CCCWC January 2024 competition results
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43 clues entered. 35 votes cast (33 competitors, 2 others).
AMAZON
So we start a new year of competition and the first congratulations go to Phil Stephenson! A neat &lit with a sobering surface reading.
Charlie Oakley appears to be carrying his form from last year into this with a swift return to the podium in second. Using an old chestnut of a 'definition', but in a neat and concise way.
Third spot goes to Dave Williams with what I thought was another neat &lit.
Jessica Merchant makes a welcome return to the podium in fourth, using a clever reference (to Virago Press) that was something I would never have thought of, creating a very convincing surface.
Peter Moore Fuller follows up a podium (second place) in December with fifth place this month, with an interesting piece of wordplay that had me chuckling!
Well done to all for the usual entertainment, next on to the LITTLE matter of the February contest to judge…enjoy!
| Pos | No. | Name | Clue | Explanation | Points | Merits | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Phil Stephenson | A jungle that's cut down regularly? | A, maz(e), (d)o(w)n & lit. | 46.5 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | 18 | Charlie Oakley | Flower delivery service? | Double Definition – Flower/ delivery service? | 35 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 | 42 | Dave Williams | Who’ll deliver book of maps within a day? | A-Z inside A MON | 31.5 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 | 13 | Jessica Merchant | At a loss for words editor's quit working for Virago | AMAZed [which] ed [ha]s quit + ON | 28.5 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | 17 | Peter Moore Fuller | Delivery firm damn lazy, don’t forget the packaging! (6) | Delivery firm – def; dAMn lAZy, dON’t – fodder; forget the packaging – remove outer letters of fodder | 27 | 0 | |
| 6 | 6 | Pete Milne | A puzzle almost completed on website | A+MAZ(E)+ON | 25.5 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 | 43 | Seerat Hazir | Woman with slashed bust seen around central Brazil? (6) | &lit. (w)OMAN* around (br)AZ(il). With/w slashed. Anag ind: bust. | 25 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | 33 | Thejaswi Udupa | Powerful female runner | Double definition. (Runner being river, here) | 24.5 | 3 | |
| 9 | 41 | Jane Fitzpatrick | Virago sent back section of Spinoza manuscript | hidden in reverse | 24 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | 24 | John Appleton | Jungle Book seller, initially | Double def. | 21 | 1 | |
| 11 | 23 | Graduate located in Arizona working for a company based in Seattle (6) | Graduate located in Arizona = A(MA)Z , working = ON , for = resulting in + definition | 20.5 | 0 | ||
| 12 | 25 | Keep stunning shot of Beyonce's backside – that's some woman | AMAZE ON (keep stunning) without (shot of) E (Beyonce's backside) | 15 | 1 | ||
| 13 | 39 | Stunned to see journalist expelled for working in forested region | AMAZED with ED expelled for ON | 14.5 | 2 | 1 | |
| 14 | 29 | Multinational e-commerce operation Bezos got running, essentially | &lit clue, middle letter selection – (multin)A(tional) (ecom)M(erce) (oper)A(tion) (be)Z(os) (g)O(t) (run)N(ing); essentially is indicator. | 14 | 0 | 1 | |
| 15 | 15 | Australian chap gets cross inside shopping centre | A(ustralian) MAN with ZO (= cross) inside | 11.5 | 2 | ||
| 16 | 38 | Shocked to see journalist’s working to produce best seller | AMAZED when ED is ON; def = best seller (based on revenue not a value judgement!) | 10.5 | 0 | ||
| 17 | 31 | Nothing for one in stunnin' online store? | AMAZIN (stunnin') with I replaced by O, def = online store | 8.5 | 1 | ||
