CCCWC November 2022 competition results
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48 clues entered. 37 votes cast (35 competitors, 2 others).
PAPILLON
Another very close run competition this time round, but in the end John Doylend just squeaked home with a simple but effective anagram! After a few podium finishes over the past few years this is John's first victory so hearty congratulations!!
Just a single point back in joint second place was Vinit Wankhede with his first podium of this current year, one of the few to deflect away from the dog definition.
The other joint second was Alastair Gerrard, also a first podium of the year with a clue that presented some tricky anagram fodder to work out, but resulting in an &lit.
Fourth spot with a second podium of the year went to Dave Williams – a rather unpalatable surface to his offering – or am I reading it wrong!
Satyen grabbed fifth place with his third podium of the year – the wordplay neatly distracting the solver away from the true 'dog' meaning.
Thanks to all as ever – Merry Christmas to all our subscribers – enjoy the Christmas competition!
| Pos | No. | Name | Clue | Explanation | Points | Merits | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 38 | John Doylend | Quivering lip on lap dog (8) | Anagram of LIPONLAP | 37.5 | 1 | |
| 2 | 3 | Vinit Wankhede | A novel mobile app working without problem (8) | PAP* (ILL) ON | 36.5 | 2 | 1 |
| 2 | 32 | Alastair Gerrard | One lounges primarily on lap, softly barking | [I (one) + L(ounges) + ONLAP + P (softly)]*. Anagrind is barking. & Lit – Papillon is a lap dog | 36.5 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 | 30 | Dave Williams | Old man quietly sick over dog | PA + P + ILL + ON | 31 | 3 | 1 |
| 5 | 46 | Satyen Nabar | Tipsy in hall, pop drops hot dog | (IN HALL POP)* – H | 26 | 3 | 1 |
| 6 | 22 | Vinod Raman | Little dog (leader of pack) endlessly galloping around (8) | Def: Little dog, leader of pack: P, endlessly galloping around: ALLOPIN* | 25.5 | 2 | 1 |
| 6 | 33 | Seerat Hazir | Pet student’s U changed to an A! London professor dismissed (8) | P(u>A)PIL+LON(-don); Def=Pet. (U=Unclassified grade below E.) | 25.5 | 0 | |
| 8 | 39 | Luciano Ward | Scattered contents of ballpoint pen start to perturb small pet | Anagram of letters in '(b)ALLPOIN(t)' enclose ('pen') (P)erturb | 24.5 | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | 27 | Thejaswi Udupa | Nice butterfly! | CD. Butterfly in French (what they speak in Nice) is papillon. | 21 | 3 | 1 |
| 10 | 5 | Steve Hicks | Arranged op left recurring pain in canine | Anag OP LL (left recurring) PAIN. Def: canine | 19 | 2 | 1 |
| 11 | 7 | Dad on motorcycle passenger seat – not one for dog | PA + PILLION minus I | 15.5 | 2 | ||
| 12 | 2 | A dog, ‘Pongo’, lacking energy, is given a tablet (8) | A dog = definition / P{A PILL}ON[go] / ref. ‘101 Dalmatians’ | 14.5 | 2 | ||
| 13 | 6 | Before touching breast, Jill removed top being all aflutter | Pap + (J)ill + on. Butterfly: a being all aflutter | 13.5 | 0 | ||
| 13 | 9 | Dad's about to acquire ball for dog | PA (dad) ON (about) around PILL (ball) | 13.5 | 1 | ||
| 15 | 24 | Mum initially ignored developing limp on lap dog | (LIMP ON LAP)* – M; def = dog | 13 | 0 | ||
| 15 | 44 | Starting to putt a ball's concerning one with the yips? | p a pill on, ref. golf. | 13 | 0 | ||
| 17 | 20 | In novel form, this was advertised as “Devil’s Island: two appear!” (8) | Comp. anag. (“PAPILLON WAS ADVERTISED” = “DEVILS ISLAND TWO APPEAR”), ref. the book Papillon by Henri Charrière | 12.5 | 0 | 1 | |
| 18 | 16 | Father about to swallow tablet that's covered in film | PA<PILL>ON; covered alternatively means dealt with | 11 | 1 | 1 | |
| 18 | 42 | Soft cushion endlessly hugged by an escaped prisoner | P (soft, musically), pillo[w] hugged by 'an'. Definition is 'escaped prisoner' (as in the book by Henri Charrière) | 11 | 2 | ||
| 20 | 36 | Premier League leaders and Napoli after transfer of French skipper? | (PL NAPOLI)*; def = "French skipper?" | 10 | 0 | 1 | |
| 21 | 25 | "Mush hard along, dog!" | Surface is what a dog-sled driver might say to his dog. "Dog" is the definition. "Mush" = PAP; "hard" = ILL ("hard done by"); "along" = ON. | 9 | 1 | ||
