Friday Foxer #70

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 ‘36 things that you might find in or on a bottle’ missing vowels foxer:

1. MRL – amarula (Colonel_K)
2. MT HRSRN – mothers ruin (ylla)
3. GN – genie or gin (ylla)
4. N NJ MP P K Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa ()
5. SK LGR – skele-gro ()
6. GRTDPLYS TYRN – grated polystyrene (Colonel_K)
7. RK – arak (gusdownnup)
8. LT RS FTTT – ultra-soft teat (Colonel_K)
9. NNNW TN NFLD – non-newtonian fluid (phlebas)
10. BLVN – oblivion (Viscount)
11. CR MCSTPPR – ceramic stopper (Viscount)
12. LS – lees (Colonel_K)

13. WL LMSPR – williams pear (Viscount)
14. TH MSP – thums up ()
15. L VL – olive oil (ylla)
16. LMWD G – lime wedge (gusdownnup)
17. M THRFV NGR – mother of vinegar (ylla)
18. FNTM NSMN DRNN DSVL LRNGJG GR – fentimans Mandarin and Seville Orange Jigger (ylla)
19. YS TRSC oyster sauce – YS TRSC (gusdownnup)
20. FRS TYFR RTM BRL – fursty ferret amber ale (gusdownnup)
21. LLMNSMBR CTN – ellimans embrocation (Colonel_K)
22. CMDRDT NBCHRCTR PLLR – Comadia redtenbacheri caterpillar (gusdownnup)
23. PMTNCT R – opium tincture (Viscount)
24. WS TNDSPR TR west indies porter (Colonel_K)

25. MRNKVC – merunkovice (Colonel_K)
26. LLG – ullage (Colonel_K)
27. BL BSL – blob seal (Colonel_K)
28. RGTS YRP – orgeat syrup (gusdownnup)
29. DT CHCRG – dutch courage (ylla)
30. RMN – ramune (alison)
31. RTC LTDPL STCSTRW – articulated plastic straw (ylla, Viscount)
32. WHTPHSP HRS – white phosphorus (Viscount)
33. B LTT – blue tit (Viscount)
34. YWS H – eye wash (ylla, Viscount)
35. R NGR NDG DSW M NDP R F M – Ariana Grande God Is A Woman Eau de Parfum (gusdownnup, Electric Dragon)
36. TH MSTGMSRBRPS – Ethmostigmus rubripes (Electric Dragon)

47 Comments

  1. C4: This is from La Cucina Futurista, a dining movement in 1930s (which banned pasta from Italian cooking!)

  3. B3. ACE OF ACES – confident, but not sure which system yet
    (avoid looking at the DOS one – too much violent pink!)

    • Pretty sure that’s the DOS version, unless some other platform decided to imitate the CGA palette!

  7. A5. DECIMA FLOTTIGLIA MAS – Italian WW2 commando frogmen
    (Looks like an actual plaque, but I don’t know where it is)

  9. Nothing more than inklings:
    B1. Kaffir limes infused in a south-east asian spirit?
    A4. Beer label? with heraldic sun and hops
    E3. Pacific war with a Grumman Wildcat shooting a japanese something?

    • I took the far less sophisticated route of searching for ‘specially illustrated edition’, which brought up a lot of warlike covers!

    • Kabosu fruit are mixed in with fish feed to prevent discolouration and odour in fish meat. One such fish fed with this feed is Kabosu Buri, otherwise known as Japanese Amberjack.

      So another for the Jack group.

  15. C2. The game of Carrom, the red centre piece being the Queen, but also known as the ‘jack’.

  17. A4. It’s only the Coat of Arms of the ruddy POPE.
    (Attitude to beer kept suspiciously quiet)

    I suggest it belongs in the FT Marinetti group, since he wrote an anti-Papist tract The Pope’s Aeroplane.

    ETA: Oh, and it’s a spikenard (lavender) flower.

