XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 197

SCALES

1.  F. B. Stubbs (Marple): Attached to skates, they help to give you balance (2 mngs.; fish scales).

2.  Mrs F. Begg (Aberdeen): Our weight goes up and down, but we keep firm in a belt (2 mngs.; zodiac belt).

3.  Miss R. L. Saw (Carshalton): Climbs on the piano and scrapes the ivories (2 mngs.; music, dentist).

H.C.

D. B. J. Ambler (Bristol): A major’s one of several giving Staff College drinking parties (SC ales; mus. scale of A Major).

T. E. Bell (Gainsborough): Bad luck about young Albert! That’s what comes of being next door but one to the lion house! (Al in anag. of cess; Libra relative to Leo in zodiac; ref. Stanley Holloway’s ‘Albert and the Lion’).

Rev B. Chapman (W1): Film-stars, showing frilly lace amidships! (anag. in SS; 2 defs.; constellation Libra).

W. J. Duffin (Hull): Balance is an essential part of snakes and ladders (3 mngs.).

P. G. W. Glare (Oxford): Rules covering Snakes and Ladders (3 mngs.).

J. A. Maxtone Graham (Crieff): We go from one do to another, having a little Scotch and several beers (Sc(otch) + ales; do = keynote).

A. F. Lerrigo (Pinner): One of the signs that will show when you are putting on too much weight (2 mngs.).

N. W. G. Lloyd (Swindon): Some overbalance, and when they fall—what a sight! (2 mngs.; ref. Acts 9.18).

T. W. Melluish (SE24): Mixed class in French for graduates (anag. of classe (Fr.)).

C. J. Morse (Norwich): One of the Company of Twelve, an all-star group, climbs ladders, balancing dishes and plates (6 mngs.).

E. G. Phillips (Bangor): It’s a sign of the beginning of the Autumn Sales when there’s a bit of a crush inside (c in sales; sign of Libra).

H. Rainger (SW6): Just what slimmers need. Removes unwanted layers, reduces all parts to correct proportions (3 mngs.).

C. P. Rea (E11): Class E destroyers at least afford some protection at sea (anag.; some, pronoun).

W. H. Victory (Newport): When they drop, we see the fishy side (2 mngs.; ref. Acts 9.18).

M. Woolf (Wembley): With a little schooling you can make a performing seal balance dishes (sc(hooling) + anag.).

RUNNERS-UP

J. W. Bates, T. Bilsborough, Mrs Boys, E. T. Caddy, F. A. Clark, D. L. Clements, G. N. Coulter, Cdr H. H. L. Dickson, J. A. Fincken, M. B. Fisher, Mrs N. Fisher, T. E. Girdlestone, S. Goldie, R. R. Greenfield, R. J. Hall, K. J. Harding, J. G. Hull, F. G. Illingworth, L. W. Jenkinson, R. E. Kimmons, G. G. Lawrance, J. P. Lloyd, H. Lyon, N. McMillan, A. D. Mitchner, F. E. Newlove, M. Newman, J. W. Parr, Rev E. B. Peel, R. Postill, E. R. Prentice, Maj J. N. Purdon, A. Redstone, A. Rivlin, A. Robins, T. E. Sanders, W. K. M. Slimmings, L. R. Smith, O. Carlton Smith, J. A. L. Sturrock, Mrs H. Tattersall, Miss D. W. Taylor, H. S. Tribe, E. B. Uvarov, W. G. Webb, B. W. Webster, R. Wells, G. H. Willett.
 

COMMENTS—338 correct in a very accurate entry—no common mistake. A simple word like this lends itself best to a straightish clue with a misleading twist: Some competitors tended to over-complicate matters and to try to get too much in. Mr Morse was the most successful of these: his clue is very neat, but I think I should like it better still with a feature or two omitted. Mr Bell’s indirect anag. of “cess” is a little questionable, but it is too good otherwise to be passed over: I should like Mr Woolf’s excellent clue better with “bit of” instead of “little.” “Snakes and Ladders” was a popular idea, but it presented syntactical difficulties which several users failed to surmount. I was glad to read that the two “Lady’s not for Burning” clues gave pleasure, as they started me off on this puzzle. Osea and Sirohi were examples of the efficacy of an explicit secondary clue to a rare proper name: several people had never heard of them and couldn’t trace them, but hardly anyone got either wrong. There were, I think, a good many new competitors: a welcome to them!