The Childrens Society Boys Will Be Boys 31/12

[poodledoo]

3)Derisive name for any shirker (8)
2)In the USA a kind of jam tart (5)
83)An untitled man
91)An inverted pendulum with a spring, used to test oscillation
72)This top lady was a man famous as the actor of (4-2-4)
answers have a masculine connection. no no. of letters given when none in brackets.

[mallyh]

83 average joe?

[Captain2]

83 John Doe?

[Calibax]

2 Cupid

[petland]

91 Bob

[Calibax]

Augustus? Rock-of-Ages?

[Calibax]

91 Noddy

[poodledoo]

thank you, just no 3 to go!

[Chinajan]

Should 72 read '...famous as the author of' then?

[Calibax]

3 Cuthbert

[Calibax]

^
Cuthbert: The apostle of Northumbria (c.635\sm687); a derisive name given to someone suspected of evading military service, and hence to any shirker.

[dannyk13]

3.Layabout?

[Chinajan]

Good ans Calibax. I wouldn't have got that.

[Mamyalynne]

Agree, a cracking find.

History here.

//Cuthbert A man with a cushy job in a government office, especially one who avoided military service on the score of occupation. Personal name supposedly suggestive of effeminacy.

General. From 1917 (OED). Attested in numerous sources.

F&G provide the following explanation: ‘A name in the War, coined by “Poy”, the cartoonist of the Evening News, and colloquially adopted by way of contempt for fit men of military age, particularly in Government Offices, who had been “combed out” for the Army. ... In “Poy’s” cartoon the “Cuthberts” were represented as frightened looking rabbits.’ ‘Cuthbert’ was also used to refer to a conscientious objector.//

[poodledoo]

thank you. wherever do you find these answers Calibax? do you have some excellent reference books, or do you just keep Googling with excellent key words until you do find the answer? If you are entering the competition, you deserve to win with answers like that, and what is more, you are prepared to share your answers with us.

[Calibax]

Hi poodledoo, I do have a lot of reference books but it's mostly googling these days. I do have a CD copy of Chambers Dictionary that has a limited search facility that sometimes throws out some helpful answers. Always happy to share - that's not always popular with some on here though! :o)