Thanks, everyone who bought an orange quiz sheet. We raised at least £500 towards the Schools Sanitation Project – some monies still to come in.
Congratulations to everyone who wrestled with the clues. We had 53 sheets returned, and 16 quizzers scored 70/70. It seems that it was a bit harder than some years, but Glaucus received some nice comments.
It was hard to select the 3 best tie-breaker clues amongst the 70/70s. Choosing is a very subjective thing. Glaucus looks for clues in which all the bits of the clue have some sort of logical connection, like this year’s nº 59: Retreating crowd starts brandishing axes. However, the clue that stood out for its clever construction was Circled circled circle circle (9) – for CROCODILE , from Tim McDonald (Hastings). Clive Buddle (Tonbridge) and Lynnie Porter (Tring) came hot on Tim’s heels. Other perfect scores from Stephen Nye, Maddy Coelho, Hilary Oughton, Val Piper, Susan Bilsby, Ray Foxell, Stewart Buchan, Anna Foster, Mick Pegram and Robert Greenhill.
Glaucus gives another little prize for the clue that tickles his fancy, even if the writer didn’t score 70. He couldn’t decide between Roger Mitchell’s ingenious clue for SCARAB: “Captain, have you a sound fall-back position?” “Yes, sir!” and Andrew Ashenhurst’s clue for WHIRLIGIG: Spooner announces it’s something he wears when cross-dressing.
Here are the answers with explanations. Apologies for calling a hermit crab a mammal.
Birds
- Crow. Reversed, hidden in Worcester
- Barn owl. Anagram of RAN inside B…OWL
- Pied wagtail. Anagram of AWED inside P..IGTAIL
- Goshawk. Hidden in gosh awkward
- Gannet. ANNE inside G and T
- Kittiwake. Witty cake (Spoonerism)
- Avocet. Anagram of OCTAVE
- Dunnock. Anagram of NUN in the D…OCK
- Redwing. R (Republican), + D (Democrat) inside EWING
- Raven. Craven = cowardly, minus initial c-
- Ptarmigan.Anagram of AMP RATING
- Jay. Sounds like the letter J
- Secretary bird. Charlie Parker’s nickname = “Bird”. PA = secretary
- Sandpiper. I inside sandpaper (wet & dry), minus -a- But Keith Sellens’ TIDDY-WREN works equally well: an amazing coincidence.
- Snipe. NIP inside S(outh) E(ast)
- Puffin. Puffing minus -g (gravity)
- Nightingale. NIGHT IN GALE / (Mary) Nightingale.
- Rook. = chess piece (castle) / to cheat
- Spoonbill. SPOON (kiss and cuddle) on BILL (account)
- Swallow. Synonym of gulp
- Turnstone. Spoonerism: harsh manner when addressing = stern tone
- Dipper. Slang for pickpocket / big dipper = scary fairground ride
- Grebe. Hidden in meagre benefits (5)
- Warbler. Anagram of REBEL WAR without E
- Goldcrest. GOLD = First class. CREST = top of (mountain) range
- Spotted flycatcher. Saw = SPOTTED + CATCH in FLY…ER
- Ringed plover. P = quiet, swain = LOVER. RINGED = wearing wedding band/ring
Mammals
- Stoat. Anagram of TOAST
- Mongoose. My French -= MON bird = GOOSE (famous for killing snakes)
- Blue Whale. BLUE = low, WHALE sounds like ‘wail’
- Ocelot. Hidden in sotto voce lots
- Marmot. Spoil = MAR + M.O.T
- Tapir. Anagram (wild) of PARTIES without e’s (ecstasy tabs)
- Otter. hotter with the initial h dropped
- Weasel. Warhol starts = W + EASEL
- Reindeer. Sounds like ‘rain dear’
- Skunk. Potassium = K inside SUNK
- Sloth. One of the 7 deadly sins
- Przewalski’s (horse). Anagram of WALKER’S ZIPS. (Had to be spelled correctly!)
- Giraffe. Anagram of IF FARAGE minus -a-
- Ounce. Cat/ weight
- Groundhog. Minced = GROUND. Pork = HOG
- Orca. Hidden in or Canadian
- Leopard. Anagram of PAROLED
- Lynx. So, just the other half of asLY miNX
- Coypu. Hidden in decoy put
- Llama. A MALL reversed
- Opossum. Love = O + POSSUM. (a fan, not fans)
- Vampire bat. Anagram (suggested by ‘shindig’) of AMBER AT VIP
- Hermit crab. HER = girl’s + MIT = with in German + CRAB = crabby person, sourpouss
- Spectacled bear. Attach end of BEARD to SPECTACLE
- Chipmunk. MUNK sounds like monk [in (holy) orders]. Harry Ramsden’s = famous chippie. MONKFISH worked, too.
