XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 203

WEATHERS

1.  D. Jones: They teach poor Britons the rudiments of Earth’s violence to our kind. (WEA + the Rs, we + anag., & lit.; Workers’ Educational Assoc.).

2.  J. F. N. Wedge: Where’s Attlee’s lead? It’s taken a buffeting—but survives! (anag. incl. At(tlee); ref. Labour’s slender Commons majority).

3.  R. J. Hall: Gets through sound, although involved in a rough sea (anag. of ‘threw’, sea, & lit.).

H.C.

C. A. Baker: We have the wet share! (anag. & lit.).

J. W. Bates: Decays outside—the inside lasts (the in wears).

R. J. Bowen: These raw unsettled seasons (anag.).

R. N. Chignell: Altered hats were features of the season (anag.).

Mrs N. Fisher: Displays hardiness about the raw S.E. winds (the in anag.).

C. E. Gates: Breasts in which we must anticipate broken hearts (we + anag.; breast vb.).

T. O. Hughes: Corrodes the inside? No, the outside! (the in wears).

J. G. Hull: Holds out against these raw winds (anag.).

E. G. Illingworth: Seasons the uncouth swear about (the in anag.).

G. Innes: Here you’ll find these raw (anag. & lit.).

Mrs L. Jarman: English grouse—we must have these raw! (anag.).

L. W. Jenkinson: A shifty waster, he changes colour when exposed (anag.).

D. P. M. Michael: Swear horribly about the above conditions (anag.).

C. J. Morse: The sound of rams goes to the heart of the ewe at her silly seasons (‘wethers’, hidden).

Miss O. B. Parks: Braves get the top of their headdress wrong (change first letter of feathers).

Rev E. B. Peel: Stands up to eat in The Taming of the Shrew (eat in anag.).

T. H. Poole: Gets to windward of a container of hare stew (anag.).

Maj J. N. Purdon: Gets discoloured from exposure, so the inside is worn outside (the in wears).

H. Rainger: We get an unfair wet share of them (anag. & lit.).

A. Rivlin: We get a wet share of these (anag. & lit.).

D. J. Skipper: The inside lasts, and so does the outside (the in wears).

T. H. Walsh: We certainly get our wet share of them here (anag. & lit.).

R. F. Zobel: These raw elements! (anag. & lit.).

RUNNERS-UP (1)

E. S. Ainley, T. Bilsborough, P. Bracelin, J. C. Brooke, V. E. Brooke, Miss K. G. Clark, J. Coleby, Cdr H. H. L. Dickson, Dr J. M. B. Donaldson, Mrs E. M. Fearon, C. K. Foster, A. L. Freeman, V. L. Harrison, A. F. Lerrigo, R. Leslie, C. J. Lowe, T. W. Melluish, J. Miller, A. D. Mitchner, F. E. Newlove, E. G. Phillips, R. Postill, E. R. Prentice, C. P. Rea, Mrs M. Robinson, H. Rotter, L. M. Row, T. E. Sanders, J. C. Shaw, F. Smith, L. E. Thomas, J. Valely, W. H. Victory, E. Wagstaff, H. D. Wakely, M. Woolf, A. J. Young

RUNNERS-UP (2)

J. A. Blair, F. H. Bond, D. H. Bridges, Rev B. Chapman, B. G. H. Clegg, F. Cropper, Mrs D. M. D’Eath, W. M. Easther, W. Eite, T. W. Finnett, R. N. Flaygarth, Mrs D. Fuller, Mrs J. O. Fuller, C. P. Grant, Surg Capt J. M. Hayes, P. Holtby, R. P. Irving, F. W. Ives, A. L. Jeffery, H. W. Jenkins, L. Johnson, H. Joyce, Mrs D. M. Kissen, J. P. Lloyd, T. A. Martin, E. L. Mellersh, G. M. Mercer, J. G. Milner, A. P. O’Leary, J. W. Parr, E. W. Richart, H. B. Ridley, F. Sams, W. K. M. Slimmings, R. Smith, Miss R. E. Speight, W. Steinberg, E. B. Stevens, J. Thomas, E. W. Tulloch, G. F. W. Turner, Capt C. Tyers, H. Washam, R. Wells, W. D. Wigley, S. E. Wilson.
 

COMMENTS—477 correct and few mistakes. I had no idea in advance that this puzzle was easier than usual: I am evidently an extremely bad judge of difficulty. A tractable word led to a flood of sound and interesting clues: choice was difficult, and there is probably more luck than usual in the eventual result. I have divided the R.U.s into two sections: those in the first list were very near the H.C.s. These long lists leave little room for chat, but there are two things I must mention. Several solvers queried my spelling “Knightly”. I took it from The Reader’s Encyclopedia, which is usually accurate: I have now looked, as I should have done before, in my edition of Emma, and I find that he there has an E: that is, no doubt, the right spelling. There seems to be some misunderstanding of “& lit.” appended to the notes on clues. It means that the whole clue is a definition of the required word, literally, as well as giving some other aspect e.g. anag., parts, hidden, etc. Competitors keep applying it to clues where this is not the case, apparently thinking it means simply that the statement made by the clue as a whole is literally true. This is the case, surely, with a very large number of clues: “& lit.” means something decidedly more recherché than that. Two of this time’s prizewinners are good examples.