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The Foxers

Analog puzzle games

Feature by Tim Stone Contributor
Published on
34 comments


A week of rich confectionery, cold turkey and fortified wine can do terrible things to an organic CPU. An hour or two in the company of the following three puzzles may not repair all the damage, but it should leave you fit enough to take on simple tasks like deciphering the Voynich manuscript, discovering the whereabouts of El Dorado, and completing an HMRC self assessment tax return.

Foxer #1

Below is a list of '30 Things, People, and Places That Made the News in 2016' (‘things’ is used here in its broadest possible sense). Entries have been stripped of vowels and had any inter-word spaces repositioned. For example, if 'Fidel Castro' was present, he might appear as…

FDLCS TR

Yemen would be…

YMN

The last five entries in the list – those marked with asterisks – are especially fiendish. Not only are they vowel-less, they have also been anagrammed.

1. SF TBRXT
2. LCS CT
3. BRNG LNSPLT
4. ND RKRLV
5. SL RMPL S2
6. CLSJN GL
7. THPR PLWT CH
8. PRMN DDSNG LS
9. VNCS
10. LTH RTRSRS
11. TRZ
12. MK MR CGR TGN
13. SMMCN TNRY
14. MJ RTM
15. THSL LT
16. SBR NSCRK
17. CL SRFT
18. HR RCNMTTHW
19. PRV TMLSR VR
20. MB RTC
21. JNP RB
22. DRNTH SWM P
23. CND RM
24. MHVJRLNG KRNBDNDRDBYVRNG KN
25. L
26. PLP*
27. RSS ZZ BG*
28. RPPP SMN*
29. BLKM*
30. WB*

* * * * *

Foxer #2

Not a clue

Where am I? (Use the twelve clues below and Google Street View to work out my precise location)

  • I'm a ten-minute walk from a quarry
  • I'm standing next to an establishment licensed to sell alcohol
  • I can see a yellow and blue double decker operating a '31' service
  • If you flew direct to the South Pole from my current location, you'd cross five African countries
  • I'm at a higher latitude than Berlin
  • I'm a one-mile drive from a lighthouse
  • Trams once trundled past this spot
  • The country I'm in joined the EEC at the same time as Denmark
  • There's an example of Lutyens' work in the locality
  • On the pavement opposite is a man walking a dog
  • I'm at a lower latitude than Copenhagen
  • The village I'm in has a connection with this image:

* * * * *

Foxer #3

This collage has a hidden theme.

* * * * *

Last week's collage theme: It's a Wonderful Life (defoxed by Little_Crow)

a Stern magazine logo (Der Zeitgeist)
b Rumpole of the Bailey (phuzz, Stugle)
c Sprite from Wings - George Bailey's guardian angel earns his wings at the end of the film (Rorschach617)
d James Stewart's medal ribbons (mrpier)
e Angel Clock, Islington (Little_Crow)
f N1K-J George (Rorschach617)
g Stoke City FC badge (unsolved)
h Bedford S tipper (phuzz)
i Buffalo (Rorschach617)
j Gerald Ford's dog, Liberty (Stugle)
k Copy of Beretta 8000 - Uncle Billy loses $8000 (Rorschach617)
l 1903 Martini - The Martinis are characters in the film (phuzz)

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