Friday Foxer #15

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 honeycomb below is a fancy form of wordsearch in which every cell is used, and words can curl and zigzag but never overlap. Each hive foxer has a theme (some past ones: gloves, mazes, earthquakes, and The 39 Steps). Identifying the theme is a vital part of the defoxing process. Today’s puzzle is composed of 19 answers.

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SOLUTIONS

Last week’s geofoxer theme: dinosaurs (defoxed by gusdownnup and captaincabinets)

a. Dinopark Vyškov, Czech Republic (ylla)
b. Toy heritage mural, Cincinnati (gusdownnup)
c. Children’s Museum of Indianopolis (captaincabinets)
d. Dinosaur Museum, Dorchester (ylla)
e. Dinoplagne, France
f. Sinclair gas station, Albany, Texas (Nutfield and Mrs. Nutfield)
g. Crystal Palace Dinosaur Park, London (Nutfield)
h. Dinosaur Kingdom 2, Natural Bridge, Virginia (Nutfield)
i. Drumheller, Alberta (captaincabinets)
j. Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia (gusdownnup)
k. Dinosaur bridge, Tokyo (Nutfield)
l. Villers-sur-Mer, France (gusdownnup)

34 Comments

  3. J4 – TEST SITE

    Couple of vaguely nuclear related terms:
    J1 – GROUT (used in nuclear waste storage)
    M5 – PANDA (passive non-destructive assay of nuclear materials)

  4. Some randomness:

    M5 PANDA
    E1 RATTING
    A4 VOTES
    D2 PARRY
    G2 BANANA

    I can’t figure out what to do with the Q at D6…

  11. Roman tells me that ylla has found 1.5 correct answers so far. Everything else can be disregarded.

    • I guess that rules out BENDY BANANA – heretofore a sacred cow for Britain’s fake news tabloids.

      What else has been written that could be part of the .5?
      PANDA – has potential
      RATTING – I don’t like as too easily read straight
      VOTES – I can’t figure out a word to go before or after this
      PARRY – more likely to be the 1 than the .5
      BANANA – could be either
      TRICK / PATRICK – plausible
      BENDY – too much a synonym for banana
      AWARD – most promising to have a word before it

  12. I’m puzzling over the V, J and Q.

    C1 – VIRUS
    D6 – QUANT
    F7 – ENJOIN
    G7 – JOEY, JANIK

    Also spotted…

    D3 – CANARY
    K3 – STOUT

  13. A few more…

    D2 – PARRY
    F3 – TARRY

    D3 – CURRANT

    G4 – RICKETS
    J1 – GOUT
    M2 – TINEA

  14. Thinking about healthcare and current events (keying off VIRUS)…

    A4 – VETOS, VESTS
    B5 – TESTS
    C5 – NORMS
    D4 – ARMS

  15. What about board games…

    C1 – VIRUS
    D3 – CARROMS
    D9 – LIFE
    G5 – TRICK (TRIBE?)
    G7 – JENGA
    H1 – DECK
    H12 – DRAW

    I started to run out a bit then. Also found:

    D7 – HOSTESS

  16. Quality defoxing, Alison, but the theme remains undiscovered and the correct answer count is still 1.5.

    Some hints from Roman to help unlock this monster:

    – Identifying the word that includes the Q will help immensely.
    – There’s a clue to the theme in the THC logo/header.

    • QUESO? ARAQ? I think I have left English behind.

      I did find MONAQUE, which is the name of a naval historian. That’s a bit Tally-Ho-ish.

          • We’ll see whether the powers of sleep are all they’re touted to be: I’ve woken this morning fairly convinced the answer must involve HERALDRY, though I’m not sure I can make Tim’s tally of 1.5.

            BEND or BENDY are heraldic terms for diagonal stripes
            BAR or BARRY – horizontal stripes

            … / AWARD / … – somehow relating to be given a coat-of-arms?

            C9. FESS / FESSE – horizontal bands

            D8. CHEQUY – as it sounds
            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variation_of_the_field

            J9. PELLET – represents a star reduced to a single point

            The clue in the THC masthead? Possibly the charging knight, but more likely the griffin on a shield.

          • Some other letter combos:

            L7. SIMPLE – Roman’s little joke
            L2. SINISTER – fits with heraldry, but (depending on which T it takes) it isolates Gout (+ Tea) which Tim has dismissed

            F4. TRINTIGNANT – nicely shaped, but leaves behind more annoying letters than it removes

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