Ximenes Competition No. 279 Ximenes Slip | ◀ 277 | 281 ▶ | Other competitions
| No. | Date | Clue word | Clue type | Clues |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 279 | Apr 1954 | CRYPTOGRAM | normal | 17 |
| Award | Clue writer | Clue | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | H. G. Tattersall | A cell first; then go up before the beak for a sentence involving hard labour | crypt + go (rev.) + ram |
| Second | W. T. Meade-King | Say “Ah,” turn over, now your pulse. Very hard to diagnose | cry PTO gram2 |
| Third | J. A. Fincken | If you don’t read right into it, it won’t mean a blooming thing! | i.e. c. less r = cryptogam (flowerless plant), & lit. |
| HC | E. S. Ainley | Dark affair that you need a key to: proceed the wrong way and—mess-up | crypt + go mar (each rev.), & lit. |
| HC | C. Allen Baker | Letters for the Postmaster-General to carry may be sometimes almost indecipherable | anag. incl. PMG |
| HC | J. W. Bates | In which a cipher prevents the underground from coming to grief | 0 in crypt + gram3 & lit. |
| HC | T. E. Bell | Oratory ought commonly to pulse with a profound message | crypt + O (ought2) + gram2; oratory = place for prayer |
| HC | Mrs N. Fisher | There’s a clamour for a post mortem about some peculiar words arising in this puzzle | cry + argot (rev.) in pm |
| HC | E. G. Illingworth | Message concealed report quietly obtained about a type of jet | cry + p + got (rev.) + ram (see ramjet) |
| HC | W. K. M. Slimmings | There’s a rumour—keep it quiet!—Fonteyn’s to appear in Worm’s Eye View. Bentley might tell what’s behind it | cry + p + Margot (rev.); R.A.F. Bentley’s codes; ref. film & play “W. E. V.” and Muriel Bentley, U.S. ballet dancer |
| HC | J. C. W. Springbett | A feature of the Personal Column, “Meeting place below church love returned Marg” | crypt O + Marg (rev.) |
| HC | J. B. Sykes | Ordering P.M.G. to carry this kind of message isn’t always possible—or is it? | anag. |
| HC | J. Thompson | There’s obscure writing, rumour and talk of a doubtful nature about Churchill going round | cry + argot (rev.) in PM; ref. rumours following C.’s stroke in 1953 |
| HC | Miss D. M. Thorne | The wail of a baby having got upside down in its carriage is unintelligible (except to its parent?). | cry + got (rev.) in pram |
| HC | H. S. Tribe | Weep, turn over a new leaf, and end trouble—that’s the message of a good hiding | cry PTO gram3 |
| HC | F. L. Usher | There’s some hidden meaning in this stuff about Egypt being short of capital and/or cracking up | anag. of (E)gypt or in cram; ref. E.’s post-war economic instability |
| HC | C. P. Wroth | It’s hard to understand the child’s yell before it had got upside down in the carriage | cry + got (rev.) in pram |
Runners-Up in competition 279: