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: owls, rugby, Egypt, UFOs…). Identifying the theme is a vital part of the defoxing process. Today’s puzzle is composed of 26 answers, three of which are acronyms.
(There’s another foxer – a prize-laden solo one – in today’s A2Z.)
* * *
SOLUTIONS
Last week’s geofoxer theme: The 1939 movie, The Wizard of Oz (defoxed by Phlebas)
A. ding, dong, the witch is dead (gusdownnup, Colonel_K)
B. professor marvel (Aergistal, Colonel_K)
C. kansas (Zwack23)
D. victor fleming (gusdownnup, Colonel_K, Electric Dragon)
E. asbestos snow (ylla)
F. wizard (Phlebas, Colonel_K)
G. munchkin (Aergistal, Colonel_K)
H. toto (gusdownnup)
I. flying monkey (Aergistal, Colonel_K)
J. tornado, or mercedes mccambridge (Viscount, Electric Dragon)
K. scarecrow (Aergistal)
L. site of premiere (gusdownnup)
M1 ARSINE – Compound of Arsenic?
Q8 – FOOTBALL?
W1 – MONOGATARI (Japanese Stories, Mrs Nutfield)
Upgraded to R1 – Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai
F2 SLEEPING BEAUTY
That feels surprisingly probably for a first find!
Wrapped around E4 BENJAMIN
… and they’re both tucked around D3 WHOOPING COUGH.
Where on earth is this going? 🙂
Doesn’t that leave A3 as WTF? :p
Or WTC – but yes, it does look a bit odd up there.
CWT, abbreviation for hundredweight!
100 dollar notes are called Benjamins, apparently.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_one-hundred-dollar_bill
There are some obvious horizontal women’s names…
HELEN
JOYCE
KATHLEEN
I didn’t find Helen, but did find Keira!
So the link is ‘Fables’
A5 FLYING SCOTSMAN
Since the centenary isn’t until 2023, possibly as the first steam locomotive to reach 100mph
Hyakumonogatari Kaidankai uses 100 lamps, and the Flying Scotsman is coming up to its 100th birthday, which would be topical…
Doesn’t Sleeping Beauty fall asleep for 100 years?
ETA: ‘Whooping cough, also known as pertussis or the 100-day cough…’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whooping_cough
Nice catch YLLA.
Q3 – CENTS? (Mrs Nutfield)
I4 – FLO JO (100m women’s champ)
J1 – ACRE WOOD
I headed out to do some stuff and no new updates?
On one hand boo, on the other hand, yay!
Everyone distracted by the sales? Nothing was jumping at me, so I thought I’d leave it for a bit and see if anyone came along!
H8 – YEARS OF SOLITUDE
H9 CENTURION
I10 – Is RUNE & COIN whatever that is?
A bit of a muddle above it, too – ATOM and PSYCH-, but nothing I can make sense of
And… off for dinner, i shall continue when the Q8 is on.
T2 – FERMIUM – atomic number 100
L1 KARMAN LINE
K6 BBC
P10 – COTTUS, thanks Roman – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hecatoncheires
G7 – HECATO, an old spelling of Hecto? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hecto-
Hecatomb was a sacrifice of 100 cattle, but I don’t see a free B.
ETA: HECATOMPYLOS – ancient city of ‘one hundred gates’
I was sure we’d messed up somewhere up there, nice!
E9 – FTSE
All I managed on my own would be X2. TON ie. 100mph in a car or a score of 100 in cricket.
V5. CURCUMIN has the E number E100.
And, speaking of doing a ton, N2. LA JAMAIS CONTENTE, first road vehicle to go over 100kph.
(ETA. eliminates Q3. Cents as a possibility)
Hidden message from Roman: (N4.) Dear (Q5.) Stupid (T8.) Arse
Best avoid S12
Q5 – F100 ‘SUPER-SABRE’
S11 – Zocchihedron (Found after i spotted Hedron and wondered what a 100 sided polyhedron was)
X4 – PUNTO – no idea why?
TON UP, maybe?
I’m running out of ideas… I’m sure this isn’t right…
M1 – ARA – https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ara_(unit%C3%A0_di_misura)
I make 21 down (including the 3 acronyms) and 5 to go.
A5 FLYING SCOTSMAN
B4 CWT
D3 WHOOPING COUGH.
E4 BENJAMIN
E9 FTSE
F2 SLEEPING BEAUTY
G7 HECATOMPYLOS
H8 YEARS OF SOLITUDE
H9 CENTURION
I4 FLO JO
J1 ACRE WOOD
K6 BBC
L1 KARMAN LINE
N2 LA JAMAIS CONTENTE
P10 COTTUS
Q5 SUPER-SABRE
R1 HYAKUMONOGATARI KAIDANKAI
S11 ZOCCHIHEDRON
T2 FERMIUM
V5 CURCUMIN
X2 TON UP
(FOOTBALL is still a possibility, but I can’t see why…)
S8 DHRITARASHTRA, father of 100 sons and one daughter
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhritarashtra
Q8. FOOTBALL WAR = Hundred Hours’ War between El Salvador and Honduras
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_War
Q8 FOOTBALL WAR or 100 days war
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_War
Hours, even. Days was something else, and Years something else again!
S12 WERNER MOLDERS, the first pilot to shoot down 100 enemy aircraft
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Werner_M%C3%B6lders
Leaves N6. CIEN, Spanish for 100.
Someone has miscounted, then, because that’s 25, but I don’t care right now 🙂