Last week Brit the Elder posed his fiendish Cryptic Hypergram quiz, in which every answer was an anagram plus 1 letter. A few of you got some or all of it, but nobody got question 8, which was the longest answer. ‘Octane Ratings’ was, admittedly, ludicrously difficult, so I’ll sort out a winner and a prize in due course anyway. Here are the full answers …
1. Starting off as not too impartial, becomes totally opposed. (Croquet) – ANTI
2. Limit criminal tension. (Lady Jane Grey) – CONSTRAIN
3. John was one, Paul and George too, but not Ringo. (Jack and the Beanstalk) – SAINT
4. Person who is first actually comes ninth. (KR in The Matrix) – I
5. Bloomers, as in reading Volkswagen for Wagenvölken. (Bo Derek) – CARNATIONS
6. Contract made across deed. (Pipers) – TRANSACTION
7. Systems with appeal. (Magnum) – IT
8. Gas reading? (Perfect and triangular, the Hills of Rome) – OCTANE RATINGS
9. See them in frantic simian activities. (Degrees of separation) – ANTICS
10. Pediculus humanus capitas, or just a ridiculous human? (Albatross) – NIT
11. Container vessels contain containers. (Amigos, a hand!) – TIN CANS
12. Penalty for form of agreement. (Bronze) – SANCTION
13. You take them back, but you don’t return them! (Hercules) –RECANTATIONS
Damn! I finally got ‘Octane Ratings’ about 11 a.m. this morning but with one thing and another didn’t get around to mailing it in.
It would be interesting to see the answers to the letter-count clues (the bits in brackets) as I wasn’t quite sure about some of these. My ideas were:
1. (croquet: 4 balls?)
2. (Lady Jane Grey: Queen for 9 days)
3. (Jack and the Beanstalk: 5 beans?)
4. (Keanu Reeves = 1 in The Matrix)
5. (Bo Derek starred in 10)
6. (11 pipers piping)
7. (magnum = 2 bottles of wine in one)
8. (6 = perfect score in figure skating?; 7 Hills of Rome)
9. (6 degrees of separation)
10. (Albatross 3 = German fighter plane, WWI?)
11. (3 amigos; one hand = 4 inches?)
12. (bronze = 8th wedding anniversary)
13. (12 labours of Hercules)
I think you’ve got them all except:
– 6 is simply the first perfect and triangular number.
– Albatross = 3 under par in golf.
Thanks, Brit the Elder, that was my favouritest Cryptic Hypergram ever! I didn’t get octane ratings though.