XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 235

ASPHETERISM

1.  C. J. Morse: In which the State’s end is to reorganise all mastership around itself (e in anag., & lit.).

2.  G. M. Neighbour: Communism needs the mass ripe for revolution (anag.).

3.  G. G. Lawrance: Keeping the mass ripe for revolt is part of the Communist creed (anag.).

H.C.

E. S. Ainley: A doctrine, in the Times phrase, quite repugnant to propriety (anag. & lit.; p. = ownership).

J. Coleby: Sabotage of Steamship bearing Royal Cipher. Denial of Owner’s Claims (ER in anag.).

A. J. Croft: Paris’s theme in Revolution (anag. & lit.).

W. J. Duffin: There is spam hash, but if you swallow it you can’t retain a thing (anag.).

J. A. Fincken: An old communist’s method of disposal for your tips: share ’em! (anag.).

S. Goldie: Not allowing you a penny of your own? The old worm! Confound the miser! (asp + anag.).

S. B. Green: SHAPE disorganised by wily Mr. Molotov’s plan (anag. + anag. of Mister; ref. NATO command centre and former Soviet Foreign Minister).

R. R. Greenfield: This doctrine is one spelling the ruin of the miser (a sp. + anag., & lit..).

L. W. Jenkinson: SHAPE’S merit is a possible dissolution of Communism (anag.; ref. NATO command centre).

J. W. Parr: Doctrine of the have-nots, perhaps founded on a perverted hate premiss (anag.).

E. J. Rackham: It may put mine out of use. M.P.s raise the issue (anag.; mine = belonging to me).

A. Robins: If you wanted somewhere to hang your battered hat, I couldn’t offer you normal premises! (anag. of premises, hat, & lit.).

T. E. Sanders: Sign of redness apparent as his temper gets ruffled (anag.; redness = communism).

W. K. M. Slimmings: Southey’s doctrine denying a grasper his beloved sovereigns shakes the miser to the core ((GR)asp(ER) + anag.; ref. Robert S., poet and radical).

Miss D. W. Taylor: I’d make ’em share tips, even (anag. & lit.).

L. E. Thomas: See the mischief more than half the world is in with a doctrine following Russia’s lead! (sphe(re) in Ate + R + ism, & lit.).

D. H. Tompsett: Predated Das Kapital, but its essence is there passim (anag.).

RUNNERS-UP (1)

R. S. Caffyn, Miss E. C. Chapman, R. M. Grace, J. H. Grummitt, E. L. Hayward, F. G. Illingworth, L. Johnson, J. Hardie Keir, C. Koop, Mrs A. M. Osmond, Miss M. H. Rider, J. S. Rowley, Mrs E. M. Simmonds, E. T. Smith, J. Thompson, T. Veness, J. D. Wallace, J. F. N. Wedge, J. B. Widdowson

RUNNERS-UP (2)

J. P. Aserappa, C. Allen Baker, J. W. Bates, T. E. Bell, Rev B. Chapman, D. L. L. Clarke, A. E. Clayton, B. G. H. Clegg, P. M. Coombs, T. R. H. Davenport, Cdr H. H. L. Dickson, F. E. Dixon, L. A. Evans, P. A. L. Freeman, D. J. Furley, A. B. Gardner, C. E. Gates, W. E. Green, H. Heath, P. J. Higgins, E. L. Hillman, Mrs D. M. Isles, J. G. King, M. A. Lassman, Mrs M. Lawlor, P. Lloyd, C. J. Lowe, T. H. Lumley, R. S. Meldrum, T. W. Melluish, G. M. Mercer, F. E. Newlove, E. G. Phillips, H. Rotter, W. I. D. Scott, O. Carlton Smith, S. I. Smith, R. D. Strachan, R. E. Stumbles, Mrs J. E. Townsend, F. L. Usher, R. Wells, T. K. Scott Wilson.
 

COMMENTS—303 correct and very few mistakes. The long word set lent itself readily to anagrams, and much ingenuity was shown in making these apposite. There are so many runners-up that I have picked out those who came nearest to the H.C.s. There were too many sound versions of “Spare me this confounded form of Communism” to receive any higher award than an “R.U. (I).” The all round standard, as the number of names mentioned shows, was very high.
 
There are still many clues marked “& lit.” which do not warrant this description: their senders evidently do not realise that by “& lit.” we mean that the whole clue, besides indicating an anagram or some other treatment of the letters, is in itself the definition , and that no words in it are irrelevant to the definition. It does not mean merely that one part of the clue is a literal definition, nor merely that the statement made by the whole clue is literally true. Miss Taylor’s clue among the H.C.s is the simplest possible form of “& lit.” clue: the same words—all of them—are both the indications of the anag. and the definition. Here is an example of a clue incorrectly labelled “& lit.” by its sender:—“Ship (steamer) for disposal when refitted: no offers from private owners entertained.” Here the first part indicates the anag. but has nothing to do with the definition: the definition is the second part only. Incidentally it is not an accurate definition, as it does not lead clearly to a noun meaning a system or theory. There were many others like this, e.g. “I ought not to have anything”; “We are never allowed any for ourselves.” Definitions may he misleading; but they must be able to be interpreted precisely. Anagrams are still often unindicated or indicated inaccurately by loose syntax, e.g. “This is heaps, Mister” (no indication at all); “When there is spam about” (which apparently is meant to mean “When there is spam is about,” and it can’t!); “Yet Southey praises them extravagantly” (here the words “Yet Southey” have no syntactical connection with what follows, if one is to interpret it as indicating an anag.). I hope these quotations may be helpful.
 
No. 233:—Many thanks for tolerant comments!