| 18 | 1 | A cat gets cross in a river | A + MAN gets ZO in; cat = man; zo (Chambers) = cross, hybrid; a river = def | 8 | 1 | 1 | |
| 19 | 35 | river flowing out of Panama zone | Hidden, "out of" = "outside", probably not &lit because too many rivers are not in Panama | 7 | 1 | ||
| 20 | 32 | One guy captured half of region's online marketplace | A + MAN around ZO(-ne) ; One = A, guy = MAN, captured = containd, half of region = ZO(-ne), online marketplace = definition | 6 | 1 | ||
| 21 | 12 | An episode of Futurama zones in on a legendary female warrior. | Hidden | 5.5 | 1 | ||
| 22 | 16 | Brave woman and company in Oz, a magician unveiled and forced to retire (6) | Brave woman and company = double definition. Hidden reversal (unveiled, forced to retire) iN OZ , A MAgician | 4.5 | 1 | ||
| 23 | 37 | River in central Brazil engulfed by a monsoon front | AZ in AMON, insertion indicator = engulfed by, def = river, semi&lit ? | 4 | 0 | ||
| 24 | 8 | A wanderer, taking a day to go west across Arizona, will deliver the goods. | NOMAD minus D reversed around AZ | 3.5 | 3 | ||
| 25 | 2 | A flower found in the llama zone (6) | A flower (flow-er) = definition; Found = hidden indicator for ll[AMA ZON]e | 3 | 0 | 1 | |
| 26 | 11 | Aggressive woman from Central Brazil wearing diamonds heartily (6) AM[AZ]ON | Central Brazil=AZ; wearing = insertion indicator; heartily= indicator for picking up letters in the middle of diAMONds; aggressive woman=definition | 2.5 | 0 | 1 | |
| 27 | 9 | A woman who may miss you? | A woman = def1; who may miss you? = def2 (when delivering parcels) | 2 | 1 | ||
| 27 | 14 | Atlas has moan about changing into a strong woman | AM(AZ)ON (moan)* | 2 | 0 | 1 | |
| 27 | 20 | Flower power woman prepared to do battle | double def | 2 | 2 | ||
| 30 | 7 | A strong female zoo animal's shaking off dirty soil (6) | Def: A strong female; ZOOANIMALS* – SOIL* | 1 | 0 | ||
| 30 | 19 | Flower for Bezos’s baby (6) | DD | 1 | 1 | ||
| 30 | 21 | Forceful woman makes a chap eat nothing without hesitation. | A MAN containing Z(er)O: zero=nothing; er=hesitation. | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 30 | 22 | Forest warrior parrot? | Triple definition | 1 | 0 | ||
| 30 | 36 | River from South America supporting a boundless region | down clue; def:river; A+MA(rev. of Am=America, ie from South)+ZON(e)(boundless region); all in one clue | 1 | 3 | ||
| 30 | 40 | Sturdy gal who sports schnoz a man enjoys somewhat more from the rear | Hidden reversal; def: sturdy gal who sports; enjoys as in possesses, has the use of | 1 | 1 | ||
| 36 | 30 | No surprise ending going up against this tough lady? | No surprise ending = AMAZ(e) + ON = going up against…Amazon/Female warrior | 0.5 | 1 | ||
| 37 | 4 | A limited network joined before working for banker | A/MAZ(e)/ON [working] definition, banker | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 37 | 5 | A lot of Brazil nuts emblazed on a ring – not being red | "a lot of Brazil" * EMBLAZONEDONRING – BEINGRED | 0 | 0 | ||
| 37 | 10 | Advanced literary ends covered by Asian tribe’s river | A AZ covered by MON | 0 | 0 | ||
| 37 | 26 | Large flower in a cove, back at the end of the yellow brick road. | Large flower = def. End of the yellow brick road rev = ZO. A cove = A MAN | 0 | 1 | ||
| 37 | 27 | Long flower stem company we hear? | double definition; stem sounds like STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) | 0 | 0 | ||
| 37 | 28 | Massve on-line retailer fighting female | Double definition | 0 | 2 | ||
| 37 | 34 | River flood survivor nearly overturns, circling labyrinth with no end (6) | Definition: River; <- NOA(-h) [flood survivor nearly overturns] around [circling] MAZ(-e) [labyrinth with no end] | 0 | 0 |