6 JUNE 1958, Page 39

Hereditary Titles

SPECTATOR COMPETITION No. 431: Set by Barbara Smoker

By analogy with the naming of race-horses, competitors were asked to invent a set of three literary titles, each stemming front any two well-known titles of literature or drama.

been competitor said he thought it would have ften a better competition if actual, not invented, titles had been required for the progeny as well sthe parents, but that would obviously have led a great deal of duplication. There was plenty of that as it was. For instance, Pip and Emma Produced 'Afternoon,' Apres-midi; and so on, in several entries; and the setter's name was often derived from Tobacco Road and The Lady's Not For Burning.

titles, competitors did, in fact, produce actual "Hes. and I decided it would be fairest to judge these by the same standards as the invented ones -neither adding points on account of their more difficult task nor disqualifying them for disregard- What was asked for.

What I looked for chiefly was titles that were Probable in themselves and that needed both having to produce them, the parents preferably um/41g nothing obvious in common. Deliberate misinterpretation of the parent titles scored points. With this small-unit type of competition, there is always the problem of entries that exceed the number of attempts required. Some setters (I know to my cost !) make this a disqualification Matter, but my own view is that since more than one entry per competitor is allowed, and a com- plete permutation in trebles of a competitor's efforts (what a setter's nightmare!) would thus theoretically qualify, the best efforts from each competitor should be selected, whether grouped ,1111ao senonagtreo entries bn ot.a lTo sbtheen efistcs not olonuly rfffupers, who may have their best efforts in erent groups. On this basis, the prize is divided as follows: ,(1,1,1e and half guineas each to R. A. McKenzie and in R. P., and one guinea each to Andrew Russell, ice Johnson and J. A. Lindon. Only these five skubloitted three titles that made the grade. The vest of the doubles and singles are quoted below.

PRIZES

SuspenselThe Nature of the Physical World- HANGING MATTER.

The Return1Facade-BACK-TO-FRONT.

The Unknown/Othello-EXMOOR.

(R. A. MCKENZIE)

Hard Times 'Great Expectations-TOP PEOPLE OF TOMORROW.

Das. Kapital 'Persuasion-COMMERCIAL ADVER- TISING.

The Scarlet Letter/The Republic-THE USSR.

(M. R. P.)

Rob Roy/Escape-SCOTT FREE.

Under the Greenwood Tree' Gone With the Wind-

SHADY PAST.

The Fair Maid of Perth/The Mighty Atom-

BLONDE BOMBSHELL. (ANDREW RUSSELL) The Apple Cart' The Woman in White-CARTE

BLANCHE.

Hiawatha/Through the Looking Glass -

AFITAWAIH.

Streetcar Named Desire 'Journey's End-TRAM

TERMINUS. (JOYCE JOHNSON)

Mortal Coils/The Thirty-Nine Steps-SNAKES AND LADDERS.

The Idiot The Light That Failed-MENTAL BLACKOUT.

The Wild Duck' Ghosts-HIGH SPIRITS.

(J. A. LINDON)

COM MENDED The Turn of the Screw/The White Company-VICE

SQUAD.

The Mighty Atom/Vanity Fair-HYDROGEN

PEROXIDE. (P. ROBERTS)

Much Ado About Nothing/The Golden Bowl-

POT.

The Wild Duck 1 Faust-QUACK DOCTOR.

(N. HODGSON) Lord Ihn 1Chance-LUCKY JIM.

Dear Brutus 'The Excursion-ROMAN HOLIDAY. J. O. MCBRYDE) Look Back in Anger' It Is Never Too Late To Mend

-CROSS STITCH.

Resurrection' Genesis-THE UPSTART.

(PETER MAUDSLEY)

Harold/Rab and His Friends-THE PREMIER- SHIP.

You Never Can Tell/The Virginians-LUNG

CANCER. (FITZJOHN)

The Waves1The Card-BREAKERS OF HEARTS. Faraway/The Excursion-DISTANT JOURNEY.

(GEORGE HIJRREN) Brothers and Sisters/Ghosts-KINDRED SPIRITS. Middlemarch Music at Night-SPRING SEREN-

ADE. (SHEILA KNOWLES)

Herod 1 Truth-KING'S EVIDENCE. Winter/Strife-COLD WAR.

(ROBERT WILSON)

The Light That Failed/The Way of the World-

DARK ORBIT. (No name given)

Don Quixote 'The Lady of Shalott-SPANISH

ONION. (1. C. MORGAN)

Life of Samuel Johnson/The Descent of Man-

DOCTOR FELL. (o. H. BAXTER)

The Iceman Cometh1Whisky Galore-SCOTCH ON THE ROCKS. (JANE MCKERRON) No Name/Nothing-BLANKETY-BLANK.

(GLORIA

The Lark/Whisky Galore-BLITHE SPIRIT. PRINCE)

(M. E. FOSSEY)

The Egoist! Trilby-MY HAT! (D. P. M. MICHAEL) Eyeless in Gaza, Look Back in Anger-BLIND FURY. (LYNDON IRVING) Great Expectations/Lost Illusions-THE READING OF THE WILL. (G. J. BLUNDELL) Hard Cash/The Heart of Midlothian-THE TRANS-

FER. (u. A. C. EVANS)

Plain Tales from the Hills1Pendennis-PENNY

PLAIN. s.) Poor Relations' A Man of Property-GREAT EXPECTATIONS. (E. J. ROBERTS) Persuasion/The Merchant of Venice-1 BOUGHT A

CANAL. (DOUGLAS,HAWSON)