Friday Foxer #92

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”, “Tulip mania”, “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.

* * *

SOLUTIONS

Last week’s rithmetic foxers:

Blue (defoxed by Nutfield, gusdownnup, Aergistal, and captaincabinets)
2*(76+9)=170

Red (partially defoxed by Phlebas and Aergistal)
(765-452-13)/30=10

Green (defoxed by Nutfield, gusdownnup, Phlebas, Aergistal, and ylla)
(12+51)/7*10*4+800=1160

43 Comments

  10. Wondering if the bottom right area is something to do with programming languages…

    Pascal, Analog, maybe the leopard is something to do with Java?

  26. Hey, isn’t C4 that thing from Super Mario Sunshine?

    EDIT: It is! F.L.U.D.D, or Flash Liquidizer Ultra Dousing Device

    • Flash could link in with Pascal and Analog as a programming language. Not knowing C5 doesn’t help and it means ther options for the fifth item would be Kraftwerk, Pelican Fountain, Georges Danton or Admiral Kuznetsov. Pelican is a static site builder but drawing a blank after that.

  27. Coat of arms of Almaty (E4) shows a SNOW leopard. Buran (D3) means SNOW storm or blizzard. I can’t link them up, though.

    I am stumped.

  28. Fludd is a novel by Hilary Mantel, who also wrote A Place of Greater Safety, in which Danton is a character. Given her recent demise, it makes it a possibility.

    The latest foxer says that one theme has been defoxed, meaning either programming languages or Tony Blair is wrong. If FLUDD is about Mantel rather than programming languages then it makes that less likely. I can’t find any link between King of Dragon Pass and Tony Blair so D1 might be from a different game.

    • D2 is Irish giant Charles Byrne, about which Mantel wrote a novel. Looks like it’s a strong candidate. It means either the Axons or Buran are linked to Mantel.

  29. Tupolev Tu-144 – Soviet supersonic passenger airliner

    E4: introduced into passenger service with Aeroflot between Moscow and ALMA-ATA on 1 November 1977
    D4: fitted with KUZNETSOV NK-144A turbofan engines/afterburners
    E3: distinctive retractable moustache CANARDs
    D3: later used by the Soviet space program to train pilots of the BURAN spacecraft

    and possibly
    E2: Dodgy – I should bloody say so! (Numerous crashes / faults)
    or, more likely,
    E5: MiG-21I ANALOG was used as a testbed for the Tu-144’s wing

  33. Roman is impressed. Four of the five themes have now been flushed out:

    Tony Blair
    Characters in Hilary Mantel novels
    Tu-144 ‘Concordski’
    Calculators

    • Tu-144
      D3, E3, D4, E4, E5 – as above

      Tony Blair
      B1. Granita
      C1. Booth
      D1. is NOT “King of Dragon Pass” *
      E1. Kosovo – where Tonibler is a popular boys name
      E2. Dodgy – dossier

      Hilary Mantel characters
      C2. Evelyn & Muriel AXON – Every Day Is Mother’s Day + sequel
      D2. CHARLES BYRNE – The Giant, O’Brien
      C3. DANTON – A Place of Greater Safety
      C4. F.L.U.D.D. – Fludd
      most likely B2. which could plausibly be Cromwell, because I don’t see B3. Barbados or B4. Pelican as characters

      Calculators
      presumably A5.
      B5. Kraftwerk (picture from Trans Europ(a/e) Express album) – Pocket Calculator, not on said album
      C5. Curta
      D5. Pascal
      plus either
      A4. Coolidge
      or
      B4. Pelican / Katowice

      Final Mystery Group
      A1. Bedford BAMBI
      A2. SAILOR CHRIS / RESIDENT EVIL / REVELATIONS
      A3. LAKE PLACID / WINTER OLYMPICS / 1980
      B3. BARBADOS
      plus either
      A4. COOLIDGE
      or
      B4. PELICAN / KATOWICE / SILESIA

      * searching Steam for games with similar tags, I came across “Social Services of the Doomed”, but that would be more appropriate for Iain Duncan Smith.

      • B4. Silesian Park has the “Elka” cable car;
        ELKA is a Bulgarian brand of electronic calculator.

        puts it fairly firmly in the Calculator group.

      • Just stirring the pot here.

        A2 Resident Evil Revelations 2 is set on an island, though the image of Sailor Chris is from the preceding installment. They are horror games.
        A3 Lake Placid has three islands: Buck, Moose, and Hawk. Winters Olympics were held there in 1980. A giant creature horror film by the same name is set there.
        B3 Barbados is an island. A recent creature horror film is set there. Some say Barbados, among other island nations, is in ‘climate rebellion’.
        A4 SS Coolidge ran aground at what is today an island of Vanuatu, which gained independence in 1980. The island Coolidge stumbled on, Espiritu Santo, saw rebellion in 1980. The Coolidge Corner Theater recently hosted an annual horror movie marathon.

        To stare at A5 in search of clues is akin to staring into the abyss.

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