CCCWC February 2021 competition results
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67 clues entered. 53 votes cast (50 competitors, 3 others).
WETLANDS
Big congrats to Nathan Townshend! After a couple of podium finishes last year – his first year of competing – Nathan bags a first win with a simple anagram but moulded into a lovely deceptive surface reading!
To prove his "comeback" last month was no fluke, Richard just misses out in second spot with another clue that has a beautifully deceptive surface. Back with a bang Richard!
Pete Milne visits the podium for the first time since his last win in June 19, with a cheeky little clue – and let's be fair, we never can resist a bit of toilet humour, can we?!
Fourth spot went to Andy Smith who managed to construct a coherent first letters &lit – no mean feat for an eight letter word!
Finally, congratulations to Alastair Gerrard, who with what is only his second attempt in our competition, sneaks into 5th place with a comp. anag. &lit. Welcome to the podium, Alastair!
As ever, thanks to all for the continued support – on to breakfast now!
Pos | No. | Name | Clue | Explanation | Points | Merits | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 19 | Nathan Townshend | Lads went crackers for broads in Norfolk | Lads went = fodder; crackers = anagrind; broads in Norfolk = def | 45.5 | 3 | 3 |
2 | 25 | Richard Saunders | Let out worthless London borough houses and flats | Let* in Wands(worth). "houses" containment indicator, "and" link word, "flat" (often in plural) an area of land covered by shallow water (Chambers) | 42.5 | 3 | 3 |
3 | 10 | Pete Milne | Digested stew and left to find a bog | Anagram of STEW+AND+L | 39.5 | 2 | 1 |
4 | 36 | Andy Smith | Primarily watery ecosystem that lets aquatic nature develop sustainably | Initial letters, &lit | 38.5 | 4 | 2 |
5 | 2 | Alastair Gerrard | Are teal, swans and ducks primarily swimming in these areas? | Comp. anag. + & lit. [ARE TEAL SWANS D(ucks)]* gives WETLANDS + AREAS. (N.B. Teal is plural as well as singular) | 36 | 2 | 3 |
6 | 17 | Steve Hicks | In front of square, openers for England, Tavaré and Luckhurst, caught by Rod Marsh | Def=Marsh. ETL (openers for…) inside WAND (Rod) in front of S (square) Ref. Australian wicketkeeper Rod Marsh. | 35.5 | 2 | 3 |
7 | 59 | Simon Griew | Wasn’t delta possibly formed at these? | comp anag (wasnt delta -> at wetlands) & lit (some wetlands are deltas) | 27 | 3 | 2 |
8 | 31 | Nick | Newts and large bats found here. | Newts and L = anagram fodder; Bats = anagram indicator; Whole clue = definition | 23.5 | 2 | 4 |
8 | 42 | Tim Anderson | Slough, unfit for human habitation? Let explosive sticks engulf it! | (let)* in wands; sticks = bomb clusters; ref. Betjeman poem “Slough” "Come friendly bombs ….." | 23.5 | 2 | 4 |
10 | 33 | John Appleton | One year away from Walt Disney production in the Everglades? (8) | I Y[ear] removed from (WALTDISNEY)*; def = "the Everglades?" | 21.5 | 3 | 3 |
11 | 57 | Unusual newts lad found in marshy ground | Unusual = anagrind; newts lad = anagram fodder; found in = link to def; marshy ground = def. | 20.5 | 2 | 1 | |
12 | 65 | Wide deltas formed around northern swamps | W + DELTAS* around N | 20 | 4 | 2 | |
13 | 54 | The rain comes down in the Everglades, perhaps | The rain = WET (see Chambers) comes down = LANDS, the Everglades is an example of WETLANDS | 19.5 | 2 | 4 | |
14 | 24 | Laws tend to get broken in areas where one might get bogged down (8) | Wordplay = anagram (indicated by 'to get broken') of (laws tend)*, definition = areas where one might get bogged down, connecting word = in {wordplay IN definition} | 19 | 2 | 2 | |
14 | 27 | Long sentence faces wanted criminal as result of breaking banks? | anagram of L[ong] + S[entence] + WANTED | 19 | 2 | 3 | |
16 | 4 | Area that's saturated with fancy dental surgeries, primarily | Def = Area that's saturated Wordplay = W (with) ETLAND (*dental) S (Surgeries's primary letter) | 17.5 | 3 | 3 | |
