Thanks so much to everyone who tackled this year’s offering. Extra special thanks to those kind souls who donated more than the strict price. The quiz raised over £550 – that must be the best result ever for one of our cryptic quizzes.
This year, there were 15 with 70 out of 70 [Hilary Oughton, Polly Helliar, Chris Chantler, Janie Bullus, Lynnie Porter, Clive Buddle, Anna Foster, Stephen Nye, Patsy Watkins, Steve Greenhill, Jean Baker, Geoffrey Woods, Andrew Ashenhurst, Tim McDonald, Robert Greenhill, The Turner Family] and lots of 69s. Based on their tie-breakers, the three winners are:
Tim McDonald with Back pain (reportedly from lack of ease) (veg, 7)
Andrew Ashenhurst with Sounds like it might be a drone (shrub, 4)
Anna Foster with Waterloo buskers are imprisoned after missing final note (veg, 7)
and, for the extra little prize, the clue that tickled me most, over all, was Ray Foxell’s clue under a general ‘In the garden’ theme: Bring order to it and everything’s legit (4)
[Answers: spinach, hebe, cabbage and lawn. Lawn as in law’n’order]
Here are the 70 answers, with explanations:
- Gardenia. Anagram reading + a
- Daffodil. Anagram laid off
- Periwinkle. Ruined pier = peri, mollusc = winkle
- Evening primrose. Anagram grim even in prose
- Night-scented stock. Headless horseman = (k)night. Had a whiff = scented. Boiled up bones = stock
- Crocus. Crocs (trade name) around u=university
- Anemone. Anne around emo
- Cyclamen. Anagram cancel my
- Iris
- Hyacinth. Anagram any hitch (and hyacinths can be forced)
- Snowdrop. Drifts suggest snow. Fall = drop
- Tulip. Anagram (and play on ’bulb’)
- Astilbe. Anagram (and false goat’s beard is its vernacular name)
- Hollyhock. Novice = L (learner) in holy (sacramental) + hock (German wine)
- Lupin. Hidden answer ion dell up in
- Valerian. Anagram LA + ravine
- Canterbury bell. See (in Kent context) = Canterbury, bell = shortened belle
- Scabious. IOU inside scabs
- Lady’s Mantle (But Naked ladies works brilliantly, too!)
- Alchemilla mollis (anagram)
- Carnation. (Artists’ word for flesh colour). Car + nation
- Pelargonium. Anagram (twice!)
- Fuchsia. Fuchs = famous spy, plus I.A. abbreviation for inter alia
- Phlox. Homophone for flocks. (Woolly minded suggested sheep)
- Marigold. Homophone: marry gold
- Water lily (or waterlily – my mistake) Anagram
- Lavender. Vend inside real (return = backwards)
- Morning glory. Homophone for mourning + L (student) in gory. [Sorry about my wrong word-count]
- Love-lies-bleeding. Adore = love. Stories = lies. Covered in blood = bleeding
- Foxglove. Fox = US news channel
- Ginkgo biloba. Anagram big bang I look
- Moss rose. Rolling Stones gather no moss. Eggs = roes , homophone for rose. [Some of the solutions offered didn’t take the eggs bit into account.] Rose moss (portulaca grandiflora) also works.
- Norway spruce. Anagram
- Philadelphus. I was thinking of Philadelphia + US, though it has been pointed out that Philadelphia is a city, not a state. Humble apologies. Nobody was marked down.]
- Hibiscus. Ibis inside letters of such
- Mexican orange. Anagram
- Tree peony. Chestnut, say = tree. Then e (energy) inside pony.
- Azalea . AZ (backwards, about) inside a lea
- Clematis. Anagram climate + s (small)
- Mock Orange. Sneer = mock. Dutch House of Orange
- Lilac. Anagram of I call. (Can be white as well as shades of lilac etc)
- Hydrangea. Homophone for Hide! Ranger!
- Cotoneaster. Anagram of tree on coast
- Parsley. Anagram
- Oregano. Regan (one of King Lear’s daughters) inside O…O
- Dill. Anagram
- Sage. Synonym for wise.
- Tarragon. It’s black = tar. Students’ charity event = rag. Working = on
- Chives. Cold = c. Rash = hives
- Coriander. Anagram. (But it’s called cilantro in the US)
- Cos lettuce. Holiday island = Cos. Rental = let. + anagram of cute
- Courgette. Extremes -beginning of courageous and end of suffragette
- Little Gem. Gem = Meg reversed
- Parsnip. Homophone for Pa + the snip
- Endive. Goal = end. I have briefly = I’ve
- Chicory. Smart = chic. Teresa May for one = Tory, minus head (first letter)
- Pak choi. Anagram
- Swiss chard. Federer is example of a Swiss. Blumenthal famously chargrilled/charred things.
- Beetroot. Anagram
- Potato. Tat inside poo
- Radicchio. Anagram
- Turnip. You turn IP to get PI.
- Asparagus. A spa + sugar (reversed)
- Pumpkin. Anagram
- Marrow. Spoil = mar. Fight = row
- Salsify. Anagram. (Apparently salsify tastes of oysters.)
- Brussels sprout. Nigel Farage has left Brussels. Sprout = letters of posture (endless, without the -e)
- Leek. Keel reversed
- Artichoke. Arcimboldo’s work = art. Takes my breath away, so I choke.
- Curly kale. Anagram of early + luck
Again, thank you for your support! This year we’ll make a real effort to make progress with the Schools Sanitation Project that you have been supporting by buying this quiz.
Some of the better tie-breakers. There were lots more, but some were so abstruse as to be really too difficult, and some were actually too easy. The best clues are the ones where all the bits hang together naturally, logically, e.g the clue for Hollyhock: “Novice into sacramental German wine” or Asparagus: “Where waters are taken to reverse one cause of obesity”.
- I am confused with Noah but can’t grow in water (shrub, 7)
- (In the potager) “Don’t take the motorway, Sean!”
- Worker found hiding in such a strange looking plant (flower, 8)
- Is that woman in tears before a Hardy perennial (shrub, 6,6)
- Calls time on a bottle-brush after mad beginnings (shrub, 11)
- Found in a Cinque Port garden (tree, 6)
- Gangster movie ends chaotically (veg, 7)
- Are these just jumble or the mob’s rags? (plant, 5,5)
- Motionless insect? (flower, 7)
- Tractor, missing the junction, messed up this root! (veg, 6)\
- Era of short romance (herb,6)
- Photograph professor holding cloth in bed (flower, 10)
- Fliower to stare at in a puzzled manner (flower, 5)
Answers:
- Mahonia
- Broad bean
- Acanthus
- Cherry laurel
- Callistemon
- Quince
- Shallot
- Broom grass
- Astilbe
- Carrot
- Lovage
- Snapdragon
- Aster