XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 253

DERATION

1.  D. A. Nicholls: Abandon the cut-aways and cross-overs of standard pattern books—try a neat Dior creation! (anag.; ref. ration books and coupons).

2.  S. Goldie: Make ample amends to a diner (anag. & lit.).

3.  B. J. McCann: Smash a red in to improve the position on the table, though it may not be good for the pocket (anag.; ref. snooker).

H.C.

E. S. Ainley: “I dare not” be damned—to —— absolutely! That’s resolution, by George! (anag. & lit.; ref. Gwilym Lloyd George, Food Minister, and end of e.g. sweet rationing in 1953).

C. Allen Baker: I’m well laced in—I dare not relax the control of certain lines! (anag.).

J. W. Bates: Stop allowances?!—maybe end with a riot! (anag.).

E. W. Beal: Self-restraint? Ignore the doctor and let people have as much as they like ((MO)deration).

R. N. Chignell: It could make an Editor remove the limit on short articles (anag.).

Cdr H. H. L. Dickson: We hope Lloyd George will soon damn near do it. (anag. & lit.; ref. Gwilym Lloyd George, Food Minister).

W. J. Duffin: Let us eat as much as want for tea or dinner—not half! Smashing! (anag. incl. din(ner)).

Mrs D. C. Fuller: Abolish “Fair Shares”? That’ll cause a devil of a riot in the Underworld! (anag. in den).

R. J. Hall: We have free trade in nothing! Abolish restricted markets! (anag. incl. 0).

R. W. Hawes: To make things easier for the dealer, don’t have any more marked cards (cryptic def.; ref. ration cards).

J. A. Hyde: How to get rid of surplus fat for one of those neat Dior creations (anag.).

Mrs L. Jarman: Stop using the controls to keep level: let George do it! (cryptic def.; G. = autopilot (RAF slang); ref. Gwilym Lloyd George, Food Minister).

W. H. Joint: Temperance? No, take the doctor away and free us from restrictions ((MO)deration).

C. J. Morse: Since the Doctor’s abandoned self-restraint, let everyone eat as much as he likes! ((MO)deration).

E. J. Rackham: Give freedom to housewife, to diner a variety (anag.).

Mrs E. M. Simmonds: Neat, Dior fashions—what they did to our clothes! (anag.; ref. end of clothes rationing, 1949).

F. B. Stubbs: Free Trade! Let digestion know no law! (anag. + (digest)ion, & lit.; digest²).

J. S. Young: Abolish the Pools! (cryptic def.).

RUNNERS-UP

A. J. Barnard, T. E. Bell, E. C. Bingham, J. A. Blair, Rev B. Chapman, F. Dale, L. E. Ellis, J. A. Fincken, M. B. Fisher, A. L. Freeman, D. J. Furley, A. B. Gardner, E. Gomersall, R. M. Grace, S. B. Green, R. R. Greenfield, C. R. Haigh, P. A. Hall, Dr G. P. Hartigan, F. H. W. Hawes, A. D. Holland, L. B. Hutchings, L. W. Jenkinson, L. Johnson, P. J. Jutsum, R. Lee, F. C. Lill, J. P. Lloyd, D. P. M. Michael, Mrs H. M. Morrison, Mrs A. M. Osmond, E. G. Phillips, Maj J. N. Purdon, W. H. W. Ridley, J. Rimington, W. I. D. Scott, E. T. Smith, J. E. A. Stuart, R. E. Stumbles, E. Sunderland, Mrs J. E. Townsend, G. F. W. Turner, W. H. Victory, B. J. Wain, C. E. Williams, M. Winterbottom, I. Young.
 

COMMENTS—367 correct and few mistakes—no common one. What I said last time about definitions in clues to adjectives proved this time to he equally true of clues to a verb! Literally dozens of entries were rejected at sight because their definitions couldn’t possibly lead to a verb. Here are a few examples (I quote only the definition part of each clue):—“The controls are off!”—“Unrestricted food is the result.”—“There’s more to eat, it’s true”—“No more coupons?”—“Everything’s out of control.”—“Lloyd George’s hopes.” I hate to think of solvers taking a lot of trouble to think of good ideas and wasting them in this way—though it saves me time in my scrutiny! I will also quote a few nearly very good clues from the runners-up, with reasons why I didn’t quite reward them more highly:—“A left-winger retorted ‘No! It’s retrograde!’” (a-red & no-it rev., & lit.). Most ingenious, but I don’t think its definition by implication is quite adequate: and “retorted” and “retrograde,” like “back,” are not very appropriate to a “down” word.—“How to give a spread to a diner.” (anag. & lit.). I don’t think “spread” quite indicates an anag.: one does more than “spread” the letters—spreading, surely, cannot suggest mixture or dislocation. My idea of spreading the letters of a word would be to write them wide apart.—“Let us put an end to under-indulgence!” (mo-deration, & lit.). There were several who used this idea, but I cannot quite swallow 8 letters out of ten as an “end.”—“End this austerity. Let’s have a jolly riot in one of those good evenings we used to have.” (de-ratio-n) I like this, but “a jolly riot” isn’t a sound indication of an anag. of “a riot”: “jolly,” if it refers to all five letters, should come outside them. What the writer means is “jolly a riot,” and we must say what we mean. I know it spoils the clue, but that’s too bad—as I know … [final lines of slip missing].