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A fitting finale to 2013 with yet another – his 4th – win for Mike Baker, which also seals the Annual Prize for the third year in a row! Fantastic stuff, Mike, you are still very much the one to beat!
 
The Christmas podium was then filled by some very experienced old hands. Don Manley showed a return to form, just back in second spot – his third top 5 finish for the year. There was a tie for 3rd place between David Harry and John Tozer, with Richard Saunders a little way back in fifth.
 
ANNUAL COMPETITION
 
As already mentioned, hearty congratulations to Mike Baker for taking top spot for the third year in a row – a magnificent achievement, and you will all have to try harder in 2014 to peg him back!
 
Margaret Irvine's excellent form earlier in the year enabled her to keep hold of 2nd place – well done for pushing Mike for so long!
 
Dave Parfitt was just 1/2 a point back in 3rd, and has had another very consistent year.
 
John Appleton takes fourth spot, returning to the Annual podium after being squeezed out to 6th last year.
 
Finally, Steve Randall makes a very creditable showing in his first full year of competition by completing the podium in 5th – well done Steve!
 
A big thankyou to everyone who has made 2013 another superbly entertaining one, and here's to 2014! – good luck to you all!!

Voting Information

Voting is open until Midnight UK time on Friday 17th January.
 
Please award FIVE points maximum to the clue you judge best: FOUR points for second, THREE for third, TWO for fourth, down to ONE point for fifth; but otherwise you may distribute your votes as you see fit including ½ marks for split voting – as long as you award no more than 15 points IN TOTAL and no more than 5 points to any one clue…
 
…and of course you may NOT VOTE for your own clue!
 
COMMENTS:
 
Your comments in general and on individual clues, however much or little you write, are always most welcome! Please remember that if any particular clue or clues do not find favour with you, it is more helpful to offer constructive criticism – many of our members are keen to learn and hone their clue writing skills through our competition – feedback may be useful for their future efforts!

Entry Information

That festive time of year is upon us once again, and it is traditional to angle the December competition towards this. However, in our cruciverbal world another occasion cannot go unnoticed!
 
So your challenge for this Christmas is to compose a rhyming couplet clue to CROSSWORD (9) and CENTENARY (9).
 
Your couplet should consist of a STANDARD CRYPTIC clue to either of the two words, and a DEFINITION AND LETTER MIXTURE (DLM) to the other. It is your choice which way round you clue the two words, and either the standard cryptic or the DLM may come first.
 
In a DLM clue there is a definition (one or more words), and a mixture of the letters of the required answer, either BEGINNING WITH THE BEGINNING OR ENDING AT THE END of word in the clue.
 
By way of example, here is Tom Borland's winning clue in a similar competition to BAUBLE and TINSEL:
 
This gaudy gift in Sellotape contains
A knick-knack that my tearful babe disdains
 
[First line, standard cryptic: TINSEL hidden, def. "gaudy"
Second line, DLM: def. "knick-knack", mixture in "tearfUL BABE"]
 
You may wish to pay homage to the humble crossword in your effort or not – the choice is yours, but the judges will decide!
 
SUGGESTED METHOD OF APPROACH: compose the cryptic clue first as it will be easier to engineer the DLM to complete the rhyme, as a certain amount of "padding" is acceptable – but the less the better!