Thanks to everyone who bought a sheet, and to the brave ones who struggled with it. It seems to have been a bit harder this time. There were lots who scored 70 out of 70: Sheila Smith, Stephen Nye, Douglas MacCreadie, Stewart & Ann Buchan, Harry MacDonald, Margaret MacDonald, Mick Pegram & Daphne Morgan, Chris Chantler, Ros Ellis, Wendy King, Ruth Dallaway, Mick Clarke, Jenny Hadingham, Charles Crosbie, Clive Buddle, Eric Jackson, Andrew Ashenhurst, Pauline Cooke, Clive Roper, Tim McDonald, Patsy Watkins, Sue & John Bilsby, Lynnie Porter, Steve Greenhill, Jill Fitzgerald.
As usual, it was exremely difficult to choose between the tie-breaker clues. Inevitably, it’s a subjective choice. I tend to go for the ones that hang together nicely, without words or ideas that are dragged in. In the end, I plumped for these (with two different treatments of ‘first’)
- Harry MacDonald’s topical He may need to make new arrangements for the internet era (entertainer)
- The Buchans’ Box containing… nothing! First with the jokes, as ever (cartoonist)
- Sheila Smith’s Designer plays catchier tune first (architect)
For a couple of extra prizes, how about Douglas McCreadie’s difficult but very clever When running a joint exercise, one of the cherubim has trouble doing without aid from Putin (butcher – yes, it took me a while); and Ray Foxell’s Happy couples have never had this dog (crossword setter).
But there were quite a few other good ones that worked well. You’ll find the best ones below the list of answers & explanations.
So, thank you all once again. This sheet raised over £550 (mainly thanks to my friend Nola shifting masses of the printed version in and around Hastings), and it means we’re able to fund a much-needed TB unit in the little Health Centre in Hastings SL. I’ll let everyone know when the Winter 2021 quiz is ready.
The Winter 2020 answers & explanations:
- Plumber – P (quiet) + lumber
- Rabbit – Ramble on = to rabbit, shortened (endlessly)
- Taxi driver – Über / Uber, the taxi firm
- Fishmonger – Sh + mo(brief moment) inside finger
- Consultant – Consult + Ant (Accountant not accepted)
- Actuary – (insurance company statistician)
- Golf pro – Flog reversed, pro = on behalf of
- Restaurateur – (anagram ‘tutus are rare’)
- Costermonger – (Sorry! Supposed to be an anagram, but there’s one -r- too many in ‘Mr Scrooge rent’. I tried to let everyone know)
- Don – As in “Quiet Flows the Don “ by Sholokhov
- Engineer – Sounds like engine ear.
- Pawnbroker – (Spoonerism) Brawn poker
- Astronaut – Anagram of to Saturn a
- Carpenter – Carp + enter
- Cashier – (to dismiss from Army in disgrace)
- Journalist – Anagram ‘just in oral’
- Editor – (sounds like) (h)ead (h) itter
- Janitor – Anagram of ‘Trojan I’
- Mortician – Anagram of I + a romantic
- Lawyer – Reverse, hidden answer: grey Wall
- Solicitor – Anagram of ‘colitis or’
- Gondolier – Anagram of ‘doing role’
- Rector – recto = right hand page(s) + r = right
- Laundress – Sounds like lawn dress
- Surveyor – Anagram of ‘very sour’
- Vet – Thou shalt not co-vet thy neighbour’s ass…
- Obstetrician – Anagram of ‘cabinet riots’
- Tour guide – Anagram of ‘guru to die’
- Tailor – Hidden word: in retail or…
- Seamstress – Main = sea; + mistress minus -i-
- Shepherd – [go]pher inside shed (moult)
- Programmer – Sounds like pro grammar (I eventually decided ‘grammarian’ wasn’t quite good enough)
- Pastrycook – Anagram of ‘copy a stork’
- Conjuror – Con = deceive, juror = one of 12 on jury
- Reporter – Re= about, porter = type of dark beer
- Stand-up comic
- Lollipop lady. [Controls street crossings outside schools]
- Author – Au = gold, Thor = hammer-throwing Norse god
- Meteorologist – Anagram of ‘remotest igloo’
- Radiologist – Anagram of ‘drat is igloo’
- Opera singer – O = love per = through + a Singer (brand name)
- Nurse – Anagram of ‘runes’
- Bartender – Spoonerism: tar bender
- Tinker – Used to mend holes in pots
- Head waiter – Spoonerism: Wed (= married) + hater (= misanthropist)
- Barrister – ‘Taking silk’ is height of barrister’s career progress
- Magistrate – Magi = 3 Kings; strate = anagram of ‘taters’
- Trapeze artist – Anagram of ‘Tzar Peter is at’
- Organist – Anagram of ‘trains go’ – he plays in the organ loft
- Chimney sweep- Chimneys = stacks, weep = cry
- Maître d’ – Anagram of I’m rated
- Antique dealer – Anagram of ‘quite a learned’
- Osteopath – Anagram (mad) of ‘he’s potato’ (Ignore punctuation)
- Dowser- Old penny= d + anagram (off) of ‘worse’
- Hedger – Headgear without ‘a’ twice
- Masseuse – Ass inside Meuse
- Hairdresser – Hot = H, look = air, + (Queen’s) dresser
- Sawyer – Tom = Tom Sawyer. (Saw has teeth, sawyer makes board)
- Paramedic – Anagram of ‘epic drama’
- Gamekeeper – Match = game; goalie = keeper
- Glazier – Start of ‘getting’ = g; + lazier
- Croupier – Comparative of adjective ‘croupy’. [betters = gamblers] (I didn’t accept ‘horseman’ – hoarse doesn’t quite cover ‘nastier cough’, and horseman is hardly a job)
- Fortune teller – Bank clerk = teller.
