Friday Foxer #135

Every Friday, 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. 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 ‘33 Things Wot You Might Find in a Bank’ missing vowels foxer:

1. HXTN = hoxton (a_monk)
2. CHNSW LL = chinese wall (AbyssUK)
3. LSTR NGVLT = lestrange vault (Electric Dragon)
4. DN LDDFRZ = donald defreeze (Electric Dragon)
5. JYBN G = ajay banga (Colonel_K)
6. THR MCLNC = thermic lance (Phlebas)
7. R NGLN = orange lion (Colonel_K)
8. MR TGGDVSR = mortgage advisor (copperbottom)
9. TL LRSWCKT = tellers wicket (Electric Dragon)
10. DYPC K = dye pack (Electric Dragon)
11. CMPNDNT RST = compound interest (Viscount)

12. T MLCK = time lock (AbyssUK)
13. RB RTLRYPR KER = robert leroy parker (Phlebas)
14. MG NTCN KCHRC TRRC GNTNLN = magnetic ink character recognition line (AbyssUK, Phlebas)
15. JNTCCN T = joint account (Viscount)
16. T HRHLB LCLV = three-hole balaclava (Phlebas)
17. CHFR SKFF CR = chief risk officer (Viscount)
18. SL NTLRMB TTN = silent alarm button (Phlebas, Electric Dragon)
19. CNN BSFCTRY = cannabis factory (Viscount)
20. TH NSVLS = athena savalas (a_monk)
21. LSLT R = el solitario
22. THFT HR SDYBN KMS SCR = the fathers day bank massacre (Viscount)

23. GRGMNWR NG = george mainwaring (copperbottom)
24. LND RDMNY = laundered money (Phlebas)
25. TH MSSTR NSLT = thomas stearns eliot (Phlebas)
26. T HSPR DGL = the spread eagle (ylla)
27. SLNT RL = sal naturile
28. THPNBR RS = ethiopian birrs (a_monk)
29. DMN DDRFT = demand draft (ylla)
30. GN MFZRC H = gnome of zurich (ylla)
31. HNRYHL LND = henry holland (ylla)
32. S NSR MSNH NNV LN C = sans armes, ni haine, ni violence
33. SH TSM DTT HT H RFT HWN DNT HWL LW S = shots aimed at the author of the wind in the willows (Viscount, Colonel_K)

59 Comments

  5. D3 – Christopher Lee as Dr Jekyll in a hammer horror of course!

    Edit : Film is Called I, Monster.. he is actually called Dr Marlowe for some reason…

  7. A1 – HMS Ocelot O Class submarine at Chatham Naval Dockyard
    A2 – Tomato flower, I think

  8. E2 – Seem to be a form of Snowdrop or Snowflake, probably some form of Leucojum, haven’t found exact picture

    • Lily of the Valley, I think (needs confirmation)
      Would go with E4. Valley of Fear and Happy Valley

  11. B5 shows the cast iron plate or frame inside a grand piano, but I haven’t found the specific shot as yet.

    • Making a cluster of Valleys, with E4?
      Ah I see the Colonel got there before me. Note to self: reread whole thread after refreshing.

  20. I wonder if there is some kind of convicted of Treason in top right, D1, E1 and E3 looks a bit like Marshall Ney but i can’t find that one.

    Could make E2 Snowball from Animal Farm, but it isn’t, so hrmf.

    • Flown by ‘Albert Cushing Reed’, so technically a partner of Cushing, like Christopher Lee in D3? :p

      • D4: Sarah Lancashire plays Julia Child who was married to……

        Paul ‘Cushing’ Child.

        (I’ll be honest, i didn’t think it was actually right)

  23. C1 – War Remnants Museum, Ho Chi Minh. There’s a guillotine behind us, so that fits with D1 and E1.

    • D2 – Halifax Gibbet Guillotine

      ‘By 1650, public opinion considered beheading to be an excessively severe punishment for petty theft’

      No Sh*t E4….

        • In the obvious one he was hung, drawn and quartered – I haven’t managed to find a guillotining.

          But Christopher Lee (D3), aged 17, witnessed the last public execution by guillotine.

