Colossus Winners (Issue 227)

BAFFLER No 227
5 x £50 Prize Cheques
Daphne Bates, Peterborough; Trevor Box, Chatham; Helen Dolman, Hednesford; Dorothy May, Falmouth; Kathleen Wade, Thurgoland

GIANT CRYPTIC No 227
2 x De’Longhi ICM30 Filter Coffee Machines
P White, Paignton; J Winspear, Saxmundham

2 x Bradford’s Crossword Solver’s Dictionaries
Judy Baldwin, Hemel Hempstead; A Logan, Ballymena

2 x Lovatts Kitchen Packs including Tea Towel, Apron & Coffee Mug
W Burkinshaw, Barnsley; S Vesey, Bracknell.

CASHWORDS No 227
£300 Winner
Val Carter, Swindon

5 x £40
A Ambridge, Cuffley; Penny Carnell, Radcliffe-on-Trent; M Foote, Andover; Julie Harriss, York; M Johnson, Poole

STINKER No 227
1 x Canon 10MP Digital Camera
W Mortimore, Newton Abbot

2 x Lovatts Engraved Weather Stations
M Burke, Barrow-in-Furness; Julia Nesbitt, Chester-Le-Street

3 x Collins Gem Packs including 2 x Collin’s Gems & 1 x Pocket World Atlas
A Bell, Carshalton; M Roden, Bexhill; Wendy Stafford, Stockport

THE KNOWLEDGE No 227
2 x Antique Desktop Globes
Ron Boulstridge, Tamworth; Joan Loveday, Swindon

Cryptic Crosswords Winners (Issue 04)

Cryptic Arrow Contest
Solution – WILLOWS
1 x James Martin Kitchen Pack inc – Food Processor, Compact Chopper & Hand Mixer
Mary Wylie, Broadstairs

5 x Lovatts Puzzler’s Prize Pack inc – Notepad & Pen Set, Booklight & Gem Dictionary
D Hensby, Brixham; Patricia Mullen, Paisley; E Smith, Inverurie; Sheila Swaine, Coulsdon; F Webber, London

Cryptic Contest
Solution – WEEPING
1 x £200
Miss Royce, Ipswich

5 x Lovatts Kitchen Pack inc – Tea Towel, Apron & Coffee Mug
Raymond Bithell, Worthenbury; Brian Clissold, Andover; M Mitchell, Dalgety Bay; R Taylor, Clevedon; J Tearle, Waddesdon

MEGA Winners (Issue 09)

Mighty Mega
1 x £200
Larry Boswell, Farmoor.

3 x Lovatts Notepad & Pen Set
P Chilvers, Crawley; Sonia Mills, Ipswich; Joan Stones, Christchurch

Mega Mix
1 x £100
Molly Drinnan, Richmond

3 x Lovatts Rain Jacket & Trolley Token Keyring
Lesley Ede, Cheam; L Walsh, Bolton; Elizabeth White, Bridgnorth

Mega Stinker
1 x Vivitar Waterproof Digital Camera
Brian Lockhart, Castle Douglas

2 x Bradford’s Crossword Solver’s Dictionaries
Mary Browne, Derry; Hilary Gray, Weston-Super-Mare

3 x Lovatts Shopping Bags & Trolley Token Key Rings
A Brooks, Aston; J Burns, London; S Puddy, Chatham

Hello – Colossus 226

“Am going to cross the Pacific on a wooden raft to support a theory that the South Sea islands were peopled from Peru. Will you come? Reply at once.’’

This was the invitation that Thor Heyerdahl, leader of the Kon-Tiki expedition, sent to Norwegian resistance fighter Knut Haugland. Haugland was to organise and sustain radio communications during the long drift across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian Islands, a journey to prove Heyerdahl’s theory that Polynesia was not first settled by sailors from Indonesia, but by South American Indians crossing the oceans on primitive sea craft, following the winds and currents.

The six-man crew left Callao, Peru on the 28th April 1947 on a raft called the Kon-Tiki, built using balsa logs bound together with hemp ropes. The raft was named after the Inca sun god, Viracocha who was believed to have created the sun and the moon on Lake Titicaca. According to Inca legend, Viracocha walked on the waves of the ocean across the Pacific towards the setting sun, promising to return one day.

The crew sailed the raft for 101 days before striking a reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands on the 7th August 1947. During the journey they drank water stored in bamboo tubes and ate coconuts, sweet potatoes, fruit and the fish they caught. A tiny 6 watt transmitter and makeshift antennas raised by kites or weather balloons kept the crew in touch with the world. They even managed to wish King Haakon a happy 75th birthday!
This expedition also allowed Heyerdahl to conquer his fear of water, developed as a child after he fell through ice in Norway and nearly drowned.