- Usherette – Anagram of ‘true these’
- Dog walker (I accepted dog warden)
- Midwife – Anagram of dem (short demo) + wifi
- Upholsterer – At uni = up; composer = Holst; hesitate = er
- Chambermaid – Potty = chamber; crazy = mad; first person = I
- Toastmaster – To + anagram of (turn) ‘a mattress’
- Auctioneer – ‘Lots’ in sense of items at auction.
Some of your very good clues (in case you haven’t had enough of all this nonsense) in no special order :
- Might he curb the trend to go vegan? (7)
- Recently made redundant – harsh fact, mister! (6,9)
- Write naff card …along double lines? (7,6)
- What a mix-up! Instead of lap dancers, a bloke with exotic plants turned up (10)
- A tailless bird is strikingly agile when up against eleven in the field. (7 letters).
- Spooner said he was a lone voice but it sounds like he was the complete yachtsman (10)
- One sitcom in which a smith excelled (9)
- He gets the wind up on board (11)
- Where does a hot, hot rapper go? In the dark, sometimes (11)
- Competitor on the river – on a jetski, perhaps (13)
- They’re like a lachrymose revolutionary (8)
- Isn’t love the sort of subject he’d write about? (8)
- Mummy would quickly fall apart if not for him (8)
- Taxi is more fashionable for the sailors (5,4)
- Guevara didn’t hit the target, by the sound of it (7)
- Redesigned lapdances garnered attractive outdoor space (9,8)
- Coach Number 1 wood (5,6)
- He keeps high-flyers on track (3,7,10)
- Low sort of thief (10)
- This boxer was open all hours (9)
- University’s chief sin? Constructing ranch to store instrument (4,10)
- Observe builder doing intricate work (10)
- Stockman with a sac, you say? (10)
- Does he disturb Mr Spooner’s cows? (9)
- Rush forward (7)
- He’ll only have a single malt, probably (7)
- Melting tarmac runs into dilapidated ship (10)
- High street trader, inexperienced at first, sounds fatter and uglier (11)
- Sounds like King Edward wasan’t really regal (11)
- She is a little contrary in idle domesticity (5)
- He loves his ship, though he doesn’t actually say so (9 – or 5)
A couple of musical clues:
32. Friend of Ernie in the West (7)
33.Want to see them bill ‘n coo, then George says this is the job for you (6,7)
34. And one suggested by Mrs A.Ives’ clue: Insect heard heading for the backside first – the blood-sucker! (12)
Answers:
- butcher
- Father Christmas (well that could be a job in a store!)
- traffic warden
- landscaper
- acrobat
- wholesaler
- economist (read A[dam] Smith)
- draughtsman
- photographer
- industrialist
- teachers (Che in tears!)
- novelist
- embalmer
- cabin crew
- chemist
- landscape gardener
- train driver
- air traffic controller
- undertaker
- arkwright
- vice chancellor (clever punctuation in the clue)
- watchmaker
- pharmacist
- shoemaker
- surgeon
- teacher
- pharmacist
- greengrocer
- commentator
- model (clever way of indicating a reversed word)
- boatswain (or bo’sun)
- milkman
- window cleaner
- phlebotomist