XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 249

BALM

1.  E. L. Mellersh (Enfield): Old console—for a hand-blown organ (cryptic def.; balm (vb.) = soothe; i.e. for the nose).

2.  C. Koop (Ferring): It’s appeasement that leads you by the nose. Rub that in! (3 mngs.).

3.  A. B. Gardner (N21): Where the Queen is present, you must not use “Viva,” but you may say “Salve!” (Balm(oral)).

H.C.

J. W. Bates (Westcliff-on-Sea): Cricket after this season was something for the poet write about! (balm(-cricket), attrib. to Tennyson; season (vb.) = preserve).

Rev B. Chapman (Wantage): I’ll give you a dressing-down if you’re late! (cryptic def.; i.e. dead).

W. J. Duffin (Hull): “Web” almost certainly includes what’s in clue to “conspiracy”—it’s also found in “plot” (hidden here and in clue 13 dn).

E. Gomersall (York): Take a couple of afternoons away from space-filling for a newspaper—the rest will do you good! (Balaam less a, a; press slang).

S. B. Green (NW10): Is this right for Ealing Common? Third left—the rest’s a bit tricky (l in bam; i.e. (h)ealing).

R. R. Greenfield (Ruislip): Herb is half way to getting the boot: the rest is still unwritten (balm(oral); ref. Herbert Morrison MP, Deputy Leader of Labour Party).

Mrs L. Jarman (Brough): Boot can supply it: don’t take by mouth! (baIm(oral), & lit.; Boot’s chemist).

B. J. McCann (Manchester): 1000 to 50, Jack? Back it. It may make life easier, if you put enough on (M L AB (all rev.)).

G. Perry (Stoke-on-Trent): To preserve half-boot use newspaper padding—you won’t need a second pair (Bal(aa)m, 2 defs.; press slang).

Mrs E. M. Simmonds (Cookham Dean): The comfort that comes in retiring from labour (hidden rev.).

W. K. M. Slimmings (New Malden): The soothing influence of the garden where the Queen is free from “Viva!” (Balm(oral)).

Miss D. W. Taylor (New Malden): Simple, but not completely daft (balm(y); simple = medicinal plant).

H. S. Tribe (Sutton): Arsenal has lost all heart and finds itself among the bottom sides—what’s the remedy? (A(rsena)l in b(otto)m).

J. F. N. Wedge (Surbhon): The donkey rider had no drivers’ club to make things smooth in the old days! (Balaam less AA; ref. Numbers 22:21ff).

T. G. Wellman (Poole): Preserve a Liberal in the British Museum as a subject of lamentation! (a L in BM; ref. Jeremiah 8:22, “b. in Gilead”).

J. S. Young (Beckenham): The first half of the Prime Minister’s recent address gives a simple remedy for some of our common ills (Balm(oral), visited by PM in summer).

I. Young (NW3): The asinine fellow hasn’t a double—that’s a comfort! (Bal(aa)m; ref. Numbers 22:21ff).

RUNNERS-UP

E. S. Ainley, C. Allen Baker, J. M. Beaton, H. Bernard, Mrs R. M. Blake, H. G. Butters, E. T. Caddy, Miss L. M. Collins, D. A. Coutts, G. H. Dickson, Mrs W. Fearon, Mrs N. Fisher, Mrs D. Fuller, C. C. M. Giffin, Maj A. H. Giles, J. A. Maxtone Graham, W. E. Green, T. J. Guffick, P. A. Hall, G. F. Heverin, A. R. M. Hooper, F. E. Humpage, L. W. Jenkinson, L. Johnson, J. Jones, W. I. N. Kessel, E. E. R. Kilner, H. A. B. Latimer, H. M. Lloyd, J. P. Lloyd, P. H. Morgan, E. R. Prentice, C. P. Rea, W. O. Robertson, A. Robins, T. E. Sanders, E. T. Smith, W. C. Tame, J. Thompson, T. R. Tiller, J. B. Widdowson, W. D. Wigley, M. Winterbottom.
 

COMMENTS—377 correct and hardly any mistakes except for a small crop of “implements,” which, as far as I can see, has no connection whatever with the clue. I must own up at once to an inaccuracy which very few people seem to have noticed: there seems to be no such thing as a singular theatrical “fly.” The puzzle was on the easy side, but BALM, like many short words, is a difficult word for which to find a clue of real distinction, though very easy to clue in a sound but very obvious way. As a result the entry was not inordinately large, although there were many newcomers. The “lamb stew” and “herbal medicine” ideas were very freely used: they produce neat and sound but rather dull results. This is one of the not very frequent occasions when I never had the slightest doubt about the first prize. I hesitated a good deal over the other two—two or three of the H.C.s came very near them … [last lines of Slip missing].