XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 108

HACKNEY

1.  P. Irving (Edinburgh): Gee! Wouldn’t one have to cut without Marshal(l) Aid! (i.e. hack(Ney); ref. Marshal N. and US post-war aid [see comments]).

2.  P. M. Newey (Reading): Overburdened public nag “Kick out muddled Health Minister!” (hack + anag. of Nye (Bevan)).

3.  D. L. Tuckett: Fancy a drudge going to New York wanting work when it can be found in London! (hack + Ne(w) Y(ork)).

H.C.

E. S. Ainley (S. Harrow): G.P.—Gee, what a kick I get over Bevan’s discomfiture! (hack + anag. of Nye (Bevan); GP = General-Purpose).

L. E. Eyres (Bath): It’s sometimes wicked to use too much (2 mngs.; H. Wick).

C. E. Gates (Kettering): Where a wryneck may be seen in a hedge within 3 miles of St. Paul’s (i.e. anag. of neck in hay²).

H. C. Hills (W. Drayton): We may get the old man to work when we’ve used up Marshal aid! (hack + (Marshal) Ney; ref. US post-war aid; hack = used up).

G. A. Hornsby (Guisborough): This horse is trotted out on all occasions (2 mngs.).

Maj R. P. C. Mutter (Kenton): Kind of horse disease treated at the London Skin ’Ospital, E.8? (‘acne’; postal district of H.).

F. E. Newlove (SE9): It’s a cut above the east end of Stepney, anyhow! (hack + (Step)ney).

A. C. Norfolk (Ely): Wryneck found in a hedge near Bethnal Green (i.e. anag. of neck in hay²).

W. B. O’Hanlon (Wembley): The poor old hired man got a cricked neck before haymaking was finished (anag. of neck in hay).

T. E. Sanders (Walsall): In London’s a wicked place for a horse (2 mngs.; H. Wick).

Miss D. W. Taylor (Sidcup): Pronounced acne, in itself, is not at all uncommon (cryptic def.; ‘common’ pron. of H.).

J. Thomas (Bangor): Once possibly a Growler, now actually a Barker (2 mngs.; growler = cab; ref. actress Pearl H. married to actor Eric Barker).

L. E. Thomas (Bangor): Mode of transport used up north to journey’s end (hack + (jour)ney).

Capt C. Tyers (Elstead): In a country dance a dislocated neck is quite common (anag. in hay⁴).

H. D. Wakely (NW3): G.G.E.8 (2 mngs.; gee-gee, postal district of H.).

L. D. Wakely (SW19): Part of London in which a chop is produced by Marshal aid (hack + (Marshal) Ney; ref. US post-war aid).

COMMENTS.—207 correct: a moderate number of errors. CHE, first part of Chevy Chase, in which che sarà sarà (“what will be will be”) does not occur, seems to have foxed several wolves! One seasoned solver complained of a long search in Isaiah for SHOUT YE: he should have trusted the labour-saving anag.! Peep-bo’s connection with her variations was elusive, but there can’t be very many words with PB next to one another: some also failed to see their eye, nose and ear!
 
It was again gratifying to be asked for an encore, which shall come in due course. My policy is to space out various types of “stunt,” lest any should become 1 dn.ed! Some solvers ask for more “stunts,” but I know there are many who prefer “plains,” especially among the more casual solvers who don’t send in clues. For the sake of this majority I intend to make the proportion slightly lower than the present 1 in 4 when, if ever (!), enough paper is released to allow the promised weekly X.: July was disappointing.
 
Winning clue:—Very good, but I should prefer it without the (l).
 
Note on “wicked” in two H.C. clues:—I couldn’t resist this idea, but I don’t quite approve. My own principle, about capitals is this: any writer may, if he likes, give a capital to a word which need not have one; e.g., he may say “hunting” or “Hunting “; but he may not say “england”—or “Hackney wick”! Clue-writers, therefore, may occasionally use redundant capitals, but they should not drop correct ones without a hint. (The beginning of a sentence is sometimes a help.)
 
“G.P.” in Mr. Ainley’s clue:—R.A.F. abbr., I believe, not in Chambers: clue too good otherwise for this to be decisive against it.
 
Runners-up—C. Allen Baker, Rev L. Blackburn, F. A. Clark, F. L. Constable, J. H. Dingwall, J. F. Dow, Maj H. B. Drake, T. H. East, T. E. Faber, Maj A. H. Giles, R. McD. Graham, S. B. Green, D. L. Gregory, S. Holgate, J. R. Homa, Mrs L. Jarman, A. F. Lerrigo, Mrs B. A. Mallett, C. J. Morse, J. T. Naden, J. D. P. O’Leary, Miss E. Pritchard, H. Rainger, H. R. Reade, J. S. W. Reid, D. C. Shute, R. E. Stephens, W. C. Tame, M. F. Thorogood, H. S. Tribe, J. F. N. Wedge.