CCCWC Christmas Special 2023 competition results
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41 clues entered. 36 votes cast (27 competitors, 9 others).
SPARROW/TITANIC (Right & Left)
The trick with a successful Right and Left clue is brevity and marrying the two clues together as seamlessly as possible. The pair of words certainly lent themselves to this, but still I thought the standard was pretty high.
Congratulations to Simon Griew who came out on top! That brevity was there along with a 'seamless' join, combining the two parts into a convincing surface. That's Simon's 4th podium of the year.
Second spot went to Peter Moore Fuller, whose clue had similar attributes to the winner so unsurprisingly was only just behind with a totally different surface!
Third place went to Luciano Ward. I particularly liked the clever double usage of 'fight(s)'. That's also Luciano's fourth podium of the year.
Close in fourth was Satyen following up last month's 3rd. Same usage of 'fights' and another model of brevity.
Finally a tie for fifth. Nathan Townsend grabbed his 3rd podium of the year, whilst Charlie Oakley bagged a 6th! – and that's 3 in a row now, so well done Charlie!
ANNUAL COMPETITION
Luciano's 3rd place meant he just pipped Charlie Oakley and Philip Sant by just a single point! Hearty congratulations to Luciano who last topped the Annual List in 2015. Simon Griew made a valiant attempt by winning the December competition and finished 4th, John Hood took 5th.
Good luck to all for 2024!
1 Luciano Ward 18
2 Charlie Oakley 17
2 Philip Sant 17
4 Simon Griew 16
5 John Hood 14.5
| Pos | No. | Name | Clue | Explanation | Points | Merits | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 21 | Simon Griew | ‘In Act I, Troy falls in colossal fight sequence’, one tweets | (IN ACT I T)* (falls), def = colossal; SPAR + ROW, def = one tweets (I still think of X as Twitter!) | 29 | 0 | |
| 2 | 15 | Peter Moore Fuller | Flyer from box file in attic ruined – it succumbed to water damage (7 & 7) | Flyer – def (sparrow); from – link; box – SPAR; file – ROW; in attic – fodder; ruined – anagram indicator; – it succumbed to water damage – def (TITANIC) | 25 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 33 | Luciano Ward | Small singer fights huge singer in a heated opening to Carmen | SPARROW: small singer (songbird) = def; (examples of) fights = SPAR & ROW. TITANIC: huge = def; singer (songbird) = TIT; in a heated = ANI; opening to Carmen = C | 24.5 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | 4 | Satyen Nabar | Bird fights huge cat in compound after it returns | Bird: sparrow, fights: SPAR (fight) + ROW (fight); huge: titanic, (CAT IN)* after IT <—, compound: anag ind, returns: rev ind. | 24 | 1 | |
| 5 | 14 | Nathan Townshend | Divert? I can't, it's Big Bird's special flight! | Divert = anagrind; I CANT IT = fodder; 's = is; Big = def // Bird = def; 's = is; special = SP flight = ARROW (Big Bird is a creature from TV show Sesame Street) | 23 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | 18 | Charlie Oakley | Huge manx cat scrapped with tit in bird box bust-up | Huge – definition. Manx cat = CA(t) + TIT IN* (scrapped = anagrind) / Bird = definition, Box = SPAR, bust-up = ROW | 23 | 1 | 4 |
| 7 | 20 | Chris Bond | I'm a wreck but mostly fine after lying about having sex, singer argues | Titanic = I'm a wreck / NIC(e) (mostly fine) after AT IT (having sex) reversed (lying about) / Sparrow = singer / SPAR (argue) + ROW (argue, too) | 19.5 | 0 | 1 |
