The Spectator - 31.08.2019

LIFE

Across

1 Place to take off sari,

pants and slip (8)

8 Theatre oddly chucked out

piano and mouth organ (4)

13 Barman mixing vodka and

rum without hesitation (6)

14 Facade metaphorically

protecting the scholarly

world (7)

15 Stand our ground round

buildings (8)

19 Exercise, sport and

vehicles enthralling current

South Americans (9)

20 Explosive philanthropist

shunning British Christmas

(4)

21 Lift man out, taking it

slowly at first (4)

24 George I vacuously

discusses hypothetical

figures (6)

29 Indefinite number are

cycling close by (4)

30 Sound of throat-clearing

initially after horribly

embarrassing moment (4)

32 Lecture wrong old man

about interrupting witness

(9)

37 Arab headdress leaves

India in possession of

important chap from east

(8)

38 Copy idiot frolicking

within walls of Eton (7)

39 Told presidential candidate

to welcome Democrat (6)

40 Fine examples of how to

stop species evolving (10)

41 Very tearful, missing island

(4)

Down

2 Call upon half-cut investor

to accept fine (6)

3 Extremely stylish toupee,

something a woman might

wear (5)

4 Reassessment of non-

visual art at Barking (14)

5 Prophet heartlessly seizing

fine article in Iranian city

(7)

6 Damned dogs invading top

end of Strand (8)

7 Status symbols hacking

casino chief off (14, three

words)

9 Allege banks snub those

putting money aside (4)

10 New version of film about

model (6)

11 Disinfectant is no help

after accident (6)

17 Romeo poking

contemptible person in

guts (4)

22 Lively dance partially

arouses ambassador (5)

23 Remove diadem from

queen in nightclub when

empty (8)

25 Gutted dace, fish extinct in

Scotland (4)

28 Independent country once

banning minute plant (7)

30 Shimmering bird of prey

heading off in the morning

(6)

31 Bring bad luck to criminal

pair (6)

33 Six – not nine – learned to

climb round clock (6)

35 Open up Mayfair haunt of

vice (5)

36 Be rude about Norfolk

town (4)

A first prize of £30 for the first

correct solution opened on 16

September. 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 2423,

The Spectator, 22 Old Queen

Street, London SW1H 9HP.

Please allow six weeks for

prize delivery.

Crossword

2423: Redheads

by La Jerezana

My doubts are leading me to ‘speculate’
On Oxford commas, and imperial weight.
Guide us, listen to vox populi —
‘Going forward’? No. Time’s passed you by!
Sylvia Fairley

Once Mosley was promising, handsome and young,
Seductively rich, with an eloquent tongue,
Well-known as a swordsman with sabre and foil,
Although seldom playing according to Hoyle —
Lubricious, mendacious, a demon for power,
Determined to rule as the Man of the Hour.
Many thought him a leader in times of great stress;
Others smelled a slick chancer and wished him
bad cess.
Since he aimed to succeed as a friend of our foes,
Lord, protect us in future from any of those
Eccentrically English toffs gone to the bad.
You must know the type — ‘a wrong ’un and a cad’.
G.M. Davis

Raised a Quaker, now with Satan
In the deepest pit of Hell,
Crooked as a shyster lawyer,
Heavy on the paranoia,
Always bent and couldn’t straighten,
Richard rose and Richard fell.
Dirty pool? He wasn’t picky,
Not the famous Tricky Dicky.
In the end comes Watergate,
X-rated Oval Office tapes —
Oh, the irony of fate.
Nixon exits. Draw the drapes.
Basil Ransome-Davies

Jolly Jim, avuncular, sedate,
Acclaimed for singing ‘Waiting at the Church’,
Made much of Educational research,
Engendering the famous ‘Great Debate’;
Schooled at Portsmouth Grammar up he rose,
Climbed the greasy pole, then underwent
A chilling winter, rife with discontent,
Labelled as a failure by his foes;
Left to languish, still to power he gripped
Against the odds and never losing hope
Gallantly he did his best to cope,
Holding fast till down that pole he slipped;
A man who was, although in crisis cool,
No match against the Iron Lady’s rule.
Alan Millard

Precocious, but no star, young Pitt MP
Inveighed at length against the trade in slaves;
Tried planning how clean politics might be;
Took up the aim of rooting out its knaves.
Though not yet twenty-five, by regal whim
He gained the highest office in the land:
Exchequer machinations suited him,
Yielding the funds he needed to command.
On making pacts, alliances and wars,
Uncertainty would sometimes shift his stance:
Napoleon, though, gave him a noble cause —
Guarding against the Emperor’s advance.
Exhausted, penniless, he died, unpraised,
Remembered for the Income Tax he raised.
W.J. Webster

NO. 3115: MOGGISMS

You are invited to submit an extract from
a government memo whose language would
meet with the approval of Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Please email entries of up to 150 words to
[email protected] by midday on Monday
9 September.

12 34 5 67891011

12

13 14

15 16

17 18

19 20

21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29

30 31 32 33

34 35

36 37

38 39

40

41 42

SOLUTION TO 2420: CRAFTY

1, 4, 23 and 30 are livery companies (33/22). They are

found in The 21 and 2 (the singular of a fifth unclued light).

18 is partly thematic (DYERS), 3 was a high officer, while

7 and 28 show status.

First prize Elizabeth Hardcastle, York

Runners-up Angus Ross, Old Portsmouth, Hants;

Tim Hanks, Douglas, Isle of Man

Name

Address

Email

Eight unclued lights are of a

kind.