The Crossword Centre Clue-Writing Competition

CCCWC June 2022 competition results

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52 clues entered. 47 votes cast (41 competitors, 6 others).


WOODWARD

A fairly close competition this month with two clues battling it out for top spot. The eventual winner was Rod Beards which, after a numbers of years taking part, is Rod's first victory – so congratulations Rod! A lovely clue with a misleading definition and some very neat wordplay – well done sir!
 
Second spot goes to Satyen, his first podium of the year, with a similar idea to our winner, perhaps the definition not appealing quite as much, but well done Satyen.
 
Seerat scored a second podium in a row (and third this year). I liked the way the definition linked seamlessly with the wordplay which had some nice elements to it.
 
John Appleton also notched a third podium of this year with his neat and efficient effort.
 
Final podium spot went to Vinod Raman (second of this year) who used the WOO=COURT device, like our top two, but a slightly drier definition pushed him down the rankings.
 
Thanks and well done to all for dealing with what was a trickier word this month – difficult to define entertainingly and some awkward letters in there – good luck for July!

PosNo.NameClueExplanationPoints Merits 
140Rod BeardsProtector of elders, perhaps, in court battle surrounded by daughtersProtector of elders, perhaps = definition; WOO WAR surrounded by D + D65.51  2  
212Satyen NabarCourt battle covered by extremely dedicated investigative journalistWOO + WAR in D(-edicate)D592  3  
347Seerat HazirSports icon Clive Lloyd’s back after court battle – given knighthood at last! (8)Def: Sports icon Clive (Woodward). WOO [(knighthoo)D] WAR + lloyD. (Surface refers to Lloyd’s libel suit followed by his knighthood earlier this year.)400  2  
422John AppletonFight in club finally stopped by park rangerWAR in (WOOD + [stoppe]D)28.52  5  
527Vinod RamanForest officer's court battle to occupy vacant dryland (8)Def: Forest officer; court=WOO, battle=WAR, vacant dryland=DD270  3  
642S.SreeniRanger died in court precinct (8)D (died) in WOO (court) WARD (precinct). Def: Ranger (forest guard)26.53 
719Ed HallEngland coach who’s to blame for loss of Ashes?Double def. Clive Woodward (World Cup winning rugby coach) and cryptic def (“who’s to blame for loss of Ashes?” (Ash trees)262  3  
810Terry NealeClub bolstered by rising attraction in Forest's keeperClub = wood; bolstered by = positional indicator; rising attraction = ward (draw reversed); in = link to def; Forest's keeper = def (surface: Nottingham Forest)25.51  1  
843Joe ReesRanger rode and swam naked, word has it (8)"Ranger" r(OD)e and s(WA)m inside WORD25.50  3  
1013Barry SolomonsCourt to behead one who confessed? Old journalist getting scoop.Woo/Court + (E)dward the Confessor..,(Woodward & Bernstein, Watergate)201 
1121 Equalizer perhaps from Forest's keeperDD: "Forest's keeper", and Edward Woodward played "The Equalizer" on TV192  2  
1224 Forest defender's beginning to worry over mismatched tackling contestW(orry) O ODD (=mismatched) containing WAR18.51  1  
1331 Forest's old keeper?Cryptic definition162 
1416 Duke in court battle with another old actorDuke=D in Woo(court), War(battle) with another D. Def is (Edward) Woodward, old actor. Note Duke is the nickname of John Wayne.15.52 
1515 Dependent upon deal, could be member of team at ForestDeal, could be = WOOD : Dependent = WARD154  4  
1632 He covered Nixon's club chargeWOOD+WARD142 
1711 Club welcomes central pair of Pearce and Des Walker initially battling to become captain of ForestDefinition = "captain of Forest". WOOD (club) around ARDW* – "central pair of Pearce" = AR + Des Walker initially = DW, anagrind = battling. Reference to former Nottingham Forest players Des Walker and Stuart Pearce11.54  1  
1723 Forest defender Cook down briefly over drawDef: Forest defender. Anag(DOW + O + DRAW), anagrind=Cook. Ref: Nottingham Forest defender Steve Cook.11.52  3  
1750 This journalist's work leads to a Republican's downfall after Washington official offers discreet tipsW (physics symbol for work, per Collins) + ARD ("leads to") all following WOOD ("tips"); ref: Mark Felt aka Deep Throat11.51  1  
2038 Officer with oversight of root-and-branch development?Cryptic def112 
214 After Shaw , Parry becomes Forest manager (8)Shaw = Wood Parry = ward becomes = results in + definition10.51  2  
2229 Forest Whitaker abandons revenge drama's leads for actor from cult classic(Forest = WOOD) + initials of following words; definition references Edward Woodward in The Wicker Man9.52  2  
2236 Maybe official at Sherwood Forest Golf Club overturned result of matchWOOD + reversal of DRAW ; def = maybe official at Sherwood Forest; (a real golf club and most delightful golf course)9.50  2  