          • ‘He was hanged, drawn and quartered—strangled by hanging, but released while he was still alive, emasculated, eviscerated (with his bowels burned before him), beheaded, then cut into four parts.’

          • In case we needed another Christopher Lee guillotine connection, he also played famous guillotinist Sanson in La Révolution Française (1989).

  24. Off topic….

    I assume many of you have played the ‘Return of the Obra Dinn’, my favorite game of the last 10 years.

    If so, i heartily recommend ‘The Curse of the Golden Idol’ which although different, has a lot of crossover.

    If anyone else plays these two and knows anything similar, please shout!

  28. With nothing more useful to add, I summarised all the clues so far.

    NAHUATL ETYMOLOGY?
    A1 – HMS Ocelot O Class submarine at Chatham Naval Dockyard
    A2 – Tomato flower, I think
    B3 – Chocolate Hills
    A3 –
    Either B1, B4 or A4
    B1 – Shooting Stars silent film
    B4 ???
    A4 – Shuttle launch of Palapa B2 satellite

    ???
    B2 woozle trap from Piglet’s Big Game
    C2 – Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon
    C3 –
    C4 – The King’s Dilemma
    Either B1 or B4
    B1 – Shooting Stars silent film
    B4 ???

    ????
    A5 – Granby Runestone
    B5 – a Bösendorfer 9’6″ Model 290 Imperial, grand piano
    C5 – Tesco Perivale, in the Greenford Hoover Building
    D5 – NC-4 seaplane first to cross the atlantic
    Either B4 or A4
    B4 ???
    A4 – Shuttle launch of Palapa B2 satellite

    GUILLOTINING?
    C1 – War Remnants Museum, Ho Chi Minh, featuring a guillotine
    D1 – Guillotine Card Game
    D2 – Halifax Gibbet Guillotine
    D3 – Christopher Lee as Dr Jekyll in a hammer horror, witness to last guillotining
    E1 – Sophie Scholl Stamp, executed by guillotine

    VALLEY VARIETALS?
    E2 – Seem to be a form of Snowdrop or Snowflake, probably some form of Leucojum, haven’t found exact picture – lily of the valley?
    E3 – von Steuben Monument at Valley Forge
    E4 – The Valley of Fear (Mr Holmes defoxed by Mrs Nutfield)
    E5 – Against all odds, Battle for the Golan Heights wargame
    D4 – Happy Valley, Sarah Lancashire (tv show)

  29. A5. Granby, B5. Imperial and C5. Hoover are dams on the Colorado river.
    (I thought I was reading about the ‘Curse of the Colorado River’ and wondering when things would take an eerie turn. In actuality, it was ‘Course’).

  30. Re: D5.
    Roman’s choice of picture makes the ringed part look like the seaplane’s proboscis but it’s something separate on a stand with a round base.
    There’s a better view of it in the gallery of the link AbyssUK posted.

  31. Battle of the Sexes tennis match
    B2. PIGLET – “Riggs presented King with a giant Sugar Daddy lollipop, and she responded by giving him a squealing piglet, symbolic of male chauvinism.”
    C2. Bobby RIGGS
    C3. ASTRODOME – Houston venue
    C4. Billie Jean KING

    B1. Shooting Stars are Houston Astros ambassadors, which doesn’t feel like a strong enough link.

    • LOSERS
      B2 – Piglet’s Big Game – This is a tie-in to Piglet’s Big Movie, which was nominated for an Annie award, per Wikipedia
      C2 – Lethal Weapon – Nominated for Academy Award for Best Sound, per Wikipedia
      C3 – Handley Page Halifax ‘Friday 13th’ – Namesake of a movie nominated for Worst Picture at the 1st Golden Raspberry Awards, per Wikipedia
      C4 – The King’s Dilemma – Nominated for no less than seven awards, but never won, per Boardgamegeek
      B4 – Persian cat, golden variety – This used to be the standard Persian cat, but has since lost that mantle to the peke-faced Persian, the modern standard, and gained the moniker traditional Persian, per Wikipedia.

      Eh… I dunno. Does the Persian cat link need a little more work?

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