    • A group running from D4 to E1 would leave only four at the bottom right, so either La Cucina Futuristica or Adrianople would have to be part of that unknown (Pablo Picasso) group.

    • So if C2 uses the more common name of queen, that would go with ace at B3 and one of the jacks…

      • Is D1 just 10? If we can find a king at C3, that would give a 10/J/Q/K/A run along the cluster…

        • Except that seems to push Gentleman Jack into the cuts of meat group, because A3 can’t go with FTM (which needs either B4 or C5 to join up), and can’t go with the cards if the run ends at ace, so has to go with the top left corner in place of C1…

          Shoulder?!?

  20. FT Marinetti
    A4. The Pope’s Aeroplane
    A5. Decima Flottiglia MAS
    B4. (unknown, but period appropriate)
    B5. Siege of Adrianople
    C4. Cucina Futurista

    Cuts of Meat
    E1. Haunch of Venison
    D2. ?
    E2. Beefsteak
    D3. Pork Chop
    D4. Silversides

    Unknown Group 1
    C5. Pablo Picasso / 1973
    D5.
    E5.
    E4.
    E3. Cactus Airforce

    Playing Cards (Royal Flush)
    D1. (XR-)10
    C1. Jack (-in-the-hedge)
    C2. Queen
    C3. ? ? ? (King of some sort)
    B3. Ace

    Unknown Group 2
    A1.
    B1. Yagara Shuzo Kabosu liqueur
    A2.
    B2. Newcastle, Australia / PASHA Bulker / 8th June 2007
    A3.

    Re: Unknown 2
    Kabosu is the name of the dog on Dogecoin / whatever meme

      • Completing the run of cards C3. is Walter Paget’s illustration for H. Rider Haggard’s KING Solomon’s Mines (“To those who enter the hall of dead [evil comes]”).

  21. D4.
    I think anyone who’s used a computer from 10 years ago or further should recognise the logo: American Megatrends (though the colours have been reversed, it should be red on white OR red on black when the BIOS boots up).

    Known by the initials A.M.I. it half confirms the group as Citroen cars:
    C5 = C3 Picasso
    E3 = C4 Cactus
    D5. Ami – 2-door quadricycle introduced in 2020

  22. FT Marinetti
    A4. The Pope’s Aeroplane
    A5. Decima Flottiglia MAS
    B4. ?
    B5. Siege of Adrianople
    C4. Cucina Futurista

    Cuts of Meat
    E1. Haunch of Venison
    D2. (Gentleman Jack)
    E2. Beefsteak
    D3. Pork Chop
    D4. Silversides

    Citroen cars
    C5. Pablo PICASSO
    D5. AMI
    E5. Chateau ELYSEE
    E4. Captain NEMO
    E3. CACTUS Airforce

    Playing Cards (Royal Flush)
    D1. (XR-)10
    C1. Jack (-in-the-hedge)
    C2. Queen
    C3. King Solomon’s Mines
    B3. Ace

    Unknown Group
    A1.
    B1. Yagara Shuzo Kabosu liqueur
    A2.
    B2. Newcastle, Australia / PASHA Bulker / 8th June 2007
    A3.

  23. I think the last group really might be memes.

    A2. MORDOR: The Depths of Dejenol – ‘One does not simply walk into Mordor’

    B1. KABOSU – Proper name of the Doge dog

    A1. Strongly resembles the street in Girona where ‘Distracted Boyfriend’ was shot
    (Some-one asked this recently on Reddit, but I can’t see as I have that site blocked in Hosts)

    Does come a bit unstuck with
    B2. Newcastle, Australia / PASHA Bulker / 8th June 2007

    ETA: Actually, the ship involved was renamed to MV Drake between 2008 and 2018 (now MV Xanthea). Is DRAKE popular meme fodder?

    • A1 defintely looks like the distracted boyfriend street.

      Drake is also a meme magnet (the one shunning something then approving of something)

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