- Peccary. Reversed in Zephyr Accept
- Wolverine. Anagram
- Warthog. HOGWART(S) (singular), two halves changed around. (‘hamster’ didn’t parse properly)
- Bushbaby. George W Bush’s origin
- Flying fox. Loud = F false news peddling = LYING. News Channel = FOX
- Agouti. A G.I. = one soldier. Openly gay = OUT
Insects and other creepy-crawlies
- Bombyx. Crowd = MOB (rev.) starts brandishing = B axes = Y & X axes (in maths)
- Cobra. Firm = CO support = BRA (national crisis committee)
- Flea. Back of LEAF to front
- Cockroach. Spoonerism: ROCK COACH
- Bee. Spelling bee = test
- Wasp. White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. (Coventry rugby team known as Wasps)
- Aphid. Starting = Initial letters of All plantswomen hate its destructiveness
- Ladybird…President Lyndon B Johnson’s wife was known as Lady Bird
- Tick. As in a tick-box
- Louse. Maurice Chevalier song “Every little breeze seems to whisper Louise” (minus i )
- Butterfly. Small bet = FLUTTER. over = BY.(Spoonerism)
- Dragonfly. FLAGON DRY (Spoonerism)
This year’s home-made tie-breakers. (Some aren’t really cryptic, or don’t quite work, and a couple are really obscure, but I’ve included them all.)
Birds
Sounds like a painful visit to a seaside town ()7). wryneck
Might she put on the kettle? (6) parrot
Tea with a very loud short measurement (9) chaffinch
The result of taking up jogging – no good! (6). puffin
Spooner might grumble a greeting (12). yellowhammer
TV producer adds fun (7) skylark
US jail outbreak given a huge bill (6) toucan
Son and another boy identify summer visitor (4,6) sand martin
Quiet heroine in the sheepfold (8) starling
This high flyer an Oxford college? Sounds like it could be. (6) oriole
This ticklish well-read setter is actually gray, though scarlet up front. (5). robin
Horse about and frolic (5,4) shore lark
Put salt in a cocktail for this common bird (8) starling
Queen in middle of dune and heather (10) sanderling
They might be playing at the liberty for their goals (5) swans
Relax here – that’s the point! (7) sparrow
Sounds like an Asian hall carpet. (6,6) indian runner
Of equal decomposition (6) parrot
Cost of a shave, maybe? (9) razorbill
Mammals
Should this chained animal be released into the wild? (7). echidna
Not in favour of changing support (7) antelope
Sounds like you ban a fruity monkey (7,3) barbary ape
Stream in Indian state for silverback (7) gorilla
Roasted lemons – it can smell them underwater (4-5,4) star-nosed mole
**Valiant maidens out to get this beast (9,5) tasmanian devil
Only black and white answer in a cryptic quiz that nags at you until completed (6) badger
Nurturing place by apple tree (6) wombat
Babble endlessly at Wayne but not Rey (6) baboon
Bone maybe round about rise (10) chinchilla
Stop that first woman becoming involved – dammit! (6) beaver
Finish the fight against French in the nude, we hear (5,4). koala bear
Weaponise single herb before duck (9) armadillo
Hector discovered in bar going ape (6) baboon
Looks like a Welsh beginning with mother. (5) llama
I hope there’s someone driving this plane! Cor! (5,5) pilot whale
Why is it in the house? Don’t ask. (8) elephant
Raced back from endless blowhard narwhal
Sounds like beard has been removed (10) chinchilla
*How confusing – the plane not a tree? No, it’s an animal (8) elephant
He’s a great trumpeter but not in the band (8) elephant
Half a horse before out of order inferno (7) giraffe
Sounds like a healthy critter (10) hartebeest
Well-heeled web master swallows potassium and does a u-turn. (6,6). Spider monkey
Criticise harshly, leave nothing back (8) pangolin
Sounds like an expensive tether (8) reindeer
Take over vets in outsize overalls (6) vervet
A good and bad read (6) badger
Terrier named after a character in Sir Walter Scott’s “Guy Mannering’ (6,7) dandie dinmont
Spooner knocks a journalist entangling him legally. (8,5) humpback whale
Doubly agrees (3,3) aye-aye
Research facility requires quick sketch by artist (11) labradoodle
Creepy-crawlies inc reptiles
Back in a mountain pass I leave a Scottish island (6) locust
Doctors leave nothing for this bloodsucker (8) mosquito
Harriet embraces singlet (10) harvestman
Dismiss little nuisance (8) firebrat
She came out backwards before secret listener (3,3) bed bug
“Captain, have you a sound fall-back position?” “Yes, sir!” scarab
Spooner makes this sound almost œdipal! (11) caterpillar
Abstemious Gallic article surrounds ancient city (6) turtle
This animal went wrong. Mine was very small (4) newt
Top beetle? (9) whirligig
***Circled circled circle circle. Snappy! (9). crocodile
A Bruce inspiration catches lupu (4,6) wolf spider
Crazy gal tailor-made (9) alligator
What old country flies were known as horse stingers (11) dragonflies
Spooner announces it’s something he wears when cross-dressing (9) whirligig