This week’s handmade co-op puzzle won’t defox itself. If you’re a dab hand at quizzes, lateral thinking, and search engine sleuthing, why not help out.
Roman, THC’s Chief Foxer Setter, is old enough to remember the days when toad-baiting was legal in the UK, and the most powerful and militant union in the country was the National Association of Nightmen. He also recalls the time when all Friday Foxers were collage foxers.
(To complete the defox, identify the hidden theme and explain how each component relates to it)
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SOLUTIONS
Last week’s ‘30 things wot you can see in Google Street View images taken on London’s Tower Bridge’ missing vowels foxer
1. BR MNDSYBCH – bermondsey beach (Zwack23)
2. Z MB K – zoomo e-bike (captaincabinets)
3. D BLR DLNS – double red lines (captaincabinets)
4. DLDH S – adelaide house (captaincabinets)
5. HND LBRMFFS – handlebar muffs (Colonel_K)
6. GRLW THD LPH N – girl with a dolphin (Electric Dragon, Colonel_K)
7. PRTNVRL RDV TRN – operation overlord veteran (ylla)
8. M RH SSC HLT TBG – more house school tote bag (ylla)
9. RND RDR NPN TD – area andre derain painted (ylla)
10. SP TWH RTHTR DSMTR LSD – spot where the tardis materialised (Electric Dragon)
11. qtrfl – quatrefoil (Zwack23)
12. vcb d – eav 2cubed (Aergistal)
13. tr trsgt – traitors gate (Electric Dragon)
14. mvth msdg gtt – mv thomas doggett (Colonel_K)
15. mn m nttt hg rtf rfln dn – monument to the great fire of london (Electric Dragon)
16. bx ngrng – boxing ring (captaincabinets)
17. stnf rgt – stone frigate (captaincabinets)
18. llhl lw sbyt htw r – all hallows by the tower (ylla)
19. thw rldsfr stfl tngcs tmsh s – the world’s first floating customs house (Zwack23)
20. thl tnm t tft hc t yfl ndn – the latin motto of the city of london (Colonel_K)
21. t hwl ktlk – the walkie-talkie (Colonel_K)
22. mrr vt sth nppl – more rivets than people (ylla)
23. ps svdbrscl lctr – passive debris collector (Colonel_K)
24. glssf lrs – glass floors (Electric Dragon)
25. gnsc s srlft – genie scissor lift (Colonel_K, captaincabinets)
26. hr rblh strslg – horrible histories logo (Colonel_K)
27. sprnt rfr mstml sy – sprinter from east molesey (Colonel_K)
28. pr tft hlnd nmrth nr t – part of the london marathon route (Colonel_K)
29. drtthb rd gmst rsd nngr m – door to the bridgemasters dining room (Colonel_K)
30. dgft hcn tr lln dncng stnch rgn gzn – edge of the central london congestion charging zone (captaincabinets)
The game centre left is Mason: Building Bricks
https://telegmatic.com/mason/
Pistol, bottom left: Colt 1908 VEST POCKET (J. Adams Sr. Engraved)
{capitalising what I assume is the relevant factor}
https://www.rockislandauction.com/detail/76/570/j-adams-sr-engraved-colt-1908-vest-pocket-pistol
Kaplan Turbine (top-center).
Lower left: Rosneft Magnum Ultratec C3 engine oil.
United Nations General Assembly Building, New York (lower right)
Upper left corner logo: 20th Century Limited – express passenger train on the New York Central Railroad from 1902 to 1967.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/20th_Century_Limited
I can’t figure out how the 1908 pistol and one other solved clue connect to the theme.
Is it North by Northwest?
James MASON was in it.
Cary Grant’s character is mistaken for George KAPLAN.
The train is the 20TH CENTURY LIMITED
The biplane in the film’s most famous scene crashes into a MAGNUM oil truck.
Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) goes to the U.N. GENERAL ASSEMBLY BUILDING to meet Townsend, but gets taken for his assassin.
Two goons carry COLT MODEL 1908 VEST POCKET PISTOLs when abducting Thornhill. He is also later {spoilers}
https://www.imfdb.org/wiki/North_by_Northwest
Portrait of RAF officer Peter TOWNSEND.
The plane tail on the left belongs to Air New Zealand, but I haven’t placed the airport.
I believe the plane is a Bombardier Dash 8-Q311. Not sure of the registration number, but they all start with ZK-N**. The design of the tail is a Koru.
The airport is Rotorua.
Roman’s gone hard in on knowing North by Northwest this week.
IATA code: ROT
Cary Grant’s character name is Roger O. Thornhill and he uses his initials when writing the message in the matchbook.
Not that hard! The ROT matchbook is one of cinema’s most identifiable/iconic props and plays a pretty important role in the story.
https://www.therpf.com/forums/threads/the-r-o-t-matchbook-from-north-by-northwest.352514/
Well, I’ve not the slightest recollection of that scene.
I suggest you put a watch on Roman and his phillumenist tendencies, lest he start syphoning off the airlift money and go all Patrick Bateman trying to design the perfect THC matchbook cover.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZVkW9p-cCU
The crest with the crocodile belongs to USS RUSHMORE.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Rushmore_(LSD-47)
The car on the right is a Ford Landau 1973 from Mad Max 2. It is the marauder car from the opening scene. I couldn’t find the original picture.
Here: https://madmax.fandom.com/wiki/Ford_Landau_1973
Hyde Park Station (center)
The Duchamp-esque scene is Peter Gabriel with Helen Chadwick in EVE.
The miniature is a Bolt Action REDCAP (British royal military policeman).