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.
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.
In an attempt to ensure as many people as possible get a chance to participate, Roman requests defoxers solve no more than five squares per person on Day 1, and guess no more than one cluster theme. (After 24 hours have elapsed, fill your boots!). Use your ration to complete an entire horizontal or vertical line before anyone else to win ‘Connect 5’ bragging rights.
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SOLUTIONS
Last week’s ‘33 Words Or Word Sequences Wot Can Be Found In The October 28th, 1972 Issue Of Look And Learn’ missing vowels foxer:
1. HPTRCHY – HEPTARCHY (Colonel_K)
2. DRDNLLS – DARDANELLES (Zwack23)
3. FRYFRF LY – FAIREY FIREFLY (copperbottom)
4. FLT WYHS – FLEETWAY HOUSE (copperbottom)
5. WL DBSS SSN – WOULD-BE ASSASSIN (Aergistal)
6. DSSDSW R – DISUSED SEWER
7. TRQCNC LLNGPR PRTS – TORQUE-CANCELLING PROPERTIES (Colonel_K)
8. ST DTLRDR WNGSTS – STAEDTLER DRAWING SETS (Colonel_K)
9. MT TNDB LY – MOTTE AND BAILEY (Colonel_K, copperbottom)
10. L RDJHNR XTN – LORD JOHN ROXTON (Aergistal)
11. THHR RRT HTHN TDHWT HRN – THE HORROR THAT HAUNTED HAWTHORN (Colonel_K)
12. RHNLND – RHINELAND (Mrs Nutfield)
13. CMC LBDGS – COMICAL BUDGIES (Colonel_K)
14. RGN TNNBY – ARGENTINIAN BOY (Colonel_K)
15. LVNGQRT RS – LIVING QUARTERS (Nutfield and Mrs Nutfield)
16. SFM RM R – SEA OF MARMARA (Colonel_K)
17. PRHNSL – PREHENSILE (Jimbob)
18. HG HPTCL LRY – HIGH PIT COLLIERY (Jimbob)
19. SHRTLG GDNG HTPRW LR – SHORT-LEGGED NIGHT PROWLER (Zwack23)
20. HLSL SS – HAILE SELASSIE (Colonel_K)
21. DC TRDLTTL – DOCTOR DOOLITTLE (Aergistal)
22. HLFT RKS HBL LTS – HAIL OF TURKISH BULLETS (Colonel_K)
23. SLVTR D – SLAVE TRADE (Mrs Nutfield)
24. MRC RNYR – MERCURIAN YEAR (copperbottom)
25. DD SBB – ADDIS ABABA (Aergistal)
26. NDRCRRG – UNDERCARRIAGE (Aergistal)
27. KLLT HHGN TS – KILL THE HUGUENOTS (Aergistal)
28. TR RNTDCK – TORRENT DUCK (Colonel_K)
29. CLDR NFSTPF YN GHT – CAULDRON OF STUPEFYING HEAT (Aergistal)
30. MR TRNDP STL – MORTAR AND PESTLE (Colonel_K)
31. F MSDV YLMP – FAMOUS DAVY LAMP (Nutfield)
32. THC KDVNSHRC RM – THICK DEVONSHIRE CREAM (Nutfield)
33. GR NSHS PYL QDCL L DCHYM – A GREENISH SOUPY LIQUID CALLED CHYME (Aergistal)
D1 is keyhole surgery on a lung:
https://yperman.net/en/longchirurgie-thorax-heelkunde-2
The two surgeries mentioned underneath the diagram are ‘lobectomy’ and ‘wedge resection’.
B4 is piglet from Winnie the Pooh. Illustration by E.H. Shepard.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piglet_(Winnie-the-Pooh)
B2 is a protester holding up a picture of Jeffrey Epstein outside the federal court in New York. Can’t find the exact date of the protest / what court case was on at the time.
D4. Snatch (weightlifting)
Has Roman gone geezer?
ETA: D5. Errol Flynn in Captain Blood
Hobart Cavanaugh was an actor in Captain Blood, though he’s not in that image and it’s a bit of a tenuous link.
Errol Flynn was born in Tasmania
That’s definitely a less tenuous link!
A1. Flag of Alderney (within the Bailiwick of Guernsey)
A4. Field Marshal Montgomery examines the remains of a German V2 rocket near the HQ of Major General Percy Hobart, GOC 79th Armoured Division (left), 30 October 1944
A5. Port Arthur (2020) – Russo-Japanese War boardgame
Hobart and Port Arthur are both towns in Tasmania.
C2 is Merck’s 1912 patent for MDMA. Roman may have gone party geezer…
B5. The Silver Tassie by Sean O’Casey
C5 – Looks like an Eastern Quoll, which is a native of Tasmania.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_quoll
The Tasmania group is filled out
A4 – Hobart
A5 – Port Arthur
B5 – Tassie (nickname for it)
C5 – Eastern Quoll – native to there
D5 – Errol Flynn – born there
A3 is the great plate of Bacchus from the Mildenhall Treasure.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mildenhall_Treasure
E5 – Super Huey, Commodore 64
E4 – cover of The Ultimate Alphabet, by Mike Wilks
D3 – submarine exhibit at Naval Museum Complex Balaklava
Group – LAND ROVER
E4 – designed by Maurice WILKS
E5 – first one made had the registration HUE 166, thus nicknamed HUEY.
D4 – The SNATCH Land Rover is a protected patrol vehicle based on the Land Rover Defender 110 chassis.
B4 – The Land Rover PIGLET is an uparmoured version of the basic Series III Land Rover intended for patrolling urban areas with a low-medium threat level.
A2 – Vladimir Nabokov on the cover of TIME, 23rd May 1969
That’s that same day that Sergeant Paul A. Meyer stole a C-130 Hercules.
A3. Mildenhall – RAF airbase departed from
A1. Alderney – parts, including a life raft, washed up near the Channel Island of…
B2. Epstein – assumed the alias “Captain Epstein” when ordering the aircraft to be prepped.