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: elephants, earthquakes, Egypt…). Identifying the theme is a vital part of the defoxing process. Today’s puzzle is composed of 18 answers.
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SOLUTIONS
Last week’s ‘33 things wot you might find in Ukraine’ missing vowels foxer
1. CRG – courage (honanhal)
2. LYD MLPVLCHNK – lyudmila pavlichenko (Nutfield)
3. CSSC KHTMNT – cossack hetmanate (Nutfield)
4. NT NVNM R Y – antonov an-225 mriya (Mrs Nutfield)
5. SN DYM LRT – sandy mole-rat (Nutfield)
6. B BYR – babi yar (Nutfield)
7. LNDKC HM – leonid kuchma (Colonel_K)
8. PTM KNSTRS – potemkin stairs (Nutfield)
9. THDDL STRS HWC CD NTNH S TRY – the deadliest air show accident in history (ylla)
10. TRMBT – trembita (Mrs Nutfield)
11. GRVTM – graviteam (Nutfield)
12. GL LCSST RNHLF – galicia’s eastern half (Colonel_K)
13. TRYZB – tryzub (Nutfield)
14. RMDN – euromaidan (honanhal)
15. RSSNN VDRS – russian invaders (Nutfield)
16. QGGMS SL – quagga mussel (Nutfield)
17. KVSS – kvass (Nutfield)
18. DNT SKPPLSRP BLC – donetsk people’s republic (Nutfield)
19. MS HTHPN GN – misha the penguin (Nutfield)
20. RPSB RDB SKT – europes bread basket (Nutfield)
21. KHRKVCHNK – kharkovchanka (Nutfield)
22. PTYM STYCHNCV – optymistychna cave (Nutfield)
23. RSLN – ruslana (Nutfield)
24. KRN NBRKLM PRY – ukrainian brook lamprey (Nutfield)
25. DRSTL HMMR – dr. steelhammer (Nutfield)
26. HL DMRM MRLDY – holodomor memorial day (honanhal)
27. L VDPLC – livadia palace (Nutfield)
28. BRKTR NDS STR – borki train disaster (Nutfield)
29. VYSHYVNK – vyshyvanka (Nutfield)
30. STRLK – strelok (honanhal)
31. VNNYTSMS SCR – vinnytsia massacre (Nutfield)
32. PS NDPRSD NTLCNDDT – poisoned presidential candidate (ylla)
33. SXT NMTRL NGSWR D – sixteen metre-long sword (Nutfield)
Wild mad guessing time
E3 – QUOITS
D7 – TREEN (as in the foes of Dan Dare. Or alternatively small wooden things)
H3. TRELLIS
ETA: C1. OUCH
E3. QUITS
Something to do with Roman gardening?
H1/I1 BERYL
A2 – CHAKA KHAN
J1. (William) WEBB ELLIS – creator of rugby
Unlikely, though not impossible, that they share something in common.
ETA: B1. TOUCH – form of rugby that does not involve hard tackling
ETFA: E3. QUINS – shortened form of Harlequins Rugby Football club
L2. RUCK ?
H3. TRY ? – equivalent to a touchdown
G10 – SCRUM
L3 – LINE OUT
I think Colonel_K is onto a winner here
A3 – HAKA?
although that makes the C at A2 awkward
LINE OUT could also start at K4
I11 – RABBIS
J6 – OVERLAP, means LINE-OUT starts at K4
I4 – PROP
K9 – INVICTUS, which is a bit more suitable to a Rugby theme than Rabbis.
F5. GILBERT – manufacturer of rugby balls (also specialises in netball,apparently)
J7 – BLEDISLOE CUP
G6 – SKY? (because they show a lot of games? bit tenuous IMO)
C8 – OBOLENSKY – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Obolensky
A7. KA-MATE ? – the form of Haka most commonly performed (as opposed to the Kapa O Pango with its throat-slitting gesture)
ETA: B8. HAND-OFF ?
but it leaves a G isolated at E11.
B8 has HAND OFF, but it leaves an odd G. could SCRUM be a red herring? It screws up the letters below as wel if everything else is correct.
Just beaten by Colonel K to that one!
C5 – BLACK FERNS, the NZ women’s national team.
C3 – LE CRUNCH
E11 might be GRUBBER if SCRUM is a red herring. If anyone knows a rugby player called Mark Rossics, we’ve got this done!
E11. GRUBBER – kick making the ball tumble along the ground
G13. MARK ! – call made when catching the ball in your own 22 ?
(Dim recollection of schooldays)
ETA: G10. SCISSORS – passing / diversionary move
Ha! Never even noticed that Rossics is scissor backwards.