XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 664

MANIPULATE

1.  R. B. Adcock (N5): Not abed after midnight is to retire anything but early: do what Sir Toby did to that conclusion! (up in a.m. (all rev.) + late; ref. Twelfth Night II.3.1).

2.  R. W. Hawes (Dartford): A peer, one of Russell’s breed, being prepared to go back inside, shows what nuclear demonstrators will do (a lupin (rev.) in mate; Russell lupin: ref. Bertrand R.).

3.  H. Lyon (Stroud): What! Do a handy-man’s job? Me put a nail straight? Never! (anag.).

H.C.

F. D. H. Atkinson (Claygate): Turn up in the morning about the last in the place? what is the manager to do? (up in a.m. (all rev.) + late).

C. O. Butcher (E4): To work, content to be “up in the morning—early”? Just the reverse—just the reverse! (up in a.m. (all rev.) + late).

R. N. Chignell (N Cheam): You can dish up a meal with some form of tin, cook (anag.).

Sgt J. Dromey (Chester): Cook prefers a dram in the Old Soldiers’ Club to a tea-break (nip in maul + anag.).

A. Lawrie (Cheltenham): Dislocated laminae put right by osteopathy (anag.; right, vb.).

P. W. W. Leach (Fareham): Do this to a platinum blonde’s tail and you’ve had it! (anag., incl. (blond)e, & lit.).

Miss J. S. Lumsden (Grantham): To give an enhanced appearance to a backward border plant holly all round (a lupin (rev.) in mate (= holly)).

Dr T. J. R. Maguire (Dublin): What a mute may do perhaps to make himself plain (anag. & lit.).

Mrs W. J. Mahood (Bangor, Co Down): Baffled, implying, as of old, the return of the great French sleuth to handle things scientifically (A. Lupin (rev.) in mate²: imply = enfold (obs.); ref. Arsène L., character in novels of M. Leblanc).

T. W. Melluish (SE24): How the hands would work, given tea with a lump in—stirred! (anag.).

C. J. Morse (SW10): Cook gets out of bed in the morning the wrong way—and far from early! (up in a.m. (all rev.) + late).

B. G. Palmer (Worcester): Wossat? I’m up late an’ drunk? Fiddle! (anag.).

Maj J. N. Purdon (Freshford, Co. Kilkenny): Get to work behind time, after having got out of bed in the morning the wrong way (up in a.m. (all rev.) + late).

E. J. Rackham (Totton): What hands do in a factor—stir tea (with a lump in) (anag.).

H. Rainger (SW6): Manage to get up in the morning? Early? On the contrary! (up in a.m. (all rev.) + late).

J. B. Sweeting (Shepperton): La main peut faire ceci? Bien sûr! (anag. & lit.).

Miss D. W. Taylor (Worthing): Manage to get up in the morning, early? No—just the reverse! (up in a.m. (all rev.) + late).

RUNNERS-UP

Lt Col P. S. Baines, C. Allen Baker, G. F. Bamford, R. T. Baxter, E. A. Beaulah, Capt A. S. Birt, R. F. S. Chignell, H. C. Copeman, R. M. S. Cork, L. Dean, N. C. Dexter, T. N. Dowse, E. J. Fincham, J. A. Fincken, H. W. Flewett, F. D. Gardiner, A. C. Gardner, C. E. Gates, J. Gill, S. Goldie, E. Gomersall, W. F. Goodman, S. B. Green, E. J. Griew, A. J. Hughes, F. G. Illingworth, R. W. Jakeman, V. Jennings, A. H. Jones, G. A. Linsley, Mrs S. Macpherson, A. A. Malcolm, Mrs E. McFee, D. P. M. Michael, P. H. Morgan, R. A. Mostyn, F. E. Newlove, M. Newman, E. North, C. S. F. Oliver, F. R. Palmer, S. L. Paton, W. H. Pegram, B. G. Quin, Mrs J. Robertson, R. E. Scraton, C. M. Sherrell, Mrs I. G. Smith, Mrs J. Thomas, K. Thomas, W. H. Thornton, H. S. Tribe, B. Tunks.
 

COMMENTS:—310 entries, 265 correct: RAGI caused a good many errors. The entry was a decidedly good one but there were few really outstanding clues apart from those based on the popular and very neat “up in the morning early” idea. This meant that I did not, as I sometimes do, have to relegate nearly all the clues of a good but all too common type to the R.U. list. The disadvantage of this, from the point of view of the appreciative reader of slips, is the lack of variety in the clues printed; but justice could not be done otherwise in the circumstances. The brilliant adaptation of this idea to Sir Toby Belch makes Mr Adcock a very worthy winner.
 
Many clues failed this time through inaccurately worded definitions. This often happens with adjectives, but it should be easy to avoid with a verb. “Might he be made to appear”, “This will certainly change his appearance”, “I can turn to my own advantage”, “Can still work with the hands”, for instance, cannot possibly define “manipulate” or, indeed, indicate a verb at all. A few attempts at “& lit.” clues failed, as often happens, to work soundly in one of the two ways intended. “Fake platinum, half lead” gives a neat anagram, though I do not much like “half” for the two middle letters; but in the “lit.” sense, what is one to make of the last three words? An “& lit.” clue must be a complete clue in both ways. Much the same applies to “’Tulip’—a name to conjure with”: when “to conjure with” is taken as a definition rather than as an indication of the anagram, what becomes of the first three words? Compare these two clues with the “&lit.” clues among the H.C.s. which work satisfyingly in both ways. An anagram side by side with a definition, with no word to indicate the anagram, is not a sound clue, nor can it he sound as one way of reading an “& lit.” clue. The word or words of the definition cannot do double duty and indicate the anagram as well when it is being read as a definition. This is not, perhaps, a very easy point to make clear: I hope I have succeeded.
 
P.S. You may like to know that twenty entries arrived late: post early!