Ximenes Competition No. 500 Ximenes Slip | ◀ 495 | 504 ▶ | Other competitions
| No. | Date | Clue word | Clue type | Clues |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 500 | Aug 1958 | MOTHERS-IN-LAW | normal | 23 |
| Award | Clue writer | Clue | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|
| First | R. H. Ashworth | Conjugal relations suffer when it’s moral to be remarried | anag.; suffer = allow, marry = unite |
| Second | L. T. Stokes | While matrons must conform to the New Look, they are reputed to favour long stays! | anag. |
| Third | Cdr H. H. L. Dickson | They become ours automatically when we marry; what’s more, most of the linen comes from them | anag. of what’s more lin(en), & lit. |
| HC | Mrs P. L. Baynton | These old battle-axes may be discovered in an array of arms in the low | anag.; low3 = tumulus |
| HC | F. J. Clark | A smile thrown carelessly can make more than one husband’s life a relative misery! | anag. |
| HC | R. M. S. Cork | When it comes to morals and quarrels, we traditionally give advice | anag. of when it morals (indicated by ‘quarrels’), & lit. |
| HC | F. E. Dixon | They like to visit Maternity Hospitals and deal successfully with almoners | anag. & lit.; deal = distribute |
| HC | E. G. Durham | How tram-lines, improperly laid, can undermine transport and lead to parting of ways | anag.; transport = emotion |
| HC | T. E. Faber | After you’ve got married you’ll need rest in order to consummate it. So don’t take one of these on the honeymoon! | m. + others in law |
| HC | J. A. Fincken | You can’t get him to snarl properly? We’ll help! | anag. of him to snarl we, & lit |
| HC | Rev D. Ford | When legal considerations apply, widowers can’t marry them: when moral, it’s otherwise—or is it? | anag. |
| HC | F. G. Illingworth | Set up by a previous contract in hearts, they call too often and spoil their own slam | anag. |
| HC | A. H. Jones | There are witty sayings about the lady by the score: they bore our better halves! | her in mots + in + law; law2 = score |
| HC | D. Jones | Gruelling race, say grooms, especially when they make the home stretch—enough to make horseman wilt | anag. |
| HC | R. Levens | What are untidy menials worth? A trial in the home? a laugh in the theatre? | anag. |
| HC | C. H. Macmillan | Mortals whine pitifully, but the gods laugh at them | anag.; i.e. gods in theatre |
| HC | S. Maunder | You can get extra marital relations from Harlot Mews, N.1. | anag. incl. I |
| HC | F. E. Morgan | A pithy phrase and an expression of surprise about woman’s depravity are part of a low comedian’s stock-in-trade | her sin in mot + law5 |
| HC | P. H. Morgan | You’ll get us as extra after you’ve got married, and you’ll have the Devil’s own job to stick to all our rules! | m. other sin law, & lit. |
| HC | C. J. Morse | They irritate husbands and bore their wives (or vice versa) | cryptic def.; bore = gave birth to |
| HC | R. Postill | How can you describe them? Moralist when adapted offers “Dams with faint praise”! | anag., 2 defs.; ref. A. Pope, ‘Epistle to Dr Arbuthnot’ |
| HC | Miss Telfer | Matrons, while in an interesting condition, do not embarrass bachelors | anag. |
| HC | J. B. Widdowson | Makes horseman wilt and grooms shudder, the way the chestnut goes! | anag.; chestnut = stale joke |
Runners-Up in competition 500: