Friday Foxer #3

Every Friday at 1300 hours, Tally-Ho Corner’s cleverest clogs come together to solve a ‘foxer’ handcrafted by my sadistic chum and colleague, Roman. A complete ‘defoxing’ sometimes takes several days and usually involves the little grey cells of many readers. Don’t be shy. All are welcome to participate.

The ‘cluster foxer’ is regarded by some as the most demanding form. Solving one involves identifying 25 pictures and five hidden themes. The enlargeable mosaic below consists of five interlocked picture clusters (some possible cluster arrangements are shown above) each with its own theme. Themes have nothing in common with each other. Don’t be surprised to find, for example, “Crocodiles”, “The Spanish Armada”, “Words beginning with “ter””, “1948” and “Fictional policemen” sharing a puzzle. A picture’s connection to a particular theme won’t always be literal. An image of the Brandenburg Gate is just as likely to be part of a “Bach” cluster as a “Berlin” one.

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SOLUTIONS

Last week’s geofoxer theme: zoological collective nouns

a) dazzle (Nutfield)
b) colony (Nutfield)
c) parliament (Nutfield, Viscount)
d) sleuth (Nutfield)
e) raft (Nutfield)
f) school (Nutfield)
g) rookery (Nutfield)
h) float (Nutfield)
i) crash (Panzerschwein)
j) pod (Nutfield)
k) siege (Nutfield)
l) lepe (Panzerschwein)

53 Comments

  2. A2 looks to me like Harry Andrews as R.S.M. Wilson in Sidney Lumet’s “The Hill”, also starring Sean Connery.

  6. Looks like my first comment is awaiting moderation, perhaps because I edited it, so to recap:

    A3 – McDonnell Douglas A-12 Avenger II
    B1 – Atic Atac by Ultimate Play The Game

    • SOWETO in D1 is also an abbreviation (South West Township) which might mean the book in D2 is also in that group?

      • The people on the book cover look like they’re behind barbed wire maybe?

        Both GULAG and POW are acronyms so I wonder if one of them relates to the book title or subject.

  23. I think I’m seeing some links to “Jane Eyre”:

    B1 – “The woman in the ATTIC”
    B2 – Edward Fairfax ROCHESTER
    C1 – ST. JOHN Eyre Rivers

        • A1 – I guess the link might be: the 1943 movie version of Jane Eyre was directed by Robert Stevenson… the John Bull locomotive was built by Robert Stephenson and Company (also the loco was initially named “Stevens”, after the Camden and Amboy Railroad’s first president, Robert L. Stevens).

  24. I’m kind of seeing old British cars maybe?

    A4 – Triumph DOLOMITE
    B4 – Triumph STAG
    A3 – Hillman AVENGER (shame that’s not Triumph as well)

  25. Three cluster themes have been correctly identified and two fully defoxed.

    Jane Eyre (a1, b1, c1, a2, b2)
    Words that started life as acronyms (d1, c2, d2, c3, d3)
    Cars on British roads in the 1970s (?, ?, ?, ?, ?)

  26. The next theme is Ruby.

    E1 – Lee Harvey Oswald getting shot by Jack Ruby
    E2 – The Black Prince – link with the Black Prince’s Ruby in the Imperial Crown
    E3 – Judy Garland – ruby slippers in the Wizard of Oz
    E4 – Mercury Redstone 4
    D4 – Pretty sure this passage is from the Ruby of Kishmoor

    • Not sure about D4 now, and now see it was identified as The Lost World above and Tim didn’t correct, then my answer must be wrong.

    • The ruby clue made me search a bit harder for E5, and I think it might be a 1K17 Szhatie laser tank, which uses ruby crystals.

  28. Solved so far:

    (Does bolding work?) [b]Jane Eyre[/b]: (No.)
    A1 – link not established. Locomotive is the John Bull, but that thing on the front is a pilot or cowcatcher
    B1 – “The woman in the ATTIC”
    B2 – Edward Fairfax ROCHESTER
    C1 – ST. JOHN Eyre Rivers
    A2 – Field Marshal Sir Claude John EYRE Auchinleck

    Words that started life as acronyms ( c2, c3, d1, d2, d3)

    Vehicles exceptionally sad men are wasting their time and money restoring:
    A3 – McDonnell Douglas A-12 Avenger – Hillman AVENGER
    A4 – Triumph DOLOMITE
    A5 – Granada Cathedral – Ford GRANADA
    B5 – Marina Raskova – Morris MARINA
    C5 – Operation Capri – Ford CAPRI

    Rubies?
    E1 – Lee Harvey Oswald shot by Jack RUBY
    E2 – The Black Prince extorted a RUBY, now in the Imperial Crown
    E3 – Judy Garland – RUBY slippers in the Wizard of Oz
    E4 – Mercury Redstone 4 rocket (second US human spaceflight carrying Liberty Bell 7) – Rubies are red stones?
    E5 – 1K17 Szhatie laser tank – utilised synthetic RUBY crystals

    Unknown, but possibly Thom(p)sons
    B3 – Tintin / “The Crab with the Golden Claws” / first appearance of Captain Haddock / detectives Thomson & Thompson
    B4 – Stag beetle of some unidentified variety / Mandible / Antlers
    C4 – Livingstone and the Lion statue
    D4 – Excerpt from “The Lost World” by Arthur Conan Doyle
    D5 – “The Magic Roundabout” of Swindon / narrated by Eric Thompson

    • Maybe that last one is Stop-Motion animation.

      B3 – In 1947, the first Tintin motion picture was a stop-motion version of “The Crab with the Golden Claws”
      B4 – ! ?
      C4 – Ray Harryhausen – master of this art
      D4 – The Lost World (1925 film) – pioneering stop motion special effects by the guy who would later do King Kong
      D5 – if you don’t know then rectify that, fast! (redubbed “Le Manège enchanté”)

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