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.
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SOLUTIONS
Last week’s geofoxer theme: codes & ciphers (defoxed by Viscount)
a. arnold cipher (Phlebas)
b. baconian cipher (AbyssUK, ylla, Electric Dragon)
c. purple cipher (ylla)
d. caesar cipher (copperbottom)
e. beaufort cipher (Nutfield, Phlebas, Electric Dragon)
f. shugsborough inscription (Aergistal)
g. beale cipher (Aergistal)
h. hut 6 at bletchley park (Viscount)
i. claude shannon (Nutfield, ylla)
j. bomba (copperbottom)
k. alberti cipher (Phlebas, Electric Dragon)
l. playfair cipher (Aergistal)
B1 – Anna Maxwell Martin playing Esther Summerson in Bleak House
D2 – Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc in Knives Out
E2 – Monas Hieroglyphica of John Dee
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monas_Hieroglyphica
B2 – Roman probably wants more than this but that’s literally just red things (Captain Scarlet, strawberries, Christian Louboutin heels, London bus etc)
I found the image ( https://www.blendspace.com/lessons/NL3gk2SIW0XgIg/colors ) but that doesn’t seem to help. I literally did a Google Image search for “red things”!
C5 – Moro from Princess Mononoke
Link – names of colours in different languages
D2 – Benoit Blanc (White in French)
E2 – John Dee (from Du, Black in Welsh)
C2 – Lothair Crystal
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lothair_Crystal
Depicts the biblical story of Susanna
C3 – Millwall’s The Den after being hit by the Luftwaffe on 19th April 1943
B5 – 50 Markaa note depicting K J Stahlberg, first president of Finland
The figure behind him looks more like Mother Svea (Sweden) than the Finnish Maiden.
B5 – Portrait of K.J. Stahlberg (1865-1952), first president of Finland (1919–1925).
https://en.numista.com/catalogue/note288122.html
D4 – Brown Station, Paradise Harbor, Antarctica
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Almirante+Brown+Antarctic+Base,+Antarctica/@-64.8953868,-62.8705931,3a,75y,220h,100t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sAF1QipNQ8bhTX6kw6SWZKJ9nLH6BgGW-me33ksY4oD9J!2e10!4m6!3m5!1s0xbc7f554585d111c7:0x9a682fb5bd34b06f!8m2!3d-64.8953868!4d-62.8705931!16zL20vMDlqeGc3
B3 – Odeillo-Font-Romeau Solar Furnace, France
B4 – lifeboat Rotary Service
http://the-norfolk-broads.co.uk/fileattachments/D/DtbOHxFBnDSC03765.JPG
A Thames class lifeboat – Old Father Thames – https://londonist.com/2015/07/who-was-old-father-thames
E3 – A model of the ship used in the Matrix, named “the Nebuchadnezzar”
But D3 doesn’t appear to be any of the kings who are also champagne bottles!
A4 – Grumman F11F Tiger , which apparently might have shot itself down…
C4 – Ted from the game I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream
D5. Dirk Bogarde on poster for ‘Ill Met by Moonlight’ (1957)
ETA: which I think is part of a quotation from A Midsummernight’s Dream, said by Oberon:
“Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania”.
The plot of which features the kidknapping of a German general.
A3 – Hindu god Kal Bhairav, the god of time… they ride a dog.
I think it’s Shitala / Sheetala (meaning coolness in Sanskrit) riding on a donkey.
She carries a small fan, a broom, a bowl (effectively a dustbin), and medicinal water. Seems she cures diseases of the skin.
E5 – the Titan Mare Explorer or TiME
https://www.spaceanswers.com/futuretech/nasas-titan-space-boat/
unfortunately can’t connect with A3
D1. Deva fortress (Cetatea Devei), Hunedoara County, Romania
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.8883497,22.9015999,3a,49.7y,285.63h,101.8t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sk3HuGRKCr1W89mXxACMz8g!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
Possible link – Fathers???
C4 – Father Ted
D4 – Father Brown
E5 – Father Time
E4. Sir Earle CHRISTMAS Grafton Page, 11th Prime Minister of Australia
Link – Kidnappings
B5 – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%C3%A5hlberg_kidnapping
C5 – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping_and_murder_of_Aldo_Moro
A4 – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger_kidnapping
A5 – Julius Caesar was kidknapped by Cilician priates in 75BC (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cilician_pirates). I know there are loads of paintings depicting his murder, so maybe this is one of them
I am on a roll today
Link – The Book of Daniel
C2 – Chapter 13 – Susanna and the Elders
B3 – Chapter 3 – the Fiery Furnace
C3 – Chapter 6 – Daniel in the Lion’s Den
E3 – Chapter 2 – Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream
Link – Chester
D1 – Roman name Deva
E2 – on the River Dee
D2 – birthplace of Daniel Craig
C1. cover of ‘The GOBLIN TOWER’ by L Sprague de Camp – as it has it on the one I’ve seen: “Co-author of the best-selling CONAN stories”.
An older term for one of the towers on the city walls, now known as Pemberton’s Parlour.
Link – Smallpox
B1 – Esther Summerson contracts it in Bleak House
A3 – Sheetala cures diseases and is especially linked with smallpox
B2 – Known as the Red Plague
A1 – University of Birmingham Medical School. Scene of this – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1978_smallpox_outbreak_in_the_United_Kingdom
A2. JENNER, Bavarian mountain
https://www.google.com/maps/@47.5760018,13.0246055,3a,90y,116.21h,84.91t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sAF1QipPIIRa26xtnvl_IGe9Fzep4sz1kaTWV7OTvLVAd!2e10!3e11!7i5760!8i2880?hl=en
Edward Jenner, originator of the smallpox vaccine
So we’re missing:
E1 – something to do with Chester
D3 – linked to the Book of Daniel
A5 – connected to kidnapping (which I have now learned to spell properly)
D3 – Thomas Venner, last leader of the Fifth Monarchy Men (name inspired by Daniel 7)
E1 – Chester Nez the last surviving original Navajo code talker.
A5 – The Death of Captain James Cook painting by Johann Zoffany. Cook attempted to kidnap the ruling chief of the island of Hawaiʻi, Kalaniʻōpuʻu.