XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 193

TRADUCER

1.  E. J. Rackham (Totton): As far as things brought up again, with embellishment, are concerned, you can back him! (re, cud, art (all rev.) & lit.).

2.  F. E. Newlove (SE9): With trade curtailed, producer loses incentive: without good-will, his business is depreciating (trad(e) + (prod)ucer).

3.  C. A. Baker (Wishaw): One who gives a dog a bad name could himself be rated “Cur” (anag.).

H.C.

S. B. Green (NW10): “Poison-pen,” perhaps, whose letters disturb the curate and the doctor (anag. of curate, Dr.).

L. Johnson (N. Harrow): Ill-disposed censor mangles the ruder act (anag.).

J. Hardie Keir (Galashiels): A crude tar derivative for the fabricator of dark stains (anag.).

P. W. W. Leach (Fareham): Traffic negotiator, intercepted by copper’s reverse sign, uses some vile language! (Cu (rev.) in trader).

C. J. Lowe (Manchester): His portraits are smeared distortions—crude art run riot (anag.).

D. P. M. Michael (Whitchurch): Credatur should be translated literally, but let him not be believed! (anag.; C. (Latin) = belief).

R. Postill (Jersey): I see that you’re run down, the Dr. confided to the ailing curate (anag. of curate, Dr.).

H. Rainger (SW6): No H.C. for my victim. Runner up? On the contrary. It’s the dictator in me (cryptic def., i.e. runner down; contains (Il) Duce).

A. Robins (Manchester): His perverted skill may be applied to composition of crude letters (art (rev.) + anag., & lit.).

P. H. Taylor (Stratford-on-Avon): His misguided art is connected with crude misrepresentation (art (rev.) + anag. & lit.).

I. Young (NW3): He’s unappreciative of the Frenchman’s entering a horse that might make light of the course (du (Fr.) in tracer; see tracer (trace²) and tracer bullet).

RUNNERS-UP

J. W. Bates, T. Bilsborough, A. J. Bisset, C. M. Brown, Rev B. Chapman, D. L. L. Clarke, R. M. S. Cork, G. N. Coulter, Cdr H. H. L. Dickson, J. H. Dingwall, P. A. Drillien, W. M. Easther, B. Franco, Mrs J. O. Fuller, D. J. Furley, C. E. Gates, H. J. Godwin, S. Goldie, Rev J. G. Graham, R. J. Hall, A. R. M. Hooper, W. Islip, Miss M. H. H. Johnston, J. P. Lloyd, R. Lumley, T. W. Melluish, C. J. Morse, M. Newman, W. B. O’Hanlon, F. R. Palmer, M. G. Powell-Davies, C. P. Rea, N. J. Reed, Mrs J. Robertson, H. Rotter, T. E. Sanders, L. J. Sears, F. N. Shimmin, W. K. M. Slimmings, Mrs A. L. Stevenson, C. A. Stewart, H. G. Tattersall, Mrs C. Taylor, J. Thomas, J. F. N. Wedge, W. D. Wigley, M. Winterbottom.
 

COMMENTS—260 correct in a fairly large entry and almost as many mistakes as in No. 191. FOOD was the main trouble (as it so often is!). A heap of solvers jumped at “feod,” which, as far as I can see, fits no part of the clue. It appears from Chambers’s to be another form of “feud” = “fief”—nothing to do with a quarrel; nor can I make out how “one used to get fed up with” it. FOOD, on the other hand, is given as a Spenserian form of “feud” = “war, strife,” and surely one doesn’t “get fed up with” it nowadays: hence “used to.” I’m afraid I have less sympathy than I had with the “stirrers.” I supposed people leapt to the conclusion that with my usual villainy I must have meant the unheard of word: that is a very risky leap! This accounted for about 60% of the errors: the rest were freely scattered.
 
I had no difficulty in choosing the three excellent prizewinners, but after picking a very few H.C.s I was faced with a mass of almost equal ones, mostly sound but rather uninspired anagrams. I put in as many as I could, until even one more would have meant about 20 more!
 
The half-yearly details follow. It is worth noting that entries have as a whole been bigger than usual in this period, that the number of those who have at some time won either a prize or an H.C. has now reached 887, and that of the 18 names that appeared in the last “Honours List” only 4 are among the 14 names in this one.
 
CONSOLATION PRIZES—J. A. Blair, L. Johnson, G. G. Lawrance, W. K. M. Slimmings, (5 H.C.s): T. W. Melluish and E. R. Prentice came next with 4, and 13 solvers had 3.
 
HONOURS LIST—C. A. Baker (3 prizes, 4 H.C.s): S. B. Green (2-5): F. E. Newlove (2-4): D. J. Furley, E. J. Rackham (2-3) bracketed with R. Postill (1-5): C. J. Morse (2-2): J. W. Bates (2-1) bracketed with E. S. Ainley (1-3): Mrs N. Fisher, R. J. Hall, T. E. Sanders, Mrs E. M. Simmonds and M. Woolf (1-2).