XIMENES CROSSWORD No. 941

HYPODERMIC

1.  R. Postill: Despondency, Reichenbach’s effect, unsolved crime … could have led Holmes to this. (hyp od¹ + anag., & lit., ref. R. Falls, H.’s supposed death; hyp = hypochondria).

2.  E. M. Hornby: Jabber and do my cipher wrong? This seldom helps to win a prize. (anag., 2 defs.; ref. doping, racing and Playfair).

3.  R. R. Greenfield: Junkies resort to this imaginary illness and take in perplexed medico (hyp + r in anag.; hyp = hypochondria).

V.H.C.

F. D. H. Atkinson: It could get you drugged, perverted into horrific vile crime (dopy (rev.) in H + anag., & lit.; H, film classification).

J. W. Bates: It could soothe Holmes’s head, bewildered over strange crime (dopy (rev.) in H + anag., & lit.).

C. O. Butcher: Compiling my cipher do I needle some queer people?—Well, sometimes (anag.; i.e. ill and not ill).

V. A. R. Cooper: It could make me chirpy injected with force (od1 in anag., & lit.).

N. C. Dexter: I make many a patient shout: Cor! My soft hide’s bruised (anag. incl. p).

W. E. Green: Do my cipher incorrectly and you will get the needle (anag.; ref. Playfair).

Sir S. Kaye: It could make me rich introducing narcotic around (dopy (rev.) in anag.).

Capt G. Langham: To depress with chemical action before unravelling crime. This was Holmes’s method (hyp OD + anag.; hyp = hypochondria).

A. F. Lerrigo: A shot, perhaps, something to fix the copper before risky crime (hypo d. + anag.).

Mrs B. Lewis: Dormice in poor shape after mumps—must be shot (hyp + anag.; hyp = hypochondria, mumps = melancholy).

H. S. Mason: Crack my cipher do, before you get the needle (anag.; ref. Playfair).

Mrs E. McFee: This drug can produce morbid depression, perturbed Medical Officer cried (hyp + anag. incl. MO; hyp = hypochondria).

D. P. M. Michael: If poor dope is removed from this, it’ll make him cry (anag. of dope him cry, & lit.).

C. J. Morse: Drug-taking is often the basic force linking depression with random crime (od¹ in hyp + anag., & lit.; hyp = hypochondria).

F. R. Palmer: It can produce melancholy, perverse activity, and a variety of crime. (hyp + do (rev.) + anag., & lit.; hyp = hypochondria).

C. Quin: Drug to depress, with strange force, before kinky crime (hyp od¹ + anag., & lit.; hyp = hypochondria).

N. E. Sharp: Agent for developing introduction of drugs leading to crime in a way (hypo + d + anag.).

S. Sondheim: My rich dope is dispersed in solution (anag. & lit.).

P. H. Taylor: Crack my cipher, do; it’s an acute vehicle for transmitting a solution (anag.; ref. Playfair).

J. Torrington: Do do my cipher—my addicts will get the point (anag.; ref. Playfair).

H.C.

R. Abrey, W. Anderson, W. G. Arnott, N. S. Barrett, R. T. Baxter, K. Blewett, Rev C. M. Broun, R. Burrell, E. Chalkley, A. N. Clark, P. R. Clemow, Mrs M. P. Craine, A. E. Crow, J. McI. Cruickshank, E. A. Cunningham, T. Davies, Miss D. Fennell, J. A. Fincken, Dr J. Foster, S. C. Gilchrist, M. Innes, Maj G. J. Insley, Mrs L. Jarman, A. L. Jeffery, G. Johnstone, M. A. Lassman, A. Lawrie, A. D. Legge, F. Lunny, J. G. Milner, F. E. Morgan, P. H. Morgan, W. G. Mowforth, A. M’Intyre, F. E. Newlove, M. Newman, Mrs N. Perry, E. G. Phillips, F. B. Ramsey, Mrs M. E. Robinson, W. Rodgers, A. G. Rowlinson, R. W. Shearing, Sir W. Slimmings, B. D. Smith, J. Sparrow, L. T. Stokes, F. B. Stubbs, J. G. Stubbs, A. Sudbery, J. B. Sweeting, D. J. Thorpe, K. Unsworth, E. F. Watling, Dr R. L. Wynne.
 

COMMENTS:—About 500 entries, easily a record for a Playfair, and very few mistakes, mostly slips in encoding. I very much regret that many enthusiasts were robbed of their usual enjoyment by the fact that the code-word happened to be much too easy to find, though this may have helped some of the less expert to succeed for the first time. Still, as these puzzles only appear at long intervals, I think they should satisfy their special fans; and I’ll try to make the next code-word more elusive.
 
The clues sent included some good ones, but the anagrams grew rather monotonous, especially “my rich dope,” “cry dope him” and “myopic herd”; I much preferred “do my cipher,” which wasn’t quite so common, to these. I wish I could dissuade competitors from indicating anagrams by nouns placed side by side with the vital words; these don’t say what is meant and will never succeed. There was a spate of them this time, ranging from “mixture” (not so bad as some) to “treatment,” “metaplasm,” “rotation,” and even “speculation.” It will pay competitors to avoid this usage, for I am very firmly set against it. I thought the winner’s brilliant double use of “Reichenbach” (the scientist connected with “od”—see Chambers—and the name of the Falls where Sherlock Holmes’s supposed death took place) made it quite outstanding.
 
Finally a regular competitor pleads that many commended clues exceed the 50 letters and spaces recommended as a limit in my book, and that this is hard on those who do so restrict themselves. I see the point, but I can’t lay too much stress on it in making my choice; if many of the best clues are a bit longer than that limit allows, it would hardly be wise or fair to exclude them all; after all, I use a few clues that exceed the limit myself, when I think their interest justifies it. I do always prefer a good short one to a good long one, but only when their merits are otherwise equal or nearly so; and I do exclude very long clues, with, say, more than twenty words in them. But I think a hard and fast rule would be a pity; a preference, yes—a rule, no.