After leading an extraordinary life, Heyerdahl died in April 2002 at the age of 87. Knut Haugland was the last surviving member of the crew, losing his battle with cancer on Christmas day 2009.
Although Heyerdahl did prove that the ancient Peruvians could have reached Polynesia via the ocean, his theory never gained acceptance by anthropologists.

So next time you come across one of our crossword clues such as ‘Thor Heyerdahl’s raft’ (3-4), ‘Kon-Tiki’s captain, … Heyerdahl’, ‘Explorer, Thor …’ or ‘Norwegian raft expedition leader, … Heyerdahl’, you’ll know about this brave man and his daring adventure.

Happy puzzling!

Colossus 228 Judge Sums Up

op spots for Panga and Tosh
The two top corners of the Baffler caused most trouble in this issue of Colossus. The ‘African machete’ was a PANGA and TOSH was the answer to ‘Reggae’s Peter …’.
Rasta­fa­rians Peter Tosh and Bob Marley both rose from the slums of Kingston, Jamaica to become international music stars. These pioneers of reggae formed the band the Wailers and their music was political as well as entertaining. Tosh had many run-ins with the police, usually over marijuana smoking. On leaving the Wailers, Tosh had a successful solo career with songs demanding equal rights for black people and opposing apartheid. He was shot and died during a home invasion in 1987.
The Stinker had two words starting with V which were hard to find. ‘Neighbouring’ at 56ac was VICINAL, related to the more familiar vicinity.
At 62ac ‘Spoil quality of’ was a bit harder, as the first and third letters were not crossed by other words. VITIATE was the answer. An example of its use might be; “The triumphant mood of the meeting was vitiated by the rowdy protestors in the audience.”
ARGOT, not ARGON, was the answer to ‘Group’s jargon’ at 150ac and at 201ac an ‘Enthusiastic film-goer’ was a CINEASTE.
For 202ac ‘Trudge’ we accepted both TRAIPSE and TRAMPLE.
A strange spelling at 212ac caught out a few. IQALUIT not IQULUIT was the ‘Capital of Nunavut’.
Everyone has heard of the Dalai Lama but less well known is the ‘Second-ranked Tibetan priest, PANCHEN Lama’. Panchen means ‘great scholar’ and was the answer at 232ac.
CABOCHON not CABACHON was the ‘Unfaceted gem’ at 268ac. Interestingly, this word is related to the French for ‘cabbage’.
LUCULLAN is a word you might like to add to your vocabulary. It appeared in the Stinker at 70dn in answer to ‘Sumptuous (feast)’. Lucullus was a Roman general known for his extravagance and love of luxury, which he funded with the spoils of war.
For 137dn ‘Shepherd’s pouch’ you needed SCRIP. It seems this one wasn’t in some dictionaries as SCRAP appeared in a number of entries. There is a herb with flat seed pouches, which is known as Shepherd’s Purse and sometimes also as Shepherd’s Scrip. Its Irish name, Clappedepouch, is an allusion to the beggar’s purse. The beggars rang a bell or used clappers to draw attention.
Xero is a prefix from Greek indicating dryness and phyte a suffix indicating a plant, so the ‘Desert plant’ at 119dn was XEROPHYTE.
There are many shades of blue and many wonderful words for the different shades; sapphire, azure, royal, cobalt, Prussian, periwinkle, cornflower and CERULEAN, the answer to 201dn ‘Deep sky-blue’. The word comes from Latin, probably related to caelulum, ‘heaven or sky’.
’Colour bar’ at 117ac had some of you on the wrong track. The answer we needed was RACISM but a few entries had CUBISM as a guess. This gave you ELUDE for 101dn but you needed EVADE for ‘Avoid’.
We had a query about the Giant Cryptic clue ‘Exposed to the breezes, snakes cried’ at 7ac. ‘Snakes’ referred not to the slippery creatures but to the movement and gave you WINDS. Cried was WEPT. Put them together and you got WINDSWEPT.

