Friday Foxer #37

Every Friday at 1300 hours, 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. Don’t be shy. 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”, “The Spanish Armada”, “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 Rotate, Revolve, or Spin’ missing vowels foxer:

1. T PJT – TIP JET (Colonel_K)
2. SVN THHVN – SEVENTH HEAVEN (Phlebas)
3. SPRRW L – SPUR ROWEL (AFKAMC)
4. MNB LL – MINIE BALL (Colonel_K)
5. PRMBL LRN – PRIMA BALLERINA (Phlebas)
6. LDS WWHR LPL – OLD SOW WHIRLPOOL (ylla)
7. XN – IXION (Colonel_K)
8. CMM NSTR TGCRTRYLN CHR – COMMON STRATEGIC ROTARY LAUNCHER (Phlebas)
9. DNPRN C – DIANA PRINCE (Electric Dragon)
10. RTSSRCH CKN _ ROTISSERIE CHICKEN (ylla)
11. DRDL – DREIDEL (ylla)

12. QNTN – QUINTAIN (AFKAMC)
13. CM – CAM (Colonel_K)
14. LFRD NR LWYBR DG – EL-FERDAN RAILWAY BRIDGE (AFKAMC, Phlebas)
15. STRM MRHD – STRIMMER HEAD (AFKAMC)
16. TKTMB – TAKETOMBO
17. WLTDS NYSCR SLFP RGR SS WALT DISNEY’S CAROUSEL OF PROGRESS (Phlebas)
18. RLDX – ROLODEX (AFKAMC)
19. PS TMLL – POST MILL (ylla)
20. DRVSH – DERVISH (AFKAMC)
21. TM BLDRM – TOMBOLA DRUM (AFKAMC)
22. LZ YSSN – LAZY SUSAN (Phlebas)

23. LDYS BLL – LADY ISABELLA (Electric Dragon)
24. HMNCN TRFG – HUMAN CENTRIFUGE (Colonel_K)
25. SLTWTRC RCDL – SALTWATER CROCODILE (AFKAMC)
26. NTWLDR CZYK – ANITA WLODARCZYK (Colonel_K)
27. PTTSSP CL – PITTS SPECIAL (AFKAMC)
28. VLLGR SL – VILLA GIRASOLE (Phlebas)
29. BLS – BOLAS (AFKAMC)
30. PRYRW HL – PRAYER WHEEL (ylla)
31. RP – EUROPA (Colonel_K)
32. DGTY RYVMCHNG NMG ZN – DEGTYARYOV MACHINE GUN MAGAZINE (Phlebas)
33. NWSC TLN DYRDSG N – NEW SCOTLAND YARD SIGN (ylla)

43 Comments

  4. A4. Torso in Metal, Jacob Epstein
    (originally part of his Rock Drill, as seen on the cover of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band’s album of the same name)

  16. B5 – looks like Rita Tushingham in the middle (wth the cap) – not certain of the film though, A Taste of Honey perhaps?

  19. Possible link – events of 1967?

    Tommy Simpson dies on Mont Ventoux in July 1967
    Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern are Dead premiered April 1967
    Rainbow Theatre was where Jimi Hendrix first set fire to his guitar on stage in March 1967

    • A3: The Coat of Arms of the Principality of Sealand

      Declared independence on 2nd September 1967 – hopefully completes the ‘1967’ group.

  28. Nuremberg + Olympia + Lamorna =>
    artist Dame Laura Knight

    E1: Bertram Mills Circus at Olympia was visited and painted throughout the ’20s, even going on tour with them 1929-30.
    E2: Lamorna, Cornwall where she moved to becoming part of the Newlyn School art colony.
    E3: “The Nuremberg Trial, 1946” artwork painted in 1946

    D4: SHORT STIRLING interior
    – Location for the painting ‘Take Off’ (1943)

    D1: “‘Ruby Loftus Screwing a Breech-ring’ is a 1943 painting … depicting a young woman, Ruby Loftus, working at an industrial lathe cutting the screw of a breech-ring for a Bofors anti-aircraft gun.”

    There’s also a link to B3, but that’s too far away to be part of the group, in that the above was a recruitment poster for ordnance factories.

  29. Two groups remain foxed:

    The first-
    C1: Trevor Francis / Million pounds
    C2: Puckered Penguins
    C3: Old Man with a Gold Chain / Rembrandt
    D3: Wood / Television Centre
    and either (I suspect the more likely)
    C4: The Man Who Sold The World / Bowie
    or
    B3: Clement Attlee / Royal Ordnance Factory / Hereford

    The second-
    A4: Jacob Epstein / Torso in Metal / Rock Drill
    A5:
    B4: Six / Henry VIII / Beheaded
    B5: Testament of Youth / Vera Brittain
    and either (I suspect the more likely)
    B3: Clement Attlee / Royal Ordnance Factory / Hereford
    or
    C4: The Man Who Sold The World / Bowie

    Epstein, Brittain and Attlee are all from the same era.

  30. The final cluster:
    ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES – the closing theme

    We’ve got some
    Half price cracked ice
    And miles and miles of carpet tiles
    TVs
    Deep freeze
    And David Bowie LPs.
    Ball games
    Gold chains,
    What’s-names
    Pictures frames
    And leather goods
    And Trevor Francis track suits.
    From a mush in Shepherds Bush

    • Oh, well caught! I thought it must be something like that but didn’t manage to zero in, the only link I could find between ‘Old man with gold chain’ and Television Centre was too sinister to follow up.

Comments are closed.