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.
Below is a list of ‘36 things that you might find in or on a bottle’ (‘things’ is used in its broadest possible sense). Entries have been stripped of vowels and numbers and have had any inter-word spaces repositioned*. For example, if ‘bottle brush’ was present it might appear as BT TLBRSH. Message would be MSSG.
*Hyphens are treated as spaces. Apostrophes are ignored. Sometimes repositioning spaces isn’t possible
1. MRL
2. MT HRSRN
3. GN
4. N NJ MP P K
5. SK LGR
6. GRTDPLYS TYRN
7. RK
8. LT RS FTTT
9. NNNW TN NFLD
10. BLVN
11. CR MCSTPPR
12. LS
13. WL LMSPR
14. TH MSP
15. L VL
16. LMWD G
17. M THRFV NGR
18. FNTM NSMN DRNN DSVL LRNGJG GR
19. YS TRSC
20. FRS TYFR RTM BRL
21. LLMNSMBR CTN
22. CMDRDT NBCHRCTR PLLR
23. PMTNCT R
24. WS TNDSPR TR
25. MRNKVC
26. LLG
27. BL BSL
28. RGTS YRP
29. DT CHCRG
30. RMN
31. RTC LTDPL STCSTRW
32. WHTPHSP HRS
33. B LTT
34. YWS H
35. R NGR NDG DSW M NDP R F M
36. TH MSTGMSRBRPS
* * *
SOLUTIONS
Last week’s wordchain:
1. LURGAN (ylla)
2. GANSU (Aergistal)
3. SUBALTERN (Viscount)
4. ERNST (Electric Dragon)
5. STUGNA (ylla)
6. GNADENHUTTEN (Aergistal)
7. TENERIFE (ylla, Aergistal, gusdownnup)
8. FEATHERSTONE (Viscount)
9. NETHERSPITE (Viscount)
10. TEPIDARIUM (Viscount, Aergistal)
11. UMBRELLA (ylla)
12. LAWSON (Colonel_K)
13. SONNERAT (Viscount, Electric Dragon)
14. RATHSKELLER (Viscount)
15. LERMA (Electric Dragon)
16. MARENGO (ylla)
17. GOUDA (Colonel_K)
18. DAVENPORT (Aergistal)
19. PORTAL (ylla)
20. ALECTO (Viscount)
21. TOMPION (ylla)
22. ONGAR (Viscount)
23. GARAI (Aergistal)
24. RAIVAVAE (Aergistal)
2. MOTHER’S RUIN
3. GIN? (isn’t that the same thing?)
17. MOTHER OF VINEGAR (yuck)
11 – CERAMIC STOPPER
32 – WHITE PHOSPHORUS
13 – WILLIAMS PEAR
34. EYE WASH? I would have made that one word
29. DUTCH COURAGE
31. RETICULATED PLASTIC STRAW
34 – EYE WASH
31 – RETICULATED PLASTIC STRAW
Oi, get out of my mind 😀
15. OLIVE OIL
18. FENTIMAN’S MANDARIN AND SEVILLE ORANGE…
JIGGER, apparently.
(I only buy the rose lemonade!)
10 – OBLIVION – wine in Fallen London (which I must get back to playing)
Last word in 22 looks like Caterpiller
The bit not quite at the end looks like character, but that would put the space in the wrong place.
35 seems to end in perfume, but the rest…
35 – ARIANA GRANDE GOD IS A WOMAN PERFUME
It’s probably just a superfluous D between Woman and Perfume.
The D would fit EAU DE PARFUM instead of PERFUME.
EAU DE PARFUM, I think
28 – ORGEAT SYRUP (link to wikipedia)
33 – BLUE TIT – most likely to be found pecking at the top of a milk bottle
Hunh!
I thought I was being clever with OUBLIETTE which is apparently a Bottle Dungeon (and just one word).
1 – MORALE fits in, or is this too similar in meaning to Dutch Courage?
AMARULA ? – preferred falling-over-juice of the african elephant IIRC
20 – FURSTY FERRET AMBER ALE
12. LEES – debris after fermentation
I was going to say ALES fits, but we have an ale elsewhere so I’d say LEES is right.
22 – COMADIA REDTENBACHERI CATERPILLAR
4 and 35 have lots of words and not very many letters – I wonder if there’s something cute going on with numbers here.
gusdownnup got 35 – it’s just short words
16 – LIME WEDGE
6. GRATED POLYSTYRENE ? Polystyrene looks all but certain
ETA: Polystyrene can be shredded to make regranulate as part of recycling
ETFA: Grated styrofoam is one of the constituents of home-made napalm Molotov cocktails.
19 – OYSTER SAUCE
There also something called YEAST RESCUE, but you propbably have it right.
“Super-soothing Yeast Rescue!® is a safe, all-natural way to treat your yeast infection.”
23 – OPIUM TINCTURE
24. WEST INDIES PORTER – brewed by Guinness
26. ULLAGE – the air-space above the wine
I was stuck at West End…
7 – RAKIA, but it could also be (say) ARAK.
21. ELLIMANS (Universal) EMBROCATION
8. ULTRA SOFT TEAT ? – for babies
Ones I’m fairly sure don’t even have a guess yet:
4. N NJ MP P K – Onion Jam … (something close to chutney)
5. SK LGR – not Skol lager unless there’s a missing letter
9. NNNW TN NFLD – nine newt inn flood
14. TH MSP
25. MRNKVC – I was thinking some sort of Kvass, but it’s proabably not
27. BL BSL
30. RMN
36. TH MSTGMSRBRPS – … Burps?
30. ROMAN ?! – It would be a bit harsh to say Roman can always be found in a bottle, wouldn’t it?
30 might be RAMUNE, a Japanese drink with an interesting-shaped bottle.
phlebas can’t get in for some reason, but says 9 is NON NEWTONIAN FLUID
25. MERUňKOVICE – Moravian apricot brandy
ETA: 27. BLOB SEAL – molten lump of glass on the bottle’s shoulder into which a stamp is pressed
36 – ETHMOSTIGMUS RUBRIPES: a giant caterpillar infused into vodka
https://www.thailandunique.com/unique-food-drink/alcohol-infusions/centipede-vodka-drink
Centipede, not caterpillar. Entirely different subphylum of Arthropoda.