| 8 | 10 | Seerat Hazir | Birdie, second birdie – end off with birdie, hitting a nice chipped sinker! (7/7) | Def: birdie/sinker. S PARRO(t) W /TIT A NIC(e). Letter deletion ind: end off for parrot, chipped for nice. | 18.5 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | 35 | John Hood | Smallish bird box leads to robin's occupancy whilst outsize cuckoo can't start to interfere with it | def=smallish bird SPAR=box R(obin's) O(ccupancy) W(hilst) / def=outsize (CAN'T I(nterfere) IT)* anagrind=cuckoo | 17 | 0 | |
| 10 | 2 | Craig Fothergill | Bird box on paddle steamer – two birds caught? | Defn Bird=SPARROW, box=SPAR, paddle=ROW // Defn steamer=TITANIC, two birds TIT ANI, caught=C | 16.5 | 0 | |
| 10 | 17 | Phil Stephenson | Ginger cat in it creates huge bird box disturbance | [cat in it]* ginger vb; spar + row | 16.5 | 2 | 1 |
| 10 | 41 | James McGaughey | What's inside iron box with shackles? Pirate ship captain spending a penny worried about it | RO (what's inside iron) inside SPAR W (box with shackles) Definition 'pirate' (Jack Sparrow) Definition 'ship' (C[ap]TAIN)*worried containing it | 16.5 | 0 | 2 |
| 13 | 29 | Pirate Jack's extremely sharp weapon partly hit it, an iconic ship LEFT – Def: Pirate Jack, extremely sharp:SP, weapon: ARROW RIGHT – Def: ship, hiT IT AN IConic ("partly" is the hidden word indicator) | 15.5 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 14 | 32 | Shop on-line for a bird – a small bird I can cook would be great. | SPAR/shop + line/row……Tit + I can (anag) | 14 | 3 | 1 | |
| 15 | 23 | Johnny Depp's role to fight and argue with Leonardo Di Caprio's vehicle – epic! | Depp played Jack Sparrow; SPAR + ROW. Titanic gave Di Caprio a ride to stardom. | 12.5 | 0 | 2 | |
| 16 | 30 | Play: in it, cat and Big Bird argue repeatedly | Titanic: anagram (play) of "in it cat" and defined by "big". Sparrow: defined by "bird", and spar + row (argue repeatedly) | 12 | 1 | 1 | |
| 16 | 39 | Two birds caught huge bird in box, brawl follows | TIT ANI C; huge = defn; bird = defn; SPAR, ROW follows | 12 | 2 | ||
| 18 | 24 | Little bird's racket on box up in attic becoming immense | SPARROW: little bird; ROW(racket) after SPAR(box)//TITANIC: immense; IN ATTIC* | 10 | 1 | ||
| 19 | 16 | Giant chunk of ice responsible for downing this bird's second quiet flight | For Titanic, semi &lit with TITAN (Giant) IC (chunk of ice) responsible for downing this. For Sparrow defn – Bird, S (second) P (quiet) ARROW (flight) | 9 | 0 | 1 | |
| 19 | 40 | Two fights made bird tremendous – can I reform after another bird? | SPAR+ROW/TIT+(CAN I)* | 9 | 0 | 1 | |
| 21 | 7 | Bird knocks over rough old picture abandoned in attic | SPARROW: RAPS< + ROW (obs. form of rough, see Chambers) TITANIC: INATTIC*; Def = picture (movie) | 8.5 | 1 | 3 | |
| 22 | 22 | It can! It can make big noise after boom, this bird | Anag ITCANIT; definition BIG / ROW after SPAR | 6 | 0 | 1 | |
| 23 | 5 | Bird finding small fish in channel following huge liner | Titanic/sparrow Bird = def , finding..in = insertion indicator,(s(parr)ow) small fish in channel , following = after , huge liner = double definition | 5.5 | 0 | 1 | |
| 24 | 38 | Time traveling TV character engaged in one argument after another huge vessel found in attic | SPAR+ROW (ref Nicholas Lyndhurst's character in 'Goodnight Sweetheart'); anagram of 'in attic' | 5 | 0 | 1 | |
| 25 | 1 | Bird box dispute resolved, cat in it gross | 1.def bird. SPAR(box)+ROW(dispute) 2.def=gross. Anagram of CATINIT. AI=resolved. | 4 | 1 | 1 | |
| 25 | 6 | Bird knocks most of its food back intact – half of it, blooming huge! | reversal of raps & wor(m) // * intact + i | 4 | 2 | 1 | |
| 25 | 8 | Bird knocks over sail – it went down, unexpectedly–I can’t put it back on top (7,7: | Left is SPARROW, def. Bird RAPS(knocks)<<<(over) ROW (sail) Right is TITANIC Def. It went down Anagram (unexpectedly) of ICANT* with IT<<(back) on top | 4 | 0 | 3 | |
