XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 275

ESTOVER (Printer’s Devilry)

1.  J. B. Filburn: True! Man’s fast/s are inconsistent, even with Lent here to inspire (ref. Fred T. & Len Hutton, 1954 Tests v. W. Indies).

2.  D. S. Chetwood: If to peep be low conduc/t, I go “shut-eye” (vertigo [see comments]).

3.  Mrs J. E. Townsend: Corporations will prot/rude! Exhibits? At the City’s art gallery! ([see comments]).

H.C.

J. N. A. Armitage-Smith: Starving alters bab/y’s limb? Rats !

C. Allen Baker: If you catch agu/e—a tingle, this—stay end-up!

Mrs G. M. Brown: Never clean the flues in your b/all-dress to fit the occasion.

G. H. Clarke: Gu/atemala dysentery! The M.A away? (malady sent erythema).

Miss B. J. Dix: New curate’s hand in? Gun wanted—ti/ger in church!

J. A. Fincken: To a scribe, the large number of poor in Sid/mouth must begin loving to excess!

M. B. Fisher: First night—b/and forgot ten bars!—packed with noisy critics.

R. M. Grace: Let stakes ampl/ify our speculations.

J. Hardie Keir: “Splicing the mainbrace with raw A.B.s in the ‘con’ duc/t? I! Go and hang!” Over (raw absinthe conduces vertigo; con = steering).

C. R. Malcolm: Kitchener considered th/e ally reliable.

Mrs A. M. Osmond: I’ll take the run, spr/y, quick, said the player, looking at the score.

R. Postill: Hurricane hitting Lake Rand may be at windiest/ in three days. How we dread such news. (beat W. Indies. Test over … we’d read; ref. Jim Laker and Peter May, 1954 Tests v. W. Indies).

Miss G. Savory: Surely a happy match in summer test, if i/n all overs wisdom (testifies to vernal lovers’).

O. Carlton Smith: Desiring a rich yield, he’d not give up his lands containing or/dure.

Miss D. M. Thorne: Marriage lin/gers—must get monotonous.

D. H. Tompsett: The Tories are equal, Bevan! Cri/minal—most! (ref. Aneurin B.).

H. S. Tribe: Father must putt h/igh—tore at greens like a rabbit!

M. R. Weatherfield: Patients weep at chronic ’flu/e; aches, high temperature! (Patient sweep … flue stove reaches …).

J. S. Young: Will huntsmen with mount ever/ come? Goon! Dreaming about it! (ref. Col. John Hunt, conquest of Everest).

RUNNERS-UP

E. S. Ainley (Harrow), M. A. Anderson, Lt Col P. S. Baines, Mrs Baird, J. W. Bates, T. E. Bell, J. P. Bowyer, Maj H. L. Carter, F. J. Clark, G. N. Coulter, C. R. Dean, Cdr H. H. L. Dickson, T. Dwyer, B. C. Evans, Mrs N. Fisher, S. Goldie, Mrs G. E. Graham, E. G. Illingworth, C. Kauffman, W. I. N. Kessel, R. E. Kimmons, G. G. Lawrance, T. A. Martin, E. J. Meadon, E. L. Mellersh, C. J. Morse, I. M. Newall, F. E. Newlove, Mrs P. M. Ogram, Rev E. B. Peel, E. G. Phillips, T. D. Powell-Davies, A. Redstone, W. Rennie, N. C. Salter, T. E. Sanders, R. I. Savage, E. O. Seymour, W. K. M. Slimmings, J. C. W. Springbett, L. M. Styler, J. B. Sykes, H. G. Tattersall, Miss D. W. Taylor, M. A. Vernon, J. F. N. Wedge, J. B. Widdowson, K. R. R. Wilson, M. Woolf, L. C. Wright.
 

COMMENTS—375 entries, 354 correct. LAY-STALLS was the most elusive answer: a few solvers said they couldn’t find it in Chambers—one went so far as to say it wasn’t there. But it is, lurking about a third of the way down column 2 on p. 604. I owe a profound apology, especially to lawyer solvers, for “salmon”! When I had got the idea for that clue, I happened to meet a solicitor friend and asked him for the name of an authority on torts. He said “Salmon”: I even asked him to spell it for me! I now know all too well that Salmond is the name—and I might have made such a nice clue about Almond’s class, referring to the famous Loretto headmaster! Well, there it is: I ought to have looked it up, but I thought solicitors were accurate men: I have offered him a raspberry!
 
From an excellent entry I fairly soon chose the three prizewinners, but I took some time to put them in order. My leanings towards Mr Chetwood and Mrs Townsend were eventually overruled by “eye” instead of “eyes” and “Corporations” instead of “Corporation,” looked at from the point of view of the completed versions. They are very small blemishes in otherwise brilliant clues, but they just turned the scale. In case you think a second “cricket” winner so soon after the other indicates a strong bias, I would state that I have seldom felt more bored by cricket than I do as a result of the present Test series!
 
I must repeat two principles about devilled clues. (1) The final sense must not be sacrificed to the devilled sense: that is contrary to the whole idea. An example is “Watery gravy presented a serious problem” (“graves to Very”). The connection with the inventor of Very lights is, to me, unsatisfying. (2) The hiding can be too well done. An example is “A good coke heats the water in no time” (“coke stove reheats”). Very difficult, and neat, but no fun at all in finding it. The most attractive feature is a complete change of subject.
 
Again, in response to requests, I haven’t marked the gaps in the clues above. P.D. still seems very popular, and I will gratify the wishes of many solvers by shortening the gap before the next one.