XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 63

STILETTO

1.  F. E. Newlove (SE9): It’s to let, you find? But don’t set your heart on it—the rent would take your breath away! (anag.; dagger).

2.  T. W. P. Colby (Sleaford): Sharp steps taken with a spoilt child—can penetrate (stile + anag. of tot).

3.  A. E. Smith (Farnham Royal): Titles possibly to end: famous regicide thought this was in the air but couldn’t see the point of it (anag. + to; dagger, ref. Macbeth II.1.33).

H.C.

G. R. Cawthra (Geneva): Let the Italians have their point, lest Tito becomes involved (anag.; ref. formation of Yugoslavia).

Miss Comyn (Abingdon): Dalton’s instrument for making little holes in our pockets? Even the Tote is involved in the list this time (anag. of Tote list; ref. Hugh Dalton, Chancellor, 1947 Budget; instrument for making eyelets).

F. L. Constable (Broseley): Cause of death in Murder in the Cathedral? T. S. Eliot almost supplies the answer! (anag. of T S Eliot (+ t); ref. killing of Becket in Eliot play; dagger).

P. M. Coombs (Burgess Hill): Is it a means of getting rid of my blessed tenant? That’s the point (i.e., St I let to; dagger).

B. Donne-Smith (Hitchin): It’s to let (owing to dilapidations). But what a rent it once earned for Casca! (anag. of it’s to let; ref. Julius Caesar III.2.175).

M. S. Hall (Leicester): Stab me! Still a quid down and the tote’s packed up! (stil(L) + anag.).

C. H. Hudson (Oxford): Delay in Tito’s overthrow may provide loophole for stabbing (let in anag.; ref. formation of Yugoslavia; dagger, instrument for making eyelets).

A. L. Jeffery (Oxford): My tenant is a saint, but what a sticker! (i.e., St I let to; dagger).

C. Koop (Ferring): You may say “Good-bye” for ever, should this possibly let Tosti touch you too deeply (anag.; ref. song ‘Good-bye!’, music by Paolo T.).

R. H. Lemon (Cheltenham): Weapon fired backwards in battle (lit (rev.) in set-to; dagger).

F. C. MacIntosh (Edgware): Foreign weapon has backfired in action (lit (rev.) in set-to; dagger).

Maj D. P. M. Michael (Newport): Let into poor Tosti it might give point to his good-bye! (let in anag.; ref. song ‘Good-bye!’, music by Paolo T.).

D. S. Milford (Marlborough): It’s to let, but dilapidated: it means bats have returned! (anag.; i.e. bats (rev.) = stab).

J. D. P. O’Leary (Thames Ditton): Dirty-looking knife and stuck in the best part of the cheese! (et in Stilto(n); daggers = dirty looks).

H. J. Phillips (NW2): What’s this obelus? It’s to let one recognize anag. (anag.; ref. use of † to indicate anagrams in printed solutions).

R. Postill (Jersey): Strange that Battista Pergolesi’s Stabat Mater was successful, as he always confused this small weapon with a big spear! (comp. anag.; i.e., stab at [see comments]).

W. O. Robertson (Marlow): A pinker society let in the Red Marshal (S let in Tito; pink² = stab; dagger).

W. K. M. Slimmings (New Malden): It fits T. S. Eliot to a T; an obvious choice for Murder in the Cathedral! (anag. + T; ref. killing of Becket in Eliot play; dagger).

P. Walton (Dollar): Is this a dagger? Its handle is reversed, but the rest is allowed to proceed normally (its (rev.) + let to; ref. Macbeth II.1.33).

Comments:—407 correct. The only word which caused much trouble—and it spoilt a good many entries—was FRAISE—“a palisade of pointed stakes” and Fr. for “strawberry”: “braise” has little appropriateness beyond a general connection with the idea of cooking meat.
 
The most popular ideas were “it’s to let,” Tosti’s Good-bye, Tito and Shakespearean dagger scenes: among those who favoured the last, a few are curiously under the impression that it was Lady Macbeth who saw “the handle towards my hand.” The best entries this time tended to be rather long. The most ingenious is undoubtedly Mr Postill’s; but an anagram involving added letters offers such wide scope, and opens up such terrifyingly tortuous possibilities, that it should not really rank beside first rate clues which do not go outside the word itself; still, this one is so good that it nearly won a prize and may well rank as fourth.
 
As the entry was large and many clues came close to the H.C.s, a list of 30 runners-up is given:—Mrs Ayshford, Miss Blamey, R. N. Chignell, F. A. Clark, Mrs D’Eath, E. H. Evans, Maj Giles, P. G. W. Glare, Maj Golightly, S. B. Green, Rev Dr Hamilton, H. C. Hills, S. J. Horner, L. Johnson, Mrs Laing, R. C. Macfarlane, Mrs Magruder, D. G. C. Mockridge, Mrs Nicol, Rev P. H. Opperman, Mrs Osmond, E. G. Phillips, R. C. Reeves, T. E. Sanders, E. C. Semmons, O. Carlton Smith, Miss Taylor, W. H. Thorne, E. Wagstaff, J. A. Watson.
 
[Correction:—In Mr [in fact Rev] Peel’s clue last time for “stop” read “strip.” Apologies for the error.]