◀  No. 347 Clue list 25 Sep 1955 Slip image No. 356  ▶

XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 351

LUSTRE

1.  Mrs L. Jarman: Suspender of pretty Victorian drops—that’s quite in order in a Toulouse-Lautrec! ((Tou)l(ou)us(e Lau)tre(c)).

2.  G. H. Ravenor: Glass drops—result stormy (anag.; ref. barometer).

3.  R. B. Adcock: What ended vice after sex had gone to the Roman’s head? (lust R (vic)e, & lit.; lustre2).

H.C.

C. Allen Baker: If a good man is led into temptation, a five-year stretch in jug may well give cause for reflection (St. in lure, 2 defs.).

E. A. Beaulah: The halo, perhaps, is the thing about a saint that catches one’s attention (St. in lure2).

C. O. Butcher: In the Gilbert-Sullivan topsyturvydom is a certain quality manifested by A Pair Of Sparkling Eyes (hidden rev.; ref. song from “The Gondoliers”).

G. N. Coulter: Hawking feathers round the street? You can get five years for that (St. in lure).

Mrs N. Fisher: A five year term or longer for the depraved’s sound (‘luster’).

S. B. Green: “Drunk and disorderly” result: a five years’ stretch! (anag.).

Mrs S. Klemantaski: A good man at heart makes light of temptation (i.e. St. in lure = lustre).

A. F. Lerrigo: An unwonted result for me! I become the Ximenes winner (anag.; i.e. the competition word).

B. J. McCann: “Wicked Passion” should have about a five-year run. It’s a brilliant show (lust + re, 2 defs.).

C. J. Morse: Holy man beset by temptation to think longingly about material splendour (St. in lure, lust re).

F. E. Newlove: Century Twentieth? Not this ornament, surely! (twentieth of 100 years; Victorian ornament).

Rev E. G. Riley: It’s enough to put a saint in a bait, dropping bits of glass all round (St. in lure).

T. E. Sanders: The kind of result one expects the Buffs to achieve (anag. & lit.; Buffs = shines leather, Army regts.).

E. O. Seymour: Only a five year stretch? Could have been a hanging affair (2 mngs.).

Mrs E. M. Simmonds: A splendid film on China—there’s something magnetic about the star-part (st(ar) in lure).

D. W. Snow: An occasional cleaning every few years is all that’s needed for a fine cloth (2 mngs.).

J. A. L. Sturrock: There’s an Irish rule—elect chap who’s inside, after which they’ll have to have another election! (St. in anag. (see elect, n.); elections every 5 years; ref. 1955 election of Philip Clarke in Fermanagh & S. Tyrone, ruled ineligible owing to criminal conviction).

H. S. Tribe: Bags of distinction—a pair will last ten years (“Sheen Advertiser”) (3 mngs; ref. trousers).

L. K. Upton: Translator initiated in Latin usage gives this gloss: “periodic purification” (tr. in L ure, 2 defs.).

RUNNERS-UP

D. B. J. Ambler, F. D. H. Atkinson, J. W. Bates, M. H. Benoliel, H. Bernard, Mrs G. Bonsall, R. N. Chignell, R. Collings, F. E. Dixon, H. H. Elliott, J. A. Fincken, M. Fooks, C. E. Gates, J. H. Goodyear, T. J. Guffick, D. Hawson, D. Henderson, Mrs Holmes, E. G. Illingworth, D. S. M. Imrie, A. L. Jeffery, L. Johnson, C. B. Joyner, C. Koop, H. Lyon, T. W. Melluish, P. H. Morgan, P. M. Newey, Maj J. N. Purdon, E. J. Rackham, Mrs E. Shackleton, W. K. M. Slimmings, L. H. Stewart, F. B. Stubbs, Mrs C. J. Sumner, Miss D. W. Taylor, J. W. Taylor, P. H. Taylor, Capt C. Tyers, F. L. Usher, J. A. Watson, J. F. N. Wedge, S. E. Wilson, M. Winterbottom, M. Woolf, C. P. Wroth, H. T. Young, I. Young.
 

COMMENTS—311 entries, 273 correct. The only common error was “ileum,” which is intestinal and not bony: surely the Wooden Horse of Troy should have pointed the way? Or was some people’s spelling of Ilium = Troy at fault? I tried the experiment of setting a really easy word this time. It produced, I think, some excellent clues and plenty of variety: but many fell into the trap of trying to include too much: a simple word does not call for a lot of varied help for the solver, but rather for a neatly concealed definition plus one not too obvious subsidiary clue. The first prize winner fulfils these conditions quite perfectly, I think: the vagueness of the subsidiary clue is fully compensated by the precision of the beautifully misleading definition. I have included one or two of the neatest of the clues that said too much among the H.C.s, and also the best of the over-popular “saint falling into temptation.”
 
There was rather a spate of obscurity: as a friendly warning I will quote one or two of the type that has absolutely no chance of achieving a mention, still less a prize. (1) “On the face of things bright and clever—scarcely a type to join the church. (Note.—Double definition. Brillian(t) + CE.).” I cannot see how any solver could possibly arrive at the explanation given in the note. (2) “When Andronica touched ends no son (of Greece) was missing to see the beauty (Arch.-ly!)” (“Andronica ends” less “no son” gives anag. of “radiance”). This, again, is too tortuous to be of any use to anyone, I think. (3) “The skin of a China Orange perhaps covers a Stock operation unlikely in Lombard St. and indeed provides over-cover.” Among the ideas supposed to be suggested are anags. of “rustle” and “ulster,” but both are far too deeply hidden to suggest themselves. The attempt to work in “CO.” and “L. St.” is a much too desperate one!
 
There was also some straightforward unsoundness, e.g., “The little saint falls into the trap” (no definition—the greatest of all crimes!).—“Dirty woman somehow contrives splendour” (contrives = engineers = R.E.: a perfect example of the “clue to a clue,” which is a sheer misstatement of fact: “contrives” has no direct connection with “R.E.”).—“My long loose Overcoat has been turned. Result—splendour.” (no indication that “result” is an anagram).—“Result of classic Five-Year Plan.” (described as “anag. & lit.,” but the wording is badly at fault: how can the words “result of” indicate an anag. of “result”?). Finally there was a clue of 33 words, containing 3 definitions, St. in rule anag., St. in lure, and result anag. We should need nearly a column for the clues if they were like that! So don’t let’s overdo it!
 
P.S. In response to requests for a health bulletin, for which many thanks, I am better and quite reasonably fit now.
 

 
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