XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 377

MALISON

1.  J. F. N. Wedge: No wishing-well supplies man’s oil—it’s a matter of blasting and hoping for a strike (anag., 2 defs.).

2.  A. Borshell: The most exiguous line in a Paris Fashion House, it’s put on to undo! (l in maison).

3.  J. P. H. Allon: This may show old hag is aiming at getting rid of inconvenient relatives (mal(kin) is on, & lit.).

H.C.

T. E. Bell: A wishing weIl? On the contrary, one containing oil and sulphur—boiling for preference! (anag. incl. S, all in man).

Mrs G. Bonsall: Confounding the leaders of the visiting Russian party is not impossible (Mal(enkov) is on; ref. visit of former Soviet premier Georgy M. to UK, Mar 1956).

M. W. Bridges: Settle a thousand on her? That’s no blessing (M + Alison; ref. A. Settle, Observer journalist and fashion writer).

C. O. Butcher: Work of the weird sisters, perhaps.—Macbeth, I ii, l. 1 and so on (nothing less). (M, a, l, I + s(o) on; ref. witches).

Mrs N. Dean: Glamorous he-man, film favourite about ’51: you said it, wizard! (LI in Mason; ref. James M.).

Cdr H. H. L. Dickson: With the whole Mohammedan world seething, no backing could result in all sorts of trouble (anag. of Islam + no (rev.); ref. tensions in Egypt, etc.).

A. B. Gardner: Damnation! I’d have Josephine’s address, if only I’d kept mum! (Mal(ma)ison; ref. residence of Napoleon’s mistress).

S. B. Green: “Dam” (to ’ell with it! !) is short of “n” (ma + L + is o’ n, & lit.).

Miss D. Hill: Damn! l’m so languid and there’s no good Scotch! Blast it! (anag. less guid).

L. Johnson: As it might be, simla to. (Atrocious spelling!) (anag. + on).

A. F. Lerrigo: The one binding man to the soil, possibly? (anag. & lit.; ref. Gen. 3.19, “to dust you shall return”).

P. H. Morgan: It’s a dreadful provocation. Josephine’s monumental seat! Excuse my French! (Mal(ma)ison; ref. residence of Napoleon’s mistress).

F. E. Newlove: Oath of Osmanli origin—can’t you just hear an actor saying it? (anag., ‘Malleson’; ref. Miles M., comic film actor).

H. Perry: No mails—could it be a blessing in disguise? Quite the contrary (anag.).

R. Postill: Iris has nothing on, and there’s a chap hanging round! See the blighter’s expression? (lis 0 in man; blight = curse).

A. Robins: When no trump turns up, I may interrupt the proceedings! (I in no slam (rev.), & lit.; slam = trump, game).

Mrs E. M. Simmonds: A bit of Billingsgate salmon I dissected (anag.; B. = foul language).

J. A. L. Sturrock: Bad thing in Rheims—wicked sin involving ring—led to this (mal (Fr.) + O in anag., & lit.; ref. the Jackdaw of R.).

J. B. Sykes: The beginning of Malachi is close to signifying the very end of the Old Testament (Mal(achi) is on; ref. Mal. 4.6, “… smite the land with a curse”, last verse of OT).

Miss D. W. Taylor: What brought down evil in Rheims, over diverting sin involving a ring? (mal (Fr.) + O in anag., & lit.; ref. the Jackdaw of R.).

J. Thompson: No trump raise with a singleton heart? It’s asking for trouble! (I in no slam (rev.), & lit.; slam = trump, game).

RUNNERS-UP

J. A. Adamson, F. D. H. Atkinson, G. F. Bamford, C. L. Barnes, J. W. Bates, Mrs F. Begg, A. Blyth, H. W. Boyce, J. V. Boys, Rev H.D. Owen Brown, Mrs Caithness, W. C. Cartner, R. N. Chignell, A. N. Clark, P. S. Clayson, R. M. S. Cork, C. P. Dearnley, F. E. Dixon, Brig W. E. Duncan, Dr W. M. Easther, H. H. Elliott, L. E. Eyres, J. A. Fincken, Mrs N. Fisher, A. L. Freeman, Mrs J. O. Fuller, C. E. Gates, S. Goldie, E. Gomersall, J. A. Maxtone Graham, W. E. Green, T. J. Guffick, E. M. Hornby, F. G. Illingworth, A. H. Jones, C. Kauffmann, C. Koop, G. A. Linsley, C. J. Lowe, A. W. Maddocks, A. D. Mattock, I. McGivering, T. W. Melluish, C. J. Morse, R. P. C. Mutter, T. J. Pimbley, Maj J. N. Purdon, S. E. Quincey, E. J. Rackham, Capt W. H. W. Ridley, E. N. Rolfe, T. E. Sanders, E. O. Seymour, A. E. Sharp, N. C. Sharp, C. M. Sherrell, W. K. M. Slimmings, G. Stanhope-Lovell, D. G. Thomas, L. K. Upton, J. Ward, R. Wells, Maj J. P. A. Wildey, M. Woolf, J. S. Young.
 

COMMENTS:—416 entries, 378 correct, the errors being chiefly in the extreme N.W. and S.E. corners. It was one of the best entries ever, I thought, the following being especially unlucky with clues well up to average prize standard:—T. E. Bell, A. Robins, J. A. L. Sturrock, Miss D. W. Taylor, J. Thompson; and new comers were more successful than ever before. But many of the latter haven’t grasped our views as to soundness: so, at the risk of boring old-stagers, I must once more quote some unsuccessful examples. (1) No definition—never allowed: “I beat up offspring.” (2) Ditto, plus unindicated anagram—worse still! “But for a Mona Lisa.” (3) Obscure indirect anag.: “It’s out of this world, confound it! Curse it!” (somnial). An anag. must either state the actual word concerned or indicate it very obviously, e.g. Cdr. Dickson’s clue above: this one is far too difficult to be useful to solvers. “I’ve got right into the middle of that fish: what a mess: curse.” Here, again, there are lots of other fish with 6 letters: incidentally “I’ve” is also unsound: what the writer means is “I has”—“I’ve” will not do for this. “I’ve” implies that “I” is the pronoun (referring to the whole answer imagined as describing itself, perhaps), not the letter, which is 3rd person. (4) Even experienced competitors still insist on sending in “hidden” clues with redundant words in the hiding-place: I have often before protested that this is inartistic (and incidentally an extremely easy way out of the difficult task of writing a good clue): e.g. “That ruthless Osmanli among dictators, Mustapha Kemal, is only remembered with execration. (anag. and hidden).”
 
I hardly dare face the comments to come on No. 378! Thank you for Easter wishes, which I reciprocate rather late.