| 22 | 19 | Father riding behind, not me. That's novel! | Father = PA; Riding behind = PILLION; Not me = remove the letter I; That's novel = Definition = The 1969 book by Henri Charrière and a 1973 film. | 8 | 1 | ||
| 22 | 31 | One endlessly chasing past with ball? | ON(e) after PA(st) + PILL &lit | 8 | 1 | 1 | |
| 24 | 41 | Small horse nearly swallowed a tablet for small dog | Small horse nearly = PON(y), swallowed – insertion indicator, a tablet = A PILL, for… small dog (definition). | 7 | 0 | ||
| 25 | 48 | Want spaniel mixed with poodle? Do see this dog sort (8) | Compound anagram – [SPANIEL + POODLE]* = sort (anagrind) of [DO + SEE + PAPILLON] | 6.5 | 1 | 1 | |
| 26 | 47 | Trash poorly lit, shot and cut escapist film? | 'Trash' = PAP (worthless art/entertainment), 'poorly' = ILL, 'lit shot and cut' = ON (all words for drunk); 'escapist film?' cryptic definition: Papillon (1973) film about prison escape | 5 | 0 | ||
| 27 | 35 | Pip and Lola play with a new toy (8) | PIP + LOLA anagram + N; "toy" is def | 4.5 | 1 | 1 | |
| 28 | 11 | Dog leaving with cushion turning down blankets | PA(PILLOw)N; pillow=cushion, less w=with, surrounded by reversal of nap=down; def: dog | 4 | 1 | ||
| 28 | 13 | Dog with off-colour leg after pee apparently ! (8) | Dog= def, off-colour =ill , leg = on (cricket), pee =p ap= abbr for apparently | 4 | 2 | 1 | |
| 30 | 1 | A continental toy breed, with upright ears, may flutter in Paris ( 8 ) | Definition of Continental Toy breed: dog Reference to "flutter", "Paris"…papillon | 3 | 1 | ||
| 30 | 10 | Disparage interminable padding filling long escape novel | PA[PILLOW – W]N, referencing Henri Charrière's 'memoir' as the definition | 3 | 0 | ||
| 30 | 12 | Dog, one imagines bred in Alsace? | D/CD — dog/offspring of butterflies (imagines, plural of imago) in France. Same count for the obvious straight answer. | 3 | 0 | ||
| 30 | 15 | Edit characters deleted from confusing, ill-appointed McQueen movie | ILL-APPOINTED anagram, without EDIT; & lit | 3 | 3 | 1 | |
| 34 | 17 | Father faces ball to leg side: it's a historic game. | PA+PILL+ON: Wikipedia gives Papillon as a historical card game. | 2.5 | 0 | ||
| 34 | 45 | There's no turning back after hospital meal – you'll get sick as a dog | PAP+ILL+ON (no rev.) | 2.5 | 1 | ||
| 36 | 4 | After giving cheek back to father, student is working for French bestseller | Pa/pil/l/on | 2 | 0 | ||
| 36 | 8 | Dad riding rear seat having no interest in movie (8) | PA PILLION-I Definition: Movie | 2 | 0 | ||
| 36 | 14 | Dog's fringed hair on ears resembling an overseas butterfly? | Cryptic definition of a dog named after the French word for butterfly due to its long and fringed hair on ears having a butterfly-like look | 2 | 0 | ||
| 39 | 26 | “Mush” with difficulty working for spaniel | PAP ILL ON | 1.5 | 1 | ||
| 39 | 28 | No returns following rubbish bad French fiction | No returns = ON; rubbish = PAP; bad = ILL; French fiction = definition | 1.5 | 2 | ||
| 41 | 18 | Father introduced contraception: turned up no little spaniel | PA + PILL + NO turned upside down. Papillon is a little spaniel. | 1 | 0 | ||
| 41 | 21 | It comes out of pupa with zero trouble; house essentially expended | (PUPA + NO + ILL)* – U (middle of house), and &lit. | 1 | 0 | ||
| 41 | 34 | Photograph unkind about a lot of stars | Photograph = PAP unkind= ill About = on A lot of stars = definition (papillon is a galaxy) | 1 | 0 | ||
| 41 | 40 | Secretary took ecstasy maybe while operating a toy pet (7) | Secretary: PA Pill: Maybe ecstasy On: operating Def: A toy pet | 1 | 0 | ||
| 45 | 23 | Lop-eared spaniel. What you might get if this breed digests sea reed? | (PAPILLONSEAREED)*=LOP-EARED SPANIEL. Digest = distribute and arrange. Papillon breed has erect ears, digesting sea reed (marram grass) might have deleterious effect! | 0 | 0 | ||
| 45 | 29 | Odd-looking spaniel wanting tips of ears lop? | (SPANIEL – E(ar)S + LOP)*, &lit, odd-looking=anagram ind, "wanting" in wordplay means lacking. | 0 | 0 | ||
| 45 | 37 | Pup class for a setter? 50/50 about this breed of dog. | [PUP], class [U] for a [A] > [PAP], setter [I], 50/50 [LL], about [ON] = PAPILLON, def = this breed of dog | 0 | 1 | ||
| 45 | 43 | Soft food that's bad on the menu? It will do for the dog | pap ill on | 0 | 0 |