Colossus 227 Judge Sums Up

Huntress of
the moon
Greek deities are right at home in our crossword grids, sure to find themselves in the company of another of Mount Olympus’s inhabitants featured on another page. What can I say? We cruciverbalists simply love our ancient gods.
In the Baffler the ‘Greek moon god-dess’ was Artemis (not ARTEMES/US). The daughter of Zeus and Leto and twin to Apollo, her time was spent hunting stags and panthers with her bow and arrow. She is also the protector of wild animals, as well as the guardian of children, virgins and women in childbirth. The Temple of Artemis in Ionia was one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
We had a query about our clue, and it is true that Artemis is the goddess of the hunt, but she is also associated with Selene and known as a goddess of the moon, hence she is often depicted with a crescent moon above her head. Her Roman equivalent is Diana, who is also associated with hunting and the moon.
Also in the Baffler was the ‘Spanish playwright, Garcia LORCA’. Now highly regarded as one of Spain’s finest dra­matists and poets, tragically, in 1936 at age 38, Lorca was executed without trial by Franco’s fascists. His works were banned in Spain until 1971.
‘Jot’ at 75ac in the Stinker meant not very much and needed WHIT not CHIT in answer. At 85ac ‘Temperate in habits’ was ABSTEMIOUS not ABSTEMEOUS and at 174ac ‘Harsh criticism’ was OPPROBRIUM not OPPROPRIUM.
GILET (114ac) is a ‘Ballerina’s waistcoat bodice’. As is the case with many words associated with ballet and cycling gilet comes from French, in this instance the word for a sleeveless jacket.
228ac had a few bewildered but ‘Blurred vision in old age’ was PRESBYOPIA, which comes from the Greek for ‘old man’.
At 12dn a few entries had BREACH for ‘Pitch side-on to waves’ but you needed BROACH to be correct.
The ‘Study of selective breeding’ at 49dn was EUGENICS, which looks at the potential to improve the human race by increasing the number of children produced by those considered superior. Eugenics was at its most evil when Hitler ordered the killing of the Jews.
A tiny word caused a few big headaches at 133dn. ‘Fabric colours, … dyes’ was AZO. Azo dyes are usually red, brown or yellow dyes derived from amino compounds. Azo sounds like a great brand name thought up by a marketing team but in fact it is a scientific name.
Jan van EYCK painted master­pieces such as the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, Portrait of a Man in a Turban and The Arnolfini Portrait, from which Bristols’ Arnolfini arts centre gets its name. Van Eyck lived in Bruges in the early 1400s, is considered one of the century’s finest artists and was the answer to ‘Flemish painter’ at 188dn.
The Giant Cryptic made us giggle at 1dn with the clue ‘Lacking energy like an unprepared shopper?’ An unprepared shopper has left home without a list – they are LISTLESS.
At 73ac a bit more thinking was required. The trigger in this clue led you to the beginning and ending of the words. ‘Extremely generous donation for production’ – GENERATION was the answer.

BIG 217 Judge Sums Up

Goliathon gets revenge
In the Goliathon at 151ac was the clue ‘Revenge, tit for …’ with TAT (not TOT) as the answer. It is interesting that a few entries had this wrong – probably our younger puzzle-lovers.
An eye for an eye, measure for measure, and quid pro quo are all similar-meaning phrases. Tit for tat dates back to the sixteenth century and means retaliate in equivalent measure. It is thought to come from ‘tip for tap’ i.e. blow for blow.
‘Upsurge (of public sentiment)’ at 13dn was GROUNDSWELL. A few of you struggled over this clue. Interestingly groundswell originally meant a deep ocean wave, from an archaic meaning of ground as a place covered by water. The usage suggested by our clue has been around for a couple of hundred years.
We received a query about NOTICEABLE for ‘Conspicuous’ at 145dn. Why is it not NOTICABLE? It is true that dropping the final e is most common when adding -able and some words can take either the -able or -eable ending (i.e. not drop the final e). An example would be LIKABLE / LIKEABLE. However in this case the final e is needed to maintain the soft ‘s’ sound to the ‘c’.
At 78dn you needed EDUCATORS not ERS and at 92dn KALEIDOSCOPE was correct, not KALIEDOSCOPE.
In the Bigcash at 8dn for ‘More cautious’ we expected WARIER but we also took CAGIER. We did not accept LAZIER.
‘Tribute’ at 12dn was EUOLOGY not ELLOGY and the ‘Early counting instrument’ at 81ac was ABACUS not ABACAS.
The Demon put on his waders and went angling with a CREEL to hold all his gear at 25ac. CHEEL was incorrect for ‘Fishing basket’. Usually made of wicker the name comes from the French for latticework.
A vowel swap resulted in errors at 76ac where ‘Hebrew script precursor’ was ARAMAIC not ARAMIAC.
FRIEZE comes from the Latin for embroidery. It was the answer to 81ac ‘Decorative wall band’. In ancient times a frieze was made using relief sculptures, in modern suburbia a frieze is more likely a stick-on strip, especially popular in children’s rooms. We did not accept FRIESE.
FUCHSIN as the name for ‘Magenta dye’ is thought to originate from the colour of the fuchsia flower, which took its name from the botanist Leonhardt Fuchs, and also from the German translation of the French Renard for fox, Fuchs. Whatever the truth, 97ac could not be FUSHSIN. Some of you found this as FUCHSINE. According to our references both words are correct but only one fitted the spaces.
A confusion of vowels again caused trouble at 111ac and103dn. The ‘Back-brushed forehead hair’ was QUIFF not QUAFF fitting with HAILE not HIALE for ‘Ethiopian emperor, … Selassie’.
The word bowdlerised is often misspelt and mispronounced as bowlderised. A way to remember this is that it comes from the name of a Mr Bowdler. In 1818 the prudish Thomas Bowdler and his sister Henrietta reproduced some of Shakespeare’s plays removing any expressions they considered ‘indecent in nature’. The term BOWDLERISED was born and it was the answer to 141ac ‘Expurgated’.