| 28 | 28 | Mountainous region of backwards Republic in a tit-for-tat wrangle and rumpus for bird | "mountainous" Hidden reversal (region of backwards) republiC IN A TIT-for-tat Wrangle = SPAR and rumpus =ROW "bird" | 3.5 | 0 | 1 | |
| 28 | 36 | Southern Palestinian Authorities initial response to conflict and Israeli missile exploding in attic – Monstrous ! | S=(southern) PA=(palestinian authorities) R(initial letter) ROW = (conflict) def = Israeli missile (ref Wikipedia) : (in attic)* anagrind = exploding, def = Monstrous. | 3.5 | 1 | 1 | |
| 30 | 27 | Monstrous twitcher’s motion to capture one brown bird in box on bank | monstrous=def.; twitcher’s motion=TIC; to capture one brown=container for I TAN / bird=def.; in=linkword; box=SPAR; on=adjacency (assumes a down clue); bank=ROW | 3 | 1 | ||
| 30 | 31 | Say, Captain Jack's close friend spat at it in broken down backside of gigantic ship (7,7) | def1: Say, Captain Jack; 's=connector, close friend(SPAR), spat(ROW) (at it in)*=TITANI, C= backside of gigantic, broken down (anagrind), def2: ship | 3 | 0 | 1 | |
| 32 | 3 | Bird fight follows dispute about past bird fights in a film | Bird = def, fight = ROW ,follows = placement ind*, dispute = SPAR, about = C, past = placement ind*, bird = TIT fights in a = INA* , film = def : ROW after SPAR / C after TIT+INA* | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| 33 | 9 | Bird species, any once of enormous strength, turning up in Cincinati trees | SP = species, arrow = 'any' archaic, hidden reversed (CinCINATI Trees) defs: bird/ of enormous strength | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 33 | 12 | Can one tit become huge bird in box to fight? | CAN+I+TIT* = TITANIC; one=I; become=anagrind; huge=def,; Bird=def.(sparrow); box=spar; to fight=row; | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 33 | 13 | Crazy changing source of milk for another huge Bird's grocery line | (m/TIT)ANIC (swapping literal for physical source of milk) = huge // bird = SPAR (grocer's shop) + ROW | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 33 | 25 | Massive craft showing unsinkable confidence moving under steam will square off against boat of type propelled by oars, a small but agile flier | TITANIC Double def: "massive" and "craft showing unsinkable confidence moving under steam" SPARROW Charade: SPAR (square off) + ROW (rowboat is boat of type propelled by oars). Sparrow is small but agile flier. Flier is sometimes used to describe a fast boat. | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 33 | 26 | Monster film series on box, Chinese TV series | two mngs/spar + row; ref 2016 Chinese TV series | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 38 | 11 | Bird's dispute, has to fight huge blue one that's crazy, having taken off first | SPARROW: Bird definition, SPAR/ROW; TITANIC: Huge definition, TIT [blue one {bird}]/(m)ANIC | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 38 | 19 | Huge ship and enormously powerful pirate emerging from fight that hurt about half of the navy | Huge ship, enormously powerful = double def'n of TITANIC. Pirate = jack SPARROW (def'n). Fight = SPAR, that hurt = OW, about = encircling, half of the navy(RN) = R. | 0 | 2 | 1 | |
| 38 | 34 | Small tailless bird with small bird, smaller bird and tropical bird start to call – terrific! | Ref: 4 Calling Birds from 12 Days of Christmas: s + parro(t) + w; defn(small bird); tit + ani +c; defn(terrific) | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 38 | 37 | Take scalp of trespasser – a wild cat – in huge commotion after fight for little bird | Take scalp of trespasser = T, a = I, wild [anagrind] cat in = TANIC, huge = def; commotion after fight = ROW after SPAR | 0 | 2 |