17 | 67 | You and I stand awkwardly, while overwhelming stillness essentially swamps… (8) | Def: swamps. WE {You and I} STAND* {… awkwardly} around {… while overwhelming …} (-stil)L(-ness) {… essentially}. | 17 | 3 | 2 | |
18 | 1 | A newt swimming across lake ends in waterlogged grass in such? | L in anag.+ d,s & lit. | 15 | 3 | 1 | |
19 | 15 | Here, maybe, are stilts wanted, as bell bottoms getting frayed | (WANTED + [a]S + [bel]L)*; "Stilts" refer to wading birds often found in Wetlands (rare in Britain). | 14 | 0 | 4 | |
19 | 23 | Laws tend to be broken resulting in quagmires (8) | (laws tend)*, anagrind – to be broken, def – quagmires | 14 | 1 | 2 | |
21 | 45 | Soft lights for the bogs? | Soft = wet, lights = lands, the bogs = definition by example | 12 | 1 | 4 | |
21 | 60 | W.C. Fields | W.C. = bog + fields = wetlands | 12 | 2 | 5 | |
23 | 38 | Review Delta-Northwest's settlements for frequent flyers | Review = Anagram indicator. DELTANWS =fodder. Rest is cryptic definition, the frequent flyers being birds. The surface pertains to the merger of Northwest and Delta Airlines. | 11 | 3 | 2 | |
24 | 43 | Slough's teeming with retail stores at the centre | WET/(retai)L S(tores) = L AND S at the centre; Slough is a town in SE England. Wetland(s) = slough, Collins Thesaurus. | 10 | 0 | 1 | |
25 | 52 | Swampy spots son underground, in pieces, after work excavating tunnel starts | S under LAND (in pieces to indicate the word-split) after W+E+T. Down clue. Ref Swampy & son in the Euston HS2 tunnel protest. | 9.5 | 2 | 5 | |
25 | 61 | We start to trudge on the fringes of lakes and maybe surrounding areas | WE + T + L AND S (fringes of L(ake)S; def = maybe surrounding areas (of lakes) | 9.5 | 2 | 3 | |
27 | 40 | Slough provoked wanderlust without hesitation | slough=wetlands (def). (wanderlust — ur)*. | 9 | 0 | 3 | |
28 | 26 | let's wander without hesitancy about The Fens, maybe | (letswand)* -er | 8.5 | 2 | 2 | |
29 | 46 | Soil and water forms with reduced air and oxygen (8) | (SOILANDWATER – AIRO)* . WETLAND (as per Britannica), complex ecosystem characterized by flooding or saturation of the soil, which creates low-oxygen environments | 8 | 0 | 2 | |
29 | 48 | Suit trousers alien left in bog | WANDS (suit in tarot) around ET + L | 8 | 0 | 1 | |
31 | 41 | Slough Town leads after shot out of nothing | *T(O)WN LEADS; def. Slough; shot = blast, explosion; ref Slough Town FC | 7.5 | 4 | 3 | |
32 | 34 | Partners arrive in tedious, empty marshes | WE (LAND in T(ediou)S); marshes = definition | 7 | 1 | 3 | |
32 | 35 | Places swamped with aliens, suffused with light | places swamped = def. With = W; aliens = ETs; suffused with = container indicator; light (in verb sense) = land | 7 | 2 | 3 | |
34 | 55 | Towels and missing old pants in bogs | TWELS + AND | 6.5 | 0 | 2 | |
34 | 64 | Where one may find various newts with long and dark heads (8) | Anag (various) NEWTS+ L,A,D, semi & lit – extended definition | 6.5 | 3 | 1 | |
36 | 3 | Area man-free, a newt and salamander ground | (a newt + salamander – area man)* = wetlands, ground = anagrind, comp. anag. & lit | 6 | 0 | 1 | |
36 | 5 | Bawd (plus client) furiously abandoning foul public bogs (8) | [BAWDPLUSCLIENT]* – [PUBLIC]* | 6 | 1 | 2 | |
36 | 14 | Goes round central Italy, skipping Venice area maybe | anag. of (I)tal(y) in wends | 6 | 0 | 5 | |
36 | 30 | Nappy bags for the bogs perhaps | WET(nappy, ie tipsy) LANDS(bags, ie secures). Def by example, wetlands being a generic term for various types of marshy land | 6 | 2 | 3 | |
36 | 32 | Old Rotarian moving south to Hackney? | WESTLAND (Helicopters) = wetlands = Hackney Marshes | 6 | 2 | 3 | |
41 | 21 | Lads went wild – rush home | (Lads went)* | 5.5 | 4 | 3 | |
41 | 62 | Wee soils bogs | Wee=wet; soils=lands; bogs=toilets and def | 5.5 | 2 | 2 | |
43 | 6 | Bog roll empty: schoolchild initially nervous about leaving turd – gross | reversal of: S(choolchil)D N(ervous) A(bout) L(eaving) T(urd) EW | 5 | 2 | 5 | |
43 | 29 | Moors in west country appropriated for development | Moors (def); country = land + west, appropriated for development (*) = wetlands | 5 | 0 | 3 | |
