XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 149

DOMESTIC

1.  Cdr H. H. L. Dickson (Farnham): Capped many years ago, but can still make them break (cryptic def.; maid’s cap, cricket).

2.  G. Perry (Stoke-on-Trent): Poet’s last sentence—The unfinished verse is not for the public (dome (= doom, Spens.) + stic(h)).

3.  S. Goldie (S. Shields): Spending a lot of time at home messing about I’d met little Society (anag. incl. Soc.).

H.C.

E. S. Ainley (S. Harrow): Semi-D.T. with company, altogether so in private (anag. incl. Co.).

Mrs Caithness (Ambleside): Dr. Hill’s struck off: the times he goes round tipsy! Should do house-work (anag. in doc(tor)).

Rev B. Chapman (W1): Times are difficult for half-starved doctor without a servant (anag. in doc(tor)).

C. E. Gates (Kettering): Change of occupation for a comedist. (Any help in Chambers? Yes and no!) (anag.; comedist not in Chambers, d. is help in chambers).

S. B. Green (NW10): Tame mice … (anag.) (anag. of mice, dots).

W. Hose (Speldhurst): How good such husbands are! And yet most of their wives are looking for another one (cryptic def.).

C. B. Joyner (Ringwood): In the house on a division it comes to the verge of dissolution (d + anag.; ref. H. of Commons).

B. J. McCann (Manchester): Father is (as he often says) in charge in the home (Dom est (L.) + i/c; Benedictine F. uses Latin).

F. E. Newlove (SE9): In such a crisis this girl might prove “mistress of herself, though China fall”! (2 mngs.; ref. Pope, ‘To a Lady’).

W. B. O’Hanlon (Wembley): Engineers tie, D.S.O, M.C. General? Kitchener, maybe! (anag., 2 defs.; engineer, vb.).

Rev E. B. Peel (Fleetwood): It’s Médoc, mulled—a bliss now rare (anag.; ref. shortages, d. bliss).

R. Postill (Jersey): Help! Here’s the Cistercian prior half crazed with Benedictine (Dom + anag. of Ciste(rcian)).

H. Ingram Rees (Edgware): Typical product of the times:—cod à la maison (anag.; ref. rationing).

E. W. Richart (Thornton Heath): Confined to the house: MO’s edict after overhaul (anag.).

H. B. Ridley (Leigh-on-Sea): Does accommodating a thousand cramp the house-keeper’s style? (M in does + tic).

W. O. Robertson (Marlow): Private building has the citizens’ backing (dome + cits (rev.)).

A. Robins (Manchester): Private prescription is a waste of Doc.’s time (anag.; ref. NHS).

N. Roles (SW20): Cod? Times have changed! Char is now in demand (anag.).

H. T. R. Twyford (Sheffield): There’s an endless stop placed upon the building the house (dome + stic(k)).

COMMENTS—302 correct and a fair number of mistakes, the most frequent being “pods” for PADS and a wrong initial letter for FEED. Many people forgot that Alfred was not the only Tennyson and that Lionel was a cricketer; and a pro. is feed. There were a few enquiries about the connection between “brigades” and IAMB: the answer is that “brigades” is an iamb! (I said “for instance”). Then POLYPIER: I treated it in the subsidiary part of the clue as a sort of hybrid, etymologically-atrocious trade-name, meaning presumably several piers in one. Let no one think that I like such atrocities, but they are fashionable (cf. “Polyfoto”) and there was a straightforward definition as well.
 
No “lecture” this week beyond a hint against excessive length. My usual limit is about a line and a half of print, and if competitors are longer than that their clues have to be very good to be included among the awards. One or two of those submitted would have run a third line of print: something pretty staggering would be needed to justify this, I think. Some ideas do call for long treatment, but there are limits, though I believe in making them slightly elastic.
 
Last time’s winner was very popular: I hope you’ll like this one as it gave me a good laugh. For the first time since HECATOMB in June I was excluding clues this week from a biggish batch of possible H.C.s, instead of hunting several times through the runners-up batch for possible promotions; that is a good sign. I like to have an e. de r., as P. G. W. might put it. The consolation prizes look very open so far: only one 3 and about a dozen 2s with 4 competitions to go.
 
RUNNERS-UP—M. Abrahams, M. Anderson, S. G. Annis, C. A. Baker, H. Bernard, Rev L. Blackburn, M. L. Booker, G. Bowness, H. Chown, F. A. Clark, J. C. Clark, D. L. L. Clarke, F. L. Constable, P. M. Coombs, H. Ebden, A. Fenton, Mrs N. Fisher, J. A. Flood, W. E. Green (Beverley), C. D. Harding, F. H. W. Hawes, Brig Capt J. M. Heyes, H. C. Hills, G. G. Lawrance, R. W. Lerrigo, D. W. Lewis, T. W. Melluish, F. F. Mitchell, I. J. Nicholas, E. J. Rackham, B. Rowbotham, Mrs Sainsbury, E. O. Seymour, W. K. M. Slimmings, Mrs I. G. Smith, O. Carlton Smith, R. E. Speight, Miss D. W. Taylor, J. Walton, K. Whyld, J. T. Young, R. F. Zobel.