2425 Forest guardian to court daughter then draw backWOO + D + DRAW<8.54 
2434 Jumped-up branch manager, who's hard on head of department following confrontationWOOD (hard on, sorry) + D after WAR8.52  4  
261 A Ranger takes dwarf to court before the chief of Dúnedain, after the last elf went missingwoo (to court/before) + dwar(-F) + F<substitution>D = WOODWARD (A Ranger) | General LOTRish references to Aragorn, the chief of Dúnedain (D) and lover of Arwen, the last elf (F)71  1  
263 After an upset, mom or dad could be a guardianAfter an upset MOM = WOW; or dad = more fodder; could be = anagrind; a guardian = definition72  1  
2614 Deep Throat helped him protect boner firstDefinition: Deep Throat helped him (reference to the informant who helped Bob Woodward report the Watergate scandal) WOOD (boner first) WARD (protect)72  2  
2618 Endless trouble with a word d——— tricky — one making fellers work!wo{e) + anag.73  1  
2649 This guardian reportedly courted the minor in his charge.Homophone wooed/wood + definition of ward72  5  
312 A word used over and over again for an old forest ranger (8)Letter bank. "A WORD" provides all letters in WOODWARD. Hence, using "A WORD" (fodder) over and over again (with repetitions) gives WOODWARD. Def: An old (to signal archaic use) forest ranger, with the wordplay extending the definition.6.52  2  
3217 Edward, Edward, surrendering his crown to go courtingWOO (go courting) for E, the crown of EDWARD; ref Edward VIII; def. Edward (Woodward); down clue, preferably62  1  
3226 Forest manager's furious with a red sending centre offfurious = wood2 Chambers, w, a, r[e]d61  2  
3241 Rambles wow dad, or environmental Guardian type (8)Rambles = anagrind of WOWDADOR Def = environmental guardian type.60 
357 Bush drawback for Bernstein buddyBush = synonym for WOOD; drawback = reverse draw to give WARD; Bernstein buddy = definition (Carl Bernstein was Bob Woodward's fellow Watergate whistleblower)41  1  
3544 Say, Edward is bound for the forest! (8)Say, Edward = def by example / bound for the forest = wood-ward41 
3745 Scientist's log room (8)WOOD + WARD3.50 
3830 Forester's club joined––with drawback (8)"club" to give WOOD, "drawback" to give WARD ("joined with" serving as linkwords)31 
3920 English educationist and Pali scholar’s almost dwarf daughter to court first?Def: Frank Lee WOODWARD (English educationist and Pali scholar) from DWAR[F] (almost dwarf) D (daughter) having WOO (to court) in the beginning (first)21  1  
3937 Nothing odd about fighting with wife in the first place in this place in Oklahoma (8)Anno: O (nothing) ODD over WAR with W(wife) in the beginning. O OD(WAR)D <=> W. WOODWARD is a place in Oklahoma.21  1  
3946 Some who draw do owls going back to the treesDRAW DO OW backwards; & lit21  1  
3948 The Epping Guardian would report on design retrospectiveDown clue: would homophone/design retrospective = DRAW reversed; definition is (Epping) forest guardian22  2  
3952 Winning lead, start to dominate on court, and tie from behindwoo(court) d(start to dominate) ward(rev of draw, ie tie); def 'Winning' lead (Woodward, Joanne was the lead star along with Paul Newman – his widow and frequent co-star – in the movie Winning, among many others)22 
446 Bernstein's collaborator in going for a radical bunch of instrumentsWOODWIND with AR replacing IN1.52  2  
4439 One who neglects no aspect of forest, not even who holds what ride.WhOhOlDsWhAtRiDe dropping even characters — ride=path through woodland.1.52  1  
469 Callan star casually gives up lead to woo Callan star?WOO for E in EDWARD (Callan star casually); ref Edward Woodward12  1  
4628 Forest orphan acted as spy, with occasional lonely assignments.Forest = wood, ward = orphan; rest of clue refers to Woodward's role in Callan, in which his occasional burglar sidekick was only ever known as Lonely.10 
4633 He performs his duties in this section of the copse, maybe ( 8 )Def, section and copse ( ward + wood ), anagram10  2  
4635 Man of the trees to court religious scholar with inner turmoil (8)Man of the trees = def.; to court = WOO; religious scholar = doctor of divinity = DD; with inner turmoil – indicates WAR inside DD13  1  
4651 What forest warden would hear if war was entered into on December 1st.WOOD (homophone WOULD, pointer = hear) + WAR + D10  2  
515 American star Joanne sought favour without fortune, ultimate drawback (8)American star is the def/ sought favour is wooed/ without fortune ultimate is deletion of E/ drawback is ward01  1  
518 “Call out Lumbar Treatment Area’s coach, Clive”“Call out – homophone indicator -Lumbar (Lumber – WOOD) Treatment Area (WARD) ‘s (is) coach (WOODWARD), Clive – ex England Rugby Union coach”01  2