45 | 37 | Primarily watery ecosystems that let aquatics (nothing dry) survive (8) | &lit; Primarily = Indicator of first letters for W[atery] E[cosystems] T[hat] L[et] A[quatics] N[othing] D[ry] S[urvive] | 4 | 0 | 2 | |
45 | 58 | Urinate on ground, with son on bog (8) | "Urinate on" = WET, "ground" = LAND, "with son on" = + S; bog = defn. | 4 | 0 | 2 | |
45 | 63 | What fairy godmothers wave around regularly deathly marshy areas | WANDS around (d)E(a)T(h)L(y) | 4 | 0 | 3 | |
48 | 39 | Signs of authority permitted cycling within swamps | LET cycling in WANDS | 3 | 1 | 2 | |
49 | 7 | Bogs? Lads went out here | LADS WENT* , OUT = * , BOGS = def… | 2 | 1 | 4 | |
49 | 11 | Ecosystems, say, of watery enclosures, typically lavishing around nourishment; discovered so at the outset | WETLANDS (ecosystems, say,) of W(atery) E(nclosures), T(ypically) L(avishing) A(round) N(ourishment); D(iscovered) S(o) with use of first letters (at the outset) | 2 | 0 | 5 | |
49 | 16 | Home for dippers and left-leaning tories | Double def | 2 | 3 | 3 | |
49 | 18 | Jim Prior wins in Slough (8) | Jim Prior was a leading Tory "wet" during the Thatcher era. You can land a job – ie win one. BTW since 1997 Slough has been a safe Labour seat – prior to that (ie up to 1992) it was a safe Tory seat. | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
53 | 28 | Marshes where Tony regularly was led astray (8) | Def = Marshes. Anagram of (T-N (tony regularly) + WAS LED), astray is the indicator | 1.5 | 0 | 2 | |
54 | 8 | Broad to Stokes and Paddy fields (8) | Broad = wetland + s(Stokes) + definition. | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
54 | 12 | Extremes of licentiousness lure conservative into the quagmire (8) | WET (conservative) + L AND S (extreme letters). Lure suggests order | 1 | 0 | 3 | |
54 | 50 | Swamps regenerated last weekend, after letting out a cry of horror. | Anagram of 'last weekend' minus 'eek'; definition = swamps | 1 | 0 | 3 | |
57 | 20 | Lads went off causing a slough (8) | Wordplay [ladswent]* indicated by off. Definition slough (meaning a lack of progress in the surface reading) | 0.5 | 0 | 1 | |
57 | 47 | Staves headless Celt off inside Slough (8) | A stave is a wooden rod; wordplay = WANDS, with (ELT)* inside; defn = slough (meaning marshland – note wetland/wetlands are equivalent per Chambers) | 0.5 | 0 | 2 | |
57 | 51 | Swamps where eco-warrior teams located and nurtured degraded streams initially | Def = "Swamps", first letter ('initially') of each word thereafter | 0.5 | 1 | 3 | |
57 | 53 | Terrain in West damaged ecosystem. | WET(land)S…..Terrain/Land…West(anag) | 0.5 | 0 | 3 | |
61 | 9 | Del wants new pitch in Slough (8) | Anagram of DEL WANTS. Indicator: NEW PITCH. Ref. Only Fools and Horses. | 0 | 4 | 2 | |
61 | 13 | Fields flooded with external light, east and west stand upper tiers are now dark suddenly (8) | Definition = fields flooded. External light=LT. East and West= EW. Stand=reversal indicator. Upper tiers=first letters (Are Now Dark Suddenly) | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
61 | 22 | Laws tend perhaps to stop dumping in swampy area. | Anagram introduced by “perhaps” for “Laws+tend”; definition, “swampy area” | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
61 | 44 | Slough’s where her discarded tin-opener is found by the sides of Ladbrokes (8) | Slough’s – def. / where her discarded – W[her]E / tin-opener – T / is found by – link / the sides of Ladbrokes – L AND S | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
61 | 49 | Swamp new lads with model components | anagram of 'new lads' plus 't' (from model) | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
61 | 56 | Unobserved, search a cathedral as Cardinal points out bogs (8) | Subtractive anagram : CATHEDRALAS + NESW (Cardinal points) – (unobserved) SEARCH A Out = anagrind Bogs = definition | 0 | 2 | 4 | |
61 | 66 | Windblast direction not going both ways around swamp | (WINDBLAST + E – BI)*; BI = Bisexual = "going both ways" | 0 | 0 | 1 |