XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 626

WOMAN-TIRED

1.  C. O. Butcher (E4): Yesterday was too mild to wear trousers, to-day seems too gusty for skirts: that’s Eve with clothes! (woman + tired (= clothed); gusty = irritable, skirts = women).

2.  L. S. Pearce (NW4): A worm, I tend to be upset, once under attack from a bird (anag.).

3.  S. Holgate (Durham): Skirt fitted with metal hoop was cramped by petticoats (woman tired; tire²).

H.C.

J. W. Bates (Westcliff-on-Sea): How husbands were once perhaps harshly trained by a good proportion of women? (wom(en) + anag., & lit.).

F. E. Dixon (Wexford): If Queen Bess had had a husband, he might have been—and so might the matron I wed (anag.).

L. E. Eyres (Bath): Cut up and truly blue, like poor Dr. Proudie (mow (rev.) + anti-red; ref. Barchester Chronicles).

Mrs E. Franklin (Birmingham): De worm ain’t turned, but Petruchio did when he was (anag.; ref. Taming of the Shrew).

Mrs L. Jarman (Brough): Like Mr. Weller Senior, yielding to masculine inwader (anag. incl. m.; ref. Pickwick Papers).

Dr J. Mainwaring (Cosham): Once rated well, now I’m rated badly (anag.; rate²).

W. H. Pegram (Enfield): This blasted word meant I was hen pecked! (anag.).

B. G. Quin (Whitley Bay): I wed Matron with turbulent disposition, like Mr. Bumble! (anag.; ref. David Copperfield).

Mrs E. M. Simmonds (Cookham Dean): Caudle was extraordinarily warm—no diet for a wife feeling the effects of labour! (anag.; ref. ‘Mrs C.’s Curtain Lectures’ by D. Jerrold).

J. A. L. Sturrock (Hassocks): This meant having great difficulty getting word in with mate! (anag. & lit.).

J. Ward (Birminghan): How Katharine the Sixth kept her husband in tow made King ridiculous to see! (anag. incl. R. & lit.; ref. Katharine Parr).

M. Woolf (W9): Mr. Bumble was so dame-worn—it hurt! (anag. & lit.; ref. David Copperfield).

RUNNERS-UP

R. J. Atkin, F. D. H. Atkinson, C. Allen Baker, Mrs F. Begg, J. C. Brash, Rev C. M. Broun, R. N. Chignell, J. McI. Cruickshank, Sgt J. Dromey, J. A. Fincken, Mrs N. Fisher, J. Flood, C. E. Gates, S. Goldie, S. B. Green, R. W. Jakeman, Mrs E. McFee, E. L. Mellersh, D. P. M. Michael, P. H. Morgan, C. J. Morse, F. E. Newlove, T. C. Perks, E. J. Rackham, J. S. W. Reid, E. W. Richart, Mrs I. G. Smith, R. J. Steel, D. H. Tompsett, H. S. Tribe, B. W. Webster, J. F. N. Wedge, G. H. Willett, Mrs J. Worrall.
 

COMMENTS:—198 entries, 188 correct—the smallest entry for a long time. Was it very difficult, though some said it was easier than usual? Or had people had a Christmas surfeit? Or have the posts been up to their tricks again? If the last is the true explanation, I fear I can’t again hold up the results: I have issued warnings to post early several times lately. The word set, too, proved to contain pitfalls, and the standard of clues sent was as a whole below average. There was much adjective-trouble: I should estimate that at least a quarter of the entry failed properly to show that an adjective was required. Here are a few random instances of unsound definitions:—“… gave Pa Hell”, “… I got nagged before”, “… husband dressed down”, “… she gets her own back”, “… he was dressed down”. These and many like them are inaccurate and unfair to a solver. Another common weakness, less heinous, but still a weakness, was the lack of an indication that the word is obsolete. These were the two main reasons for the rather short lists above: the senders of some of the best of the clues which did not indicate obsoleteness are among the runners-up. I hope for a return to the usual high standard, both in quantity and quality, on Feb. 5, when I am setting a “Carte Blanche” for a competition for (I think) the first time; and do post your entries then in good time!
 
P.S. I now hear that over 70 entries did arrive late, alas!