs.; ref. Neale F., tennis).

F. D. H. Atkinson (Claygate): Difficulty the western part of Berlin is up against: it’s a gate East and West are trying to secure (game; rub Ber(lin); ref. bridge and building of B. Wall).

Capt A. S. Birt (Twickenham): A number of dames take upper crust books—“The Queen”, for instance (games; r U bb ER).

P. R. Clemow (W5): I clean the blackboard and give a kind of free period for card games (tree; 3 mngs.).

T. N. Dowse (Cardiff): The best of serves eliminates faults (series; 2 mngs.).

A. B. Gardner (Haslemere): A little waist, perhaps, is what you need to demonstrate a two-way stretch (whist; 2 mngs.).

J. M. Hendrie (SW2): Bottle’s nightly enjoyment will remove unwanted lines (Battle; 2 mngs.; ref. Charles Lamb, ‘Mrs Battle’s opinions on Whist’).

V. Jennings (Reading): Needed for a wife—a number of hands! (wipe; 2 mngs.).

L. Johnson (Tunbridge Wells): Play about sink, with left tendency, gives message (massage; ebb (rev.) in RUR; ref. Capek play).

F. E. Newlove (SE9): Closing gate vital to both sides is cause of friction with W. Berlin (game; rub Ber(lin); ref. B. Wall).

R. Postill (Jersey): One difficulty with West Berlin is the stiff fine for taking marks out (stuff; rub Ber(lin)).

Rev E. G. Riley (Manchester): American overshot target set at bridge (overshoe; 2 mngs.).

A. Robins (Manchester): Buick with soft texture tyres will demonstrate its versatility (brick; 2 mngs.).

T. E. Sanders (Walsall): Move to exert pressure against Western sector of Berlin. Something needed to help stop a war (car (i.e. brake); rub Ber(lin); ref. B. Wall).

Miss D. W. Taylor (Worthing): Winning at cards puts the spring in your footfall (football; 2 mngs.).

A. D. Walker (Gt. Shelford): Portion of game like old fowls that’s tough and chewy (bowls; 2 mngs.).

J. F. N. Wedge (Carshalton): Fraser Eliminates Mark—Might Stop Laver? (eraser; 3 mngs.; wash-basin stopper; ref. Wimbledon: Neale Fraser, Bob Mark, Rod Laver).

Cdr D. P. Willan (Alverstoke): Fraser, the exponent of a polished performance, winning the best of three (eraser; 3 mngs.; ref. Neale F., tennis).

RUNNERS-UP

T. E. Bell, Rev C. M. Broun, C. O. Butcher, R. M. S. Cork, J. H. Dingwall, H. W. Flewett, A. C. Gardner, C. E. Gates, E. Gomersall, R. R. Greenfield, R. W. Hawes, J. G. Hull, Dr T. J. R. Maguire, L. F. Marzillier, D. P. M. Michael, C. J. Morse, M. Newman, S. L. Paton, Miss M. J. Patrick, E. G. Phillips, M. G. Powell-Davies, W. K. M. Slimmings, L. T. Stokes, F. B. Stubbs, J. B. Sweeting, K. Thomas, J. Thompson, Mrs A. F. Tutton.
 

COMMENTS:—The smallest entry since Nov. 1957: 192, with 173 correct solutions. This type is certainly tough, a struggle for connoisseurs, and I agree that this one was probably tougher than the last. I expect it was quite as hard as the Nov. 1957 one, though nearly twice as many people solved it—that reflects the steady advance in solving skill.
 
Now that I have written this, it may seem ironical for me to tell you that more clues were ruled out for being too hard than for any other reason! But it was so: they were, many of them, a lot harder than mine. Very great ingenuity was shown, and the list of H.C.s is a long one for so small an entry. An important point which relegated some ingenious clues to R.U.s, or even excluded them, is that when a solution has been reached it must be clear beyond all doubt that there is or isn’t a misprint in the clue: I have gone carefully through my clues again to make sure that I have practised what I preach, and I think I have. A few examples will show what I mean:—“The best of three, or five, perhaps” (file). “Lost, in vicinity of Gasworks, on 22nd. ult.” (ule). Both of these are good clues to RUBBER as they are: the misprint merely gives another twist to them. This is clearly unfair to the solver. One or two others were more controversial, but I couldn’t quite pass them, e.g. “A spell of hard-playing…” (card). A rubber can be, and often is, a hard struggle: the hyphen is a help to the solver, but it also detracts from the naturalness of the misprinted form. “… one who never gives up trying …” (prying). To rub and to try are both to irritate. “Rough patch made by bowler’s run...” (rub). It could be so made: “rub” adds a new point, and a satisfying one; but the solver might well be content with the definition as it was, even though he might feel there should be a “perhaps” or a question-mark; at least, he might certainly be left in two minds about it, and I don’t think he should be, through no real fault of his own. It was a pity, because several of the clues of this kind were otherwise excellent.
 
Many thanks for appreciative comments, a lot of them from solvers who found the puzzle hard and enjoy a struggle. But I agree with those who suggest that once a year is often enough, though perhaps a few not too difficult misprint clues in the Christmas hotch-potch are not out of place.