XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 482

LEASING-MAKER

1.  C. R. Dean: One who converts by letting false images rankle (leasing + maker, anag. & lit.).

2.  E. Gomersall: Learner driving gently over former instructor in rebellion? (L + easing + maker).

3.  D. A. Nicholls: Any constructive person catching on to the Rent Act becomes a speaker of seditious words! (leasing + maker; ref. deregulation of private renting in 1957).

H.C.

Maj P. S. Baines: Given proper editing, managers like an unscrupulous reporter (anag.).

J. W. Bates: A sage Kremlin has me liquidated! (anag. & lit.).

T. E. Bell: Just the man to overthrow a kinges realm! (anag. & lit.; old form of genitive).

Mrs J. Chalkley: Sing in the morning in bath with plug missing? You’ll more than likely hear me yelling my head off about the state I’m in! (sing in a.m. in leaker).

R. N. Chignell: You might find him in Hyde Park loosening up on top of a mare in a bowler (easing + m in Laker; ref. Peter L., bowler and cricket writer, Speaker’s Corner and Rotten Row).

Mrs N. Fisher: He’d lie and mask anger to conceal his design (anag. & lit.; he’d = he had).

B. Franco: The meadow-warbler, including the Scottish form, may be seen (and heard) in Hyde Park (mak in lea singer; Speaker’s Corner).

R. J. Hall: Early rising? I’ll give you a call. Seeking alarm is no good, it’s out of order (anag.).

Mrs L. Jarman: His state would be wild if you gave the slanger a mike! (anag. & lit.).

N. A. Langmore: What makes a girl seek man? Resulting disclosure may often be a revolting subject to hear! (anag.).

A. F. Lerrigo: I may favour early rising, but I’ll be hanged if I carry it too far (cryptic def.).

Dr B. N. McQuade: Germans like a mutinous traitor such as Lord Haw-Haw (anag.).

D. P. M. Michael: Ye olde corrupter of a Kinges realm (anag. & lit.; old form of genitive).

J. J. Moore: K.’s general aim is to have a revolution here, and here’s a voice in support (anag. & lit.; Khrushchev).

P. H. Morgan: Who’s the gainer under the Rent Act? The scandalous rater! (2 mngs.; ref. deregulation of private renting in 1957).

R. Postill: Rising producer indeed! He’s miscast me as King Lear: Edmund’s really my type! (anag.; E. Spenser).

L. R. Scott: Liberal leader, helping to create the start of a revival, may incite the public (L + easing + make + r).

Mrs E. M. Simmonds: Who may provoke a riot? Mother, in a green silk negligé (ma in anag.).

Miss D. W. Taylor: Being rebellious, I gas, and rankle ’em (anag. & lit.).

M. Woolf: For insurrection’s sake—maligner (anag. & lit.).

RUNNERS-UP

C. Allen Baker, Miss R. L. Benn, F. H. Bernard, E. A. Beulah, Mrs G. Bonsall, C. O. Butcher, J. Chamberlain, R. F. S. Chignell, J. C. Clarke, A. H. Clough, B. D. Corbett, D. H. S. Cox, Cdr H. H. L. Dickson, F. E. Dixon, Mrs D. M. D’Eath, A. Fairhead, G. C. Fuller, R. Game, P. Gill, H. W. Goodfellow, S. B. Green, G. Y. Halsey, Mrs E. J. Holmes, J. G. Hull, B. J. Iliffe, T. Ingram, V. Jennings, Mrs D. M. Kissen, C. Koop, Capt G. Langham, A. Lawrie, P. W. W. Leach, G. A. Linsley, J. D. Lockett, R. K. Lumsdon, H. Lyon, S. M. Mansell, J. Martin, A. D. Mattock, Mrs E. McFee, W. L. Miron, C. J. Morse, F. E. Newlove, M. Newman, B. G. Palmer, J. W. Parr, G. Perry, K. Perry, E. G. Phillips, W. J. Plumb, E. R. Prentice, E. J. Rackham, A. Robins, Mrs G. Robinson, P. D. Robinson, T. E. Sanders, E. O. Seymour, J. Shaw, Mrs F. Shepherd, W. K. M. Slimmings, F. B. Stubbs, D. G. Thomas, A. Thompson, J. Thompson, Mrs J. E. Townsend, Capt C. Tyers, A. D. Walker, J. F. N. Wedge, C. E. Williams, J. S. Young.
 

COMMENTS:—410 entries, 363 correct, nearly all the mistakes being in the top half. The word lent itself especially well to “anag. & lit.” clues, and many perfectly sound ones were edged out into the Runners-up. The most popular idea among these was “a King’s realm plus E”: The most popular anag, without “& lit.” was “me as King Lear”. The winner is, I think, quite outstandingly ingenious: after this one I, of necessity, tended to prefer those whose ideas were not often used, I just preferred Mr. Nicholls to Mr. Morgan for 3rd prize, interspersed with all this talent there were again many clues which fell down through unsound wording, and, at the risk of boring those who are invariably sound, I think I most quote from them once more to help the “offenders”, so that. they may mend their ways and stand a better chance of catching the judge’s eye.
 
“Such mileage ranks one legally excessive, though I never quite touch 31!” (31 was lese majestie). This is nearly very good, and would certainly be a runner-up if the standard were not so high this time. But “such” can hardly indicate an anagram, unless one takes it as exclamatory, meaning “what awful!”, and that surely demands an exclamation mark to itself. Very bad luck.—“With evil ends raised a voice against the Lord.” As I have said several times, I can not agree that “evil ends” = EL. EL is “evil’s ends” or “ends of evil”. Mr. Scott’s “Liberal leader” is quite different, because that means, in ordinary talk or writing, “leader of Liberals”. Similarly I wouldn’t mind “candle-ends” for CE (or, better still, for EE, i.e., ends of candles). I hope this point, which keeps cropping up, is now really clear.—“Game’s in complete confusion. Jim’s on at both ends. Lords will never hear the like.” The first bit can not mean “game’s in is in complete confusion”: it doesn’t say it and it can’t mean it. It can only mean an anag. of “game” or of “game’s”: “in” can’t do double duty in a sentence, and therefore it can’t in a clue. Similar cases were: “like manager’s downfall”, “a long reign makes dissension”, “he’s seeking to alarm rabble”, “the game’s in a turmoil”. A further flaw is that the cricket ground is Lord’s, not Lords, so that the double meaning is inadmissible. “Seeking to alarm and confuse, my cry is ‘Down with Britain!’”. Here “to” is questionable and “and” is definitely redundant: these words can not mean “Confuse seeking with alarm” or “Add seeking to alarm and confuse”.—“Trouble seeking, alarm creator”. This is nearer to soundness, but the two parts of the anagram can hardly be indicated by (a) an instruction to the solver—imperative (b) a compound noun. It just doesn’t quite work. Bad luck, like the first one quoted.—“One whose words disturb like a German’s”. This doesn’t work in the anag. sense: in that sense it isn’t his words but he himself who disturbs. The clue doesn’t say what it means. Many of the above are nearly sound, but plenty are still sent that are totally unsound, e.g. “Tempts to treason—real skin game” in which there is no indication of an anag. whatsoever. The whole thing boils down, once more, to “We must say what we mean”. But let there be no mistake about it, a very large number of competitors do: hence the long lists above.