Friday Foxer #151

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.

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SOLUTIONS

November 3rd’s ‘33 Things Wot You Might In The Holy Land’ missing vowels foxer:

1. MLK – MELEKE () or MOLEK (Colonel_K) or MALKIA (ylla) or AMALEK (Colonel_K)
2. RND M – IRON DOME (Zwack23)
3. HLPN TDF RG – HULA PAINTED FROG (Colonel_K)
4. CD FLPM LY RPDF YDD – CADFAEL AP MEILYR AP DAFYDD (Nutfield)
5. DVD KMRTR – DAVIDKA MORTAR (Nutfield)
6. THL WSTFR SHWT RL KNR TH – THE LOWEST FRESHWATER LAKE ON EARTH (Zwack23)
7. BR RLNCDNT – BARREL INCIDENT (Colonel_K)
8. WL LDF FHTL – WALLED OFF HOTEL (Colonel_K)
9. HL GKHN – HULAGU KHAN (Nutfield)
10. SY KSP CTLN – SYKES-PICOT LINE (Colonel_K)
11. NSKH RLVR S – AIN SAKHRI LOVERS (Colonel_K)

12. NBLS – NABLUS (copperbottom)
13. KNSST – KNESSET (Zwack23)
14. K RVMG – KRAV MAGA (Colonel_K)
15. MSKHN – MUSAKHAN (Nutfield)
16. PR CTGTT CK – PRICE TAG ATTACK (Colonel_K)
17. TDTZ HT – TEUDAT ZEHUT (Colonel_K)
18. W TCHFN DR – WITCH OF ENDOR (ylla)
19. Z LGL – UZIEL GAL (Colonel_K)
20. SMZ N – SEAM ZONE (Colonel_K)
21. RDW NGT – ORDE WINGATE (Nutfield)
22. G LFSL DN – EAGLE OF SALADIN (Nutfield, Colonel_K, & ylla)

23. SMD – SUMUD (Nutfield)
24. TG RTFRT – TEGART FORT (Colonel_K)
25. VRH MSTRN – AVRAHAM STERN (Colonel_K)
26. SDMP PL – SODOM APPLE (Colonel_K)
27. WMNB LDN GNLTRN TV – WOMEN BUILDING AN ALTERNATIVE (Phlebas, ylla)
28. K NGDVDHT L – KING DAVID HOTEL (Zwack23)
29. RLSHR N – ARIEL SHARON (Zwack23)
30. T HNVN TR SFGS SWH – THE INVENTORS OF GUESS WHO (Colonel_K & ylla)
31. LLG LSTTLMNT – ILLEGAL SETTLEMENT (ylla)
32. CSRMR TM – CAESAREA MARITIMA (Nutfield)
33. SPRN VSKKTGT HRNG – SUPERNOVA SUKKOT GATHERING (Phlebas)

50 Comments

  3. E1. 1980s United States Army FORT DIX Training Centre badge with motto “the ultimate weapon”

    D1. An ‘At Home’ store, location unknown – American big-box retail chain of home furnishing stores.

  4. C3. I think it’s the TSAR BELL – the largest bell in the world, “[I]t has never been in working order, suspended, nor rung.”

    Approx. here:
    https://www.google.com/maps/@55.7507401,37.6185303,3a,90y,36.79h,77.6t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1sAF1QipMBkogaRCE4uY8p6eHZ4ndf0hG6–lfV_wyqJ58!2e10!3e11!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMBkogaRCE4uY8p6eHZ4ndf0hG6–lfV_wyqJ58%3Dw203-h100-k-no-pi0-ya311.87918-ro-0-fo100!7i7296!8i3648?hl=en&entry=ttu

      • Says ‘James Hunt’ on the cockpit – it’s from the 1977 season, after he won the previous year, hence (I am assuming) the number 1 on the front.
        Later in the season he switched to the M26.

        All the above stuff I think I learned, and none of it was helping me figure out where the illustration was from.

  19. B1. HAYMARKET RIOT police memorial – original was destroyed by the Weather Underground in 1969, this is a replica outside Chicago Police Headquarters

    (I dunno what’s powering Tim’s website, but it’s working in fits and starts so this might appear thrice).

  23. C5. is more specifically Flying Dolphin ERATO (I think arriving at Skiathos). The Erato Detachment is an all-women unit of the Armenian Ground Forces.

    Women’s military forces would then run:
    B5. Las Marianas – created by Fidel Castro
    C5. Erato Detachment – Armenian
    D5. Greenfinches – UDR
    D4. YPJ (Women’s Protection Units) – Syrian Democratic Forces

    I suspect E4. Night Witches is a red herring.
    B4. Caracal doesn’t quite work: the Israeli 33rd “Caracal” Battalion is mixed (~70% female)

  24. Seems I might’ve inadvertently tumbled a connection yesterday.
    A1. Arma3 Creator DLC S.O.G PRAIRIE FIRE

    Weather Underground Organization (WUO):
    A1. Prairie Fire – title of manifesto and book: ‘Prairie Fire: The Politics of Revolutionary Anti-Imperialism’
    B1. Haymarket Police Memorial – blown up on October 6, 1969
    – The city rebuilt the statue […], but the Weathermen blew it up as well on October 6, 1970
    – The city rebuilt the statue once again, and Mayor Richard J. Daley posted a 24-hour police guard to protect it, but the Weathermen destroyed the third one, as well.

    C1. ‘Good Move’ / Brussels – ???
    D1. ‘At Home’ store, location unknown – ???

    E1. Fort Dix – intended target. Some members were making bombs when one detonated = Greenwich Village townhouse explosion

  25. Sidney Bechet, jazz saxophonist:
    E5. Expo 58 – performed in the United States Pavilion
    E4. composed a classical ballet score called La nuit est une sorcière (“The Night Is a Witch”)
    E3. Saxophone – instrument
    E2. inspiration for the character Pablo in the novel ‘Steppenwolf’ by Hermann Hesse
    and probably D2.

    My feeling for the other groups is as follows:

    Weather Underground Organization (WUO):
    A1. Prairie Fire
    B1. Haymarket Police Memorial
    C1. Pentagon
    D1. ?
    E1. Fort Dix

    Majority female military forces:
    B4. Israeli 33rd “Caracal” Battalion is mixed (~70% female)
    B5. Las Marianas
    C5. Erato Detachment
    D5. Greenfinches
    D4. YPJ (Women’s Protection Units)

    Lady Chatterley Trial:
    A5. Trial
    A4. Penguin – publisher & defendant
    A3. ?
    A2. ?
    B2. ?

    Unknown final group:
    C2. NH90 / ‘CAIMAN’
    B3. LVIV
    C3. TSAR (bell)
    D3. OGRE / Steve Jackson Games
    C4. M23 / McLaren

  30. I’ve found a few possible connections for our mystery cluster, but nothing that seems to include enough of them.

    Ogre is a city in Latvia; you can from there to Lviv by bus, but none of the buses involved is the M23.

    DOROTHEA MARIA GRAFF (1678–1743) drew a rather wonderful illustration of a Caiman fighting a snake (now in the British Museum’s collection), and later moved to Russia to work for the Tsar.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea_Maria_Graff

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