XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 1028

SATIRE

1.  A. Lawrie: Are its cries for reform? Yes (anag. & lit.).

2.  P. W. W. Leach: Stuff with a hard, cutting element in it (Ir in sate, & lit.; iridium).

3.  Sir W. Slimmings: In short, it is set against what may be inflated (SA tire, & lit.).

V.H.C.

J. C. Barnes: The output of TW3 caused anger at the week-end (Sat ire; ref. TV show ‘That Was The Week That Was’).

Mrs E. J. Holmes: It’s getting a full broadside that exposes weaknesses (SA tire⁵).

A. L. Jeffery: It ridicules feminine charm and apparel (SA tire³).

J. H. C. Leach: I tear society to bits (anag. incl. S & lit.).

A. D. Legge: Pointed wit that has one in tears, convulsed (I in anag.).

J. H. McLean: E.g. TWTWTW—all the rage on Saturday (Sat ire; ref. TV show ‘That Was The Week That Was’).

J. P. Mernagh: TWTWTW used to be the week-end rage (Sat ire; ref. TV show ‘That Was The Week That Was’).

J. L. Moss: Save obsolete old train? Sarcastic comments called for (sa’ tire⁴).

K. Neale: Turbulent priest losing head about a typical utterance by Pope (a in anag. less p).

F. E. Newlove: Are its crazy excesses aiming at the ridiculous? (anag.).

L. T. Stokes: The effect of it can be to put one in uncontrolled tears (I in anag.).

F. B. Stubbs: It needs to clothe criticism with wit (SA tire³).

J. B. Sweeting: Gilbert’s writing it—Pinafore for the U.S. market (SA tire³; W. S. Gilbert).

E. F. Watling: This type of programme may understandably produce anger at the week-end (Sat ire).

Dr E. Young: What TW3 created when it was on—a lot of hard feeling (Sat ire; ref. TV show ‘That Was The Week That Was’).

H.C.

Mrs E. Allen, F. D. H. Atkinson, C. Allen Baker, J. W. Bates, Mrs H. M. Brooke, Rev C. M. Broun, E. Chalkley, P. M. Coombs, A. E. Crow, R. P. C. Forman, A. B. Gardner, J. Gill, W. E. Green, Mrs S. Hewitt, J. G. Hull, R. H. F. Isham, Sir S. Kaye, R. E. Kimmons, Mrs B. Lewis, G. A. Linsley, J. L. Mackie, Mrs S. M. Macpherson, Mrs E. McFee, W. L. Miron, P. H. Morgan, S. L. Paton, R. Postill, T. Proctor, W. Rodgers, Mrs I. G. Smith, T. A. J. Spencer, J. R. Stocks, K. Tite, J. Webster, Rev C. D. Westbrook, G. H. Willett.
 

COMMENTS:—About 320 entries, not many mistakes, mostly over the first letter of GOETIC—I hope the note made this clear. I can’t be sure whether the rather small entry was due to the difficulty of the puzzle or the vagaries of the G.P.O.; certainly several familiar names were missing from the entry, and early arrivals were very few—only 60 odd by Friday. It would appear highly advisable to post early.
 
I’m very sorry about HAVERSINE, which several competitors said they couldn’t find. The explanation is simple, though disturbing. Last March, when the dictionary I was using (1959 impression, I think—the relevant page is lost) was falling to pieces, I changed to my present one, which I already had (1962 impression). This does contain HAVERSINE on p. 484, not in the Suppt. I didn’t realise that new words had been included in the main body of the text. This trouble hasn’t arisen before in seven months, so I don’t think there can be many such words; I will try to prevent a recurrence by verifying odd-looking words, but I can’t absolutely guarantee this: I hope I shall succeed. For the benefit of those interested, HAVERSINE is defined as “half the versine”.
 
Some clues, many of which appealed to me personally, were ruled out of the prize and V.H.C. lists for demanding what I considered too advanced a knowledge of Latin, e.g. sat (truncated form of satis) = enough. This is, of course, familiar to classics, but I never use references to Latin unless it is very elementary. Then I cannot allow that “satyr” sounds like “satire”; nor does C. There were also some more unsoundly indicated anagrams; for instance, “are its ingredients” does not mean “the ingredients of ‘are its’,” nor does “1s rate letters” mean “the letters of 1s rate”. I have often referred to this -unsound—habit- of -putting a noun like “mixture” next to an anagram and assuming that it means “mixed”. By far the most attractive clue submitted was Mr. Postill’s. but I reluctantly decided that it was too hard, especially with its deletion of an essential comma. He wrote: “‘I should like a polished razor …’ said Lady Mary, doing in father”. He refers to “Satire should, like a polished razor keen, wound with a touch that’s scarcely felt or seen”—Lady Mary Wortley Montagu—and also “at” (what are you at?) in “sire”. The subsidiary part is fair enough, but the quotation and authoress are surely too little known to be helpful—I don’t like too much dependence on a Dictionary of Quotations; and there is that comma, completely altering the sense. It’s a pity, for the clue is most ingenious and amusing; but I think most of you (except for the author?) will agree with me.