the spectator | 29 february 2020 | http://www.spectator.co.uk 59LIFEAcross
1 Helped top-class lad (8)
4 150 sects accepting
alternative maths aids (11)
10 Any reply sorted about
church theft? (12,
two words)
11 Eccentric fellow returns
the French novel (7)
12 Sit astride stump (8)
14 Tooth-shaped, partly bent,
oily (7)
15 Hired jeans regularly
provide fabric (6)
16 Holes in English slab
overturned (7)
22 Rock from joiner and his
lad in Kent? (9)
23 Thou arranges — in extra
brief? (8)
24 Dash under in France (5)
25 Silly laughs at firearms
regularly (7)
27 He plays Risk battling
Margaret endlessly (8)
29 Drummer for The Who and
relatives having a moment
working (9, two words)
32 SW choirs reviewed (7)
34 Apply pressure to broken
hinge (7)
35 Cockney’s warmer cafe (6)
36 Mail guy ordered on isle (8)
37 Hang around holding
Catholic, making a bow (7)
38 In the depths of Galway
Wood, wandering (12,
four words)
39 The French island supports
cubs (11, two words)
40 Stick with novelist cycling
(6)Down
1 Writers’ lists damaged
bard’s desks (12, two words)
2 Wild sidetracked, even (6)
3 Community Heath brought
about (8)
4 Families having rupees for
make-up removers (9)
5 Leo going round a street
twice, is an upholder of a
belief (11, two words)
6 Count is rioting —
causing these? (8)
7 Out East, look after artist
on plain (6)
8 Pertinent associations
affecting eleven RCs (10)
9 Sidesmen’s empty warning (5)
13 Antihistamine mixed in talc.
Right! (8)
15 Greedy folk consuming the
same snacks (7, hyphened)
17 Effects of regular use
affected arena trade
(11, three words)
18 Orderly takes time for make
up (8)
19 Points to Harry’s son
holding, say, software
program (12, two words)
20 No measure on trap one —
false (11, three words)
21 Near relative once from
European county (7)
26 Opinion poll with differentmiddle note for ancient era
(8, two words)
28 Star player skates round
running tracks (8)
30 An artist I upset with US
phone number (8, two words)
31 Branch of a vein from half
live rubber plant (6)
33 Rinse out deposit (6)
34 Mean little devil left (5)A first prize of £30 for the first
correct solution opened on 16
March. There are two runners-up
prizes of £20. (UK solvers can
choose to receive the latest
edition of the Chambers
dictionary instead of cash —
ring the word ‘dictionary’.)
Entries to: Crossword 2446,
The Spectator, 22 Old Queen
Street, London SW1H 9HP.
Please allow six weeks for
prize delivery.Crossword
2446:
Spring time
by Doc
finger. ‘Sale,’ remarked the Head Volunteer, her
image vanishing. The drone arrived seconds later,
nudging his elbow in an unfriendly manner. No
think retro, said its voice, deep in Winston’s
synapses. Last warning.
Bill GreenwellThe Central Barn at America Farm was packed
when the now semi-human hog, Trumper, the self-
declared King of the Porkies, stood up on his hind
legs to address the animals. On one side were the
sheep, his devoted followers, wearing human-style
red baseball caps with the initials MAFIA, for his
slogan ‘Make America Farm Immense Again’.
The sheep were noisy and belligerent, because
Trumper had persuaded them that they were
actually elephants, but they remained very dim
sheep, agreeing with Trumper’s every word. There
had been an attempt by the donkeys to dislodge
Trumper, but he had explained that since it was
good that he was in charge, everything he did had
to be good, even if it was bad (he called this
‘trample-think’) and the sheep believed him,
chanting their slogans ‘Four Years Good, Eight
Years Better’, and demanding that the wife of the
old farmer be locked up.
Brian MurdochWith a resigned sigh George Hargreaves brought
up the Egolog page on his screen. He thought for
a moment then tapped ‘Why?’ into the search bar.
No result found. Egolog could tell you anything
you wanted to know but it couldn’t answer a
simple question. It would, though, log what he
had asked. He switched to Pangloss News.
Googazon was delivering a speech. George
muted the impermeably bland anthrobotic voice
but ran the subtitles: ‘...this world-leading
utilisation of human-waste fertiliser means that
crop yields are increasing excrementally.’
Excrementally? He hurriedly played the passage
back with sound. The spoken word was
‘exponentially’. George’s whole body trembled.
Someone, somehow had infiltrated the system.
It was an act, however tiny, of subversion. More
than that, it was another’s footprint in the sand.
He gave out an exuberant howl. Whatever else
now, he was not alone.
W.J. WebsterArthur Stiggs, curator at the National Museum of
Art, studied the painting before him. What had so
incensed the Minister for Arts to ask for its
immediate destruction? He studied the clouds,
the trees, all depicted beautifully. Then his eyes
were drawn to the main subject, a horse and cart
and their driver marooned in a pond. Yes, he
could see it now. This image of incompetence
would not be tolerated in a society where
everyone had their specified job and was
expected to do it well. This representation of
neglect of common values should not be seen. He
could not stand too long, as his every move would
be reported, so he made a quick decision. He
beckoned a pair of workmen who on his
instruction took the painting down. He hoped the
cameras would not catch the tears in his eyes as
Constable’s ‘Hay Wain’ went to its end.
Katie MallettNO. 3140: CONFESSIONALYou are invited to submit a poem in the style
of a famous poet in which they make a sur-
prising confession. Please email entries of up
to 16 lines to [email protected] by mid-
day on 11 March.1 234567891011 121314 1516 17 181920 212223 2425 26272829 3031 32 3334 3536 373839 40SOLUTION TO 2443: MIDDLE OF THE ROADEach unclued light is a genus name of a TREE
(i.e. ‘middle of the road’ = (s)TREE(t)). Cornus was
also allowed at 2 Down.First prize John Honey, Surbiton
Runners-up Ben Stephenson, London SW12;
D. Page, OrpingtonNameAddressEach clue defines the full solu-
tion to which the letter-count
refers. However, the cryptic
wordplay leads to the grid entry,
after one letter has been omit-
ted each time it appears in the
full solution. The omitted letters
in clue order reveal a relevant
timely phrase which solvers
should include with their entry.comps_29 Feb 2020_The Spectator 59 25/02/2020 16:48