BIG Winners (Issue 216)

BIGCASH
£300 Winner
D Brown, Redhill

5 x £40 Winners
Janette Bennett, Dromore; Jean Cumming, Twickenham; Terry Rawlings, London; Irene Roberts, Doncaster; P Williams, Cheltenham

Goliathon
1 x Antler Expandable Luggage Set
R Atkinson, North Shields

2 x Lovatts Engraved Glass Decanter Sets
Arthur Hetherington, Prenton; B Watson, Motherwell

2 x Crossword Solver’s Dictionaries
J Aldred, Bolton; M Whitehead, Manchester

DEMON
1 x Olympus X43 14 MP Digital Camera
A Harwood, Peterborough

2 x Lovatts Engraved Weather Station
E Bartholomew, Bordon; Kevin Slaven, Birchwood

2 x Collins Pocket Spellers
Sarah Holland, Malvern; Carol Harrop, Sudbury

BONANZA
Big Easy – P4
Solution: Temptation

3 x Collins Gem Prize Packs
Delia McHugh, Withington; Joyce Sadler, West Cross; Janice Thompson, Upper Stratton

Ninesies – P8
Solution: Exertion
3 x Lovatts Puzzler’s Packs
Gina Gagliardi, Watford; G Lunn, Goole; June White, Faversham

Wheel Words – P10
Solution: Reflected
3 x £10 WHSmith Tokens
James Girdwood, West Calder; Nanette Lewis, Pontardulais; Mary Ralfs, Westbury-On-Trym

Elevenses – P14
Solution: Gratuitous
3 x Elevenses Prize Packs
J Patrick, Halifax; M Sherwood, Worlebury; Betty Steel, Hemel Hempstead

Acrostic – P28
Solution: Hildegard Von Bingen
3 x £10 One-4-All Multi Store Gift Cards
Brian Harrison, Barnsley; Jean Taylor, Wem; Stephen Whitfield, Arundel

Do Your Block – P36
Solution: Tenderness
3 x Lovatts Out & About Prize Packs
Pauline Carpenter, Eastbourne; W Clemens, Hartcliffe; U Ritchie, Southmead

Fill-In – P36
Solution: Riddles
3 x I Love Coffee Prize Packs
M Davies, Deepcar; Valerie Douglas, Mansfield; Robert Hamlen, Chippenham

Wiz Words – P37
Solution: Sausages
3 x Collins Electronic Crossword Solvers
Christine Barry, Oadby; Sue Battrick, Newark; Carole Daniel, Scarborough

Starhunt 5 – P40
Solution: John Wayne
3 x Collins Gem Prize Packs
Geoff Beeson, Serta, Portugal; C Bennett, Newport; Catherine Harvey, Glasgow

Starhunt 6 – P40
Solution: Ellen Barkin
3 x Lovatts Kitchen Prize Packs
S Harris, Colchester; A Reed, Hoghton-Le-Spring; Sheila Thomson, Stromness

Starhunt 7 – P41
Solution: Dan Hedaya
3 x Gardener’s Prize Packs
T Allen, Beeston; V Payne, Skipton; Marie Wilkinson, Brighouse

Starhunt 8 – P41
Solution: Bill Murray
3 x Lovatts Stationery Sets
J Prince, Rossett; E Rollo, Muir Of Ord; Andrew Satterthwaite, Lancaster

Big Tougher – P44
Solution: Perseverance
3 x BUSH – Clock Radios
D Gourlay, Carnoustie; Ivy Hill, Loughborough; C Kipling, New Balderton

FindaWord – P75
Solution: Florence Nightingale
3 x Cookbooks
E Curran, Bridlington; W Larn, Grimsby; Irene Pennington, Carnforth