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 honeycomb below is a fancy form of wordsearch in which every cell is used, and words can curl and zigzag but never overlap. Each hive foxer has a theme (some past ones: owls, rugby, Egypt, UFOs…). Identifying the theme is a vital part of the defoxing process.
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SOLUTIONS
Last week’s ‘33 Things Wot You Might Find in the English County of Hampshire’ missing vowels foxer:
1. PMPY – pompey (JohnnyG29)
2. CHL KSTRM – chalk stream (JohnnyG29)
3. P PPPGWR LD – peppa pig world (JohnnyG29)
4. VRWL LP – over wallop (Colonel_K)
5. SHNWR N – shane warne
6. RM YRCR PSP CH – army air corps apache (Colonel_K)
7. WTRC RSSBD – watercress bed (Colonel_K)
8. BNKNTP PR – banknote paper (JohnnyG29)
9. SCLX TRCFCTRY – scalextric factory (JohnnyG29)
10. VN TBLGRM – venta belgarum (Zwack23)
11. THWR LDSF RSTRM RPLT DRNH LL DWRS HP – the world’s first armour-plated iron-hulled warship (Zwack23)
12. RFSS TN – rufus stone (Phlebas)
13. C MMNFM ST – common of mast (Phlebas)
14. CSS NDRSTN – cassandra austen (Phlebas)
15. NTLPGRN D – antelope ground (Phlebas)
16. THC PPRBCH S – the copper beeches (Nutfield)
17. DW NTNB BYFNS – downton abbey fans (Phlebas)
18. RB BTCL LDCWS LP – a rabbit named cowslip (Phlebas)
19. P LSTNNDG YPT – palestine and egypt (Zwack23)
20. THW R TRFT RBLW THLC HN – the writer of trouble with lichen (Phlebas)
21. THLS TRM NN GSN DRSRN TCLF R – the last remaining saunders-roe nautical four (Colonel_K)
22. THCT YMS TF FCT DBYT HTT NCDS STR – the city most effected by the titanic disaster (Nutfield)
23. CR PCRCL – crop circle (Nutfield)
24. PNYDRF T – pony drift (Nutfield)
25. DN GSTRB – dongas tribe
26. VRG NCRWN – virgin crown (Nutfield)
27. RCRF TMNSHW – aircraftman shaw (Colonel_K)
28. LC RCFWNC HSTR – licoricia of winchester (Phlebas)
29. GLSS HYSDV LSQRS – glasshayes devil squares (Colonel_K)
30. T HLRG STPM P KNNT HWRLD – the largest pumpkin in the world (JohnnyG29)
31. T HLR GSTLR FNR YNT HN TDKN GDM – the largest oil refinery in the united kingdom (Nutfield)
32. MM R LBN CHTWL LHYMRM RRT TNDGR HMM FFT T – memorial bench to will hay, moore marriott and graham moffatt (Phlebas)
33. BR DCSTB YVR LLNRP RSN TT VFTHSH TRGLC TCCM MND – broadcast by vrillon, a representative of the ashtar galactic command (Colonel_K)
F3. / G4. CAKE
G13. S.N.A.F.U.
G5. KARELIA
E11. MUFFIN
K9. MULLING
E1 PYRAMID
E1 – PYRAMID…?
F2 ZOROASTER (doesn’t feel likely – it would leave ‘le’ or ‘el’ stranded in the middle…)
E10 – MUMU
1.5 correct answers so far.
A1 -PIPIT
M5 – ATOMIC
A5 – GROK
– could be AI/LLMs? I think pipit and pyramid are also AI systems
F3/G4 – CARLA is an open source autonomous driving program
Throwing things out there:
B4 – TEGATA, a sumo wrestler’s handprint
I8 – GULLS
G2 – ROCKER
F1 – SPRY, if PYRAMID is a red herring
I1 – TEARS
H6 – FRAIL
C1 – TAMAR
…though I have no confidence in any of these.
The score remains at 1.5.
A5 has a couple of different ways to spell GREAT, which might be the first part of something.
C4 – SOGDIA
J8. LINGUINE or LIGNIN
E10. MAFIA
It’s also possible to start KARELIA at E7, though that’d leave a cluster of four i’s together. My personal feeling is that Roman has crossed a line from fiendish to evil by knotting close together answers that share many of the same letters. It started with ORANGE being next to ORGAN…
Yes, there’s both GRAD/GORAD and STAD sharing a D on rows B & C. It’s a tough one this week.
J4 – RANGER
L2 – CHEEK
F6 – LIAR/LAIRS
more speculative punts:
A7/C5 – TARGET
H5 – FEIGN
Hey, i got SHANE WARNE last week 🙂
I’ll have a look at this one later today.
L2 – CHORAL
Jeez, no idea on this one, why so many I’s in the middle?
C4 – STREGA (if it was halloween themed)
H6 – FENRIR
F6 – LAIKA
It doesn’t help that 90% of the words i can fine are foreign. The top right is screaming japanese at me.
L4 – MICHAEL
M1 – CARSTEN
Michael Ballack and Carsten Janker both played for the same Bayern Munich and Germany team…
(No, i can’t think Roman has gone all football on us)
Both of these are ‘partials’.
M1 – CARSTENSZ PYRAMID
Is apparently the highest peak of an island on Earth.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puncak_Jaya
F3 – CARGO CULT
L4. MICHAEL ROCKERFELLER – anthropologist; disappeared, presumed cannibalised, in Dutch New Guinea in 1961
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Rockefeller
Something starting iota… at M2.?
– – – – – – – – – –
ETA: looks like New Guinea is the connection. Pyramid was the 0.5 from earlier
and
Zwack23’s E10. MUMU is wholly correct – “a pork dish in Papua New Guinean cuisine, can also refer to the cooking method or the feast at which the dish is eaten”
theme New Guinea ? *edit gah beaten to the punch!
L3 – MICHEAL ROCKERFELLER in a big circle.. died/went missing in dutch new guinea
K8 – LAKATOI – a type of canoe
C9 – KOKODA TRAIL
I4 – TREE KANGAROO
AIR NIUGINI – flag carrier of Papua New Guinea
My fallible instincts say it starts at F7 and ends at G9. However, it’s possible it starts at F9 and ends at either G10 or i10.
Oh its important its Micheal Rockefeller not Rocke ‘R’ feller.. sneaky Roman!
G13 – Sand Line Affair
M7 – KUMULS – the PNG rugby team
E7 – KINA – the currency
A5 – GARAMUT – some sort of drum
Oh dear I seem to be left with SITERPIMP….. but its B2 – MISTERPIP.. a novel set in PNG
In my research I found out about the New Guinea singing dog (Canis lupus hallstromi) and am upset it didn’t get a mention.