  We investigate two possible explanations for the large-angle anomalies in the
Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB): an intrinsically anisotropic model and an
inhomogeneous model. We take as an example of the former a Bianchi model (which
leaves a spiral pattern in the sky) and of the latter a background model that
already contains a non-linear long-wavelength plane wave (leaving a stripy
pattern in the sky). We make use of an adaptation of the ``template''
formalism, previously designed to detect galactic foregrounds, to recognize
these patterns and produce confidence levels for their detection. The
``corrected'' maps, from which these patterns have been removed, are free of
anomalies, in particular their quadrupole and octupole are not planar and their
intensities not low. We stress that although the ``template'' detections are
not found to be statistically significant they do correct statistically
significant anomalies.
